By Mark Abromaitis
The Erickson Tribune

Officials at Ann’s Choice announced this week that the prices of homes at the full-service community will increase effective July 31, 2007. The cost of initial entrance deposits will rise from $2,000 to $24,000 depending on the style of the home that is purchased.

“Prices are going up,” says Donna Donohue, retirement counselor at Ann’s Choice. “We’ve done our best at keeping them as low as possible for as long as possible, but something had to give.”

Reasons for the rise
Donohue says, “Our planned budget was right on the mark, but the  unforeseeable rise in materials costs made this necessary. “We do our best to keep costs down,” she adds. “We have smart budgets and financial planning to foresee everything, but this is one of those things that you just can’t plan for.”

Donohue says that the rise in the cost of raw materials was the main reason for the marked increase. The community saw similar increases last year too. But officials at Ann’s Choice say that prices do not necessarily increase every year.

“This isn’t a yearly thing; it just has happened that way,” Retirement Counselor Marie Dmoch says. “We don’t plan on raising the costs each year. We’re only increasing the price enough to keep up with the rising costs of doing business. It happens that, over the past two years, the cost of doing business has increased.

“But we’re still one of the best values for the retirement dollar,” she adds.

Locking in the lower price
The increase will come as a shock to many considering Ann’s Choice, but Donohue says the community is doing everything to ensure that anyone who reserves a home before the July 31 deadline will be given the current price.

“That’s important when you consider how much money you could save,” she says. “If someone is seriously interested in moving in to Ann’s Choice, they need to call as soon as possible—they could be saving thousands.