I've been saving aggressively to retire early, getting progressively more sick and tired of corporate jobs and seriously planning for retirement soon. Like in the next year or two, that soon. I'm 55 now, and thinking about those 55 active living communities. My husband and I love our home and we've remodelled parts of it over the years so that it's nearly exactly what we want. But... Well, it is three levels and too big for a couple (no kids, not much family nearby).

While both of us are working full time, we've paid for twice-a-month housecleaning service, and in the last couple of years we've been paying for someone to keep up the yards too. I know that when I'm no longer working, I should do the house cleaning so we don't have to pay for it. And we should downsize into a house without yards, or somewhere where all of the landscaping/yard care is included in HOA fees or something.

A single-level home in an active community sounds on the surface like just the thing for us. What are your experiences with them? Are the people great or annoying? Do you have to deal with noisy neighbors on the shared walls like my rental apartments in college? Pros and cons?