Just making sure The Villages is THE place for us
 

This is my first post, but I’ve been lurking for awhile. I appreciate all of the good information available here. My wife and I made a lifestyle preview visit in July 2008. We loved it. We loved it all! The Villages blew away everything else we had looked at up to that point. We plan to visit again this summer.

I’ve noticed people here at TOTV aren’t shy about bragging about Florida’s friendliest hometown, but I was hoping you could share your thoughts on a couple of other communities, using The Villages as the benchmark. Our priorities are friendly people and access to golf.

Spruce Creek is a Del Webb community just north of The Villages. Friends of my parents live there, and they prefer it because it is smaller and they feel they get more for their money. Any comments?

Also, what can you tell me about Sun City Center? Their own website isn’t even very informative.

http://suncitycenter.wcicommunities.com/

Thanks!

I believe the only thing you get more of at Del Webb is a bit more square footage for the money. It is smaller and it truly is a gated community... but they only have 1 restaurant and 36 holes of golf. I think TV offers sooo much more. But when you come down to TV for your next visit... check out Spruce Creek for yourself... only you know what you really want.

sun city center
 

Both of my sisters lived in Kings Point, a gated community within Sun City Center. I visited them several times a year. Most of Kings Point is multiple family condos, very few single family homes. It was managed by WCI but I understand the residents have purchased the Kings Point common facilities and WCI is only involved in the new construction in other areas of SCC. Golf in Kings Point required a large initiation fee, yearly greens fee and trail fee. My hubby thought it was too expensive. Association fees included the club houses, cable tv, lawn service, shuttle bus, exterminator, outside maintenance, water, sewer and some other things that I can't recall. Sisters were not happy that the association fee went up about 10% almost every year. I thought the SCC itself had little to offer- very few national restaurants or stores, but you are between Sarasota and Tampa. Great outlet mall in Ellenton. Major dept stores in Brandon a suburb of Tampa. Probably would still consider retiring in Kings Point, but since both my sisters went back to the St Louis area, we have decided to locate to central Florida hoping to avoid having to evacuate during severe weather. We are also looking at several communities, but find more info on TV thanks to this website. Plan to make lifestyle visits later this year and narrow my choices. Then the real challenge will be selling our current home.

TVWannabe, we had be looking for 5 years! Just about every gated, semi-gated, adult, etc communities from North Myrtle Beach to Daytona. TV was out last visit, and we like you were just blown away. Yes, others may have this better and that better, and no place is perfect although we would like to think some are. BUT over 5 years of CONSTANT looking, reading, visits, research, mailings, etc, TV is TOPS in all areas and the most affordable and cost of living after the sale.
That is why the wife and I have decided to make TV our HOME. Now to just find the right CYV and make the purchase, that is the final step we are executing now!!!:pepper2:

Army Guy

Be advised, there are more than one Spruce Creek retirement communities in the area.

Just north of TV, actually probably bordering on a portion of TV's northern boundaries, is a retirement community called Spruce Creek South. I understand it used to be a Del Webb development but no longer is.

Much further north of TV, probably 8 miles or some (up near the Market of Marion but south of Belleview) is the Del Webb Spruce Creek Community, which is the one discussed above.

It's good to know there are two by similar names so you don't get more confused than you already are, after five years of looking (lol).:confused:

I have friends in Spruce Creek-Del Web. They got A LOT MORE house for the money. They have a nice club house, 36 holes of golf, restaurant. They have a very nice indoor pool and fitnes center that is INCLUDED in their amenity fee. It's smaller, more intiment.... more people know each other. Much less traffic. They come to the squares here frequently, go to the movies here etc.
They do not have "free" executive golf and , of course, it's NOT the Villages. Nevertheless, I was quite impressed with that community.

rshoffer, when you say a lot more house, what year dollars are we talking? Right now we feel the deals in TV are tremendous compared to other places we looked in home price.

Army Guy

villages
 

Army Guy,,, before you sign on any dotted line,,check out everything but be sure to look into Stonecrest. Better built homes and larger yards and better deals. Much more options with these homes. I spoke to a realtor there. His name is Bob Coffey ( used to live in TV ) and you should talk to him before you make a move.

Our friends have beutiful Lantana style home, pvt backyard on a pond. enclosed beautiful lanai, all granate countertops, 245K

We found the fact that it only had 36 holes of golf to be a negative. There have been years when the golf course was in poor shape, and that was the only option you had for golf there. In addition, there aren't as many rec center activities. For example, I've spoken to people who used to live there who now live here in The Villages, and they talked about playing cards. Here all you do is go to the rec center and you can immediately join in the organized card games. Over there, you have to meet neighbors and hope someone inivites you over to play. She said it took her 2 years before she made enough friends to be able to participate in card games. I guess it depends on what you are looking for in you rFlorida home.

