Unexpected Surprise!!
 

As I have shared before...Boilermaker Dave and I will be Villagers in a couple of years. I really enjoy asking questions of you folks who are already living in The Villages. So much insight and info...and always interesting!
I was wondering this morning...when you moved to The Villages, I would imagine that most of you knew pretty much what to expect. You might have visited in a Lifestyle Preview, stayed with friends or rented on your own for a few days or weeks. However...once you became full fledged Villagers or Snowbirds was there anything or things that came as a surprise (pro or con)...that you truly weren't expecting? These surprises could be anything from the true cost of living for you, something about the infrastructure, the people, etc.
Thanks for sharing! Remember...there are so many of us wannabees and gonnabees! Your comments help get us thru the days till we are there with you! Happy Saturday! Oh yeah...everyday is Saturday for you all! :coolsmiley:

Gonnabee Also
 

I'm looking forward to the replies as well. Those thoughts have been on my mind also. I did read on another thread (forgot which one) a post about average monthly costs. It was helpful and I'll PM you the link once I find it.

The wind
 

I was surprised how many truly windy (20-30 mph) days there are here. We moved down about Nov. 5th, have been gone on 2 trips for about 10 days each (Jan & Feb). Doesn't really keep you from doing anything, but you notice it either playing golf, racket sports or just driving around in the golf cart.

Wouldn't keep me from moving here, was just surprised.

By the way, today looks absolutely beautiful, sunny, clear and calm, high expected of 83. I'm sitting on my screened lanai watching birds at the feeder and deciding what to do the rest of the day.

My biggest surprise was the people. I discovered TV when I visited a friend. Of course, the people were friendly when she introduced us. I expected that. What I didn't expect was that people were just as friendly when I moved here. There is such a generosity of spirit here that it is truly overwhelming.

The other surprise was how conservative/Republican it is. Not a big deal, just not something I was expecting.

My biggest disappointment was how low salaries are here. I'm too young to retire and do have to make a living wage. That wasn't happening when I looked, even with 30 years experience as a legal secretary, which is why I ended up starting my own business.

Well, I thought when I left the corporate world, there would be no more calendar entries.... HOLY COW! Was I wrong!

My calendar is just as busy now, as when I was working...maybe busier! ...and, the wife has to also keep a calendar too, so we know who is doing what, when...and whether we can do anything together :1rotfl: We have to "invite" each other to play golf...

It's amazing how active you can be here, if you want.

We've only been here 4 months (full-time), but we're loving it...and the people we meet here are fantastic!

Just our experience, but I suspect you'll get similar responses from others...

Cheers...

During our 7 visits (a week at the time) we have noticed the wind also, especially playing golf. Not a show stopper as you stated, but something you do notice. Was wondering the frequency of the winds.

I'm jealous of you sitting on your lanai deciding what to do today! Can't wait to experience that myself!!

It can be cold
 

This is our fourth winter of snowbirding. We love it here, none of the things we love about being here were a surprise. What surprised me was how cold it can he here in the winter. When I was up north, I would laugh at folks who said it was cold in FL when the temp was 58, but it really can be, especially with a nice 15 mph north breeze. Last winter there were many days where it was too cold to want to golf. Of course there is other stuff to do and I am not moving, but it caught me off guard how cold it could be.

This winter has been everything we could have hoped out of our FL home weather wise. Lets hope the previous winter was the anomaly.

Thanks all, for the comments!
I totally agree with the wind surprise, John and Ohiogirl! We were down last week and it was very windy that Thursday. Quite surprising!
I had a feeling, Red, that the kindness and friendliness of the people would be mentioned. That is definitely a constant when anything about The Villages is mentioned! What a wonderful surprise that is! :) I would imagine the neighborhoods to be more like the neighborhood of my youth. Friendly people, mostly all in the same boat with like-minded values and goals. I know, I know,...different people make the world go round...so there will be the occasional sour puss...but I'll be surprised if there are many of them! :icon_wink:

Surprise in La Zamora
 

Just spent a couple of hours in yard, gathering leaves....Fall (as in falling leaves) occurs in Spring!!!!...go figure!.....Love the trees, so will continue to gather the leaves....

How about Unexpected Expenses
 

I would be interested to hear any comments on unexpected expenses when first moving to TV. I read a post on another thread stating - "bring your checkbook", but they didn't go into detail.

We may be coming with limited funds, since we are still helping our son with his expenses and not "socking" any away as much as I'd like for the "big move"! I know a lot depends on the type home you buy, etc. We are hoping to find a furnished pre-owned, as we don't want to bring our old stuff. Several Villagers have told us they moved their furniture only to find it didn't fit in their new home at TV. :(

John - I think if you do what I'd consider to be a reasonable amount of investigation looking into expenses related to owning a home in TV, nothing will really come as a surprise. EVERYTHING you'd need/want to know can easily be found on TOTV.

