Newbie from NH with a long-term view has some questions..
 

Let me start by saying I stumbled upon this place completely by accident. I saw a "Wired" magazine article about souped up golf carts that mentioned The Villages. The article also mentioned how the cart path were integrated into the development so that you didn't always NEED a 'regular' car to go food shopping or to Wal-Mart/Target/etc. That led me to The Villages website and that eventually led me here and I've been devouring a lot of the information here for two days, registering earlier today.

To be honest, this is sounding almost in the "too good to be true" categories. I'm "only" 47 but I'd long had a dream of retiring to Florida (specifically somewhere around Clermont) but gave up on it due to circumstances I didn't control. Well, a few years ago, that circumstance decided to leave (and NOW she's thinking about moving to FL to be with her boyfriend - go figure).

So here I am, a programmer (I've been writing websites for the USAF lately) with retirement well out on the horizon and suddenly I find myself engaged to an incredibly outgoing, wonderful person who LOVES the idea of The Villages. All of a sudden I find myself wondering if maybe I can pull this dream out of the ashes, dust it off, polish it up and make it happen.

I find myself with a few questions that I haven't seen much of in wandering around the site so I thought I'd ask them here.

Everything has a cost. Divorce has almost wiped out my retirement and has me pretty much mortgaged-out so no early retirement for me. I make a decent income but I'm probably going to have to work long beyond 65 to be able to afford the lifestyle down there. What is the job market like - relatively speaking as it's not great anywhere these days. I mean, Florida has a reputation for service, tourism and retail jobs. I know there's some IT (Information technology) in Orlando, Tampa and Miami, but those are a bit of a haul for daily commute.

"Community Standards". In another thread, I saw people talking about how they considered a van in a driveway to be "an eyesore". Now, I live in a town of 20,000+ next to a city of 85,000 in Southern New Hampshire about an hour's drive northwest of Boston. I don't mean this to sound insulting, but one of the things I've never liked about developments is the aristocratic attitude that sometimes seems to permeate. Now, mind you, I also hear how wonderful the neighbors are. I guess what I'm saying is that I'm a bit concerned about being in a "Stepford" development. I haven't lived under covenants or deed restrictions (other than zoning laws) for 25 years. the fact that I'm even CONSIDERING The Villages is a testimony to all the great stuff I've seen and read about in the past 48 hours. But I *do* worry about HOAs run by people who don't have to work who have nothing better to do than try to run everyone else's life. My finacee lived in a condo in Wilton NH where one woman took her daily walk with a notepad in her hand so that she could mark up every minute "violation". I lived in a condo where I wasn't allowed to have a bicycle on my balcony. I'm not anxious to relive that kind of experience. Am I overreacting?

Something more practical - are there decent credit unions there? I have a thing against banks - mostly because I don't like paying for obscene executive salaries and, with a credit union, the shareholders are the depositors so the money goes back to 'the owners'.

I'm looking at the very real possibility of selling my house some years down the road to do this (mortgaged out at the moment but I've put a lot of money into this house in the 3 years since my ex left so it should recover nicely, in time). My fiancee also has a house and some land that would hopefully keep us with a low mortgage due to appreciation (we hope) over the next several years.

I never thought I would have such an about-face concerning developments and such. But this place seems to have "something" that I can't explain. It'd be nirvana for my fiancee. This is the woman who had over 60 people show up for a recent birthday party - and New England isn't exactly known for big social circles.

I don't know if I would have to wait for retirement or if I could eventually move my career down there (I work for a defense contractor at an air base in MA). But after seeing The Villages' website and the message board here, it's something I'm seriously looking at.

Any other websites or resources I should look at? (It's not like I don't know Florida weather - I lived in Miami Beach when I was little and just spent a week-plus vacation at WDW in July/August)

Thanks in advance (and sorry for being so wordy)

djplong... you ask a lot of questions, understandably so. But you really need to take advantage of the life style preview for a week or rent something down here for a couple of weeks. All your questions will be answered. Yes, it does seem almost too good to be true... but it is True! Give The Villages a call and reserve your time. C'mon down and experience our lifestyle 1st hand!

DJ,

Welcome...and, yep, it is as wonderful if not better down here than what you have read and digested so far. Best suggestion is to book a lifestyle preview visit with your fiancee and experience it firsthand for yourself.

Community Standards aka deed compliance is, in my opinion, a reasonable set of rules. A van in the driveway is fine, a dump truck or boat is not. These standards are actually set by the Developer and enforced by employees of the community district government...not directly by residents. The CDD govt structure inserts a level of professional management and operation that you don't see in a lot of homeowner's associations. With our size, it really is more like a town govt than an HOA.

