Did you look at other places before picking TV?
 

Did any of you look at On Top of the World in Ocala? Do you have any opinions, good or bad about that place or any other retirement community near TV? We would appreciate any feedback that you could share. Thanks so much!!

Hi there Ladydoc.

We didn't look at any other places because I (me the mama, as in if mama ain't happy...) don't like Florida.

I don't like the pretty house here with the next one with cars up on blocks. I don't like the touristy, kinda used looking places that have been visited so many times that they look kinda worn out. I don't like that it goes from trash to treasure and sometimes all in the same block.

I don't like the brilliant PINK house next to a vibrant ORANGE house. I don't like the architecture except in those big ole houses in West Palm that I certainly can't afford....unless I sell one of my grandchildren.

I don't like hurricanes and palmetto bugs and young beautiful girls in thong bikinis plopping down next to me in a beach chair.

I HATE Florida, but I dearly, completely, satisfyingly, totally, love THE VILLAGES.

Did not like idea that I did not own the land in section of On Top Of The World we was looking at. Oak Run Ocala did not have the life style The Villages have. Also wanted to be able to use Golf Cart to go most places.

We looked at On Top of the World back in '09. Met with a realtor/representative for several hours - toured the models, got info, etc. Strangest thing was that she didn't want to take us on a ride through the existing areas where homes already existed. It made us feel as though there was something(s) she didn't want us to see. Overall, the place didn't interest us.

We also took serious looks at Summer Glen and Stone Creek, which are both in the Ocala area as well. Summer Glen - a LOT of home for the money. Stone Creek - VERY nice/attractive development. We also looked at Lake Ashton which is further south (Lake Wales area) but the verifiable Chinese drywall issue in the development was enough of a stigma to keep us from being interested. In addition to Stone Creek, we nosed around at a couple of the other Del Webb developments as well. Also, we looked at a large number of mobile home communities in the central FL area.

At the end of the day, it should all depend on what type of a living/community environment meets your requirements. If you want a nice home in a small 55+ community with a few amenities and a few clubs and zero other infrastructure close by (stores, restaurants, etc.), then any of those communities could probably meet your needs. We worked backwards - we liked everything offered by being in TV.............and couldn't find anything else that even came remotely close in comparison, taking all the positives and negatives into account. So buying in TV is what made the most sense for us!

Bill

Wowza!
 

Miz Gracie Girl, I do believe you've read my mind... Although I'm born and raised in Chicago, I've had numerous relatives living here and there in Florida since I was small, so I've been down there for visits occasionally over many years. My own Mother retired there as well and tried like heck to get me to relocate. I was certain I'd NEVER do it for all the same reasons... seemed like a no brainer to me. I never took to Florida at all.
Then a good friend mentioned she'd done a lifestyle visit and said TV was pretty special. My friend is typically not impressed easily.... so that peaked my curiosity.
We'd already scouted a few areas of the country for possible retirement .... New Mexico, The Smokeys and other places, but just for the heck of it, I sent away for info on TV.
All it took was one 4 day lifestyle visit! I spent the first day in disbelief, spent the second truly looking for the 'man behind the curtain' (like in Wizard of OZ) the third day (8 hours, bless my realtor's heart!) looking at homes, and the 4th day choked up at the thought of having to leave!
We came home to organize and plan our future in TV with out a bit of doubt or hesitation!
I LOVE my house here and will remember it fondly. It goes up for sale next month, and TV will be where we choose to live, happily ever after!

We looked at Top Of The World in Ocala and something just didn't seem right- it wasn't pretty- then I figured out why- there were no water features at all. No water on the golf course or around the houses. It really affected the overall look. We also saw the Del Webb in Ocala. The houses were nice at both places but they each had only one golf course. My wife didn't like the idea of having to play a championship course and I didn't care for the idea of having to play the same course all the time. I believe the golf was pricey too. As others have said, the lack of activities that TV offers was the main problem.

I researched about 100 retirement communities. Mostly internet research. got information sent to me from about 40 of those that looked to meet my needs. From that I narrowed it down to about 10. I visited 6 of those I thought were the best match. Even checked out a couple college towns that looked like good places to live but were not retirement communities per say. Nothing came close to The Villages. It was the most active, the most diverse, most golf, and golf cart accessible community I found.

