Active Adults Realty in Delaware

11/03/2026

THE TWO CLOCKS NOBODY MENTIONS WHEN YOU BUY THE BEACH HOUSE 🏡⌛

General information only. We are not tax, legal or financial advisors and nothing here is advice about your situation. Check your own plan with your accountant and your attorney.

Buy now, use it weekends, move in when you retire. It is the most common plan we see, and it works here. Two clocks decide how well.

⌛ THE 183 DAY CLOCK. Owning a home in Delaware does not by itself make you a Delaware resident for income tax. The state counts you as a resident if Delaware is your domicile, meaning the place you intend as your permanent home, or if you keep a place to live here and spend more than 183 days of the year in the state. Keep your permanent home elsewhere and stay 183 days or fewer and you are generally a nonresident. Long summers and shoulder seasons add up, so keep track of your days.

⌛ THE 10 YEAR CLOCK. Delaware's Senior School Property Tax Credit takes 50 percent off your school property tax, up to $500 a year, for homeowners 65 and older on a primary residence. Anyone who made Delaware their legal home on or after January 1, 2018 needs 10 consecutive years of Delaware domicile first. Here is the part that catches people: those 10 years count from when Delaware becomes your legal home, not from the day you bought the house.

Both are state rules, so they read the same in New Castle, Kent and Sussex. What changes by county is the property tax itself, which each county and school district sets. And while it is still a second home you pay county and school property tax like any owner, and the senior credit does not apply.

If the beach house will one day be the only house, buy the full time home rather than the vacation home. First floor living. The community's rental rules now and its occupancy rules later. And visit in February, not just in July.

Which clock is further along for you?

📍 Active Adults Realty | Delaware's 55+ and Relocation Experts

More on the Active Adults Delaware website.

11/03/2026

FEATURED LISTING 🏡

A one level ranch on nearly an acre in Georgetown, where three of the things people worry about have already been replaced.

Home Highlights:

🏠 Newer metal roof, about six to seven years old

🔧 Appliances are new, and the water pump was replaced two years ago

🛏 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, 1,422 square feet, all on one level

🍳 Kitchen with solid cabinetry and a dining area that looks out over the back yard

⛅ Huge screened porch, reachable from the back door and from one of the rooms

🌳 0.91 acre level lot with an oversized detached two car garage, heated

Community and Location Perks:

📍 Georgetown, the Sussex County seat, central to the whole county

🏖 Roughly a half hour to the Lewes and Rehoboth beaches

🛣 Easy runs to Route 113 and Route 9

📋 Kawan Acres is an all ages community, not a 55+

Offered at $319,000.

Roof, appliances, water pump. Which of those would you least want to be paying for in your first year?

📍 Active Adults Realty | Delaware's 55+ and Relocation Experts

Search 4 Kawan Drive on the Active Adults Delaware website.

11/03/2026

FIVE STARS FOR FRANCINE ⭐🏡
Dainius and Ann bought in Lewes, and this is what they wrote afterwards.

"5 stars for Francine! She is wonderful! She is very patient and knows all about the area. There was no pressure. Francine guided & helped us all the way. We just purchased a home in Lewes, and we can't wait to begin our new life in Delaware. Thank you Francine!"

Knowing the area is the part that does not come off a listing sheet. Which community is right, which street floods, what the fee actually covers, how long the build is really running. That is what an agent who works here every day brings to it.

Two hundred and forty three of these are on our site, in our clients' own words.

What mattered most to you when you picked an agent?

📍 Active Adults Realty | Delaware's 55+ and Relocation Experts
More on the Active Adults Delaware website.

11/03/2026

What are you going to do this weekend? 🍁https://conta.cc/4imD5fm

Email from Active Adults Realty® Living history in Dover, First Friday in Milford, and a flood insurance deadline to know before you buy. "How beautifully leaves grow old.  How full of light and col

11/02/2026

A DELAWARE TAX CHANGE WORTH KNOWING IF YOU SERVED 🇺🇸🏡

General information only. We are not tax advisors and this is not tax advice. Check your own situation with your own tax professional.

Delaware raised the amount of military pension income a retired veteran can keep out of state income tax. A law signed this past summer steps it up over four tax years:

💰 2026: $12,500
💰 2027: $15,000
💰 2028: $20,000
💰 2029 and after: $25,000

Two conditions worth reading slowly:

🎂 It is for veterans 60 or older.
🏠 Residency counts. Veterans who were legal Delaware residents before January 1, 2027 need at least three years in the state. Veterans who become residents after that date need at least five.

This is state income tax, so the figure is the same in New Castle, Kent and Sussex. A house in Middletown, a house in Dover and a house in Millsboro all sit under the same rule. Delaware also has no state sales tax, in all three counties.

If you are weighing a move here, this is one of the numbers that belongs in the math.

Which county are you looking at?

📍 Active Adults Realty | Delaware's 55+ and Relocation Experts

More on the Active Adults Delaware website.

11/02/2026

THE AMENITIES ARE ALREADY BUILT 🏊🏡

Independence is the 55+ single family community in Millsboro, and the pool in this photo was open and in use when the picture was taken in 2013. In a community that is already finished, the clubhouse is not a drawing on a site plan.

