Moving to the Villages - Part 2

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Old 10-17-2008, 11:15 AM
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zcaveman zcaveman is offline
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Default Moving to the Villages - Part 2

(Continued from Part 1)

HOME INFORMATION

Contractors
You will be told this several times but before you hire some one to do any work for you, you might want to check with the Villages to verify that they are a reputable company or ask your neighbors to see who they used for a particular service.* Do not pay for lawn service in advance.

Floor Plan
After you put in the down payment, you will get a copy of the floor plan. This plan is to scale and can be used to see where the furniture will fit, etc.

Home Inspections
If you are buying a pre-owned home, you should definitely consider hiring a Home Inspection company to give your potential home a complete checkout before you commit to a contract. Keep in mind that the Home Inspection team will make notes of any problem – no matter how small. You will have to take into consideration your own aptitude in being able to fix the small problems. The main point here is that you do not want to be stuck with some 'hidden' problems. If you purchased a new home, you might want to consider hiring a Home Inspection company to go over the home before your one-year warranty is up to make sure that you did not miss anything during the first year of ownership. Remember, after the one year warranty is up, you are on your own.*

Internal Surge Protectors
It is not a bad idea to go out and buy surge protectors to insulate all of your electronic products from a power surge. This is in addition to the whole house surge protector.

Lightening Arresters
I have never pursued these but I have read that they are protection from lightening strikes that actually hit the house. I am putting this in as an informational item. Please check it out before you pursue this option.

Sprinkler Systems
Because of the short warranty period, the sprinkler system deserves an entry of its own. There is a 30 day warranty for the lawn sprinkler system. You have 30 days to make an appointment to have it inspected. If the time runs out, you are on your own. If for some reason you cannot be there to do it yourself, try to have a neighbor or a friend schedule the inspection and have him walk around with the inspector to make sure that all heads are working and sufficient pressure is coming out of each sprinkler head.* The inspector should set the control box for the correct watering day and times when he is there and you should ask him to explain how the system works – including the settings of the control box. If you have a friend or neighbor do the inspection, he will need access to the garage area where the control box is located.

Warranties
When you purchase your new or pre-owned home, get a list of the warranties and when the warranties expire. On a new home, there is a one year limited warranty and a five year structural warranty. After that there is the Sunset warranty. From what I read, Villages re-sales do not have a one year limited warranty. They are sold "as-is". The structural warranty and the Sunset warranty still apply to re-sales. Be sure to use or at least inspect all rooms in the home (including guest rooms, guest bath, closets, attic, garage, lanai, etc) to make sure everything is in order. Make sure that you have resolved all problems with the Warranty department prior to the expiration dates. You also have dealer warranties on your appliances, A/C, water heater, etc which have their own warranty periods. Be sure to read the warranties and service maintenance requirements and act accordingly.

Water Softeners
You will probably get calls about water testing. Typically they offer a free dinner for two at a local restaurant. That fact is that it is purely a sales pitch. You'll find the quality of the water in the Villages is really quite good compared to many locales in the U.S. If you do not currently have a water softener, tell the prospective testers "thanks, but no thanks". Personally after 30 years with one, I prefer the softened water over the regular water. This would be up to you.*

Wind Inspection
The state of Florida offers a free wind inspection program. When I called my homeowner's insurance company to see what this meant to me, they said that if you qualify, you can get up a rebate on your hurricane coverage that is in your homeowner's policy. Go to www.mysafefloridahome.com and click on Wind Inspections on the left hand side and go to the Q&A to see if you qualify. Most of us do.* Read the information at the site to see what you need to do to arrange for a free wind inspection for your home. Then click on the Application for Wind Inspection to fill out a wind inspection form.

Whole House Surge Protection
Central Florida is the lightning capital of the United States. There are many ways that lightning can enter your home. One is through a lightning strike that hits close to the house and comes in via the electrical wiring (aka the meter). When I bought here, you had to rent the surge protector. Now you can purchase one. It is probably a good idea to call SECO and arrange to have a surge protector installed at the electric meter.


