Considering a move to The Villages
 

We're considering a move to The Villages, hopefully within a year or so. Looking for a single family 2k+/- 3bed 2bth. As well we'll need some advice on Assisted Living Facilities in the area for an elderly parent.

A few questions in no particular order...

Which areas have natural gas ? Are all homes there on two separate water meters (potable and irrigation) ?

I see there are Freestanding ERs. Are these more Urgent Care or actual 911 receiving ERs ? Who is running them and are they the same as TV Health, whereas they only accept Medicare Advantage ? Other than The Villages Hospital near Spanish Springs what other hospitals are there in the area ? Are others planned to be built ? And as to health care I've read that doctors are far and few and the care in general is quite poor. Is there any truth to this ?

Are all or most homes block ? Who are/were the main builders in the area ?
Is the closest airport in Orlando ? We have family who will be visiting from time to time in NY. We heard mention there is a shuttle bus to and from, is this true ?

We'll be heading down in the next few weeks. What would be the best road(s) for traveling north and south ?

Thanks....

Welcome to Talk of the Villages and here's the information I can provide:

First off, for your upcoming trip, if you have haven't contacted a VLS agent already (see below) one will be assigned and can answer a lot of questions. You can then attend clubs, events and the like, and get a lot of information. Even though you are a year or so out, I heartily recommend Samantha Griffin, the agent who greatly helped us over the past year-plus (we just purchased a home today). She can be reached at samantha.griffin@thevillages.com.

As for areas with gas appliances, gas was a big factor for us, and what I found is that you can find electric and gas sometimes in the same neighborhoods. We looked at 30+ homes during a month-long stay this past October, and some homes are plumbed for gas but have electric stoves (for instance). Having said that, we found gas generally around the Sea Breeze recreation center area, up near Canal Street rec center, but there are plenty of other areas (I think a lot above Route 466.

Many homes are block, but there are other construction types as you've likely determined. Another thing an agent can help search for. As an aside, you'll see recommendations to get both a VLS agent and an MLS agent, as homes can only be on one or the other. We originally thought about that but in the end stuck with VLS (a) because so many homes come up for sale, and (b) we just liked being tied into the Villages system for the sale -- and we found the perfect house.

Orlando airport is a bit closer than Jacksonville it appears (others can chime in if I have that wrong) and it's a pretty straight shot from TV to get there. We recently used bus transportation, and though there are threads with problems, that could just be a growing pain as a new company took over the bulk of the bus trips.

As for traveling north (presumably from Orlando) again it's pretty much a straight shot up the turnpike.

Hopefully this helps. Again, contact Samantha Griffin if you haven't already had someone assigned, and see if she can help you when you're down visiting. Best of luck.

A lot of ?s. Need to come down and check it out personally in order to answer most of your questions.

Closest airport is Orlando and around 60 miles away. Several transportation companies available and you can get on a large van or pick more personal service, based upon your budget. Driving down from the NE, take 95 south to the Jacksonville area and take 301 south from there. Can use other interstate routes but none go straight to The Villages

Will get different opinions on health care. Personally feel it is good but others will tell you differently. Most of the medical facilities are in the older northern areas, such as Spanish Springs or Lake Sumter. Newer developments are further south. Need to check out area yourself based upon personal tastes, budget, new vs old etc

You should find a Villages sales rep as well as a MLS rep.

If you decide you want to move here strongly suggest renting for a month or two.

Book a lifestyle visit . They provide the requested information. Shuttle bus runs frequently to airport for $40

I live in one of the newest villages. Up until about a few months ago, the developer was building designer homes with block and stucco. They're now building them with tilt wall construction which is supposed to be stronger against hurricanes. The new homes have gas. Water is separated into potable and non-potable.

I am 15 minutes away from Leesburg Hospital vs 35 minutes from The Villages Hospital. 50 minutes to MCO.

I've been very happy with the quality and accessibility of health care here.

Groome Transportation provides a door to door shuttle to MCO or express depot service from 3 locations for $40. The Villages Airport Transportation - Groome Transportation There's also a bunch of services that provide private shuttles.

South of 44
 

Welcome!

South of 44 we have an Urgent Care UF on the corner of 44 and Buena Vista. We also have a nice facility for appointments in Brownwood Pinellas Square run by Advantage. The closest major hospital is Leesburg Hospital UF. We have been happy with the availability of care.

Assisted living places are Harbor Chase and Harrison. We also have a top notch Memory Care Center. These are all in Wildwood. The Moffitt Cancer Center is an hour away in Wesley Chapel.

We are a fair distance from the VA center on 42 (almost 35 minutes). However, we are less than an hour from the Orlando airport.

Natural gas services the Southern area south of 44. If you custom build you can chose electric or gas for your stove and dryer.

I’m not really sure what’s available in the northern section.

I know our builder was assigned by the Villages design department.

In the Northern section, the drive to Orlando Airport is approx 75 minutes. There is a small airport in Gainesville that services a few airlines. Tampa airport is not much further than the Orlando airport.

Gas is available on the Lopez/Glenview side while eletric for the villages close to Spanish Springs Town Center. The newer villages of Woodbury and Chatam also have electric.

The Villages Hospital and VA are very close. For some villages they are mere minutes away and further villages approx 10 minute drive. We are also close to all the hospitals in Ocala/Summerfield and a highly rated hospital in Gainseville.

Commercial businesses and stores are widely available throughout the ENTIRE area. We have easy access to many good restaurants in Ocala and on 466. The Lopez Country Club has always been a favorite of most villagers. We also have an easy corridor to Lady Lakes and vicinity where you will find some good family-owned restaurants and stores. In this area, you can shop, dine, doctor visits, or whatever within a few minute drive.

Whether or not you need a Medical advantage plan is your choice. People have different health needs. You will have to choose what is best for you.

Our homes are block or frame. You can find some with tiled roofs. The homes were built in the late 1990s and early 2000s. You may want to get an insurance quote before buying. Most of the bonds have been paid. If not, the balance is very low. There are a few villages that were built around 2016- 2019. They are located in the northernmost part of the Villages.

Be sure to contact SHINE (Serving Health Insurance Needs of Elders) SHINE - Home, for UNBIASED information. The villages Health System only accepts 3 or 4 ADVANTAGE plans which may limit your healthcare, Original Medicare and supplemental, you can go anywhere (except Villages Health System), but you can use their specialists. It is a very confusing system. There is a lot of information as well as some misinformation or this subject so be sure you do your own research and use SHINE. You can start before you get here by calling them.

Above all rent if possible in couple of areas, what makes some residents happy in one area doesn’t mean it will fit your needs. The newer area have younger residents, and retail isn’t as high the their list. Amazon and Kroger trucks frequent areas.

We travel to Gainesville UF for healthcare, which on a good day is an hour and 5 from our house. Plus if we eat out, pleather of restaurants since we usually do an overnight.
Take your time figure out what is important and what is a non starter.

Our list of how many times we traveled to SS was 3-4 times a year.
LSL area couple time a month.

We travel turnpike and 1-75 couple times a week, so we continue to move south

"The Villages Health" is a multi-function medical group, one of several in the area, but the "official" one of The Villages. Although it's not an HMO, it is similar to HMO facilities from the 1980's, where you could get every kind of doctor you needed under one roof or on a single campus. They accept only Medicare Advantage for patients with Medicare, but they also accept many normal health insurances that aren't Medicare, for people who aren't old enough for Medicare yet.
The Villages Hospital has a less-than-stellar rating, but /most/ of it is due to their subpar Emergency department. Their outpatient surgical center is pretty good, from what I've heard. Leesburg Hospital is down at the south-eastern end of The Villages, and there's UF Health Shands to the northwest around an hour away from the northernmost tip of The Villages.
There are tons of doctors all over the place in and near The Villages. There are many acres of medical centers, medical buildings, surgical centers, dermatologists, heart specialists, podiatrists, etc. etc. You can't drive on 441, 466, or 466A without being more than a block from some kind of doctor or another. I can't speak on behalf of them all regarding their quality. I imagine it's not much different from anywhere else: some are great, some less so.

Yes most are block. If you're looking for new construction in the new area, you'll get the builder the Developer says you get. If you're looking to tear down an older home and build new, no idea. There are a bunch of builders. The closest large/international airport is Orlando (MCO). The main shuttle company is Groome but there are others. Groome runs regularly to and from MCO and makes stops at each of the three Town Squares.

It depends on where you're travelling from. Florida's Turnpike runs along the edge and cuts through the southern part of The Villages, and I-75 is nearby to the west. State road 301 is the main non-interstate road on the west side of the Villages, and 441/27 is the main route on the east side. 301 is an easier drive than 441. 441 is under constant and continual construction, has a lot of traffic, a lot of the time, and is sort of like the Boston Post Road, if you're from New England and are familiar with it. Lots of traffic lights, lots of idiots on the road.

You also can fly into Sanford airport. Some smaller, regional carriers fly there. It’s about the same distance as MCO, but Sanford is due east of TV.
Depending on where you buy, distance to airport could vary by 30 minutes.
Best thing sto do? Spend a few weeks here, renting. Talk with people and talk with realtors.

Most memory care units are private pay, and therefore not subject to any CMSS type evaluation, so curious about the basis of the comment, as I also have a memory care parent and often consider a move to FL. .


Data based comparison / evaluation? how and where if so

personal experience with more than two, out of state as well ?

Sales / marketing personal opinion?


thanks

Trinity Springs has a great reputation among folks I know who have people living there, or know folks who are living there.

Where in NY are you leaving from?

The reason you may hear not great things about health care is there are lots of new Villagers moving here every year. Unfortunately, they have been having troubles recruiting a proportionate amount of doctors. They’ve recently embarked on building a true family area, with not only house and schools but other infrastructure in Middleton. Hopefully this will help them bring in doctors and their families.

Once you are an established patient of a doctor in the Villages it’s usually pretty easy to get in to see them. That first appointment may be quite a few months out. That is true of specialists as well as primary doctors. If you are willing to travel to Orlando or Tampa for medical care it is a bit easier to get in.

The stand alone emergency on 466 is part of what was called Ocala Health, they changed names, and if you needed a hospital they would transport you free up to West Marion Hospital in Ocala. We liked West Marion and like the emergency there on 466.

If you are in the southern section and can get to Leesburg fairly fast not only is Leesburg hospital there but also Waterman, which is part of Advent Health. That healthcare group has a good reputation.

1. I think you meant to type 466A. HCA Florida Emergency is located in Trailwinds Village on 466A.

2. AdventHealth Waterman is actually in Tavares.

And the ER located on Highway 44 across from Brownwood Town Center is not an urgent care facility. It is a true emergency room affiliated with The Villages Hospital and the Leesburg Hospital. If you go there and are deemed to need hospital admittance they will transport you from the ER direct to your room in either hospital.

That's usually a limited experience reputation, limited to existing residents.

My mom's memory care has various times of great and not great care, its somewhat inconsistent, due to the high turnover and pay levels, etc. when the facility is at full capacity, the daily offerings are better, and not great when there are not at full capacity. It has a "good" reputation in the area, but so what. . .

If they are at full capacity, there is a lower ratio of aids to residents, which results in less personal attention as memory care has mostly incompetent residents. This results in less supervision at eating times, which can easily become an issue with an incompetent person.

so just to say that the non residents give it a good reputation is great, but actual care is much more nuanced, and observable.

hence my question about independent vs local sources . . .

Orlando airport is about 55 miles and Jacksonville airport is about 148 miles.

A significant difference.

You don't mention that you have visited The Villages. As others have suggested, a visit is mandatory. When I first heard of The Villages (2006), we made two visits. The first was to decide whether The Villages was for us. It was this visit which made us understand the concept and then zero in on the area we wanted.

It is important to recognize that The Villages is truly large. Nearly 60 square miles of developed and developing.

Also, it is easily recognized that the building began in the north and has worked its way south over a period of 50 plus years. Picture a rectangle 3 miles wide (East/West) and 20 miles long (North/South). Spanish Springs circa 1995, Lake Sumter Landing circa 2005, Brownwood Circa 2012. The housing developed as the town progression. ( gives an idea of housing age ) Essentially, there are no spaces left for new housing. Currently new housing is developed by huge tracts in the very southern areas.

Also, not all housing is equal. There are 3 counties involved and several towns. Taxes vary by county and can be higher if you are in a town. Do you need to be near a shopping area, medical offices, rec center etc?

What does that mean?

Want new housing, have to buy south.

Though some may not agree, the approach does tend to create an area aging math. For example, if the population buying in Lake Sumter averaged 60 years old in 2005, it would suggest that it would be in the 70's now. So, if you are 55, you would find that newer areas would tend to have the younger age groups.

The above is an example of why you need to visit. These types of factors may be more important than whether or not you have access the natural gas.

Best Wishes in your search. We did it in 2006 and have never regretted.

A visit is NOT mandatory. Many of the reasons you cited, you also answered in your post.

If a brand new house is desired, then the southern section is (mostly) the answer.

Taxes can be determined for existing houses (approximately) by looking up the property on the respective county websites.

An amazing amount of information can be found out via the internet. Forums, like this one, FEMA flood maps, county tax rates, satellite views of the area, & in some cases, Google street views.

But most importantly, a visit will not tell you about your potential neighbors. Unless, you settle on a house & try to visit the specific houses around your purchase. Very difficult, for all sorts of reasons - they may be out golfing during the day, they may be out dancing at night. They may be visiting relatives out of state. Theoretically the older areas have older residents, but those initial buyers may have been moving on. A newer area might have a many rentals. The best advice is to try & find a house you like in a village you like.

Distance wise, Tampa is the 2nd closest major airport and it is about 80 miles from TV, depending upon where you live. Sanford is a major airport for Allegiant

When I say "people I know who have people living there" I meant spouses of Trinity residents. People who are Villagers who have made the difficult decision to place their spouse into memory care. They are the people I know, who speak highly of Trinity.

I know others who speak highly of Harbor Chase as well.

There is another option which some folks have embraced: buy a foreclosure in the "Historic Section", have the old single-wide rolled out, and build a brand new house on the lot. It's not a common occurrence but it does still happen. There are a couple currently in progress that I've seen myself, and two that completed last year that I've also seen myself.

The Villages Hospital has the lowest CMS rating - 1 star. You asked about small ERs - they are just that - ERs with limited service (not urgent care), they're affiliated with larger hospitals nearby. If you have a life threatening emergency and want an average or better chance of living then choose a home within a short distance of Advent Health Waterman in Tavares (4 star CMS rated) or Advent health Ocala (3 star CMS rated) ALL other hospitals in/near the Villages are rated lower than average. As someone mentioned, UF Shands in Gainesville is a 5 star CMS rated hospital... great for cancer treatment and issues that can wait for an hour or more drive to get treatment.

Don't underestimate how dangerous it could be to go to a 1 star hospital (TV hospital is rated 1 star). You literally have many times higher chance of dying if you're treated by a 1 star CMS rated hospital versus a 5 star. The mortality (death) rates are much higher at 1 star hospitals. You're worth it - live near a 3 star or better hospital.

The term "mandatory" is perhaps inartful, but as someone who first did a formal one-week lifestyle visit in late 2022, and then rented for a month this past October (and just bought our home this week), I think it's a huge mistake not to visit, and probably at least twice (longer the second time). A lot of things listed in this thread are accurate without a visit, but it was only after coming here -- despite a lot of research beforehand -- that we appreciated the scope of the place, where things are, what it's actually like to visit one of the squares during an evening and during a marketplace, actually living the "golf cart lifestyle", meeting people at clubs, etc.