On the other hand, Sandy and I met a fellow in TV last Oct. when we were there 'kicking tires'/looking around at new builds. We all got to chatting about TV-related things and he mentioned he was on the brink of buying quickly as he was really wanting to be in TV. Had his place back home sold, etc., etc. I mentioned something about the bonds usually being higher, apples to apples, on new construction versus resales. His reaction???? "Bond? What do you mean by 'bond'?" WHEW!!! His uppers about hit the pavement!!! :1rotfl: The poor fellow knew nothing about the concept of bonds on homes......but was very glad it got mentioned!!!

Given the effort we put in up front, I feel like we knew everything that would be involved before we took the plunge and have had no surprises....and no regrets.....since.

Bill :)

My surprises;

No mosquitoes, one bite in 3 years. And very few bugs.

Lower humidity than on the coasts.

Easy access to Disney World, 50 minutes all Toll Road and no traffic.

Very expensive neighborhood pool. This is the gossip center of your village. This is where you really learn how to spend money. Guttering, landscaping, attic stairs, crown molding, new flooring, driveway widening and painting, etc. Also a place to meet people and make friends for all the activities as well as cruises and day trips.

Good attitudes about TV and the developer who made this all possible. Also a positive outlook as we all deal with our health issues.

A very frugal group, always looking for a good deal to make sure our resources last us until the end.

Good neighbors who are always willing to help out. Dog sitting, lawn mowing, electrical, handy man, landscaping, house sitting, watering, etc. Also a text book of advice from many diverse experiences.

For the most part I have been happy with the contractors we've hired with the exception of lawn care, pest control, and landscaping.

Never thought I would ever live in Florida, now I don't want to leave until I reach room temperature.

Bill...wow! I can't imagine being hit with something like the bond info right before you buy!!!! Bet he was glad he talked to you all when he did!
I am wondering, in the same line of thought as the 'surprise theme'...do Villagers eat in the restuarants more or less than anticapated before the move? Have read many threads on restuarant reviews and there are as many different opinions on the different restuarants as there are Baskin Robbins flavors! Or should I say Peachwave flavors?! I just wonder if the 'novelty' wears off. I don't think it will with me...but who knows!

So much good info. on TOTV for wannabees
 

Until I started reading TOTV on a regular basis, I also knew nothing about what a "bond" was on a house as bonds do not exist on homes in Illinois as far as I know. Reading TOTV the past year has been such a good source of information for me as far as the cost of living, what to look for in a TV home, etc. Reading TOTV should be a requirement for all TV wannabees befoire they purchase in TV. :spoken:

Bill, you are so right. We've done a good bit of asking during our 7 visits, even to include going to First Mortgage a few years ago to see how much house we qualify to buy. Certainly know what a Bond is. Guess that guy was surprised. Have bought several homes, so am familiar with the usual costs there.

Was just wondering, if anything jumped out and bit you upon your arrival. We certainly expect the usual costs with moving into a new place. Just want to avoid a, "oh, by the way, you'll owe another $1,000 for this"!!

Thanks to TOTV and the wealth of knowedge you good folks provide us "gonnabees", we should all have a good idea of what to expect. And don't think for a minute we aren't grateful and appreciative! WE ARE!!!

THANKS EVERYONE FOR SHARING! :ho:

jgbama, :agree:
Thanks on behalf of us gonnabees! We do appreciate the knowledge and willingness to share!

Our only surprise

We only visit 4-6 weeks a year and rent out during the busy season for 2 to 3 months. The only surprise during the whole process was the 9% tax due to the State of Florida on the rental fees, not a deal breaker but 8,000 rent for 3 months @ 9% tax is 720.00.

Nothing of consequence, John. We had already looked into what all was going to be involved with the closing up-front and nothing at all changed with what we'd found out when we went through the closing process. We had ballpark ideas about what homeowner's insurance was going to run, utilities, etc. There are fees for your mailbox, pro-rated taxes, bond, amenity fee, annual maintenance fee, etc. at closing - again, these were all expected.

I did get a few minor surprises of sorts. Found that:
- State Farm is no longer writing new homeowner's policies in FL. So I had to spent more time than planned finding a company/policy that made sense to me. Also learned about things like hurricane coverage and sinkhole coverage that we don't have to deal with in OH!!
- The home we bought was a resale and has natural gas service. Turns out TECO required a minor deposit up-front - no big deal. Easy enough to get it credited back to the account afterwards - they tell you how.
- If you have a 'personal liability policy' (an umbrella policy) through your insurance company and you get your homeowner's insurance and/of golf cart coverage via other carriers, make sure the underlying coverages on those policies satisfy what's required for them to also fall under your umbrella policy. This actually turned out to be the biggest 'time consumer' I had to deal with in the entire home purchase process. Once everyone got on the same page, it all worked out fine. It did make the cost of insurance for the golf cart go up more than I'd originally anticipated, though. But again, not all that big a deal.