I have seen several people retire and do nothing. Seems they sit around and wait to die. I wanted an active retirement and TV seemed the best match for that.

Yes, we had been looking at different place from Williamsburg, VA all the way down the coastline over a five year period. Found several that were nice, but nothing offered the lifestyle or value of TV.

Army Guy

I looked at Top of the World, Terra Vista, Stone Creek and a couple of others. They were all beautiful, prices were better and they were more accommodating about making modifications to the models.

Here were the downsides. All were still in the process of development without a large infrastructure to support the community - not a lot of stores and restaurants. Also, in most, I'd have to pay an upfront fee for golf privileges. I want to play golf, but it isn't going to be the focus of my life. In addition, none of them offered the wide variety of clubs and activities that I feel will help me meet people and become a part of the Villages community quickly. In short, none of them offered the lifestyle that I think will make me happy.

Good luck on your search. The Villages isn't perfect and it's not for everyone, but you'll find a lot about the community by reading this forum.

I'm wondering about Solivita in Orlando
 

Has anyone looked at Solivita and what are your thoughts? A lot of house for your money there as well. I've been looking online, there are pre-owned homes for sale at great prices, plus new homes greatly reduced.

I went to some of the "Live South" realty shows to see what might be offered.

There were some very nice places in Tennessee on beautiful grounds but too far in the sticks for us. We looked at some of the Ginn communities but glad we passed since they have gone belly-up. We looked at Celebration but the entire area was too congested. We looked at Winding River Plantation in North Carolina but the highway by it was bumper-to-bumper traffic all year.

A large part of not selecting the above places was the fear of them going bankrupt - as Ginn did. The VIllages had a great reputation and was fiscally sound.

My sister in Windemere told us of The Villages and we did the LifeStyle preview, went home for 2 years, came back to Florida in 2009 to buy or decide to stay in Maryland. We bought in The Villages, moved here Oct 1 of 2009, and just love being here.

An evil smile came over my face today when I looked at the weather map in the Daily Sun (Happy Times Gazette). It is the same smile I do when I look at the traffic cameras on-line for the Washington DC area where I used to commute.

Solivita
 

When we began our search for paradise we looked in the Orlando area because the in-laws had a winter home in the area and its close to Disney and the other attractions ( for anticipated future grandchildren). We visited Solivita and were disappointed in the construction/floor plans of the few models they had. we also got the feeling of snobbishness. It also seemed small and didn't have many amenities.. That was 5 years ago.
Though we don't play golf we love the Villages lifestyle an above all the people.
:pepper2:

We didn't really have any intentions of leaving southern CA when we retired. Visited TV when we were in Florida visiting our son and his family. Two visits to TV in less than a week convinced me I wanted to be here...hubby, also. The sales agent was told to find us a house on our second visit....and here we are.... :clap2:

Take a drive over there sometime and check out the surrounding area......and draw your own conclusions.

Bill

Hi Uptown Girl,

This is my 1st time to reply to a post here although I am reading the posts most everyday. I have been to TV about 5 times to visit and can't wait to move there.

We also live in the Chicagoland area (Huntley) in a Del Webb Sun City community which we love but just can't take the winters here anymore. Our house has been up for sale for 23 months and not one offer as yet. It is so discourageing and I do get invious of everyone having so much fun in TV and we are still waiting to join in on all the fun.

:o) Judy

We looked at The Legacy and Lakes of Mount Dora. The homes were beautiful, but living there you would be out in the middle of no where. The Villages has so much to offer and being golf cart community was major factor in our decision.

Sheetrock
 

Does anyone know what type of sheetrock is used in TV. Thanks

and we live in Florida, and have looked at just about everything here in the last two years. Some have houses I like better for the price, but none of them have the things that we are looking for: We have work odd schedules for years, working weekends and off during the week, and really haven't had much of a social life, and want to fix that. I don't want to drive 30-45 minutes to a hospital when I'm have a heart problem, we cruise, so this location is good, we bowl 2-3 nights a week now, so can't wait to be
getting into that. We ballroom dance, and don't find anything but line dancing offered at most places. We both need to exercise a couple days a week, and so we will go to the newly bought wellness center. We can't find all this anywhere else. We're in, just going to take time to sell here in Tampa and go. Will see you all in 2013!!

Richard and Lee in Tampa.

We checked on Solvita also. Like you said one trip through the surrounding area was enough to make up our minds to buy in TV.

