[joelfmi]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

It costs $159 a month for our amenity fee. We don't have any HOA fee at all. Compare with the nearest trailer park, where you own your house, you pay rent on the land, PLUS you pay an HOA of at least $200/month, and they have a single pool, no golf course at all, and you can't take a golf cart to get anywhere other than around the neighborhood.

If $159 a month is "not cheap" then you definitely can't afford to live in the Villages. Our utility bills are low, our taxes are low (compared with other states), if you choose to work there's no state income tax at all.

What's not cheap? Dining out every night, and the costs of alcoholic drinks at the bars. Shopping only at Publix and Fresh Market, and never at Winn Dixie or Aldi or Sam's or Walmart.

Oh and the price of milk everywhere -except- Aldi's and Walmart. I mean - what in the Sam Hill is up with that anyway? Are cows a rare commodity down here or something? Almost $3 for a half gallon of just normal ordinary store-brand 1% - but I can get it for $1.49 at Walmart, that's their regular price.

Anyway - it's not "cheap" but it is affordable to pretty much anyone who has a pension, or a 401k, or Social Security. You can buy a beautiful 1100-square-foot manufactured home in the Historic section for around $115k, and for another $30k you can update and make repairs, and enjoy retirement. And yes that would be a pre-owned home. But if you check every day and call a few realtors, you can probably find a clunker forclosure for under $70k, raze it to the ground, and build a small, but new home for another $120k.

To built a decent livable new home 3 bedrooms to baths, 3 car garage can start at of cost $250K to $400K. The cost of the fees is very high, but you get what you pay for and want.