Helpful advice and warnings for brand new Villagers.
 

Let's do a thread with some advice for newbies, things to do and NOT to do when you first move here.

First I will say not to buy from the door pounders who come to you in the weeks right after you move in. Not because they are all unworthy contractors, but some of them are, and nothing, NOTHING has to be done at once. Take your time and wait for changes to water supply, adding pest treatments, painting driveways or even if you will add downspouts to the back of your home. Wait to see who your neighbors use for lawn maintainance.

Please jump in here and add your comments here everyone.

Bless you for starting this thread. So much to remember/consider. Instinct is to make your nest as soon as possible....but I know we should slow down and take time to assess our new surroundings. Anxious to hear more suggestions.

Beware the clever and sneaky water system salespeople! They will phone and mail solicitations under all sorts of fake identities, but when you question and press, they'll finally fess up to being water system sales. And they are relentless in their persistence. My father recently bought a house and he has been bombarded for two months now, despite repeatedly telling the phone soliciters 'No thanks', and throwing away the mail disguised as all sorts of government and official looking important papers. Geez, what an irritating group they are!

Take your time furnishing you house! Do the essentials but don't rush the process. tTake time to think what you want to "say" in each room. This especially for the ladies...men probably (over-all) don't care quite as much, though there are exceptions.

before you move take a long hard look at your furniture and decide whether you really want the same in your new home in TV. I can't tell you how many new residents wind up getting new furniture becuase it is time or it doesn't go in the new house as well or it is not a Florida-ie or just because.

We for one could have saved time and money by bringing our master bedroom and guest furniture only. Sell, pass on, give away and don't pay to move it.

When it comes to golf carts take your time to comparison shop.

CHeck with your neighbors for the various services they use. Many of us have had to trial and error find ones we are satisfied with.

As has been stated already beware/ignore the door knockers....especially the ones who want to trim your trees and bushes whether they need them or not.

btk

Keep them coming. Mom and I have owned here for almost a year but we haven't moved in yet!

As billiethekid said, think about buying new furniture here instead of paying so much to ship tired, outdated furniture.

The consignment shops here are full of things that are in good shape but extremely dated, and much of it cost the owner a bundle to ship it here and then it did not fit or did not do justice to a sparkling, fresh new or pre-owned home here.

I agree with all of the above.

To add to a few. When shopping for golf cart...sometimes paying the extra eliminates problems down the road. Will they come to your home if you have a problem?

When finding a landscape company..check here on TOTV, but also ask other folks who's yard you like who they used and are they happy. Thats one area that I didn't do enough research. I'm stuck with dead plants and a company that could care less....never come around to see how plants, etc are doing.

If possible, walk the neighborhood and see who your neighbors will be. And if you meet some ask them about noise...trains, barking dogs, etc.

In addition, just because a company is an advertiser on TOTV, does not mean they provide good customer service. I can probably guess who gerryann is talking about. Also check with Seniors vs, Crime before hiring anyone for anything. The best source is your neighbors-- don't rush into landscaping like I did, and get royally ripped off.

Watch out for the welcome wagon phone call. They are not from welcome wagon. They are people that want to test your water and get you to purchase a system from them.

Do not pay for any service in advance. There may be a few exceptions to this "rule" but until you are really settled in and know who's who it is best not to make payments in advance.

I am in same situation. It is tough to hold back on things you want to do but we moved forward with the landscaping and had a PV solar system installed. Our primary reason is that we want to get things done before getting on a fixed income. Neighbors are very helpful. We started with Stellar lawn service but have since changed. They started off good but the yard maintenance suffered as time went on. We now have have a service that we pay monthly and it works out better in my opinion. Wife wants to do some inside things which we are looking into. Keep is to be patience and check out avialble sources before commiting. Good Luck!

I notice that some here are saying that they receive phone calls from pushy vendors. My question is how did they get your new phone number? Especially if you have a cell phone? or do you have a land line which is posted somewhere?
Please share.

its the land line and those who stop by and have you fill out an info card

I guess the solution is not to fill out the info card.
Thanks

One of the things that new villagers don't do is to find a doctor and have their records transferred. It just isn't on your mind to do when you are not sick.