Hi birdawg - welcome to TOTV!!! :welcome:

I can't tell you a specific brand name/type/manufacturer - we're not in TV at the moment or I could go into our attic and see what's on the backside of the ceiling drywall. But if your question relates to the potential for encountering Chinese drywall in TV homes, I don't think you'll find any substantiated cases of it. I researched the heck out of it before we bought and found nothing substantiating it being used/found in any TV homes.

Bill

Hi Judy! I will welcome you as others have welcomed me! (You'll get MORE of these!) Keep the faith and daydream of how happy you will be in TV.... it'll happen for you and me both!

We looked in southern Texas first because we were down there 20 years ago to visit my in-laws who retired down there. We really like it then, but boy it's not the same now. Then we did the lifestyle visit and spent 5 days in the Villages. After 2 days we decided to look at some other places around there, one being Summerglen. The minute we drove in I couldn't believe how quiet and dead the place seemed after the Villages. So we still talked to a Rep but than got out of there and didn't go to On Top of The World. We just went back to TV and quit looking. That was it. House is up for sale March 1.:icon_wink:

judynsc - Hi and welcome to posting on TOTV!! :wave:

FWIW - - - If you're able to at all, consider lowering the price on your house as much as you can stand. That's what we ended up deciding we needed to do a couple of years back when we sold our previous home in OH (though we built a new home right around the corner from the previous place!!). We had it on the market for nearly a year, trying to get the best money we could out of it. Finally got tired of it all, switched realtors, lowered the price to a level that we KNEW would get it sold......and had a 'no contingencies' contract within 2 weeks! It's a tough and bitter pill to swallow to take less than you feel something should bring, but that appears to be today's reality in the real estate world!!! Fortunately, prices in TV don't seem to be getting hit nearly as hard as what's being experienced in other areas.

In the meantime, keep coming on back to TV and enjoy whatever time you're able to spend there!!

Bill :)

Hi Judy. We looked at Sun City in Huntley when it first opened and once again a couple of years later. Very nice community but we weren't ready to downsize/retire either time. We have friends up there in the same boat as you. Hang in there you will sell eventually.

Thank you all so much. I appreciate the feedback. You all have said what I was thinking...nothing offered the diversity of TV. As one poster said..I want to get everywhere I need to go in a golf cart! My only hesitancy is that neither of us play golf or have any interest in it and I wanted to know if the other amenities make up for what we would be paying for and not using. We are arriving on the 23rd for 6 days and hope to find our dream house! Our realtor is coming today to tell us what she thinks this place is worth (we have no idea). I hope to meet some of you around and about. I know we will hanging around the dog parks awhile. Thanks again!

Hi Judy. :welcome: to TOTV.

I've been on this site long enough to know that many people have researched other retirement communities and found nothing compares to the lifestyle of TV.

Wow 23 months and I was discouraged after a year of no offers in trying to sell my condo. I wanted to be in TV before this horrible winter hit. I hope you, Uptown Girl and myself make 2011 the year we move to TV!!!!

Best wishes for selling your home.

Okay ... save us the drive - what was the surrounding area like?

PatandBob - Do a Google search on "solvita orlando" and browse through the results. Like any place, you'll find pros and cons regarding it. But look through the results of the Google search and see what you think.

Bill

Solvito, Orlando
 

Visited there after LSV here sorry but no comparison to The Villages. Pretty houses but not many recreation centers and amenities. Also did a LSV at the Top Of The World same there. Plus I felt that the Villages has a younger vibe than the other two places. We rented a Patio Villa for 6 weeks and then bought a Ranch and are here just 4 months. Still getting settled but intend to take advantage of all that they offer here. We love it here and so glad not to be back in Pa. with all that snow and ice.

Welcome to you Franjo...

Is there anyone else here new, that hasn't met some of the other villagers that post on this site?

I could get some of us together.....

A totally "self-serving" suggestion: Wait for us! We'll be rolling in this Sat. afternoon! :)

Bill

Coming for a Lifestyle Preview February 19. Would love to meet up with others.

