Just bought and need advice

[jrjr729]

Hello everyone,

My wife and I are having a home built in Amelia and will be closing in mid January. We are keeping our home in Delaware. We plan to stay in the Villages for months at a time at different times of the year so we won't actually be snowbirds. We need advice about what to do to our homes to prepare them for the times when we are not there. The longest we have been away is about two weeks for vacations.
Also, we need advice about where to get furniture cheap. We are stretching pretty thin to get the house, given the economy.

We are looking forward to meeting our new neighbors and can't wait to come down. TOV is a great way to get info. Thanks

[Mintjulep]

Congrats on your purchase!!! :a040:

We just bought new furniture from Kanes in Ocala.
Our salesman, Ray, was terrific. And lots of fun to deal with.
We told him exactly what we wanted, and what our budget was, and we were extremely pleased with everything...
Very reasonable....

[littlekat5]

furniture can be bought at bargins and treasures, rooms to go or watch the paper, there is always furniture on sale by Village residents. Going away: shut off the water and water heater if gas or electric. Keep a/c/ on at about 80 degrees year around when you are not here OR everything will be green and icky when you return. Remember anything that can spoil, surely will, so take it with you or find a neighbor to give it to. Hope this helps, And please have someone hired to do your yard work, and give your neighbor or someone nearby to keep a watch on your property along with your other addresses and phone numbers for emergencies.

[JohnN]

My leaving checklist includes:
- shut off the water main to the house
- shut off the electric to water heater
- turn fridge temp to "2"
- set thermostat for vacation mode (high and low setting, whatever you choose)
- set garage door to lock mode (or you can unplug it or shut the breaker, your choice)
- I put a bit of bug spray and vegetable oil down the various drains
- saran wrap over the commodes

I think that's about it. No golf cart consideration here.

[Peachie]

Congratulations, jrjr729, on your new home in Amelia. You have received excellent advise already but one additional thing we do, because we don't have surge protection, is unplug any electrical items, other than the frig. FL is the lightning capital of the world, after all. If gone for six months, we also take batteries out of items to avoid corrosion that may occur in the interim.

[jeffy]

Congrats,

For reasonable furniture, as already mentioned, try Kanes in Ocala. I personally think Bargains and Treasures is overpriced. This is based on the fact that we bought a futon new for $200 elsewhere and 2 years latter gave it to Bargains and Treasures to sell for us, and they were able to get more than $200 for it for us used.

If you are REALLY budget mined, see American Freight in Ocala for bedroom sets. We bought mattresses from Dr Snooze , across from the old walmart on 441/27. Shop elsewhere first on mattresses and then take them your best price and they got us something better at less money.

If you need any appliances check out Appliance Direct between fruitland park and leesburg, or the new HHgreg in Ocala. Or HHgreg for TVs.

If you want a golf cart, we just bought a 2005 Club Car Precedent , new remanufactured from Golf Car Depot in Land O Lakes (near Tampa) at a great price.

You made a great decision to buy. Dont be surprised if you spend more time here than you expect you will now.

jeffy

[geobar]

Congradulations as well, :coolsmiley:

We have just purchased in Amelia last week. Presently still deciding on which model home to have built.
Was great advise for your new home was posted here.
We left TV last Friday back to New York. Hoping to go back in Dec.
I was tryng to find a list prepared for new buyers. I had seen a week or so ago. Ill sent to you when I find it again.
We will be on the north side of the new construction in Amelia, Section 129.

[jojo]

Jrjr729 and Geobar - Congratulations on your great choice of The Villages and welcome to Amelia. We have several folks from Amelia on this forum (Ok - maybe not as many as from Hadley!). Be sure to let us know when you come down.

[geobar]

We were at Crispers on 10/17 after arriving at Tampa to drive to TV.

We are from Long island, NY and met a some people there which was very nice.

In out travels around TV we met a few again in Lake sumter and Hadley. :coolsmiley:

[chuckinca]

furniture can be bought at bargins and treasures, rooms to go or watch the paper, there is always furniture on sale by Village residents. Going away: shut off the water and water heater if gas or electric. Keep a/c/ on at about 80 degrees year around when you are not here OR everything will be green and icky when you return. Remember anything that can spoil, surely will, so take it with you or find a neighbor to give it to. Hope this helps, And please have someone hired to do your yard work, and give your neighbor or someone nearby to keep a watch on your property along with your other addresses and phone numbers for emergencies.


We usually leave the temp at 82 in the summer and it costs about $60/mo for electric. This summer, my brother was the last in the house and left it at 84 as recommended by an old timer TV resident; the monthly electric bills were under $20. We were in TV for a week earlier this month and nothing turned green or icky.


.

[Jerseygirl08]

Thanks Chuck, for that information. When my house was empty (May - Sept), I strategically placed 3-4 of those canisters of little white pellet "moisture picker uppers" (can't remember the name of it for the life of me!) and it actually worked. House was as dry as a bone. So, I figure, if you do that, PLUS turn thermostat to 84 degrees, you've got it made in the shade. Good advice, thanks again for sharing it. {I love these tips, very enlightening}:coolsmiley:

[Jerseygirl08]

Forgot to say Big Congrats to jrjr729 and Geobar's. Got to meet the Geobars at Crisper's on 10/17. Glad you came to the luncheon. Always great to see newbies. There is plenty of information in this forum for you to read. Do searches. I have tons of info. I gathered from here. Don't think I would have ever been brave enough to buy on my own without the confidence I got from all that I learned here. And then, not to mention the wonderful people I've met in TV - through TOTV. I feel blessed and lucky. Here's hoping the same for all of you, too. Cheers:a040:

[graciegirl]

Welcome to you both. I hope you enjoy every day of at least two hundred years in Paradise. You picked a wonderful Village because our dear friend JoJo lives there and Mom2five too, just to name a couple!

