Daily Sun prints what the developer wants!
 

The latest go-around is the bashing of home inspectors. Apparently the developer is unhappy that owners are hiring inspectors to ensure that their home is built in accordance with specifications. Their answer is to warn home owners NOT to hire these "non-certified" inspectors who will tell you anything just to make a buck!

Shame on you developer and the Daily Sun for following this typical line of the developer family.

You must be on your guard and ensure for yourself that your home is properly built and the builder and the developer are NOT the folks to check on this.

Shame, shame, shame. If you are not in the developers' pocket you must be dishonest??????

Re: Daily Sun prints what the developer wants!
 

All homes in the villages are inspected by sumter county building inspectors at differant stages of construction and if you think you need to you can call an indepentant engineering firm and have them do a whole house inspection
drd

Re: Daily Sun prints what the developer wants!
 

I thought the developer owned the Sun? If that's correct, would it be any way but how the developer wanted things said?

Re: Daily Sun prints what the developer wants!
 

Say what you want about the Daily Sun, but the article in mention certainly made a good point. One should use only a certified inspector if you want to get a honest and thorough inspection.

Re: Daily Sun prints what the developer wants!
 

I hired an inspector when my home was approaching its one year anniversary. He is a Villages resident but has extensive credentials from his "prior life". He has a good rapport with the warranty staff. I know a number of folks who have employed him. I have not heard anyone say that the warranty department balked on legitimate punch list items. The warranty dept could not have been more responsive and efficient for us.

That being said, it seems this controversy is primarily concerning the siding issue and the inspectors recommended by the POA to identify problems. If you read the last POA bulletin, one letter to the editor was from the siding inspection company and they implied that they are gaining a consensus with the warranty department on what needs to be fixed and how. It seems to me that the POA wants to keep beating this drum even though it appears progress is being made to resolve it.

This article should not dissuade anyone from hiring a competent, qualified inspector. I'm also confident that the warranty department will address and rectify legitimate issues.

Re: Daily Sun prints what the developer wants!
 

Frangyomory , You need to take a VALIUM...
The developer probably does own the paper and if so, they would want a positive light shown on The Villages...Bottom line is BUSINESS IS BUSINESS.
They have thought of everything I can think of to make this a Senior citizens , Disney World and thats just what I was looking for when I came here. Now think a minute, Is there any other place in the World that compares to this place???
When I bought my home it was built beautifully and I could only find three mickey mouse things that I wanted addressed. they were all taken care of to my satisfaction within 10 days . This place is First Class and the Developer is going to see that it stays that way..Are there some weak spots , sure , but and area where 65,000 people live in close harmony is almost impossible but they have pulled it off...
They are going to have to drag me out of here !!!

The loving it Fumar

Re: Daily Sun prints what the developer wants!
 

We recently bought a vinyl sided home that was built in 2004.

Does anyone know when the contractors changed from stapling on the vinyl to using nails?

We had our home inspected, there are no bulges in the vinyl, but some of the vinyl has slipped slightly. The inspector did not feel this was a major problem.

I am wondering if we should get a second opinion, and where we can get a list of certified inspectors.

Thanks for the info on this site.

Hyacinth Bucket

Re: Daily Sun prints what the developer wants!
 

HB
Nails are best, vinyl siding has elongated holes , the nails are driven through these holes but not all the way in..Its best to leave about 1/8 inch out of the wood ....that way when the temp. changes the siding can slide and not buckle...many times when staples are used they drive them to far in and the siding can't move but it still expands and so it has to buckle.
NOW having said that , you can have to same problem with nails if they are driven in to far. But its not as common with nails as they are normally nailed by hand instead of a staple gun....I hope thats clear.....I personally have never done it , BUT I DID STAY AT A HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS LAST NIGHT.

Re: Daily Sun prints what the developer wants!
 

I never once said I don't LOVE the Villages. And, if you believe the developer has our best interest in mind, let's see what happens when he leaves the area after he finishes development as planned in 2011.

Owning the newspaper should not create a conflict of interest. The bashing of home inspections was specifically to put fear into home owners who want inspections prior to the one year anniversary.

I am a frog, here until I croak but I also have my eyes wide open and I just think all residents need to do the same. One day take a trip across 441 to the "historical" side and ask some of the long-term residents what they think of the developer and the new rules here.

Re: Daily Sun prints what the developer wants!
 

Hi Fumar,

Yes, I know this is off topic. :cop:

Do not mean to go into "One upsman ship" but I once won a night at the Presidential Suite at the Holiday Inn Express.

What this meant was there was a plastic plaque on the top of the door that said Presidential Suite, our friend who we travelled with, did better. He opened the cabinets and found unopened groceries and he did not stay in the Presidential Suite.

We have had many laughs over this.

Thank you for the info on the siding.

Hyacinth Bucket

That's Not The Way I Read The Article
 

The forewarning in the Daily Sun article wasn't to avoid hiring home inspectors. What the article did say was to choose home inspectors who demonstrate their qualifications with training, membership in a professional organization and experience. What's wrong with that? Sounds like a solid recommendation to me.

Re: That's Not The Way I Read The Article
 

:agree:

Re: Daily Sun prints what the developer wants!
 

As long as the houses that the developer builds and sells are inspected by the county building department and passed and a certificate of occupancy is issued he would not care what an outside inspector says. The developer is not bound by an independant inspectors report
drd

Re: Daily Sun prints what the developer wants!
 

County Building Inspectors are mostly Human

Re: Daily Sun prints what the developer wants!
 

Nothing to do with the inspectors, but regarding slanted newspaper coverage:

Any newspaper I read (NY Times, NY Daily News, NY Post, USA Today) has their own slant. I read anything in them with a knowledge that their articles are somewhat slanted toward their individual leanings.