But many can tell you that health emergencies can occur at any time and it helps to have someone in possession of your records.

Do not ask me who to choose for a doctor. Ours is just o.k..Our dentist is so good that I hate to share.

O.K. Drs. Kathleen Williams and her partner at Palm Dental on 466 across from Crispers and next to Lang Eye. You owe me big time. I hope they don't get any busier than they are.

BE VERY CAREFUL of dentists. This is the first time I have lived in a place where they will scam you. There are a lot of unethical ones and dental hygienists too who want to deep clean you for over a thousand dollars.

All the cell phone numbers I gave out during the building process will be changed when we move full time to TV. I never give out my unlisted land line number to anyone except friends and family. That should stop the vendor calls.

Agree with don't ever pay up front, especially landscapers. One of my favorite improvements was the solar tubes in the dark area's of our home'

We sold or gave away our furniture before moving to TV. We bought from Southern Lifestyles who have the floor plans for each model home ad are able to do floor plans for each room. When we got here our new furniture was all in place as designed and we felt like we were coming home rather than moving in.

Best advice I got came from a bumper sticker I saw shortly after moving here. It said "we don't care how you did it up north".

I believe as soon as you connect a landline through companies like Comcast, companies can obtain immediate access to a new customes data base since they know there is a 30 day delay on the DO NOT CALL LIST, so they take advantage of the window of opportunity. They also know when you close on a home through public record and will cross reference your address, name and new #. It's called marketing and only you can control it by how you deal with the calls.
Another thing to keep in mind is to learn your homes mechanics. Meaning such things as your irrigation system and how to use it, your locks on your garage doors are a very common unknown by residents of The Villages. I always suggest to clients that they lock their garage doors if they are going away for a period of time. I have heard many residents say that one of their neighbors garage door openers, opens their door as well.
Bring a camera with you when searching for your new home. It can be overwhelming and by the end of the day, you won't remember what you saw or where it was. Also, take a camera to the design meeting.
If you are closing up your home for the summer and heading north, turn off your main water (as long as you don't need it to be on for a spa or pool, etc..), close your blinds so the sun does not heat up the home and cause your AC to run when not needed, turn your hot water heater off, no one is taking a shower ... hopefully. :ohdear:

I also agree solar tubes were one of our best after market investments. I also recommend you use this forum for many of your questions, particulary for numerous contractors you may want in the future. Also, ask away on this forum, you will receive great advise. Most of all, enjoy!

Medical records- Use a thumb drive.
 

In addition I suggest a thumb drive with you at all times.
Last time we moved our doctor sugested we get a thumb drive that had a medic-alert symbol on it and add it to our keys. If something happens when traveling you have all right at hand and emts look for medic alets.
We scanned in the medical files and had a file titled emergency overview at the top listing meds alergies pre existing conditions etc. When my husband had a cardiac problem the nurse took the drive plugged it into the computer and transfered the whole lot into a file with his name on it. No waiting for a link to the files from the doctor etc. Some doctors nurses will set the drive up for you for a fee. But there are two types one that is just a blank thumb with medical markings and the other has software with questions to answer included.

Just a thought

Before doing any major landscaping, drive around established neighborhoods and get ideas on what you might want to plant. Watch what TV plants to get an idea on different flowers in different seasons.

We have a land-line, but the ringers are turned off and we only use it for OUTGOING calls. We get anywhere from 8-15 calls a day on that line. Otherwise we have our cells and the only people with our cell number is the people we WANT to have it.

Also..the purchase of your home is Public Record Information and can be found in the appropriate county office and must be available to anybody who asks for it. Many of these companies employ people to sweep the public records for new home owner information.

Other ways they get your number..be VERY careful about filling out cards for things YOU WANT such as grocery store discount card a "My Lowes" card, a CVS or Walgreens discount card. All those companies sell off your number. They say that they won't or don't but if you CAREFULLY READ the fine print it says they won't sell your number but by accepting the card you do agree to allow them to share your information with their "related businesses". That means that anybody they want to "relate" to gets your number. In essence..they sell your number.