Well said.
"Florida's Friendliest Home Town" is much more than just a sales slogan. It's a lifestyle choice.:eclipsee_gold_cup:

We visited quite a few 55+ communities. All were similar enough with a clubhouse and golf and a nice neighborhood. Del Webb and the others are exceptional communities.

We visited, and bought in, The Villages because it does have so much to offer. Sure it's big, but you pick and choose among so much to do. Yes, you can drive along 27 and get to the square, but it's sure cool to take a golf cart there, to the bank, grocery shopping, etc.

We bought a patio villa for $10's of thousands less than anything else around, and we love it. I know, I know.. the BOND.. $10K , so what.

We love it here.. in TV, wouldn't change anything. Just one opinion

army guy
 

with this type of posting, you could get 100 different answers and 100 different opinions. Alot of people are biased towards TV and some are biased for other developments. There is nothing wrong with this. Some people love TV and all that it has to offer and some don't. Some like Stonecrest and some don't. They like a faster paced lifestyle at tv. You could get so many opinions your head will spin like the exorcist. I always think 5-10 years ahead and try to envision what the development will look like. Are the grounds clean and well landscaped,etc. Is the golf course in good shape? The final decision is yours so check out the ones that catches your interest and do the research and then decide if this is where you want to spend the rest of your life. good luck in your search and thank you for serving in our military.

We spent some five years researching and visiting 55+ communities before deciding on TV. Had the list down to three when we stayed here in 2007 on our 1st Lifestyle visit. Of our three finalists they had similar size houses which were maybe $50K more at TV back then. We visited StoneCrest twice during that 2007 stay and almost bought there. But the one clubhouse, one restaurant and one golf course was a turn off for us. Also an issue was that folks there kept telling us how easy it was to get to TV for entertainment or dining. So for us we knew we could afford the house we wanted in TV and the answer was obvious as to which lifestyle we wanted to have in retirement.

rshoffer, that may be a good deal, but with us not lloking at homes in TV only the CYVs Savannah because we want smaller then we have now, and a super small zero maintence yard, and privacy, all of which I can get in The CYV, and it is a stand alone home. I can get all this right now, brand new for roughly $180 and that includes all the upgrades we want. Now granted we have to get the upgrades put into the CYV after we buy, since they are all built to spec, but no problem to us, time is on our side.

shermark, first THANKS! The Army is all I have ever wanted to do. Second, we have looked around and for us what me & the wife like TV has it all. When we were making our list of places our top one before seeing TV was in Myrtle Beach, same sqft but a triplex condo was going to be about $280. To join the golf course, $20,000 then $130 a month min. Me & wife golf so that was a biggie for us. Then they had basically zero anything else, except a beach cabana on the ocean. Neither me or wife cared about that. they did have neighborhood pools. Maint fee was $350.00 a month, which included insurance. I did a check with my company and it will only cost me $40.00 a month in TV. So dollars and cents wise TV is dirt cheap compared to anyplace else. And we like all the activities we have options to do.
And you can believe that we will look as we say in the Army, "down in the weeds" as we already are! I am very detail oriented so is the wife. So we will definitely kick the tires, etc before we sign for TV.

But all in all, it boils down to personal choice and what we each want in our lifestyle. No person is wrong, no person right. We each choose what is best for US. And that is why for the past almost 30 years and a few more months I put the uniform on. That is what makes the USA the envy of the world and why some would like to see it go away!

Army Guy

Great statement Army Guy - and thanks for your years of service to our country!

Buying Also
 

We also have looked and looked. We, if can still afford with IRS's decreasing loosing pension etc. we like the Villages the best. My mother in law lives in Spruce South and has since 1992 and loves it but it is a very old community (meaning peoples ages).

Stonecrest, as personnally found out as well as mother in law friends there, is not very friendly compared to TV.

Anyway, if you can afford it and the future increases that could occur once built out, it's the place to be (except in the heat of the summer - go north for July, Aug, and couple weeks in Sept).

We looked at many retirement communities. They all were very nice. All had a nice pool, one, maybe two golf courses and a nice clubhouse. Some had a restaurant. None of them had executive courses. Most of them were out in the middle of nowhere. To get anyplace you had to drive a long way. The activities were minimal, compared to TV. TV won hands down, for us.

