We really have it made here in the Villages and now I realize it so much more!
 

Our son lives in Boca Raton and I decided to do some checking at some of the cities North of him about an hour to see home prices for 55+ communities in Port St. Lucie about 20 miles inland. Through my internet searches I found a planned community called Traditions. I thought it was a mini Villages. Several 55+ Villages with different names building houses and each community has a regional recreation center in it. We toured the model homes, sat down with the realtor to go over costs and fees etc. We are in the $250,000 price range. The lot sizes very tiny, the garage space barely fit two cars but no room for any cabinets. Hardly any attic space. 2 bedroom with den so just two decent closets. 1400 sq ft. EVERYTHING was an upgrade. No ceiling fans, 6 foot sliders instead of the 4 panel we get, cheaper doors, badly constructed moldings, terrible landscaping with bright red mulch, streets hardly wide enough for 2 cars to pass, hardly any restaurants or stores to go to, no pharmacy nearby, hardly any doctor's offices nearby. The recreation center shared by other communities with people of all ages. Get this: HOA $434 per month! Plus $25,000 bonds.
The HOA included basic cable, landscaping, security alarm. None of the great things we get here. I think they had about 10 clubs to join but had run out of space at the rec centers for anyone to create a new club. Pool shared by families no separate adult pool. The list goes on and on.

By the time we were done we had spent the entire day there and were so ready to come back home to paradise. We really do have the best of everything here and now I love my home so much more I can't express how happy I am to have it and live here in our great Villages. Plus I forgot to mention the free golf! No such thing there!!! You'd have to drive quite a ways and pay top dollar.

OP, you hit the nail right on the head. We did our research prior to purchase in TV. Besides several communities in Florida, we even spent time in Arizona. There are a few places here in Central Florida that would be suitable (Stonecrest being just one) but there is nothing out there like The Villages. Fore.

And yet, thousands will refuse to even come to see TV because the reality here might not fit their pet rumors that fit their partisanship.

They'd prefer to be alone and behind closed doors, where nobody seems to ever come out of the condo, and where they'll wait 2 years for the condo board to do something about building/maintenance problems, but HOA fee increases are made amazingly fast.

I was lucky in TV was the first and only retirement community that I visited. Somehow, I just knew in my heart there couldn't be any place better than TV. IMHO

Obviously, it's not for everyone and so be it.

I got the feeling also that the HOA's would be going up. In the 8 years we have lived here I think it went up $5.00 one time. We are so lucky. Plus I trust that our property values will increase here. I didn't get that feeling there as if things has remained stagnant for quite some time and that the market there was COLD.

I am not a Pollyanna fan of the developers, but we love it here. TV is great, and it is our home now.

same here

The Villages is by far lifestyle and amenity-wise the best 55+ community yet built. The Village People (sorry, could not help myself) are the most active and social anywhere I have visited. The number of clubs, physical layout, pleasant and tasteful landscape design... The list could go on.

I just knew when my eyes saw how cared for TV is that we have found home. To hear all of you who live there already rave about the place makes it a little easier to bail out on the only place we ever have known. I just know the decision is solid....here we come in about two weeks. I looked at six other places in Florida and cancelled my other appointments when I found TV.

Nevermind.

Our oldest has traveled to 11 states to find their future retirement home. Each time they come to our house and say so far there may be some that are close be nothing that matches TV

I just returned from 3 days visiting the grandchildren on Long Island- had a
Wonderful time but missed our beautiful surroundings here in TV. As soon as
I left Islip airport and turned onto Vets Hwy- I was saying "oh boy, have to
Drive aggressively here". The pot holes, garbage on sides of roads, people
Trying to cut me off, horns blowing, no Palm trees, no colorful flowers on every
Corner, the list goes on & on...... There's no place like home- in TV!

We also visited Traditions in Port St. Lucie on our way here from the Boca area. It was an all-age community with a section reserved for 55+. At that time the 55+ section was closed off because the home builder (Levits, I think) had declared bankruptcy. The whole place was kind of depressing, not at all like TV.

And yet, do we really want/need thousands more to come to The Villages? I don't think so; let them stay where they're at or go to a different place and I'm sure I'm not alone with this thinking.

I didn't say I want thousands to come to TV. I was addressing how people prefer to listen to rumors when they and the rumor spreaders have never even been here.

It's the ignorance about TV that I was addressing.... Like the ignorance about thinking TV is condos with HOA.

We don't have condos and we don't have an HOA. All our homes are single-family and we own our house/villa building and lot.

We only pay a monthly Amenities Fee of $148 per month per household and increases are limited by being tied to Consumer Price Index. What we get for the Amenities Fee is the buy of the century.

It is the buy of the century.

List of American Utopian communities - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

RD - that's an unusual list you've found. Thanks
It would be interesting to know what events/issues caused their individual demises.


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We really have it made here in the Villages and now I realize it so much more!

Can I hear an Amen!

We lived in NC in a so called retirement community, run by incompetent POA, bailed out of there, Went to a high rise oceanfront condo in Palm Coast- that too was run by an amateur board---the Villages is run by true professionals and we all benefit from their expertise

Very interesting reading! My wife and I had been looking for quite some time for the "right" place to retire. Pretty much after our first visit we knew we had found that place. We close on our new home in Labelle on 6/17 and will move there full time soon after. I would like to thank lanabanana73, graciegirl and many of the other posters here that have helped along this journey! TV is the most well taken care of place we have seen. It is always clean and well manicured. We both are really excited to meet you all soon!!

