Thanks !

This is the exact reason many posters advise to buy a preowned home in unincorporated Sumter County. Additional taxes and bond payments add to your required monthly payments. Why pay them if you don't have to? As an added bonus, many courtyard villas in older areas have maintenance free yards. Lower water bills and more free time! What's not to enjoy? Don't do something silly like planting high maintenance palm trees and you have it made!

Thank you for the encouraging response...I like the way you think !
Will

With a new Courtyard Villa (carrying a small mortgage) are my estimated in line with reality ? Thank for your opinion.

Pretty close to my expenses now but future home insurance may be a get big increase.

Well my bond on a courtyard villa in Monarch Grove is $1300 per year, so that is a significant difference from your estimate. My monthly amenity bill is around $305 which includes water, sewer, trash and amenity fee.

Variables
 

There are variables there too. Insurance goes up if the house is vinyl sided, the roof is older than 5 years and if the roof isn’t hip designed.

Almost all older villas would fall into that category.

Your estimates seem a little on the high side but it’s good to operate that way.

They can't raise it too high, or I may just cancel it and pay them nothing.

my suggestions to get the most bang for your buck. Understand I don’t know your age or income or needs and wants:

1). Buy a courtyard villa. 3 bedrooms and two bath with an interior laundry

2). Buy one in Sumter County and one where the “bond” on the villa (which pays for the village infrastructure) has been paid in full

3). Buy a concrete block stucco (cbs) villa (better soundproofing).

4). get one where the lanai has been enclosed. You’re not going to want to sit out in a screened lanai in August heat or when the storms hit

5). Don’t get a corner villa but do try to get one on an oversized lot.
Corner lots are larger but come with added landscape upkeep but oversized lots give you the extra room behind the courtyard wall.

If you are buying your primary home, don’t skimp. If this is a seasonal home you might not want or need all the extras

Wish I had taken my own advice

I thought Marion County has the highest taxes?

Who do you get your homeowners insurance from?

It depends. See Post No. 15. I think the highest property tax rates are in the Villages of Pine Ridge and Pine Hills, which are in Lake County and within the City of Fruitland Park.

Not even close. While Marion is higher than Sumter, it is MUCH lower than nearly every county/city south of us. Fruitland Park, Lake County, etc are easily 30%-50% higher.

High impact fees are economic killers. Just imagine how much would be added per homesite if they were at a level proposed by a previous county administration. I venture to guess that development would be on a smaller scale and services that follow the homes (grocery stores, doctor's offices, etc.) and workers needed in those areas may not happen. We all determine what will work in a budget and proceed or look elsewhere.

It would depend on if you were Lake County Leesburg.