Thank you for your service "Armyguy."

Yep, we chose here for the golf.... although there are a zillion courses outside of TV within 25 miles.

pool
 

One plus that Kings Point in Sun City Center as well as some of the other communities have that seems to be missing in the Villages is having both indoor and outdoor pools. What is the status of the Well Center pool, I really prefer indoor poolsto avoid the sunburns with my extremely fair skin and for controlled temperatures. Other than that, I think TV beats all the other sites because of the availability of shopping and restaurants.

Can anyone comment about On Top of the World?

Top of the world
 

Have been there 2x. Better built houses, larger lots[more privacy], and much lower bonds. They have most of the same amenties but on a much smaller scale. The Town Center has entertaintment on weekends only. Very limited shopping [Publix/Winn Dixie] or Doctors are available by golf cart. Hospital about 10 miles away. Home Depot/Lowes ? miles. If at some point in your life you will be unable to drive a car, will you be able still drive a golf cart ????

TV is a Pet Friendly Community
 

The Villages is the only retirement community we found in Florida that allows two large dogs. Most have a restriction .. only one dog .. or only dogs under 20 lbs. Of course for most sane people, this is probably not a factor. For us it was very important.

Another plus was the fact that we could have a fenced yard with a golf course view.

The deciding factor was that we could access shopping, entertainment and many restaurants locally, by golf cart, without leaving the community.

Thanks for all of the replies!
 

I made my initial post on Thursday evening. Now, I log on Saturday morning hoping that someone has replied, and I see 22 replies. You guys are awesome! Thanks so much. In addition to the wonderful responses here, I also got a PM that was a scathing warning of the evils of buying in TV.

I spend way too much time daydreaming of my future life in The Villages. I check the new house listings at least twice a week—and I don’t even plan to move before the summer of 2010 at the earliest! However, my wife and I still have a few apprehensions. Here’s our biggest one, and I’m sure others have probably discussed it here: If the golf courses are crowded with a population of 70,000, how’s it going to be with 100,000? Are there many more courses under construction or planned? Also, we visited in July. Some here have estimated that the community has as many as 40% snowbirds so the population might have been only 42,000 when we visited. I can’t imagine what it would be like with two and a half times as many people.

It’s funny, because the town we live in now, Brentwood, TN, is a very fast-growing town. It has changed so much in the eight years we’ve lived here. All of the rolling pastures and farmland have become new subdivisions. It’s like once we had ours, I wanted them to lock the doors. Now, here I am, wanting them to do the same in The Villages. Of course, people like me and the other TVWannBe’s are the problem, but in spite of that, it seems current Villagers are always friendly and welcoming. Thanks for that.

I do plan to check out Spruce Creek—both of them (Thanks, Bryan.) I’ve been in touch with Sun City Center and asked the lady why their website and DVD are so inadequate compared to the expert marketing at TV. She said she’d never seen TV’s products, and I got the impression she was WCI’s point of contact for all of their communities across Florida. Go figure.

I'm another TV Wanna Be looking at the pros and cons of TV. Would you share the highlights of the PM you received?

Hi TVwannabe, We moved here from South Fl. gated community Burnt Store Marina,Punta Gorda.large marina,27 hole golf,much more.But it doesn't have the lifestyle
TV have.Our house is on golf course 8th tee with water and golf cart bridge,pool,3BR.for sale.We couldn't compare we fell in love with Rocky&Rollers and so much to do. Everyone will have an opinion,most will be trying to get to TV. Mary

you might want to read a recent posting this morning " trouble in paradise"

Last night we were at a block party with about 30 folks, with a wide range of origins, careers, and even age...well, not THAT wide a range on the age. It was absolutely the best, warmest, most relaxing, entertaining party I have ever attended. We have a lot of experiences to share and have a sense that life doesn't go on forever.

We have traveled a lot, been fortunate to live in some nice homes, but this is the best fit for us that I have ever found.

Come and see for yourself.:wave:

Sure. Here it is in the quotes, followed by my comments. I deleted the last couple of sentences to protect the author’s identity since it was obviously his intention to remain anonymous to the rest of the TOTV community.

