Cost of Living

[philnc]

We are considering moving to The Villages in the near future and have seen estimated costs of what the developer's sales people claim the monthly cost of living to be, $1039/month. Does anyone as current residents have any info as to the accuracy of that estimate?

Thanks for the feedback

Philnc

[justjim]

Recently a Thread with several good posts explained much if not all regarding TV costs. Go to SEARCH and type in the subject and I believe you will find your answers---and more.

[dp000]

Depends on how you want to live. That figure seems very low...that will hardly pay your monthly utilities, amenities' fee, etc. I know that we spend twice what we thought we would, when we moved here. Our house is paid for, and we paid our bond off. We eat out a lot more and participate in many activities, both in and out of The Villages. I guess it depends on your personal lifestyle, and how frugally you wish to live. When we bought our home, we decided to not be house-poor, so we can travel a lot and live "higher on the hog", than if we had a much more expensive home. You have to determine your priorities.

[l2ridehd]

What the sales folks give you is monthly cost to live here of about $1000 and that is for Utilities (gas, electric, water, trash), lawn, pest control, amenities fee, taxes, cable, phone and nothing else. What you spend for entertainment, food, transportation, mortgage, medical is beyond that $1000 a month. However it is still a very low cost place to live.

[MikeV]

That figure is for only the very basic costs. If you want anything beyond what is listed there it will cost more. I found it to be about 75% accurate if that helps at all. Although you could actually live very inexpensively here if you want to.

[LvmyPug2]

Your cost of living is really influenced by how you want to live. In addition to what has be already discussed, simple things like how large your home is and how cool you set your A/C will significantly impact your utilities costs. Having your own pool or hot tub will increase your utilities and you will have added maintanence costs. Small yards cost less to water than larger yards. Most folks hire a lawn service to mow, edge, weed and trim the shrubs. Doing those things yourself will save you a few bucks too.

[philnc]

The costs listed by the developer are those that must be paid each and every month if those are accurate then it can help you determine if TV is the place for. However if the $1039 is understated by a large margin then you can, depending on your income, find yourself in a situation that is untenable and negatively affecting the quality of life you want. In todays economy where so many seniors are living on fixed incomes , with prices for everything continually going up and senior's incomes not keeping pace the more you know before making a decision as to where to live can make a huge difference in your enjoying your life as opposed to just getting by.

philnc

[JMEZARIC3]

My figures are based on a 1150 sq ft Patio Villa with vaulted ceilings.

Bond,taxes,insurance $250
Electric 100
Gas 40
TV 60
Internet 45
Ammenity,water
sewage,trash 225
Termite bond,pest and
lawn treatments 40
Mowing 35
Homewatch 45

Total $750
The above estimates are based upon actual costs for the past 6 months with the house occupied in Sept and Oct and empty May,June July and Aug.

We are snowbirds ,when up north the TV and internet goes down to $8 but we pay $45 for home watch.The TV is on a promotional offer so it will go up in time.If we were full time in TV I estimate the total to be $800 to $850.We were in the house in Sept and Oct and the electric bill for Sept was $95 and the water and sewage bill only went up a few dollars. This past summer the home watch folks set the AC
at 80 degrees and the bill never exceeded $80.
When we are in the house,we do not pay $45 a month for home watch service,so I estimate the $750 figure will be our monthly costs when we occupy the house.
The below figures are monthly costs for out of pocket expenses base upon our stay in TV for Sept and Oct.This is our like style.Plug in figures for your life style.

Budget $400 a month for dinning out,$200 for golf at a country club(3 or 4 times a month),$50 for drinks at the square happy hour(5 times a month),$500 for food and $600 for misc.TOTAL $1750
That is a grand total of $2500.Add in your car expenses,medical expenses, insurance and mortgage(if any).
If the patio villa is paid off and you have good health insurance a couple can live nicely in TV on a monthly income of $4,000.

In a few years, we hope to be full time in TV and plan to upsize to a 3 bedroom ranch or designer home.So we are interested in the monthly costs for a larger home.

[dewilson58]

My figures are based on a 1150 sq ft Patio Villa with vaulted ceilings.

Bond,taxes,insurance $250
Electric 100
Gas 40
TV 60
Internet 45
Ammenity,water
sewage,trash 225
Termite bond,pest and
lawn treatments 40
Mowing 35
Homewatch 45

Total $750
The above estimates are based upon actual costs for the past 6 months with the house occupied in Sept and Oct and empty May,June July and Aug.

We are snowbirds ,when up north the TV and internet goes down to $8 but we pay $45 for home watch.The TV is on a promotional offer so it will go up in time.If we were full time in TV I estimate the total to be $800 to $850.We were in the house in Sept and Oct and the electric bill for Sept was $95 and the water and sewage bill only went up a few dollars. This past summer the home watch folks set the AC
at 80 degrees and the bill never exceeded $80.
When we are in the house,we do not pay $45 a month for home watch service,so I estimate the $750 figure will be our monthly costs when we occupy the house.
The below figures are monthly costs for out of pocket expenses base upon our stay in TV for Sept and Oct.This is our like style.Plug in figures for your life style.

Budget $400 a month for dinning out,$200 for golf at a country club(3 or 4 times a month),$50 for drinks at the square happy hour(5 times a month),$500 for food and $600 for misc.TOTAL $1750
That is a grand total of $2500.Add in your car expenses,medical expenses, insurance and mortgage(if any).
If the patio villa is paid off and you have good health insurance a couple can live nicely in TV on a monthly income of $4,000.

In a few years, we hope to be full time in TV and plan to upsize to a 3 bedroom ranch or designer home.So we are interested in the monthly costs for a larger home.


