[zcaveman]

My comments on a few entries:

Whole House Surge Protector. When I first moved here the only choice for the whole house surge protector was rent. After 6 years, I spent over $400 for the whole house surge protector. When SECO added buy as an option, I had one installed for $200 and am on a rent free whole house surge protector. It has already paid for itself.

Mandatory Memberships. Other than priority golf/tennis memberships described by village07, it depends on what clubs you join. Some have $5 - $35 for annual membership. For example the Villages Woodshop is $35 (and going up) and $150 for Initiation fees.

Bug Service. There are all kinds of price ranges. It depends on the type of house and size of yard. I have a ranch with a small yard. I pay $600 per year for inside pest control, termite control, and every other month lawn treatment. That is about the average from what I can determine from other residents. I have Bahia grass. St Augustine runs a little more as it is more tempermental. I pay an extra $50 a month for weeding and shrub trimming.

Invisible Fences. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. I have managed to catch the little dog that seems to find a way to escape his invisible fence on several occasions. A couple of neighbors installed the fence and had it removed because it did not work.

Neighborhood/areas. True there are no bad villages/neighborhoods. Not sure I agree with villages07 on the rest. It is not the type of house that has more year round residents but the age of the village. We are all ranches and are 70-80% year rounders. I do agree that buying in a new house in a new village will have a different camaraderie than buying a preowned in an established village but no matter where you buy you will make friends quickly and get involved with their activities. New villages will have empty houses and new villagers not there because they are trying to sell the old house before they can move. If you read some of the other posts, try to stay away from the town squares because the music might become a nuisance. If you want to live on a golf course, be prepared or lawn mowers in the early AM trimming the greens and tee boxes. Also be alert for golf balls and obnoxious golfers searching for their lost golf balls. Be aware that if you are next to a tee box, the golfers are loud and obnoxious. Profanity seems to be a must with some of the golfers.

Also, look at the streets behind your prospective resident. If you back up to a major artery you will have the noise from trucks, motorcycles, etc. Try to get a residence in the interior of a village. I live on the road in/out of our villages. UPS and the other delivery trucks zoom up and down the road, landscaping trucks with their trailers zoom up and down. On garbage days, the garbage trucks zoom up and down. And in the summer, the motorcycles with their loud exhausts zoom up and down. It is not really as bad as all that but it is there. Just something to think about.