"I have researched the villages for the last 4 years and read every word about the place. First you should know about the bond problems they are having with the IRS. Go to orlandosentinel.com. Look over to the left and click on columnists then click on lauren ritchie and read what is going on with the bond problems. another problem is the fees and what they charge you for. free golf for life ?? hardly. they hit you with a golf cart trail fee and basically use smoke and mirrors to hit you with other fees. NOTHING is free in the villages. if you like crowds then the villages is for you. imagine when it is built out 100,000 people will live there. talk about urban sprawl. two town squares for 100,000 people. UGH !! and you must know on this forum talk of the villages, these people are so biased you will never get an honest answer from them. they all drink the kool aid and really believe they live in heaven. do you know about how they way overpaid for their houses. in florida, the property appraisers by law are to be independent from the developers. well gary morse who owns the villages hand picked his property appraisers. so do you think all those people paid a fair price for their homes ?? my wife and I were in stonecrest development today which is just down the road from the villages and we met 3 couples who live in the villages who are selling their homes in the villages and moving to stonecrest. the reason?? the villages is growing way too big for them and they are getting out before this bond problem nails the residents. just remember,you will never get an honest answer from the people on the forum. they are very arrogant when it comes to defending their villages and are extremely biased. hope this helps."

I appreciate the time and effort that went into this response, and everyone is entitled to his own opinion. I am not discounting anything the author states, but he is clearly in the minority with his opinions. Like other posters on this site have said, we are adults; we look before we leap. Most everyone is aware of the bond issues (though few understand them all), most understand that "free golf" can't really be free, and most understand that appraisers don’t determine the sale price of a home. A home is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it—no more, no less. The free market system never breaks. If you can buy a house for less in Stonecrest, then, obviously, people are willing to pay more to live in The Villages. Based upon my three-day visit there, I can see why. I do share the author’s concern about “urban sprawl,” but like I mentioned, I plan to be part of that problem.

Everyone has an opinion, and their right to it. The "sprawl" really isn't so bad, much better by magnitudes than any large city, and only certain times of the year. We visited a dozen or more 55+ places and TV is unique.

When we visited Del Webb, the sales rep said when asked about TV - "well, they must be doing something right because they sure sell a lot, but ours is better, more value, etc. You either like it or you don't".. so we decided to visit.

We like TV - it's very different, the rep was right, you either like it or don't.
Try it and see. We've a great maintenance free little patio villa for under $150K including bond, the amenity fees are nominal, and we love it. Everything is right there within a short golf cart drive - Squares, bank, grocery , medical churches, etc. and I think it's really a friendly place.

All this info is just that - INFO.

I can't imagine that any reader of TOTV who doesn't live there yet is going to let anything said here on TOTV deter them from doing their own investigation.

Yes there are people here on TOTV who drank the Kool-Aid and promote TV and the lifestyle. And yes there are people here on TOTV who are doing viral marketing for other nearby retirement locations by putting down TV. And yes there are people who lived in TV and it wasn't their cup of tea.

But all this is to any wannabe like me is INFO

If you are thinking of TV for your retirement location then by all means spend some time down there. Go in the busy season to see the 'sprawl'. Go during the hot season to see if you can take it. Most of all just go and see for yourself. I think when you are done with that last day of the visit you'll wish you didn't have to go back 'home'.

Russ

I agree with you Russ...we didn't want to go home after the last day of our LSP. Good thing I brought the duct tape and clothesline rope or I would never have got my wife on the plane home.;)

Dirigo

We visited SSC several years ago and forfeited our third day to drive to TV for a day trip. TV is a feeling as well as a place. To say SSC didn't "do it" for us would be an understatement. That said, we had older relatives that lived there for a quarter of a century and loved every minute of it, but I don't think they ever visited TV, either.

other website for sun city center
 

There is another website for Sun City Center. www.suncitycenter.com
I followed the real estate market when my sisters were living there, but we are no longer considering that area. Like most of the country, the values have dropped. If the RE ad says gated community, it is probably in Kings Point. See my previous post.

WRT On Top of the World, I was put off by the traffic in Ocala. By the way we were there in August, so you can't blame the snow-birds. Most shopping and restaurants would require about a 15 minute drive into town.

First, thanks, Sallyjo & Russ Boston! The Army is all I have ever wanted to do and for me was a true "calling".

Barefoot, you mentioned fenced in yard. You must have a CYV, correct? Just checking cause we know that in most if not all of TV, no fences are allowed and we are dog folks too, even though our dog is a Cairn, just like Toto in The Wizard of Oz!