There is also an investigation going on over the US Postal Service's interesting little "Mail Forwarding Kit". If you notice it comes stuffed with advertisements. Apparently the USPS is sharing your information with these companies, and they are currently being investigated by the Feds over violation of your privacy.

Eternal Vigilence is the best way to keep the creeps off the phone and away from your door.

I had this woman come to my home when I first moved in.she comes to your home with a big basket telling you she is the welcome lady from the villages. Before I asked her into my home I asked her if she was from the villages ,she said she was. She is not from the villages. When she started going into her talk I quickly understood where she was coming from and told her to leave . She was trying to push water testing and water installation , and other services . Take your time to do things around your new home, you have the rest of your life to get things done.

Great advice, one other thing, I used bright house for my phone service and they advised me to have my number unlisted. I did and I have not received phone calls from people looking to sell me anything.

We have our land line with an unlisted number. Unfortunately, the number belonged to someone else before it was given to us a year ago. The guy is a deadbeat, and we've been getting calls for a year now from collection agencies looking for him!

All good advice here folks. Thank's......
My wife and I hope to be residents within the next year.
Got a home to sell in Rochester, NY first.

What is a water systems person? Is this like putting in a water softener that we use up north due to hard water??

Yep, someone trying to sell you a water softener.

Bill :)

I wanted to try Magic Jack, as insurance I purchased it from Walmart so I could return it with to hassle if required. It was required, the number previously belonged to a Taxi Co. and to change it I would have to pay a fee. NO Most calls came after the bars closed.

Thank you, thank you to Graciegirl who started this post and all others who offered such helpful advice. We will be newbies this summer, and this is the kind of information that we will benefit from when we get there. Thanks again everyone!!!!

I'm surprised so many people have land lines. I wouldn't know what to do with a land line. I kept the same cell number I've had for 20+ years and don't give it out to anyone but family

All this is really good info for someone who will be moving to TV in late summer or early fall. I have a question. How much time do I need to spend there when looking to buy a house? We would like to rent a house in July or Aug. but don't know if we need a whole month or just a couple of weeks. Any sugguestions?

You should be preparing now as many of us have done, by trying to familiarize your self with all of the series of homes and areas and try to zero in on two or three models you like best. Try to decide if you want a resale or new and the approximate age of the resale if you want a resale. I had a spread sheet and a book full of plans. We came down just to see what we would like when the time came to buy. We were certainly not going to buy on our life style visit. We have always been very carefully planned about any large purchase. We were ready to ignore any zealous sales people.

We didn't have any pushy sales people from The Villages.

We went home after buying a new house that was not on our list of favorite models.

We loved that house for four years and last year sold it and built another home here.

So...the answer is...who knows?

I wish you well. We have never been happier.

A big mistake would be to rush the buying decision. Rent as long as you can and look at a number of options of where to live. Don't buy on your first visit. The life style is what you are buying.

First, the biggest mistake you might make is waiting for the "just the right time" to purchase a lot and home in TV----if a "new home" is your passion and dream. Prices are quickly heading up and when lots/houses are released they go quickly. Resales too are heading north IMHO. It very well could cost you to procrastinate.
Second, and just as important, remember you are buying a lifestyle not just a home. For many the home is really secondary to the lifestyle we found in TV.

:agree: We close in 12 days, and this thread and forum has been very helpful.

Ask a lot of questions with your agent re: anything you can think of re: living here.

When driving do NOT stop in the diamond paths to take or make a phone call or to check your map! Either pull into a post-office parking lot or take a side street. Saw this done on Morse Blvd today with ALL the traffic buzzing by.

Do NOT stop in a round-about "if" you're confused or lost....keep going!!! Also on this subject read about proper r.a.b. etiquette (how you navigate them here).

Use your signal lights whenever turning, Yield at the yield signs AND stop at the stop signs! Have seen too many near misses!!!