Quote:
Originally Posted by Lolabird
This is incredible, everyone!
So much that I did not know.
I am realizing the the Bond is a major consideration. Is that paid separately, or as part of the financing package? Is there a time limit to pay it off?
We plan on being snowbirds, and living in the Villages Dec-April.
I was considering an east facing house, since the sun would set in the back
lanai when it would be warmest in the winter months. Does that sound logical?
Again, thank you all so very much. I knew I came to the right place to have my questions
answered !
Lora
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You are correct, Lora, no lack of information here! LOL
First, a big high five from two former Rhode Islanders, and welcome!
We are on our third home in The Villages and have been here eight years. My mom has lived in the northern end in the village of Piedmont for 21 years. It’s lovely. My sister has lived in the village of Ashland, just a bit south of 466, near Sumter Landing, for 20 years. Very nice area!
We have lived in the village of Buttonwood (preowned home) with no municipal taxes, just Sumter County taxes, then the village of Pine Hills (newly built spec home) and paid municipal taxes to Fruitland Park and Lake County taxes, and both were great.
We are now just south of 44 in a home we had built, and LOVE it. We pay municipal taxes to Wildwood, and Sumter County taxes.
See where I’m going? All of The Villages is lovely, it all just depends on your preferences for how you want to live and what you like to do. Take your time deciding.
We have dogs, so we do a lot of walking and love the miles of beautiful recreational paths in the area we are now.
In the new areas, you will pay taxes to municipalities in addition to your county taxes, just keep that in mind. You can save money buying a preowned home with some or all of the bond paid, and will pay no municipal tax in unincorporated Sumter County. The bond is paid annually as part of your tax bill. I believe it is amortized over thirty years.
As for lot orientation, remember how the sun “swings” in the sky seasonally, not just rising east and setting west. In the winter, when you will be here, the sun swings to the south. Our current home faces north, so all winter, the sun travels across the back of our home, from east to west all day, where the lanai is, keeping the back of the house bright and warm when we want it the most. In summer, the sun is on the front of the house all day and the garage gets pounded with heat. That’s why we insulated our garage doors! The sun is still high enough in the sky to shine on the pool all day in summer, but the lanai is shaded. Our last house was east facing and we enjoyed the sunsets, but the lanai was brutally hot in summer, so we had it enclosed. Problem solved, but we had very little outdoor space to enjoy on the back of the house. If you are only here in winter, heat from the west setting sun might not be an issue for you.
Before we built, we went to tons of open houses for ideas, but ultimately, you will be limited by what is available as far as finishes. I would recommend not putting roll outs in the kitchen cabinets, etc during the build, because we were not happy with the quality of the hardware. I ended up replacing some of the rollouts with much better ones after market. Also, we would not have the walls painted during the build again. The paint they use is a flat paint that looks great, but marks up so easily and is very difficult to clean. We will end up painting over it eventually.
I could go on and on but it can be overwhelming. Try to find a really good Villages agent who listens to you and is willing to spend time with you, and that will help tremendously.
Enjoy the process and best of luck.