Jobs....this might be your biggest source of disappointment. It's hard to find career jobs that pay what you're used to earning in NH. Of course, overall cost of living here is lower but you'd have to really crunch the numbers to see what and when you can afford.

Credit Unions...I'm seen Campus FCU and Fairwinds CU around, with local branches.

Good luck.

Well, a 'lifestyle preview visit' is going to have to wait as I'm out of vacation time and I don't get much every year. Heck, even next year is spoken for as I have a honeymoon on order :)

You brought up a lot of good points and definitely something to consider when deciding whether or not The Villages would be for you.

My husband and I are going through the same process of deciding for sure if it is where we want to settle for retirement. So far we've loved every minute we've spent there, but we do plan to spend more time there to get a good feel for the lifestyle, the communities, bylaws, etc. We swore we would never live in another HOA type community, but it might be a trade off that we are willing to make unless we uncover something that we are not yet aware of.

My husband is retired military but is getting close to a second retirement - this time from the DOD. Technically, he can retire at any time but wants to work a couple more years. We will use that time to downsize our belongings and to make more visits to TV, so we'll be ready to make that move when the time comes.

Good idea to visit TV as often as you can in the next few years so you can see for yourself. I believe you will be pleasantly surprised. Do a lifestyle visit where you can "live" in one of the villages and be allowed to experience the Village lifestyle just as if you were an owner!

djplong, I am still working but living and loving it in The Villages. I had a major consulting project in New Hampshire and subtitled my report - Live free or die. The state motto is deeply embedded in the culture and institutions. 07 said it well - the restrictions here make sense and are not onerous. Try getting down here for a long weekend - you will see.

Does your job require you to be in NH? If not, you have other things to consider. Namely you can get a home a lot cheaper here than in NH, I imagine. Also the property taxes will be cheaper, there is no state income tax. It is true about the golf cart trails. There is 87 miles of cart paths and you can go almost anywhere in the 40 square miles of TV in one. I have 2 very reliable electric carts and almost can't remember the last time I bought gasoline. Also, you should call TV and ask about the preview plan. When you see how cheap it is to stay here for up to 6 days you won't believe it. They'll put you up in a new home or villa and give you lots of freebies, like meals at the Country Clubs, a golf cart to use and golf and movies and tennis etc. etc. When I came down it was less than $500 for 6 days. They'll match you up with a property representative, who if like mine, was very low key with no pressure at all. There really is no place like TV.

We use Insight Financial Credit Union here in The Villages.

Hm, Actually, The Villages might not be a bad place for a Honeymoon. <smile>

As you can see, I am another relocated New Englander...

I am also in the IT world (a CPA transitioned into a sales role)and still working. I work from home when (like JoJo), I am not traveling. My employer is a large software company based on the West Coast (you can do the math here and get close).

I agree and disagree with my neighbor Richie on cost of living here. Many folks not from NE (but from elsewhere in the northeast) think all home prices are like those outside of Boston and that all taxes are like those in Mass. And in Hudson, I know your home may be... But I also know that there are lovely homes that are smaller (due to the northern New Englander's passion for thrift) and therefor less pricey. Homes in TV can be very inexpensive in the historic area, relatively inexpensive for the more basic designers, the cottage homes - excl. LSL, and some villas. Larger designers and premieres - especially with a view are in the half-million and up range.

About the covenants - that is for you to explore more. We lived in a small HOA-run neighborhood in Conn. I was on the ARB and our goal wasn't to hamstring, but it was to preserve the integrity of the neighborhood. We only said no twice in 4 years - one was for an addition of a sunroom that would eliminate a lovely vista that the whole neighborhood shared and that would nearly double the size of the home making it look out of place. There are earlier threads on this - with some of us liking the covenants, and others not. You can search on them My personal feeling is that in a place where our homes are fairly close together, we need to have guidelines to prevent excesses.

Maybe on that honeymoon, you could add a few days in TV to your itinerary?

k

Looks like my original reply got eaten.

My job doesn't require me to be in NH only from the standpoint that my job is "on-site". I suppose what I'm saying is that my 'career' is portable - if I found the right kind of job. I know wages are lower in the south along with the lower expenses. I'm in the process of trying to "downsize" more than just the stuff I own but also the expenses I have every month. Mostly it's that we have friends and family here in NH and New England (from CT to Cape Cod).

Having lived here since 1974, the "Live Free or Die" ethic has had a lot of time to sink in. With the covenants, it's more attitude than anything else I can think of. I mean, if it's "their grass is too long, maybe something's wrong and they need help or are on vacation" as opposed to "their grass is too long - goody, we get to write up a fine", then that's a GOOD thing. Unlike where my sister lived in Orlando where they got the measuring stick out for the grass and went postal if you put your HOA-approved-only-trash-bin out to the curb before 9pm the night before garbage day.

