Del Webb Charleston.
Cane Bay or Nexton?

Cane Bay or Nexton: they are not interchangeable

Del Webb at Cane Bay opened in 2007, finished around 2017, and is fully built out with about 1,017 homes around a 20,000-square-foot amenity center called The Resort. Because it is sold out, everything trades as resale, generally in the low-to-mid $400s, and you are buying an established, gated, mature neighborhood.

Del Webb Charleston at Nexton is newer, about 1,000 homes on 350 acres, and still has builder activity, with an average sale price closer to $569,000. That single difference, built-out versus still-selling, changes your negotiation, your competition, and your resale timing.

The 80/20 rule is why your buyer pool is smaller

Both communities qualify as housing for older persons under the federal Housing for Older Persons Act. The core rule: at least 80 percent of occupied homes must have at least one resident 55 or older, and the community must verify this with surveys and affidavits at least once every two years. Only one person per home needs to be 55-plus, and up to 20 percent of homes can fall outside that, which is the flexibility that lets an under-55 spouse or an inherited home work.

What this means for you as a future seller is simple and rarely spelled out: your realistic buyer is an age-qualified household. That is a narrower pool than an open-market home, which is why age-restricted resales can sit longer. Locally, Del Webb at Cane Bay resales have averaged roughly 90 days on market.

The fees that show up at closing

At Del Webb at Nexton, expect dues around $350 a month, an annual capital contribution near $120, and a transfer or capital fee of roughly one-half of one percent of the purchase price at closing. On a $570,000 home that transfer fee is about $2,850, and it recurs on every sale. Cane Bay's dues run in the low-to-mid hundreds per month for The Resort's amenities.

These fees are disclosed in the documents. They are also exactly the kind of thing that gets glossed over until the closing statement. Get the full schedule early.

The 'no one under 19' rule is in the covenants, not the law

People assume federal law sets the age rules for the whole household. It does not. The Housing for Older Persons Act only requires the 80/20 split and one resident 55-plus per home. The familiar restrictions, no permanent resident under 19, limits on how long grandchildren can visit, come from each community's recorded covenants, and they vary from community to community.

So if you have a college-age kid who might move back, or grandchildren who stay for the summer, that answer lives in the specific covenants, not in a general rule. This is the single most common 55-plus surprise I see. South Carolina layers on HOA disclosure and recording requirements, and its older statute even keeps some outdated 55-plus language, so it is worth a careful read.

Which holds value better

There is no clean study proving age-restricted homes appreciate more slowly, so I will not pretend there is. What is true and well-established: while a Del Webb community is still selling new, your resale competes with the builder, which caps appreciation. That points to Del Webb at Cane Bay, sold out and no longer fighting the builder, as the more predictable resale, while Nexton offers newer product at a higher basis with more near-term builder competition.