Yes, even though some would say after reading my posts that me and the wife, "drank the cool-aid of the TV". We did have concerns before we totally committed to it. One was the build-out population, but it has 70,000 now and we were there for a week in Feb, and still thought it empty, even after talking with current residents about it. So another 30,000 should be ok, and hey I know 100,000 sounds like really a lot, but to put it where you can understand, The Auburn football Stadium fits 92,000 on game day, so basically that is the built out village population. For the amount of acres it is, 100,000 is not that bad at all! And we checked out a good number of the golf courses and did not see a real crowding problem, especially if flex with time to play, and if you plan to join the Priority Membership like we are, then it is not a problem at all, even with 30,000 more, cause everyone of them are not going to be golfers.

Me and the wife do have to laugh though about some of the comments on the summers at TV! I have been stationed in the Southeast US for a good part of my 30 years unless I am deployed, etc and TV in the summer is nothing like a 105 degree Alabama summer day with 100% humity and NO BREEZE!!! TV in the summer is cool to us!!! :pepper2:

By the way we will be down at TV, 14-17 May.

Army Guy

Army Guy, You are right. The summers here aren't any worse than back home. There is usually a breeze. I sit on my lanai all summer, any time of the day. We play golf in the afternoon, all the time, in the summer. Speaking of golf we have only not been able to get a tee time twice in almost eight years. You won't have a problem.

x

Who are the paid hosts and where can I sign up?

I do appreciate what you are asking but the only real way to see if TV will work for you is to rent for a length of time. Take in any activity you'd like. See what your life would be like on a day to day basis after the newness wears off. It's what we (the lovely Linda and I) are planning on doing.

I've lived in New England my whole life and it's a great place to raise a family but I need a change. Maybe TV won't be my cup of tea but I'm going to give it a try!

Methinks that by nature dear Senior Citizen that you are well thought out and not impulsive, not the person who wears the lampshade at the party and probably has worked hard all of your life and saved carefully.

Well then, I would also say that that description is of most of us here. It is so hard NOT to be a cheerleader.

I did NOT want to retire to Florida. I liked Ohio just fine. I loved the house we designed ourself in a low crime area with fine medical and social amenities closeby, not to mention the greatest one, our daughter and grandchildren.

It was a last minute thought to stop at an old friends house in The Villages a year ago, we had flown to Orlando and planned to drive to Ft. Myers where some of my high school classmates were gathering to get away from chilly Ohio in January.

The first thing that struck me when we drove in The VIllages was the beauty of the place, the landscaping was lush and beautiful and the flowers were brilliant and artfully placed. There was no ugly architecture and the buildings other than the homes were soft and .......set a stage of elegance against a PRISTINE backdrop. NO paper on the ground. There was the cheerful look of people riding around in multicolor golf carts and folks out of their homes everywhere going somewhere. The recreation centers were beautifully done inside and each represented a different type of decor. From Colony Cottage's Victorian profusion, Laurel Manors Antibellum spectacular, Lake Miona's magnificent Naval decor, Odells African intensity, Even Bogie himself standing inside...........(can't remember which rec center...Bacall?)

Then there were the choices of restaurants where the food was good and the prices were....................cheap to cut to the chase.

The houses were on iddybiddy lots though and most of them looked alike. I was drawn to the ones in the new sections because no outdoor statues are allowed. (Some people kinda overdue that, but that is MY opinion) I didn't like the closeness to each other and they all looked so small.

However, once inside they were quite spacious and once you got used to the lots being close together, you recognized that the lawns weren't going to be a full time retirement occupation.

Well the people were unlike any group I have ever met. We are all "of an age" to be sure, but that age taught manners and rules and ....yet there were so many smiles, the body language showed.........happiness and purpose. People were friendly and before you knew it, they were telling you how they got here and why they liked it. They all couldn't have been hired by the developers could they....? Had they all been....... Stepforded? Strange. Very strange.

My husband was checking out the eight championship courses and the 27 executive courses and I was really reading the courses available at the Lifelong Learning College...........and the clubs? One even called "The Village Idiots" who go to breakfast in their pajamas? We saw Red Hat ladies dining and everyone playing Pickleball, Bocce and shuffleboard. The pools were lovely and there were two to each village. One for grownups over 30 only and one for kids.

I could go on and on.

I didn't like some of the driving. I was unsure of the traffic circles. I was astonished to see so many.................old people.lol I don't feel old at all although I was born in 1939.

I thought that people from the east coast talked funny. I was a little taken aback about so much hugging on greeting and leaving groups that I observed. I was afraid I would run into a snake or an alligator................

I am having a hard time telling you what I didn't like. This place is not to be believed and it is so hard to describe.

Please come on down and see. We have fewer years ahead of us than those behind and we don't want to waste them..

Sorry. I just couldn't help being a cheerleader.

x