Home Highlights:
🏡 Single family homes from about 1,443 to 3,020+ square feet
🛌 Two to seven bedrooms and two to seven baths
🏛 Independence Hall, a 24,000 square foot clubhouse
🏊 Heated indoor lap pool, plus the outdoor pool and spa in the photo
🎾 Tennis and volleyball courts, a putting green and horseshoe pits
🐕 Walking and biking trails, two dog parks and a community garden

Community and Location Perks:
📍 Millsboro, in Sussex County
🎱 Ballroom, billiards hall, bar and lounge, saunas and massage rooms inside the clubhouse
🍽 Conference facilities and a picnic area

Ask us what the fee covers and we will read it off the community's own documents rather than guess at it.

When you are comparing communities, how much does a finished clubhouse count against one that is still on paper?

📍 Active Adults Realty | Delaware's 55+ and Relocation Experts
Search Independence on the Active Adults Delaware website.

11/02/2026

FEATURED LISTING 🏡

Villages at Red Mill Pond in Lewes. A single level ranch with the Lewes to Georgetown Trail running off the community and Lewes Beach seven miles up the road.

Home Highlights:
🛏 3 bedrooms and 2 full baths, all on one level, 1,855 square feet
🪵 Engineered wood flooring throughout and a four foot extension on the floor plan
🔥 A fireplace at the heart of the living area
❄ Brand new HVAC system, central air with forced air heat on metered propane
🚗 Two car garage with a workbench and built in shelving
💧 A private irrigation well for the lawn

Community and Location Perks:
🚶 Direct access to Red Mill Pond and the Lewes to Georgetown Trail
🏊 Outdoor pool, fitness center, clubhouse and a waterfront gazebo
🚚 7 miles to Lewes Beach, 10 miles to Rehoboth Beach, 6 miles to downtown Milton
🍨 One mile to Hopkins Ice Cream

Which of those drives would you be making most often?

📍 Active Adults Realty | Delaware's 55+ and Relocation Experts
Search 16511 Greenspring Avenue on the Active Adults Delaware website.

11/02/2026

Quiet morning in Lewes after the Halloween festivities. These bees are the only ones making noise so far today!

11/01/2026

MOVING FROM PENNSYLVANIA? HERE IS WHAT ACTUALLY CHANGES 🏛

We are not tax advisors and nothing here is advice about your situation. Take your own numbers to your own accountant before you plan around any of it.

Pennsylvania is already one of the better states in the country for retirees, so the honest question is what is different once you cross the line. Swipe through for the published figures:

🏠 Property tax: Delaware's effective rate on owner occupied homes is 0.54 percent, against Pennsylvania's 1.26 percent (Tax Foundation 2026, from Census 2024 ACS 5-year)
📍 By county: New Castle 0.72, Kent 0.43, Sussex 0.31 percent. Rates differ by school district
💵 Retirement income: Delaware excludes up to $12,500 a year of pension income at 60 and over, and neither state taxes Social Security
📜 Inheritance tax: Delaware has none

Which of those matters most to your move?

📍 Active Adults Realty | Delaware's 55+ and Relocation Experts
Search moving from Pennsylvania on the Active Adults Delaware website.

11/01/2026

❤ FROM A CLIENT

"Audrey is an absolutely Godsend. She stood by our side for the entire two and a half years we were looking for a house. She showed us patience. She showed us grace."

Sarah & Eric, on working with Audrey Hammond

Two and a half years. That is not a transaction, that is staying with somebody until the right house turns up.

It is one of the reviews sitting on our own website, newest first, every one of them from a real client who bought or sold with this office. Read them yourself before you pick anybody to work with, ours included.

📍 Active Adults Realty | Delaware's 55+ and Relocation Experts
Search testimonials on the Active Adults Delaware website.

01/05/2023

The original weekly Stay Active Newsletter!!

Local Information and Events to Keep you Active! For what it’s worth: It’s never too late to be whoever you want to be. I hope you live a life you’re proud of, and if you find that you’re not, I hope

12/31/2021

DNREC is encouraging Delawareans to recycle their Christmas trees! 🎄

In a bid to save space, Christmas trees and yard waste are banned from Delaware landfills.

Christmas trees intended for recycling (mulching) should be stripped of all decorations, lights, and any flocking or other artificial material.

Some recycling sites accept Christmas trees at no cost, while others charge for the service. Before dropping off their trees, residents are urged to call ahead to confirm hours of operation, restrictions, and applicable fees. Residents who pay for curbside collection service should call their waste-hauler to see if they offer Christmas tree pickup.

To see a complete list of yard waste drop-off sites in each county, click here. https://dnrec.alpha.delaware.gov/waste-hazardous/yard-waste/drop-off-sites/

Christmas trees are no longer accepted for recycling at Delaware's state parks.

12/02/2021

Stop By and See the lights and Judy Today at our Savannah Rd Location!!! You may have to park in the back since sidewalks are almost done !!!

12/01/2021

Now with 2 Great Locations you can like both our Offices!!