[villages07]

Boomer...good question. I have read everything I could find on the Villages and asked anyone who I thought had some inside knowledge. With all that, I was very comfortable making the decision to buy here (even when we hit the peak of the housing market in Summer '06). My only concern then and it is still lingering just a bit..... is this lifestyle and this beautiful community sustainable over the long term at costs comparable to today's very affordable fees? I bought at age 51 so, the Good Lord willin', I'm looking at a potential of 30+ years here.

I believe that final buildout is at least 5 years away. As long as new homes are being built and sold, the lifestyle, the amenities, the developer-supported stuff (entertainment, polo, etc) goes on as well as always, if not better. Buildout could be 5 years, or 8 or 10..who knows?

Governance: The residential (aka numbered) Central Development Districts (CDD's) are in place and grow as new building grows. In older districts, the elected board is all homeowners, in newer districts a mix of elected homeowners and supervisors appointed by the developer. TV is much more like a mini-city than an HOA. We have professional city planner types and a robust organization in place to negotiate contracts, formulate budgets, invest funds, etc. The supervisors provide direction but the guidance and execution is done by professionals. This includes common area landscaping, recreational trails, common lighting, maintenance of the common infrastructure.

There are two central CDDs, comprised of supervisors appointed by the Developer from among the commercial landowners. The central CDDs oversee the amenity budget, purchase of amenities from the Developer, prioritization of amenity maintenance and enhancement projects, etc. Just within the past year, there is now an elected resident Amenity Authority Committe (for north of 466) that provides recommendations to the central CDDs on policies and projects. This, to me, is the stickier issue as far as the future. After buildout, will the amenity fees be sufficient to sustain, operate, and enhance the amenities while also paying down the debt to purchase them from the Developer? We know the fees will continue to creep up as inflation/cost of living rises. Will the Developer still be around or will he sell out to ResortQuest or some other management company? There are some unknowns here and perhaps some risk. Janet Tutt, the general manager for residential and numbered CDDs, has said many times that this CDD form of government is the best solution for future sustainability. Time will tell.

Much of our future fortunes do lie with the fate of the Developer. I've called him/it a benevolent dictator before. Yes, the Morse family are business people first and foremost and quite frankly, very good at what they do. TV took a lot of vision and a lot of guts and I don't begrudge them reaping the rewards. Gary Morse, now 70+ is the visionary in the family. Fortunately, his 3 children seemed to have adopted his work ethic and vision and run 3 of the major departments...construction, sales, and design. Their children are also now starting into the various related businesses. One of my hopes is the family has great pride in their legacy and will do what's best to sustain the uniqueness and positive reputation of the villages (while still making money). Just as Bill Gates and Warren Buffet discovered, there's only so much money one can make before you start looking for other ways to leave a legacy.

I personally hope the family does stay as the overall developer and continues to exert influence over TV and Sumter County.

Music in the squares sustains local businesses...so, it will probably continue is some way, shape or form.

Supposedly, the lifelong learning college takes in enough revenue to cover its expenses.

Amenity fees are not so much invested as spent (maybe there is a reserve fund, but, I don't recall seeing that). Spent to operate, pay salaries, spent to pay down the bond debt used to purchase them, spent to do upgrades and repairs (e.g. refurbishing of La Hacienda, Paradise rec center, buying new chairs for Belvedere pool, etc).

My, my...an almost Boomeresque lengthy reply.

In short, like Gracie said, time's a wasting....buy what you can afford, get here sooner than later, and enjoy what life has to offer you. And, you know, this is still a pretty fun place to be in the middle of August. You'd be surprised how much 'off season' time you might spend here. I think the investment is pretty darn safe for at least 10 years and then who knows? So many other natural, global, financial, personal things can happen between now and then to screw it all up anyway. Seize the day!!!