Talk of The Villages Florida - Does The Villages Lie to potential buyers?

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Does The Villages Lie to potential buyers?

Quote:

The Villages is protected by the local and county law enforcement offices.

The average person would very likely believe the word LOCAL means TV has a local force.

Is The Villages a city or a town?

The honest answer is NO. There is no citizen elected government in control. For good or for bad we are residents of a privately held corporation that sets the rules.

Quote:

The Villages is a 55+ active retirement community.

Again true, but they did not answer the question they posed. Misleading. We could well be a 55+ community in a city or in a town.

Even a simple question which is easily fact checked

How far is TV from Orlando?

Quote:

The Villages is approximately 45 miles northwest of Orlando, via Florida’s Turnpike.

Perhaps from the closest tip of Orlando to the closest part of TV it is 45 miles, but that is certainly misleading.

From Brownwood to MCO is 60 miles, to the Premium Outlet which you see from the Turnpike exit is 51 miles.

From Lake Sumter Landing add 6 miles, from Fenney Grill it is 49 miles to the Outlet.

I don't know why TV chose 45 miles as the distance from TV to Orlando for the FAQ, but it is a less than honest answer. If you just use Google and enter distance from The Villages to Orlando it gives 61.3 miles. That would have been an honest answer, or even round down to 60.

Weasel answers do not make The Villages look honest and trustworthy in their approach to potential buyers. How about giving a forthright answer rather than one which is as close to a lie as you can get without crossing the line?

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...OK That Does it for us!!!! The Developer LIES!!! We KNEW IT!

Thanks for this. With this understanding we plan to list our TV home we built in 2013 - and get the HEXX out of this city...I mean town...'privately held corporation that sets the rules'. All this time we thought the TV Police were protecting us - NO. And all this time we thought our car's odometer was 'off' when driving to Orlando.

We do not want to live in a city...town...'privately held corporation that sets the rules' that weasels in their communication to potential buyers. We've had enough of this. Anyone want a TV house?...
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Quote:

Originally Posted by blueash (Post 1815381)

In another thread a person suggested they were lied to about whether people under 55 could reside. That got me looking at the FAQ on Developer's website

FAQ | The Villages

While they don't exactly lie, they certainly get right up to the edge of lying. It makes me wonder why they bothered to post a FAQ if they didn't want to give a truly honest answer. The only possible reason is to mislead with a misleading answer. You think you've learned something about TV, but you've not had your question answered the way I believe it should be answered. Maybe I'm wrong about that...

Examples:
Does TV have their own Police Department? We all know the honest answer is NO. Is that the answer the FAQ gives? It is not. It gives a weasel answer that strongly suggests that the answer is yes..

The average person would very likely believe the word LOCAL means TV has a local force.

Is The Villages a city or a town?

The honest answer is NO. There is no citizen elected government in control. For good or for bad we are residents of a privately held corporation that sets the rules.

Again true, but they did not answer the question they posed. Misleading. We could well be a 55+ community in a city or in a town.

Even a simple question which is easily fact checked

How far is TV from Orlando?

Perhaps from the closest tip of Orlando to the closest part of TV it is 45 miles, but that is certainly misleading.

From Brownwood to MCO is 60 miles, to the Premium Outlet which you see from the Turnpike exit is 51 miles.

From Lake Sumter Landing add 6 miles, from Fenney Grill it is 49 miles to the Outlet.

I don't know why TV chose 45 miles as the distance from TV to Orlando for the FAQ, but it is a less than honest answer. If you just use Google and enter distance from The Villages to Orlando it gives 61.3 miles. That would have been an honest answer, or even round down to 60.

Weasel answers do not make The Villages look honest and trustworthy in their approach to potential buyers. How about giving a forthright answer rather than one which is as close to a lie as you can get without crossing the line?

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Originally Posted by DeanFL (Post 1815390)

Funny

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jayhawk (Post 1815384)

Some people have way too much time to come up with something to complain about. Not one response was a lie.

Try to enjoy life and lose the need to criticize.

Can we call it a spin?

While we are all or supposed to be all socially distancing we have too much time on our hands and happy to look at all posts and feel free to skip past ones of no interest.

Oh My God they told me 45 miles to Orlando and now I find its 61.3, I don’t know where I’ll find the time or gas money to go there

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueash (Post 1815381)

I don't see any lies.

When you are selling an item you present it in it's best light. Selling things is what a lot of people do for a living. There is no shame to it. I really get annoyed at certain folks and groups always thinking they are superior to people who work for big companies like The Villages. Maybe that is not what this post is about but it seems that the developer is no different than the local grocer. He doesn't say good morning Mrs. Jones. "You need to buy our banana's they are about to go bad." And the pediatrician...he doesn't say "Karen Kay is way too fat and it's all your fault".

It is how you say stuff, and it is how you are raised to be skeptical and question things. There is a poster who will post a query that deliberately misleads in order to make his point. Not nice. Not fair. I can tell you with authority we aren't born with the same level of intelligence, but I believe most of us are still valuable. Tricking people is not what I think the developer is doing. He is presenting something for sale. Caveat Emptor.

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueash (Post 1815381)

In another thread a person suggested they were lied to about whether people under 55 could reside.

That person simply didn't do their homework re: deed restrictions before buying if they thought that no-one under 55 could live here...

This is my favorite FAQ.

"While The Villages is a 55+ active adult community we welcome children and grandchildren. In fact we offer (year round) intergenerational activities called “Camp Villages”, allowing grandparents and grandchildren to experience together all the lifestyle The Villages has to offer. There is a 30 consecutive day limit for visitors under the age of 18."

Note: "There is a 30 day consecutive day time limit for visitors under the age of 18." which I interpret as 17 and under. It is certainly not 19 and under. Also if the visitor leaves for a day and returns does he get another 30 days to stay? Can he keep doing this?

In the local rag a couple of weeks ago, the developer was quoted as describing TV as "a collection of quaint villages".

I guess quaintness is in the eye of the beholder.

TV Town or City?

I remember reading somewhere that as early America expanded to the West the Post Office, (Pony Express?) considered an official Town requirement of needing a House of Worship and a Tavern/Hotel that served alcohol.

Measure distance from Where to Where?

Quote:

Originally Posted by charlieo1126@gmail.com (Post 1815421)

Oh My God they told me 45 miles to Orlando and now I find its 61.3, I don’t know where I’ll find the time or gas money to go there

Hey, I've got the answer! Move to Fenney and the distance to Orlando:a040: will be correct!!!

A certain amount of "puffing" is acceptable in advertising real estate.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SFSkol (Post 1815457)

I suspect a brothel was quite high on the list, too

In 40 years or so might be able to walk to Orlando

Also about sinkholes, no agent mentioned it. It did not occur for me to ask because my parents who had a home here for decades and my uncle who lived and died in TV never mentioned them. But when I looked at a foreclosure sale the document said the house is in a sinkhole hazard area. From that point on I always asked about sinkholes. The answer was invariably; “What sinkholes? I don’t know of any.” From that point on I knew exactly how much to trust my agents.