Ikea in Orlando has inexpensive furniture. We rented a trailer three times to bring things from our other house here. It requires a trailer hitch and rental for trailer one way is about two to five hundred dollars. I find that a lot of us had extras and duplicates to bring.

You need to go to Bargains and treasures frequently because their merchandise changes a lot. They are filled up right now!! It is amazing what you can find at Target in the way of small tables etc.

Also, I had ruled out Southern Lifestyles but shopped in Cincinnati found what we liked, told Southern Lifestyles and they gave us a better price on the bedroom set. When you go in there, sometimes the first impression makes you feel that everything is quite expensive. Tell them the item and the manufacturer and they will beat the price, delivery is free and they will set it up for you.

Good luck and welcome once again.:welcome:

[jrjr729]

Thank you all for your help. We appreciate it.

[chuckinca]

Welcome to you both. I hope you enjoy every day of at least two hundred years in Paradise. You picked a wonderful Village because our dear friend JoJo lives there and Mom2five too, just to name a couple!

Ikea in Orlando has inexpensive furniture. We rented a trailer three times to bring things from our other house here. It requires a trailer hitch and rental for trailer one way is about two to five hundred dollars. I find that a lot of us had extras and duplicates to bring.

You need to go to Bargains and treasures frequently because their merchandise changes a lot. They are filled up right now!! It is amazing what you can find at Target in the way of small tables etc.

Also, I had ruled out Southern Lifestyles but shopped in Cincinnati found what we liked, told Southern Lifestyles and they gave us a better price on the bedroom set. When you go in there, sometimes the first impression makes you feel that everything is quite expensive. Tell them the item and the manufacturer and they will beat the price, delivery is free and they will set it up for you.

Good luck and welcome once again.:welcome:



RE: Southern Lifestyles beating the price

We were told they would beat the price advertised in Fla for an item they stocked.

We had a quote from JC Penney in Calif for a Broyhill loveseat for $699 that Penney's had on sale and Southern Lifestyles said it was $1499 special order from Broyhill and because it wasn't a Fla Ad and not a stocked item their policy of beating the price didn't apply.

Sooo, we will order it from Penney's to be delivered from their Ocala store at no cost.



.

[chuckinca]

Thanks Chuck, for that information. When my house was empty (May - Sept), I strategically placed 3-4 of those canisters of little white pellet "moisture picker uppers" (can't remember the name of it for the life of me!) and it actually worked. House was as dry as a bone. So, I figure, if you do that, PLUS turn thermostat to 84 degrees, you've got it made in the shade. Good advice, thanks again for sharing it. {I love these tips, very enlightening}:coolsmiley:



Jereseygirl08:

Thanks for the tip on the white pellet insurance - have to find some of that stuff for next summer.

Chuck


.

[CTgolfer]

My leaving checklist includes:
- shut off the water main to the house
- shut off the electric to water heater
- turn fridge temp to "2"
- set thermostat for vacation mode (high and low setting, whatever you choose)
- set garage door to lock mode (or you can unplug it or shut the breaker, your choice)
- I put a bit of bug spray and vegetable oil down the various drains
- saran wrap over the commodes

I think that's about it. No golf cart consideration here.
Are the bug spray/vegetable oil down the drains, and the saran wrap over the commodes, specific to the South? If we're shutting down in the Northeast to come to the South over the winter, do we need to do the same?

[sschuler1]

If you are leaving your home over the winter in the frozen north, you will need to do different things. You will need to turn off your water and drain the pipes. Put a little antifreeze down the drain for the traps or blow them out. Be sure to drain the toilets as well! Don't forget to turn off the water to your outside spigots and drain those, but you probably do that every winter anyway. Turn your thermostat down to around 50 degrees.

[SNOK]

We sorced our housefull of furniture at Southern Lifestyles and chose exactly what we wanted. Then we went to a local furniture mega store in Okla. to actually see it up close. The salesman, of course, wanted the chance to quote, and he beat Southern Lifestyles by 25% - completely delivered to Fla. We gave Southern Lifestyles the quote and the chance to meet it before we orderd. We would have preferred to have Southern Lifestyles as the vendor since they are local in TV. But, they said they would only match a Fla. bid. It took more time, but worked out well for us. Also, there are services available to house sit if you are going to be away for an extended period of time. The service offered by Property Management (Empty Nest program) is good, but expensive. There are at least a couple of other local house sitting services that are much less expensive. Here is one -> http://affordablehomewatch.com/, although I cannot vouch for them, since I have not used them.

[Coconuts]

My leaving checklist includes:
- shut off the water main to the house
- shut off the electric to water heater
- turn fridge temp to "2"
- set thermostat for vacation mode (high and low setting, whatever you choose)
- set garage door to lock mode (or you can unplug it or shut the breaker, your choice)
- I put a bit of bug spray and vegetable oil down the various drains
- saran wrap over the commodes

I think that's about it. No golf cart consideration here.

I can understand the bug spray and oil down the drains but the saran wrap over the commodes is making my heart pound. Do you not want something to get in??????OR GET OUT????????????

[Peachie]

It's my understanding, Coconuts, that plastic wrap on the terlets prevents the water from evaporating which prevents sewer odors from entering the house.

[Coconuts]

It's my understanding, Coconuts, that plastic wrap on the terlets prevents the water from evaporating which prevents sewer odors from entering the house.
Oh thank heavens. I never thought of that.

[Peachie]

Unfortunately, Coconuts, that plastic wrap won't keep out the sewer snakes and rats.... :1rotfl::1rotfl: