A few questions
 

I thought it best to combine a few questions in one post, than multiple posts.

I came across 'Lakeside Landings' which sits right on the line just outside of TV. On CR472 and Regatta Blvd. Which made us think, would that disallow residents from using TV amenities in similar situations ? There are also a few ALFs in the same location, would they also be disallowed access or do they make arrangements with TV to allow access to amenities, ect.

Having read opinions/reviews of the UF Health Spanish Plaines Hospital ER (new name ?) I started to look into the free standing ERs on 466a & 44. Can anyone give any insight into them ? Yourself, family, friends...

On the same theme, I understand it's rather hard to get an appointment with a PCP/specialist as a new patient. Is this true and if not does anyone have recommendations as to where we should start. We have Regular Medicare and secondary Midigap plans.

On our previous trip to TV we toured a few of the models and noticed a) they weren't the best quality and (b) privacy was at a minimum. Not to say the work was shoddy but things like LVP flooring and such don't impress quality. Didn't quite understand why you couldn't get wood or laminate ? And as to privacy is that basically the standard there ?

Lastly, we'd like to tour a few neighborhoods on our next trip there. But as we recall most/all have gates at the entrances(?) Does one need a realtor to gain access to these villages or do some have a visitors entrance ?

They do not have legal access to TV amenities . They can visit the squares which are not an amenity.

If you don’t get village ID card you can’t use village amenities. But, any commercial property or Squares don’t need Village ID card cause they are open to public. Now I heard of some development not in villages off 472 that use MMP’s (golf cart paths) which again don’t need Village ID, but MMPs are owned by villages districts.

As far as village hospital on 441 I had no negative experiences. But so far I’m pretty healthy. Can’t comment on emergency rooms cause haven’t had need to go yet?

Most villages in districts you can enter by pushing red button being they are public roads, more of traffic control than security. Some high end villas in villages has private entry, to enter them you have call and be invited in. I’m sure get more comments on this?

As far as low quality the villages offer variety of properties at different levels of pricing new I think? Custom built homes to please. Most are standard for price range and some upgrade from range. Resales are up and down the scale. Another thing villages offer lifestyle IMO that can’t be matched for price of amenities fees, IMO why they can get little more for their new housing. Usually higher end homes in prime location go very quickly for IMO outrageous price, but people will pay for what they want if they can afford it.

I know a couple of people who live in Lakeside Landing and a friend in TV gave them a gate card. They illegally cross Rainey Trail into Promise Rehab and use the gate behind Promise to get in.
Risky proposition and I don't understand villagers who give outsiders gate cards.

You can shut the front door, but someone will always sneak around the back.

I understand that hardwood floors are not common in FL due to high humidity. Wood would warp.

As far as privacy, most houses close together for a number of reasons….id assume so that more houses can get built on a given plot, more $ for developer….also, most folks don’t want to maintain a big lawn/garden area.

Termites is the more common reason. Lots of places all over the world with comparable or high humidity than here use hardwood floors without issues, unless flooding is a concern.

Treated hardwood flooring is not uncommon in higher end condos on the Gulf coast.

There are some assisted living facilities that have access to amenities, and there are some that do not. Buffalo Crossing and Watercrest do. Harbor Chase does not. You'd have to check each one to find out which does, which doesn't. Lakeside Landing residents are not eligible for Villages amenities.

Needed ER across from Brownwood a few years ago. Horrible experience. They wanted 3 chest xrays and 4 heart tests for someone who was simply intoxicated and dehydrated at the same time and passed out for a couple of minutes outside on a busy, VERY hot and humid night at the square. Patient was actually lucid and capable enough to walk himself to the ambulance and climb onto the guerney himself. Had to yell at the nurse and doctor to disconnect the IV or we'd take it out ourselves. Left after 2 hours of being connected to tubes, for no reason at all other than to order more tests. Got stuck with a bill over $2000 that insurance wouldn't cover, because of discharge against the doctor's recommendation.
It's hard to find a PCP that's accepting new patients. Once you find one, it isn't difficult to get an appointment with them at all. But The Villages Health doesn't accept regular Medicare, they only accept Advantage plans, and non-Medicare marketplace plans (people who aren't old enough for Medicare yet have those).
LVP flooring is better than wall to wall carpeting throughout, because standard-issue carpeting in The Villages is a pale beige color that will get filthy and disgusting within the first 5 years, even if you clean it regularly. Be grateful to have the vinyl planking. It's also the best for color options and waterproofing. Laminate is great for durability. If you buy something built to your specifications you can pick out the floor you want, but you'll be paying extra for anything that doesn't come "standard" with the home. As for privacy - unless you have a courtyard villa or one of those new villa-esque properties that come with wrap-around fencing, you won't have an abundance of privacy. The further north you look, the more space between houses, and the longer the back yards are. But even in the Historic section, your average lot size is only 1/5 of an acre.
Individual neighborhoods don't really have gates. But each neighborhood is part of a larger entity, a Village (hence the plural for the name The Villages). Most Villages have a gate. The Village gates are not security gates, they're traffic control gates. The roads are public roads. And so there are red buttons that anyone can press on the gate card reader, to open the gate. The point is to force incoming traffic to STOP before going further. Rolling through a stop sign is not an option, when there's a gate blocking your way. This is to ensure a safer mode of travel for the golf carts that are already on the other side of the gate, who can't go any faster than 20mph to get out of harm's way, and who in many cases have their own designated road (called an MMP), shared with pedestrians and bicycle riders, for travel that crosses those gated entries and exits.

There are a few areas that require a gate pass to enter (such as Hickory Hammock), but there's nothing behind those gates anyone would want to go to, and they're not through-streets. They're just exclusive, expensive (multi-million-dollar) homes within their own little looped road with a shared pool and guest house, and an HOA on top of their amenity fee.

Do the cheapest build (i.e. materials) you can, then upgrade on your own.
We replaced carpeting with a tile, that resembles hard wood floors.

As stated, i would want hard wood floors in florida.

Welcome to Florida and to The Village area. My wife and I have lived in the area since 2006. We live in the Village of Caroline near Lake Sumter landing in the same house we bought in 2006. We bought with the intention of staying . By that I mean, we were not too concerned about buying and selling at a profit. I could probably sell at nearly double the price we originally paid, but would simply have to buy another home and then pay higher taxes

That is one thing you should get an understanding about how property taxes work in Florida.

By your post. it would appear that you like The Villages concept, and you understand that The Villages houses may noy be the same quality that you could get outside of The Villages at the same price.

My advice

1/ Determine your max house price
2/ Determine garage needs (1 Car, 2 Cars, Golf cart, storage) Note very important. Size of cars.
3) House size, layout,
4/ Yard size, Setbacks
5/ Amenity Value to you
6/ County, City taxes (significant difference if you have to pay city and County taxes)

But back to your concern about access to The Villages if not a resident. You are welcome to all areas in the Villages, Stores, restaurants (Including Country Clubs), Event Centers, towns etc. But not recreation centers, pools, or Golf Courses. Golf Cart access not a big issue. i.e. why bother when you can drive.

Notes:

We were from the north. Palms are beautiful in another person's yard but are an expense and pain to owners.

Pools, Why?

Lanais why? better a Sunroom (enclosed Lanai)

Live oaks, magnolias = Work

Huge shrubs= work

Storage a premium. Consider options, good racks

I'm very curious in what context ALF means here?

When someone mentions ALF to me it's a character in a sitcom. Alien Life Form

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...donShumway.png

Alf
 

Assisted Living Facility ?

Lakeside Landings…. People over there who have a car or golf cart come through the back gate of Lynnhaven/Ashland from 472 and drive into the Villages. They push the button and come through the gate, with their golf cart, THEY get to use OUR golf cart paths which is maintained by our amenities. They dont need a gate key to get in. I know people that live there that do this so I know it’s happening. I also assume they may use our pools too… the adult pools in our area are never checked and I am there a lot so I know that. Family pools yes, adult pools, no.

New Village homes are called "fixer uppers" because bare minimum is done and all builder grade materials. Pretty sure they use the thinest drywall possible because these homes are not sound proof in any way

Termites aren’t a problem in TV; that’s a thing that Massey scares you with. We lived surrounded by trees in GA until we moved here (my entire life) with all wood studs, bark next to house in flower beds, wooden decking and screened porch and never had a problem AND we never had a termite bond.Houses are built on concrete slab and have metal studs inside. I personally think VP/LVP is used because it will withstand more “abuse” than hardwood; i.e., doesn’t show scratches, more water repellent, etc. Remember this is an aging community with spills, walkers, etc. which could wreak havoc on hardwood with scratching, stains, and possible warping.

I had the carpeting replaced in my home 9 years ago no problem so far.

They also give them to Stonecresters and people from Spruce Creek who have to cross 441 in a golf cart. That's crazy.

In regards to privacy, the home location can make all the difference. The house next door will be 15 feet away, but the backyard view makes a huge difference. If your view is someone else's backyard, there will be no sense of privacy. If your view is a golf course, a lake, or woods, the feeling of being in nature is comforting.

Be careful if you are backing up to a golf course.
If you are near a tee box or a green on an executive you will have golf carts outside your lanai all day and hear lots of chatter.
On a championship, volume is a little less, but also consider where 2nd shots might land.

I will just comment on finding a PCP with regular medicare. You will need to get outside The Villages to use regular medicare for PCP but you can use all specialists in The Villages pretty much as the specialists will take both medicare and medicare advantage. I am on regular medicare because I travel a lot and some of the places I travel, the facilities I want to use do not take medicare advantage. It took me a few weeks to find a PCP, but there are some around. Orlando Health and AdventHealth are both fairly near and many of their physicians will take regular medicare. I can't recommend anyone right now because I won't have my first visit with my new primary care physician until February. Good luck.

2 relators
 

Are you thinking new or existing home? The Villages Sales are not an MLS listing agent. They do list a number of existing homes and new. MLS listing agents can't sell new in the Villages, but they sell a lot of existing homes. If see a house listed by the Villages, it will not have an MLS listing. Make sure you compare taxes, amenities, and bond when you buy. Be careful of the people that say "We're Just Like The Villages" except.

If you do not live in The Villages you can not use the amenities. Yes, even ones outdoors like courts and dog parks - they come and check IDs very frequently. The music on the squares, restaurants/shops are open to the public.

Leesburg Hospital seems to be rated higher than UF Health Spanish Plaines Hospital ER. I have not heard anything about that freestanding ER, but "no news is good news"?

We joined a waiting list for our PCP with Villages Health and were told it would be two to three months until the new doctor that had been hired was full time with the practice and seeing new patients. She is great, and I don't think that was too long to wait to get a new PCP in a new state. Call the main number for The Villages Health. They just last week opened a new care center in Eastport so I'm sure they have new doctors hired and joining that practice soon.

Yes, the construction is not high end, and yes the new construction has LVP floors. You do not want wood in FL. If you look at homes that are about 2 years old, you will find ones that are fully tiled with the wood plank look flooring. The Villages has stopped using this more labor intensive flooring in favor of LVP in all new homes.

Yes, the homes are close together, but as they say in Manhattan you sleep in you home and live in your neighborhood. You are literally never home with how busy most Villagers are. You are meeting people out and not entertaining at home too. It really is a shift from how you perceive you will be living in your (small and close to the neighbors) home.

There are "resident" and "visitor" lanes at most gates. There is a red button that you can push to raise the gate (which I'm told also snaps a date/time stamped photo of the car/plate). The Villages has gates, but is NOT a gated community.

Importantly, I have read multiple times that UF Hospital does not take regular Medicare. I found that hard to believe even though regular Medicare is not listed on their webpage. So, I called the billing office via the main number and was assured UF Hospital at Spanish Springs does indeed take regular Medicare. Let's put that misinformation to rest.

It is not "misinformation". Your statement is an over-simplification of the situation.

Regarding privacy. It took me a long time to find my house because privacy was important to me. I did not want to be able to see into others’ or have people see into my lanai. Therefore, I bought a veranda, which is a designer home with a fenced in backyard.

“They weren’t the best quality.” What exactly do you mean? I consider the homes built in The Villages solid and well-built. They are built to stand up to hurricanes. With proper upkeep, they will last for generations. Do you know enough about construction methods to comment on “quality”? Most are not LUXURY homes, but that isn’t the same thing. A lot of that luxury doesn’t have much to do with quality. Yes, the faucets and door handles and baseboards and windows and closets and flooring is what is known as “builder” level—the sort of things you can buy at Home Depot for the lowest price. But the quality is acceptable. My courtyard Villa standard faucets and door handles, but they are twelve years old but look fine. Yes, I have Formica countertops, but they are easier to take care of than stone. Yes, my house had the standard cheap carpet, ten years old, when I moved in. I paid to have that replaced with the best textured luxury vinyl planking I could get and upgraded baseboards, all done by Roberto’s. That cost me $14,000. A lot less than tile, but warmer, and longer wearing than carpet. Hardwood floors or fake hardwood floors (I.e., thin veneers of real wood) cost about the same, but they aren’t a good idea in Florida if you ever leave your windows open, as they will swell or shrink. I have friends who have crown molding in their homes here. It cost a lot. It looks nice. But I don’t want it in my home. And I don’t want fake pillars separating my entry from the living room, even if they are a mark of luxury.

The current thinking by the development team in The Villages is to build “builder grade” solid, reliable homes and let people rip things out and replace them if they want to, rather than let prospective buyers order upgrades before building. I think that is wasteful, but so it goes. It’s easy to put an extra $50,000 into aftermarket upgrades. However, consider what you need. You will get a lot of use out of a well-designed custom closet. But will a $300 faucet work better? Not really. Do you really need new cabinets in the kitchen? Perhaps put some money instead into adding slide outs in the cupboards or specialty drawers. How many thousands are you willing to pay for quartz counters that won’t work any better?

As for yards, in my courtyard villa I have full privacy, which I love. An acre of grass wouldn’t give me more privacy. I mow my postage stamp lawn in the front myself in a few minutes. The gardener comes every three months and prunes the shrubs and small trees. If I had a dog, it could run fifty feet in the fenced courtyard. Why would I need more?

I do believe you just verified his statement... The Villages homes aren't the "best" quality, they're builder grade. You are happy with that level and that works for you. Many like nicer home features and fixtures which works for them. Remember, we can't all fit in the same bathtub in this world...:wave:

We have used the ER on 44 at Meggison across from Brownwood square 6 times. Fabulous!!! New modern beautiful facility and the doctors and nurses top notch. The facility has all the bells and whistles with equipment and I believe 12 patient room for overnight stays. They do get a lot of drunks from Brownwood square hurting themselves falling on concrete, hitting their heads, cutting themselves, and heart attacks. Between myself and husband, of those 6 visits, 2 times we had to be admitted to the Spanish Plaines hospital for several days and that transfer went well. The other visits we were released with meds and instructions after a few hours, and other visits stay overnight while running more tests trying to find the problem (which they did).

I think you're confusing UF Hospital with The Villages Health. The Villages Health is a "medical group" just like any other medical group in the country, but it's really big, and has reciprocity with the Hospital (just like medical groups all over the country have reciprocity with their own local hospitals).

The Villages Health accepts most NON-medicare PPOs, and they accept Advantage plans. They are not participating providers for Medicare part B at all.

The hospital is a normal hospital, like most normal hospitals around the country. They are participating providers for most insurance companies (although certain HMOs like Kaiser would be out of network because they don't serve Florida at all).

Health Care
 

The problem with Health Care in or near The Villages is:

The Villages builds about 300 new homes a month.
Other developments are also being built (Apartments, Homes...)

The Villages homes average 1-2 persons age 55+. The Health Care facilities can not keep up. As long as The Villages continue to build there will always be a shortage of Health Care facilities.

As for access - The Villages is not a gated community, it’s a community with gates. Just push the red button & you’re in!

We replaced all carpet with laminate 10 years ago. Floating flooring moves with changes in humidity. LVP is just newer, trendier. Has sole advantage and some deficiencies. Te gustibus non disputandem.

Older sections have greater variety, and more privacy, but beware of deed restrictions. CDD4 ejits made our neighbors cut down their 20 foot high tree line in back because there is a deed restriction of 4 feet on a hedge. The trees were planted when the house was built 22 yeas ago.

Doctor’s in TV area
 

My daughter’s insurance only covers one Endocrinologist in the area. After arriving for her appointment, was told she needed to get bloodwork done prior to the visit “no one told her this”. A week later, her appointment was cancelled because the blood work wasn’t completed yet. She went to book another appointment & they told her, they don’t have anything until June. This would be 5 months out & they would probably need new bloodwork. Just an FYI. Specialists take forever to get appointments

Maybe you don't need more, but others might. And that's the beauty of The Villages. There are various options available to suit just about everyone's lifestyle.

MMP’s (golf cart paths) are owned by villages districts and while you'll never be stopped to show your ID, but if you should get in a wreck you could also be charged with trespassing.

But they use our amenities all the time.. pools are one of the most used...

We have a new home and we don't hear any noise within the house from room to room. The outside noise of vehicles passing by is very minimal and actually less than our last home.

Regarding builder grade everything... Yes, we upgraded or added to just about everything.

We have changed a thing inside fourth home. All ceramic floors, quartz countertops, upgraded appliances. We did add a pool upgraded the lanai surface at the same time.

How often do you pick up the phone by the bathroom area and call the rec center desk to let them know an unauthorized person is using the pool?

Because, if it's a problem, that's what you're supposed to do.

The freestanding ER off 441 in Belleview near some of the Villages saved my life. They are AdventHealth. I was having a heart attack. They quickly got me stabilized and transferred by ambulance to AdventHealth Ocala. 3 days later 5 by pass surgery. Now over a year later I'm fine. Grateful to that stand alone ER.