Why would I expect anything different from a newspaper owned by a local developer? They definitely seem bent on reporting mostly good news, and probably have the developers interest close to their heart all the time. That's not a bad thing, really. It's just the way it is.

To Some Degree...What's New?
 

I've come to know a reporter on The Daily Sun, and I have also communicated with both reporters and columnists of a couple of other big city daily papers. They all say essentially say the same thing..."of course the content of what a reporter or columnist writes has to satisfy the desires of the newspaper's owner and his appointed publisher and editors". But they all go on to say that the owner/publisher/editor can't require those writing for their papers to lie or in any way misrepresent the truth. Even a demand by the owner of media to tell only one side of a story violates the principles of good jounalism.

They all explain that it's always a greater struggle for the news reporters, who sometimes would like to include more information or news from the side counter to the owner's. They all explain that the "counter" news is never completely eliminated, but sometimes it is presented with less emphasis than the reporter might like. But like a lot of businesses, if he wants to keep his job, he must keep the boss happy.

The issue is a lot more defined when it comes to columnists. One reminded me that unlike reporters, a columnist's job is to write articles and opinion that create controversy among the publication's readers. One explained to me that many readers don't understand the difference between reporters and columnists and often accuse the publication of one-sidedness after reading the writings of columnists.

The Morse family, the developer of The Villages, clearly wants their media (the Daily Sun, WVLG and VNN) to emphasize the friendly lifestyle of TV as well as their own political preferences in both the choice of news articles, but particularly in the choice of syndicated columnists. The "news" is always decidedly local and designed to emphasize the wonderful lifestyle we all enjoy here. The opinion and columnists chosen by the owner/developer is always pretty far to the right--their preference which they have every right to present.

They own the media and have the right to orient their editorial staff in the direction they wish to emphasize. As readers, our choice is to read the publication or not, to listen or view WVLG and VNN, or not. There are alternatives, of course. CNN or Fox are excellent news sources; USA Today or the Orlando Sentinal can be used for news. And even though it's not available via home delivery, the New York Times is readily available in TV.

My earlier criticism in this topic had to do with the absence of attribution or contact information for articles published in the POA Reporter. Others have expressed opinions one way or the other about both the Reporter as well as The Daily Sun. I just think it's quite important for all of us to understand what the balance is between the rights of the owners of media and their responsibility for sound journalism.

Re: Daily Sun prints what the developer wants!
 

:agree:

Well said, Kahuna. A person owes it to himself to read all sides of an issue, no matter how mad they may make you. The responsibility is yours, not that of the writer and publisher.

Re: Daily Sun prints what the developer wants!
 

Franny, Have you ever posted anything that isn't negative? Enjoy life I will when I get there.

Re: Daily Sun prints what the developer wants!
 

BUC, sorry, but I think your comment was uncalled for. While Fran's comments may not always be the most positive, her love of TV shines through. Further, if you review her posts, there have been several that are in fact positive. She's also quick to admit when she has been in error and gracious in her apologies. Let's hope you can be as gracious.

Re: Daily Sun prints what the developer wants!
 

Maybe newspapers can't lie, but they sure can mangle the truth. They put articles that support their positions on the front page and articles that are against their positions on page 88. Take any unpopular political position and read about it in opposing papers and you will swear it is two different stories. The NY Slime and the Washington Compost are masters at it. Or just watch the same exact news story on CNN and FOX news. It will come out as two completely different sets on information. Call me a cynic, but I am at the point of not watching any news show or reading any papers because ALL news is so biased I can't believe any of it. The media does not provide accurate information, only information to support their views on a given subject. If you really want to understand the truth about any topic, you need to seek out information that supports both sides of an issue and read both with an open mind then you might be close to the correct picture.

Re: Daily Sun prints what the developer wants!
 

Google and other search engines sure makes getting a lot of information on a particular subject much easier. Probably not on something like news events in TV unless they are of interest to a national and international audience like the February 2, 2007 tornado.

Re: Daily Sun prints what the developer wants!
 

I second that - keep posting Fran!

Chuck

Re: Daily Sun prints what the developer wants!
 

:agree: :welcome:

TOTV should be open to all kinds of viewpoints. If you do not like someone's posts, you can skip over them.

Re: Daily Sun prints what the developer wants!
 

I agree! Keep posting Fran! There are several peoples posts I look forward to reading and yours are at the top of the list.

Re: Daily Sun prints what the developer wants!
 

nah, there should only be posts from people who agree with me......

Wow doesn't that sound really stupid!

I agree wholeheartedly with Taltarzac, this forum should be open to all kinds of viewpoints, otherwise it would be really, really boring.

Re: Daily Sun prints what the developer wants!
 

Here is my latest experience with home inspectors, as of last week...

They work for whoever hires them. They are like attorneys. If something is "marginal", it will be found on behalf of the client. If there is a typo in their report, it will be found to benefit the client. In my case, the buyer of my home hired a home inspector. He made a list of 5 things, 2 of which had nothing to do with codes, health, safety or even aesthetics. For example, a bulb was burned out in one of the three lights of a track light. He worded it "track light is not functioning properly." Another: "Numerous nail pops on shingle roof." This phrase was left over from a previous report - a cut and paste omission. There was one nail pop on the roof that I had already repaired. I'm glad I didn't hire a roofer at $150 to find NOTHING. Inspectors are hired and paid to find "something." But they may make a mountain out of a molehill.

Re: Daily Sun prints what the developer wants!
 

Fran, I would miss your post and seeing your picture. Keep on posting all of your thoughts and comments. That is what a Forum is all about.

By offering another viewpoint, makes some people think.

I agree with everyone who feels you should keep posting, and that is the majority on this thread.

Hyacinth Bucket