Hope that helps!

Bill :)

I know in Mn. our taxes are payed twice yearly if it's not on your house payment. I think in Florida it's once a year? Also the city of Hugo where we live now wanted to asess the home owners for water and new roads this year since we all have wells and the roads are falling apart. Lucky for us the economy is bad and the neighborhoods voted it down, but with in the next couple of years our neighbors will be paying about $23,000 apiece for this. We'll be in TV. paying our Bond. It all equals out.

Yes, it's annually - speaking for a home in Sumter County at least! :)

Bill

My biggest surprise with respect to eating out was how inexpensive it is relative to where we were from. As long as you stay away from the national chains which tend to have uniform pricing, eating and drinking out is quite affordable. The other day we were eating at a place that had happy hour prices: two beers for the price of one. The price of one beer was only $2.10 so each beer during happy hour (which appeared to run most of the day) was $1.05. I can't even buy it in a liquor store that cheaply.

A negative surprise was the lack of quality produce. Perhaps my expectations were too high. I had assumed that since much of the nation's produce comes from Florida, that when you were actually in Florida that it would be that much better. Not true.

Quality Produce
 

If you are looking for good produce visit visit the Market of Marion(27-441N).Open Friday and Saturday.Just returned from our monthy visit,Peppers,onions,sweet potatos,tomatos Yum.

My biggest surprise was the friendliness of all Villagers! Coming from a neighborhood where we all knew who everyone was, but had minimal contact with each other, the immediate bonding of folks from all over was exciting as well as unexpected!

Due diligence should reveal the unexpected fees, charges, one might suddenly run across.

Overall cost-of-living depends, mostly, on how you actually live! If you're in the habit of eating out almost every night, you probably won't change when you come to TV, but you may very well have to adapt to when one eats here! :D

SWR
:beer3:

I was surprised about the cost of the license plates for the cars. More expensive than I had paid in any other state. From the numerous postings in the forum I knew electric and water would be higher here. Really pleased with the quality of Publics and Fresh Market for the things we buy. Golf carts are expensive. We made sure we got multiple quotes for any work we were having done on the house. None of that is bad and we love it here. Worth it.

I knew about the overwhelming friendliness from my visits. What surprised me most during our visits to TV was how, every single time we got lost in our golf carts (and you will), someone stopped as soon as we so much as looked lost to help us find our way.

What surprised me most after we bought a home here was how I felt the first time I stopped instantly to help when I saw someone looking lost on her cart. I was able to help her find her way. It's hard to explain how excited I was, like I had passed my initiation and I was honest to goodness a Real Villager. :pepper2:

I actually cried. That surprised the heck out of me! :thumbup:

My surprises:

The beautiful clouds -- every day. And the wonderful breeze/wind. Mr. K9 and I just finished up two meteorology classes through the Lifelong Learning College, and we learned that both the clouds and wind are caused by the wind direction from the opposing coasts. Breeze comes from one direction for the gulf side, and from the other direction on the ocean side. They meet halfway -- which is where we are in TV! So when they two air masses meet each other you get wind and beautiful clouds.

Another surprise was how much it cost to register your cars for the first time! Wow!

The best surprise was there are no mosquitos or fleas. I've only seen two mosquitos and we've lived here a year now. The payback is the palmetto bugs -- ugh. But as long as you spray, no problems.

And, I'm still surprised every day at how beautifully landscaped TV stays -- flowers in every nook and cranny. Such a beautiful place to live.

We've only scratched the surface when it comes to restaurants. No, I don't think that discovering new places to eat "gets old."

And not having been to the movies in about a hundred years, I was surprised at how much I am enjoying TV's theaters (and popcorn).

Finally, I'm surprised that I still love posting and reading TOTV. I thought that once we got here, that TOTV would be something I no longer needed or wanted to do -- WRONG. I still love TOTV . . can you tell?

I know when we were working with our agent before we built our home, he spelled everything out for us,taxes, bond,etc. We have had no surprises. The only thing was,I found myself getting carried away with buying things for the house,then I realized didn't have to have everything done overnight. Have spaced out painting, landscaping, moldings, granite etc.

I'm not absolutely sure of this, but based on my prior Motor Vehicle experience I believe that Florida registration fees are higher than some other states is because Florida is an Ad Valorem (value added) state. What that means is that taxes are collected on initial registrations and upon renewals in addition to the regular registration fees. In a non-AV state, like NYS where I'm currently a resident, full taxes on a vehicle are collected on initial registration of a motor vehicle and the renewals only have the regular fee without added tax. I believe that most states are not ad valorem!

