Need info before moving to the Villages

[shaddy1]

We are thinking about making the move this year, have been there many times over the past couple of years, even have made a deposit on a home.

Questions:

I can only go by the brochures they have given me, what are the total fees I could expect to pay a month?

Not sure what this bond thing is?

Your auto insurance rates, do they double when moving to Florida?

Home Insurance?


Any other thing i should know outside of what I have been told by the Realtors?, another words the real scoop.


Homestead?

[Avista]

Our auto and home insurance are much lower in The Villages.

[swrinfla]

shaddy1:
You should go to this forum's "General Villages Discussion," look for the topic headed "Things to think about..." and see zcaveman's entry dated 22 January. Best compilation of ideas around; very thorough and comprehensive.
SWR

[gfmucci]

I've found the sales people for TV to be very upfront...especially if you ask them very specific questions, such as...

"In addition to the price of the home and besides mortgage closing costs, what are the specific "up front" as well as "continuing" fees I wil be expected to pay for the typical _____________ [e.g. ranch house selling for $200,000 - fill in the type/style of house you are interested in.]

They are a very good source - perhaps the most reliable and up to date source of this type of information for a new home.

[JohnN]

I'm also researching TV and have bookmarked about 50 posts here for follow-up.
Read through the forums here, plenty of info. Good luck

[Sidney Lanier]

Compared with the cost of the homeowners' insurance policy on our home in our tiny town in upstate NY (a town so small that people who live here don't even know where they are...), the homeowners' insurance on our Villages home is MUCH more reasonable. Don't know anything yet about auto insurance--sorry.

[shaddy1]

Great info so far, We live in Centreville, Va.

[Muncle]

Great info so far, We live in Centreville, Va.


Oh, your prices are going to drop. I came here from Kingstowne and everything is similar or cheaper. And wait 'til you see the traffic that many complain about here. :yikes: There is not a road anywhere near TV that's at all close to Lee Highway or 123 in volume. We won't even mention I-66.

Can you bring a Trader Joe's down with you?

[l2ridehd]

I do 66 a couple times a week so am looking forward to your horrible traffic in the Villages. But alas it will be a few more years before we can be there full time. We just bought so am finding all this information great as we try to work through all the details of remote home ownership. Thanks to all.

[villages07]

Shaddy,

I am another DC area ex-pat....you will find the cost of most everything down here much more reasonable than the DC area. Less gas 'cause you use the golf cart for everything, utilities (4-5 months a year with no heat or A/C), insurance, cost of home, no state income tax, CLEAN air (code Green all the time), less congestion and easier pace of life, and on and on. Property taxe rates seem to be a little steeper but the cost of a comparable home is much less so you come out ahead on that too.

Alas, Mr Muncle is correct...no Trader Joes. I have a friend who makes a trip back to DC from TV every couple of months. I give him my shopping list of non perishables and he resupplies my TJ needs.

One potential negative for a DC refugee might be the availability and quality of medical care. It seems to me that TV is still growing faster than the supply of doctors can keep up with. Just have to perhaps wait longer to get non-emergency appts.

All in all, tiz a great way to live and as a previously lifelong MD/DC area resident, I don't miss it one bit.

[shaddy1]

Thanks, really cold up here, supposed to snow this afternoon

[redwitch]

Hey, 07, think we can get your neighbor to do a TJ run for some of us others who soooo miss that store? I'm almost out of TJ's EVOO.