Best of luck, and I will reiterate the recommendation to contact Samantha Griffin if you don't already have a VLS agent assigned. There's a wealth of information she or any agent can pass along.

First off 2k+/- might get you a one month rental. There are a number of assisted living places, a big one is named Freedom Point I believe. I am not sure all the areas with gas but all homes do not have 2 separate water meters.

I know the hospital does not have a good rating but some rave about it. The one time I needed to see someone I just went to CVS minute clinic. About half the homes are block. The Village Development has built all the homes, what contractors or subcontractors they use I don’t know. Orlando is the closest and most transportation goes to Orlando but Tampa is the best. Tampa is a little longer ride but an easier more direct route. If we have friends picking us up we fly to Orlando but if we are renting a car or leaving our car the we go to Tampa.

When we drive from MA we come down 95 and jump on 301 near Jacksonville. Good luck and enjoy.

Feel for You
 

Thought you already lived hear in a Begonia or something? I feel for your predicament and for all the issues it brings up in your family. Of course the issue is sensitive and the particulars would cause many personal things to be brought up. I can steer you in the right direction though. Two places that are worth contacting are Vista Lake in Leesburg and Inspiritas in Wildwood. They aren’t cheap and they are private. They are about 5K per month. I’m not aware of any that take insurance, but they do utilize the patient’s insurance for medical care. Good luck.

considering the move of the memory care resident, my mom, 97y/o, to FL

:yuck:

I’m fairly certain you should visit before buying. There are real estate booby traps everywhere down here in the newer section.

Case and Points:

The three houses for sale in Newell that have a fantastic view of the power station ugliness.
The lots down in Moultrie Creek near the stadium with a fantastic view of the health hazard cement plant that is going no where.
Maybe enjoy the nice 24 hour a day 7 day a week noise level along the turnpike?
Or how about living miles from anything over in Dabney?

Why in the world would anyone buy a house in a development they have never been too? Can learn a lot by reading online but nothing takes the place of boots on the ground and doing lots of exploring.

some people are extremely visual,
and others can envision from the web, from conversations, from research

others might not be very discerning, and realize that getting a first home is just the first step,
and may feel that they can move to something better later.

there are so many different types of people, the bizarre behavior doesn't surprise me as much anymore

Well said. The world continues to change. The internet has made 'remote' normal.

For 2 dimensional people it has. Looking on the internet is only one feed for discernment though. You can’t hear constant traffic on the internet. You can’t see power stations and the changes they have made to scar the skyline. You don’t know if the lights are on all night in the neighborhood cement factory or exactly how tall it is. You can’t smell the pollution or even feel the constant daily mosquito stings an hour before nightfall.

Just like intuitive deciphering of all senses, a buyer needs to experience a home site before making one of the largest moves in their life! There certainly are some garbage home/homesites out there.

Absolutely! On a website you see what someone wants you to see, and you don't see what they don't want you to see.

Our first rental experience taught us, among other things, how loud the golf cart traffic can be on Canal St. We had a nice villa, but the living room sliders faced Canal St. Despite the wall, we would have to close things up to hear the TV. Also could smell gas cart exhaust at times.

The vibe is so different depending upon what area you are in. North of 466 feels different and looks different from south of 466, and likewise between "the sixes", and north and south of 44. While I wouldn't say any one area is better or worse than the others, they are different, and you can't get that online.

Not to mention the gorgeous back yard with the (always dry) retention pond.

If you're coming from a metropolitan area, such as NYC, Boston, or parts of Los Angeles, those sounds and smells would make it feel a little more like home.

Lol, a lot of people are coming here because they don't want to be from there any longer. As a born Los Angeleno, I am one of those many.

Yeah, could be. Another reason to come down and see and experience in the flesh. Otherwise you might miss out on the sections of TV that offer the "urban" feel.