Surprised!
 

I was absolutely shocked that in a community of this size, TV did not have one inside pool (for those not-so-perfect days). It was ALMOST a deal breaker for me until I saw all the other wonderful features of TV. Within one day, I found a perfect piece of property and voila! .....put a deposit down to build an Iris. I've since learned to turn my head around and will do other activities when I can't swim. I still believe TV needs at least one indoor pool for many reasons...skin cancers among the top. However, ya can't have it all. I think when it comes to retirement communities, TV is about as good as it gets. :thumbup:

Well since I guess I am one of those in the minority about having done a lot of research about TV or having made a lot of trips down (I came for 2 day trips then a 4 day LPP and I was hooked) I am just continually amazed by how great TV really is. People are so friendly, I love my neighbors although we have only known each other for about 7 months, I feel I have known them my entire life (I swear I have the friendliest cul-de-sac in TV). I have found that it's like most people kind of check their egos at the door, it doesn't matter if you were a dr., lawyer, teacher or whatever everyone just focuses on having a great time. I too was surprised there are no mosquitos or bugs. Also if it's below 60 degrees out, it feels pretty chilly (heck I've seen people in their winter coats when it was 50) Most days the weather is perfect, sunny, slight breeze. I was surprised about how beautiful the sunsets are.
Now in the very beginning I was one who thought I will be glad when I can put my checkbook away. But in honesty it wasn't for so many necessary expenses. But in the past when I built a home it was just like I wanted when I moved in. Here it was landscaping, backsplash, gutters, more towel bars, pest control, ladder for attic, add more lights and outlets, birdcage. then let's not forget golf cart and of course new furniture.
I was surprised we don't have a post office in TV (other than the mobile one)
But in closing...I absolutely love it here...there is no place I would rather be.

States without income tax often have Ad Valorem
 

Most states I have lived in that are without income tax charge Ad Valorem or personal property taxes on cars usually collected when you renew or register the car that are based on the cars value. I believe Florida has no income tax thus inorder to get money they tax what you own real estate and cars I don't know if they have a similar tax on boats and RV trailers but some non income tax states do.

Thanks again, all, for your input. Sounds like we 'gonnabees' really have a lot to look forward to! :mademyday:

Great Responses
 

Great thread. Have been here for two years.

LOVE: sunsets, Lighthouse Point Cafe Restaurant, sand cranes and other tropical birds here, beautiful landscaping, ice cream at Ambrosia (LSL), Disney, friendliness of most people, always eager to help out. Friends here, pot lucks, day trips to Tavares, Mt. Dora, Winter Garden, the beaches, KathieI (let's see if she reads all posts!!)

DON'T LOVE: Gates and gate passes, humidity mid summer, crowds during high season, salaries here.

Overall, so glad I moved here. sometimes, I can't believe going to the squares and dancing has become "boring" so I make myself go at least every few weeks (I do work fulltime though). Hard to work when all your friends are having so much fun. Can't wait to retire.

Ah, but at least you're in TV!!!!! :)

Bill

I could have written every word of this if I could write as well as you. (Isn't the theatre popcorn amazingly good???)

I love that everyone has 80,000 new friends who want to invite you to their party.

I love that when you look at people, they see you and look back and smile. I thought maybe I had disappeared up north when seeing YOUNG people.

Other not nice surprises. Lemons cost more than in Ohio and the tomatoes aren't as good as in Ohio and Helene and I are suffering terribly from allergies.

I blame the developer and his family for all of these bad things.:throwtomatoes::D:1rotfl:

Is there a web site that one can figure out what the cost of getting your car registered for the 1st time in Florida? :gc:

Look thru the thread titled car registration - in the "today's posts"


.

The high initial registration fee is just that - initial (they changed it - upwards - about 2-3 yrs ago). The renewal is cheap - about $55 per car - not ad valorem. Florida really is cheaper to live in than MOST other states, probably more expensive than some of the southern states such as Alabama, Mississippi and maybe Arkansas. Florida really does want to attract retirees - FL makes their money from the tourists.

Ohiogirl...having been a FL tourist many times, I don't know if FL making it's money from me is really an "Unexpected Surprise"! :icon_wink:
Thanks for the info...and I would agree that the cost of living in FL would be less than many Northern states.

getting back to "Surprises"
 

Guess your thread kind of got hijacked - by me and many others. It is a good one - getting back to "Surprises."

Would have to say that I have been surprised by how much time I spend on the lanai - either reading the paper from cover to cover with my coffee most mornings, checking email and computer websites like this one, having a glass of wine and reading a good book before or after dinner. We literally spend hours every day out here. When mornings and evenings are cool, or it's raining without lightening, I come out here with a nice thick throw and enjoy it even then. Isn't retirement great?