DVC points
 

We have DVC points and have visited central Florida for many years. We kept hearing about the Villages. We visited on a Lifestyle visit in early October and closed on a new house in Buttonwood on December 14. We will beat you down (coming in on Friday from Brooklyn, NY: I hope). :a040::a040:

Hello Uptown Girl and Judy,
It has been the mother of all winters in the Chicago area hasn't it? First 20+ inches of snow last week then -5 degrees below for the next two nights. I would move to TV tomorrow if I could retire... J udy, Del Webb in Huntley seems very nice from the couple of times I've been there, but it is still in the snow zone. Best of luck to you in selling your house. Hope to spend a couple of weeks in TV later on this year.
Laura from Schaumburg.

We looked in the Orlando area, in Arizona and at Del Web communities in Florida and Georgia. However, after visiting TV, no other place interested us. No other community had a comparable lifestyle. For us, that was more important in retirement than another big ole house to clean. So...

See you on one of the golf courses. Or at one of the pools. Or in one of the clubs. Or at the Lifelong Learning Center. Or on one of the squares. Or at one of the restaurants. Or at one of the dog parks. Or on the fitness trail. Or at Savannah or Church on the Square. Or at one of the local theaters. Or driving along the cart paths...

:welcome: Judy and Franjoe

Hi All,

We were extremely lucky on our journey to be "Frogs" in the villages.
We moved to Cambridge of Carrilon (adult community) in Plainfield, Il in 2010.
I was working and unable to take advantage of many of the amenities, my wife got involved in many activities and loved it. While there we heard about the villages from our new friends. I could not think about moving there since my job was demanding and I was 9 years away from retirement. The villages got put on a back burner.

We decided to size down and sold our house in 2004. We built a new house in a multi-age community. It was OK but even I missed the amenities of Carrilon. We started talking about buying in to another adult communinty.

Then 2007 came and everything got put on hold. My wife continually asked me about visiting the villages and I told her not until and when our present home got sold.

She finally convinced me in Aug of last year to come down for the life-style visit. I came down to look and did not know she was coming to buy. Sure enough we bought a a spec house after four days. It was had exactly what we wanted.

We put our house on the market Sept 1 and used the gimmic of selling all our furniture with it. We took a hit on the listing price but got a contract on 10/01. We thought we'd be in Pennecamp by Nov 15th. Then the appraisal came in 30,000 below the contracted price. We hemmed and hawed for another month and were able to counter with only a 20,000 loss.
We had many sleepless nights and arguements during this process and it tried our 40 year marriage but we endured.

On 12/27/10 we arrived at our new home with an aero bed and some personal items. A day later a pod came with our clothes etc.

Today we have about completed the furnishing of our house and could not be happier.

Please excuse my long winded note. After reading the thread I wanted to relay a real time experience to encourage you to make it happen in your own life,

This was the fastest we ever moved on major decisions in our lives and we
have no regrets. You will love being here.

Wow! Great story, Jack & Pam. I'm sorry about the friction in your marriage, but living in TV will fix that. Congratulations!

I used to rent a pool home each spring in the Poinciana area next to Solivita and watched the surrounding area steadily deteriorate due to gang and drug related crime.

A friend of mine rented a home there last year and for entertainment, he and the wife used to sit on the patio at night watching the sheriff’s helicopter hovering over the neighborhoods shining their spotlights on the ground looking for drug deals in progress.

I hope this isn't too far off topic, but has anyone visited a Robson community in AZ (Phoenix or Tucson)? We have friends, who've never been to TV, who were impressed with Pebble Creek in Phoenix. We plan to visit Saddlebrook in Tucson in a couple of weeks while out there.

They don't have near the amenitites of TV, but the setting and homes look good. At least in the brochures.:)

Other Developments
 

Wife and I have been visiting various Florida retirement communities for the last 3 years. We have been as far South as Naples and Palm Beach. We saw a lot of nice homes and ammenities. One of the things we noticed was that the models usually include well over $100K in upgrades (including the view lots). I believe the models in TV are closer to the actual base product. We were not impressed by the model homes we viewed during our first TV visit. They appreared to be plain and simple construction compared to other communities we had visited. We loved TV and all the activities and ititially thought that we would purchase a Premier to get the quality and size we wanted. After more thought and reasoning, we have come to realize that we really do not want a large house to maintain and clean. We only really use a few rooms in the home we have now. What we really want is to enjoy our retirement and have a lot of good friends to enjoy it with. We did not see that in any of the other communities we visited. You know TV is special to get us out of Hawaii after 45 years.