Cost of Living
 

We are looking to become future Villagers and are currently thinking about purchasing our home now while the prices are good. We were wondering how accurate the cost of living guidelines are that the RE office gave us. They gave us a sheet with a run-down of what the monthly cost should be for living in the Villages. We are looking at a Designer home around $250,000. What would you say your average monthly costs are for the following items?

Amenities fee?
Sewer?
Water?
Electric?
Trash?
Direct TV?
Insurance?
Taxes?
Development District Assessment?

Any information that you can give us would be very helpful! Thanks so much and we appreciate your time.

Junebug! :)

Re: Cost of Living
 

Here is a best guess, but a lot depends on if you use the place full time, are a snow bird, eat in or out a lot.

Amenities fee is $130 - $135
Sewer, water, trash $70 - $90
Electric $30 - $120 winter vs summer
Direct TV, same as elsewhere, depends on number of channels etc. I use comcast basic $11 a month and another $25 for broadband.
Insurance $75
Taxes $300 - $400 depends on if your full time and get the homestead exemption
DDA Depends on the size of your bond, new home $125 a month, 3 to 4 year old home, $50 a month.

Re: Cost of Living
 

I think the list they gave you is accurate.

Re: Cost of Living
 

If that is for a $250,000 house, can it be assumed that a $500,000 should be double or double and a half of the amounts cited????

Re: Cost of Living
 

No. Some things double by price like taxes and bond, but most things are the same like lawn, termite, comcast, and a few things like gas, electric, water, are based on house size and usage. So a 2000 square foot house on a street that is 280K and one on a golf course that is 550K would not have all those cost double. Spme would, some would go up a little and some would remain the same.

Re: Cost of Living
 

When over my figures and that list is pretty accurate.

Use The Numbers They Gave You...
 

...or do a little research in the TOTV archives. There are dozens and dozens of messages and estimates of living expenses. The numbers provided by TV are pretty accurate.

It's cheaper than up north...a LOT cheaper!

Re: Cost of Living
 

One thing we found VERY expensive is water. Depending on your lawn size and type, you may find you are use a lot of irrigation water. We were up to close to $100/mo to bring our lawn back after some neglect. Now that it has been raining we are "shut-off" but it's something to be aware of. Much more expensive than "up north".

Re: Cost of Living
 

Captain - Wouldn't that depend on sod type. From what I gather Empire Zyosia is supposed to be very drought resitant and thus requires much less water. That type of grass is on 'many' of the new homes that are being built now, or at least on those that I looked at.