INSURANCE

Ambulance Service
Some members have complained that they had to pay for the ambulance service on emergency calls. I have not found this to be the case. Ambulance service is covered under my medical policy. You might want to check your insurance policies to make sure this is covered.

Golf Cart Insurance
Research whether or not you want an additional insurance policy (uninsured motorist policy) on your golf cart. The golf cart insurance carried under the homeowner's policy usually only covers property damage and not personal injury. There have been many, many accidents with golf carts where people were seriously injured and the little H.O. policy didn't cover squat.

Health Insurance
You should check to find out if you will be covered by your current carrier in this area in Florida and what you have to do to inform them of the change. If you are a HMO or Managed Care health Insurance participant, call and get a list of physicians, hospitals, etc in the Villages area for your coverage. When I moved here, Aetna had a different list of physicians I could use than what I saw on their website.

Home Insurance
You will need home insurance on the new home and you cannot drop the old home until it is sold. I am sure you know that. We went with the Villages Insurance. It was cheaper for both the home and auto than my previous carrier. They also cover the golf cart under the home insurance policy. You can get hurricane insurance 2% deductable as part of your homeowners policy. Other carriers in the immediate area are AAA, State Farm, and Liberty Mutual to mention a few.


LICENSES AND REGISTRATION

Florida Drivers License
As mentioned above, be sure to bring your birth certificates and other ID with you. You will need them to get a Florida driver's licenses* As of October 1, 2008, you must present proof of Social Security number (for example, a Social Security card or any of the following documents showing your Social Security number: tax return, W-2 form, property tax statement, pay check, DD-214, school record).

You will get a vision test when you transfer your driver's license to Florida. This site has all you need to know about getting a Florida Driver license and registering your automobiles in Florida. http://www.hsmv.state.fl.us/ Look under Tags and Titles and New to Florida.

Florida Automobile Registration.* You will need your automobile titles. If you are still buying your car, bring the name and address of the car loan place and the account number. You will have to have proof of Florida car insurance before you can change titles and get tags. I stayed with my original company but they had to write me a new policy and cancel the New Jersey one. This site has all you need to know about getting a Florida Driver's license and registering your automobiles in Florida. http://www.hsmv.state.fl.us/* Look under Tags and Titles and New to Florida.

Other Licenses
Various other licenses (pilot, amateur radio, etc.) may require change-of-address with the agency within a defined time frame or they may be forgotten at renewal time or invalid upon the move.*

Firearms
This is a tricky one.* For those with a concealed carry permit, if issued in several states (check yours carefully) it may be valid also in Florida due to reciprocal-recognition agreements between the states.* However, that license may become invalid the instant you have moved to FL and became a Florida resident.

(Continued in Part 3)
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Jacksonville, Florida
Andover, New Jersey
The Villages

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Last edited by zcaveman; 03-26-2011 at 07:09 AM. Reason: Removed Florida Driver License paragraph 3/26/2011
  #2  
Old 03-06-2009, 12:04 AM
Phoebeis Phoebeis is offline
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Thank you so much! I'm planning on moving to TV as soon as my house sells (hope it's in this lifetime), and your information is priceless. Are you a retired attorney?
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Old 03-06-2009, 10:15 PM
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zcaveman zcaveman is offline
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No I am not an attorney.

A few years ago, I put something together to help a few friends that were looking at the Villages and decided to post it for all interested in the Villages to use as a start to their move.

I hope some of the info helps.

Z
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Andover, New Jersey
The Villages

Second star to the right, then straight on 'til morning.
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Old 01-05-2011, 08:16 AM
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natickdan natickdan is offline
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Default Floor Plan Suggestion

Thanks for putting together a wealth of information that has helped us to prepare for our closing next week.

I suggest making a copy of the floor plan and then have it laminated. When we received our floor plan, we brought it to Staples and had a copy made and laminated. This allowed us to mark-up our floor plan multiple times. Just make sure you get an erasable marker. We found using several colors made it easy to identify different types of furniture.

I believe we spent just over $10 for the copy and to have it laminated.
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Regards:

Dan
Natick, MA
Village of Buttonwood 1/12/11
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