I really do have to take a look for myself and these replies only reinforce that. I certainly can't tinker with the honeymoon, though. For one, that's not until next year. It took me 20 years to get my passport (illegal adoption with no paperwork and a name change meant no paper trail - took years to 'fix') and we're going overseas (Paris, London, etc) with it being my first time across the pond - lifelong dream finally being achieved. But it looks like I really do have to carve out a weekend sometime soon so that we can judge more accurately. I've been to Florida over a dozen times since 1978 but that was for tourist-type vacations (draw a line from NASA to Busch Gardens and put a huge dot at Walt Disney World) and only once did I drive around other areas for anything other than a diversion along the way (like stopping at daytona Beach on the drive from NH to Orlando). I drove up to Clermont in the late 80s to see what it was like and I saw a lot of subdivisions popping up. After meeting my sister and hearing her horror stories it kinda turned me off of the idea.

That I'm even contemplating this is a testimony to how impressed I am with what I've seen so far. If you would have asked me 3 days ago if I'd consider this, I would have said "no". Now, I'm asking questions and my fiancee and I are SERIOUSLY considering it.

djplong,

All of the above positives stated about The Villages are true - and then some.

My wife and I thought about retiring somewhere down South, but NOT to Florida - too hectic - too many sourpusses - boring! With that mindset we were astounded at our first Villages visit and bought a home shortly thereafter. At present we cannot be there more than a couple of months a year because of some work and parent care obligations, but the home purchase was one of the smartest decisions we ever made. We rent our home through a very good management company, and come close enough to meeting our expenses that we can afford the second home.

There are many Villagers who work and there are some homeowners your age because it is allowed by law. So go ahead, dream about the possibility of coming here sooner rather than later.

Look at this website with a fine-toothed comb. You will find zillions of happy, giddy comments and very few complaints. The lifestyle is so invigorating that it's commonplace for octogenarians and older to be playing pickleball, running the bases and dancing in the squares. One of the most common complaints is just that folks wish they had come here sooner.

Take care! See ya soon!

I've several friends who aren't Villagers. Among them are a number who are or have been on their community's board, in one way or another. Every one of them tell horror stories of the on-going animosities, verbal fights, downright anger that prevail at their development. I tell them about The Villages and they don't believe me. That is, not until they actually come and see it.

So - yes there are restrictions, but they're really quite reasonable. And, virtually everyone who comes here adapts very quickly when they find that all their new neighbors don't fuss or complain or bitch or whatever . . .

Come visit us. You'll be hooked!

SWR
:beer3:

We bought last year, here part-time for now, full-time eventually.
It IS too good to be true, you'll love it.
Take the Lifestyle Tour and visit with lots of people.

There are standards, and you can't park your RV on the lawn.
However, it's not unreasonable in my mind.

Best decision we ever made, well, 2nd best, marrying Mrs JohnN was the best.

Good luck on the honeymoon.

Heh. My RV hasn't been in running condition (engine needs some work) for quite a while and I'm trying to get rid of it. No worries about me even THINKING of bringing it south :)

I noticed the "Lifestyle Preview" is a week-long thing. I'm not going to have a spare week's vacation until at LEAST 2011. Is there a "weekender tour" to get a flavor? Obviously it wouldn't be as comprehensive as the week-long one but at least we could see the lay of the land for ourselves.

Oh - one other thing - I know that Verizon's Fios is available in other Florida cities and towns, though not yet apparently in Lady Lake, etc. Does anyone down there know whether or not any announcements have been made for when it might show up? I got it for my internet service in 2006 (before Verizon sold us, VT and ME to Fairpoint) and have been ecstatically happy with it. I'm not too keen on Comcast for a number of reasons (around here neighbors complain that it goes out every time a squirrel runs up a tree) and was hoping that Fios (and Verizon's triple-play package) would be showing up there sometime in the future.

Thank you all so much for your insight. I'm already trying to price out a weekender for my fiancee and I to check things out.

Here is another website for you to check out: http://thevillagesdailysun.com/sections/ This is the website for the newspaper in The Villages. Scroll down and click on the Recreation News for this week. It will open a pdf file so that you can see all of the activities that are happening this week.

We have been here for about 10 weeks now, and couldn't be happier with our decision to move here. My husband was a systems designer for Ford and took an early retirement package. Hubby is 52 and I am 49, so don't let the age thing stop you from making the move either. We will be working also, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy our non-work time in such a great place.