Amen to that!

Well said!

It's a miracle. It's gonna snow in TV today! Lol. :coolsmiley:

I agree The Developer and staff have done a great job "running" TV. As time goes on, the "inmates will run TV" and that is bothersome but we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

TV is great!

Same here -- TV was the first and only place we considered. We have been here in our new home for under 3 weeks and so far could not be happier.

Been here three years and feel the same way!!!

I hope the glow, never wears off. :smiley:

Personally, I envy you all for the love that you have for living in TV. My experiences have not been the same and I accept that that's me. It's obvious to me that I am not cut out for communal living. I have dealt with more than my share of nasty people and so, therefore, I have given up. I pretty much keep to myself and that's the smartest move I've made in the last three years. Don't get nasty and tell me to move. Sometimes you just don't have it in you. I applaud all of your happiness and as I said, sometimes I'm almost envious.

You are so right about the beautiful landscaping and buildings. That is my favorite thing about the Villages is how clean it is and well cared for. I love to drive around to the different villages and see the flowers and how beautiful they are. I love driving through the tree-lined Buena Visa Blvd. during the Spring to see the blooming azaelas. I also love the beautiful recreation centers and that they are available for our use. We went to a club event last night at Colony Cottage and Rocky and the Rollers performed. They are an absolutely awesome band and we had a fantastic time.

We all walk through life on separate paths, no need to feel envious.

IMO The Villages has the best management in the 55 and over community business. Laguna Woods Village, CA where several of my friends reside is undergoing tremendous political upheaval since the inmates have become in charge of running the asylum. The CotoBuzz Journal : Laguna Woods Village transition from Associa/PC, HOA Professional Management to Self FAQsReport: Laguna Woods Village boards lack vision and direction - The Orange County Register

we did the same search a few years ago...spent 5 days and 1000 miles visiting 55+ communities up and down the coast and even into Georgia. What other communities call "active and social" are unbelievable (a pot luck supper in the "rec center that holds less than 50 people, or bingo once a month) just didn't cut it for us. plus lack of other amenities, fighting for pool space, etc...goes on and on. HOA fees were staggering for nothing. It just confirmed what in our hearts we knew but had to "test" one last time before biting the bullet...and was absolutely the right choice!

My other half is here 80% of the year and loves it. I am still working full time, and am not ready for the full time experience. We have people over and I enjoy entertaining, the rec centers, and amenities. I do find that rude question are you a RENTER annoying, unfriendly and put off by that. I like when you meet new people and ask where are you from, what village, how long, and don't you love it here. Much better conversation

Your rental/owner status is nobody's business. I find rude questions very typical down here. I tried for about 2 1/2 years to fit in. Obviously I'm the square peg in the round hole. Now I just keep to myself with my puppies and go out and do as the mood strikes me on my own.
If I don't let them in, they can't hurt me. I'm probably stuck here till they take me out toes up but so be it. I socialize with friends on the phone and on Facebook. It's pretty much the only way I avoid the nasty people who have lost the filter.

so true!
 

When we announced to friends that we were coming to tv, friend said, oh, Tom and I would hate tv... I asked her, have you been there?.. answer, well no.... silence






QUOTE=goodtimesintv;1233976]I didn't say I want thousands to come to TV. I was addressing how people prefer to listen to rumors when they and the rumor spreaders have never even been here.

It's the ignorance about TV that I was addressing.... Like the ignorance about thinking TV is condos with HOA.

We don't have condos and we don't have an HOA. All our homes are single-family and we own our house/villa building and lot.

We only pay a monthly Amenities Fee of $148 per month per household and increases are limited by being tied to Consumer Price Index. What we get for the Amenities Fee is the buy of the century.[/QUOTE]

[/QUOTE]

It's just hard to explain to people what The Villages is. People look at you like you are crazy, like no place like that exists. You'll just have to invite them down so they can see for themselves.

We have been here for only 3 weeks and, having never visited before, have no opinion about whether some people here are more or less nasty than some people back in our former hometown. I would guess the ratio is probably about the same – maybe less here due to the abundance of sunshine and the fact that time is spent in planning fun activities and not negotiating the subway system or earning a living and more because some may be experiencing daily aches and pains that advancing age brings or the sorrows of widow/widowhood and/or the death of friends.

I have found that strangers seem more willing to help, hold doors open, the clerks in the supermarkets go out of their way to help you find something, offer to bring your packages to your car, etc etc. – atypical of behaviors up North. It also seems that far many more people smile and say good morning than we are accustomed to.

Interestingly, it never occurred to me that there would be anything untoward in asking whether someone is an owner or renter. Thank you for pointing that out since I wouldn’t want inadvertently to be considered rude.

I don’t think my husband and I are attracted to “communal living” either – although I’m not sure exactly what that means. So far it seems we have the option of either socializing with our neighbors or keeping to ourselves – which isn’t so different from where we lived in Brooklyn.

We may also be the “square peg in the round hole” since we don’t play golf or tennis or pickleball and numerous other activities (although we are planning on eventually trying some of these activities on for size LOL).

But putting aside all the usual hype for TV, what attracted me most to The Villages are the OPTIONS afforded to us that we did not have before. Options that we may or may not exercise.

I hope you eventually find your bliss – whether in solitary, among 1 or 2 choice friends, in prayer, in the love and joy that comes from your puppies or even Facebook. Feel free to pm me if you ever feel the need or just want to speak with someone who is not (yet) addicted to Kool-Aid.

You do realize the inmates have been running the districts north of 466 for some time?