Nicely Done

[2BNTV]

You might want to include the following items.
1. Car insurance.
2. House insurance.
3. Lawn care.

Going forward:
1. Cart repairs.
2. House improvements.

It helps if you are handy around the house.

Please look at the "nuts and bolts" section as there a further breakdown of expenses. I personally used that, and thought of all the other expenses that might be incurred, as in your present lifestyle.

A lot of it depends on retirement income and the amount of entertainment expenses incurred in leading the lifestyle you want. It is cheaper in TV, as opposed to where I came from, especially taxes. You can get a homestead exemption of $50,000 if Florida is your main residence, (reduced taxes). Florida has no state income tax but you will incurred a hefty fee in getting your license changed, title and registration but it is a one time fee. Again all covered in "nuts and bolts".

[JB in TV]

You might want to include the following items.
1. Car insurance.
2. House insurance.
3. Lawn care.

Going forward:
1. Cart repairs.
2. House improvements.

It helps if you are handy around the house.

Please look at the "nuts and bolts" section as there a further breakdown of expenses. I personally used that, and thought of all the other expenses that might be incurred, as in your present lifestyle.

A lot of it depends on retirement income and the amount of entertainment expenses incurred in leading the lifestyle you want. It is cheaper in TV, as opposed to where I came from, especially taxes. You can get a homestead exemption of $50,000 if Florida is your main residence, (reduced taxes). Florida has no sales tax but you will incurred a hefty fee in getting your license changed, title and registration but it is a one time fee. Again all covered in "nutss and bolts".

Good points, but where in Florida is there no sales tax? Perhaps you mean state income tax?

[Matzy]

As already mentioned, it is about your lifestyle. Being a little bit "GREEN" (want to save the environment) oriented I watch the energy cost. Actually I do not have to watch the monthly costs closely, but I am focused to do my best in saving our wonderful environment and earth resources. So, the AC is set to 77 in summertime and 70 for colder times of the year, having all house equipments (example TV, 9.00/yearly costs, light bulbs energy saving, etc.) we do not reach even 65.-- $ a monthly electricity bill (average).
Comparing the living costs in the place we lived before, we save much more money living in TV than before.

[2BNTV]

Good points, but where in Florida is there no sales tax? Perhaps you mean state income tax?

My bad...... I stand corrected. :smiley: I made the correction in my original post. Thank you.

[Villages PL]

We are considering moving to The Villages in the near future and have seen estimated costs of what the developer's sales people claim the monthly cost of living to be, $1039/month. Does anyone as current residents have any info as to the accuracy of that estimate?

Thanks for the feedback

Philnc

$1,039.00 per month may not be out of the question, depending on your lifestyle. Did they give you a list of what they included? If so, it would be a big help if you would post it on this thread. Then you'll get much better answers.

[mobruce]

I feel the need to add my two cents on this conversation. We are home owners in The Villages, but only come down in the winter. When we are staying up north in the other months, we usally golf two or three times a week, plus we eat out serveral times a week. So when we come to The Villages in the winter months we don't see much of a change in our budget. So the cost comparison of living in TV would depend on your lifestye where you are coming from.

[casita37]

The figure the sales people gave you has absolutely nothing to do with your "lifestyle". The figures they gave you are probably just about right for what they are talking about. The sheet of paper actually lists each item and estimated monthly cost. You can save some on utilities, or you can go overboard with A/C, etc., same as you could do living anywhere. What IS different here are the amenities fee and the bond. You can get those figures from the sales agent. Actually.....if I remember correctly, they may have been included on that hand out they gave us.

I do think they are off on their lawn care estimates. Weeds, weeds, weeds will have you upgrading your landscaping and monthly services. You'll probably go with some of the extra services, like winterizing your lawn or fertilizers, lawn pest control, etc. The lawn care has really been the only expense which was more than we figures, which wasn't really "optional". You pretty much have to take extra steps with the lawn. Of course, you can do it yourself, if so inclined.

[murray607]

My figures are based on a 1150 sq ft Patio Villa with vaulted ceilings.

Bond,taxes,insurance $250
Electric 100
Gas 40
TV 60
Internet 45
Ammenity,water
sewage,trash 225
Termite bond,pest and
lawn treatments 40
Mowing 35
Homewatch 45

Total $750
The above estimates are based upon actual costs for the past 6 months with the house occupied in Sept and Oct and empty May,June July and Aug.

We are snowbirds ,when up north the TV and internet goes down to $8 but we pay $45 for home watch.The TV is on a promotional offer so it will go up in time.If we were full time in TV I estimate the total to be $800 to $850.We were in the house in Sept and Oct and the electric bill for Sept was $95 and the water and sewage bill only went up a few dollars. This past summer the home watch folks set the AC
at 80 degrees and the bill never exceeded $80.
When we are in the house,we do not pay $45 a month for home watch service,so I estimate the $750 figure will be our monthly costs when we occupy the house.
The below figures are monthly costs for out of pocket expenses base upon our stay in TV for Sept and Oct.This is our like style.Plug in figures for your life style.

Budget $400 a month for dinning out,$200 for golf at a country club(3 or 4 times a month),$50 for drinks at the square happy hour(5 times a month),$500 for food and $600 for misc.TOTAL $1750
That is a grand total of $2500.Add in your car expenses,medical expenses, insurance and mortgage(if any).
If the patio villa is paid off and you have good health insurance a couple can live nicely in TV on a monthly income of $4,000.

In a few years, we hope to be full time in TV and plan to upsize to a 3 bedroom ranch or designer home.So we are interested in the monthly costs for a larger home.

My estimates are pretty much the same as yours for the monthly expenses at $750 plus about $4000 for other expenses which would include paying electric, gas, insurances and taxes on our northern property while we are at the Villages.