[John_W]

I had vinyl siding on my home in Baltimore for 13 years. You have to have it powered-washed about every 3 or 4 years, the shaded side will get mold. Also in Florida snakes are known to crawl up inside the siding for the warmth. People have gotten their siding painted, some of paint companies here specialize in painting vinyl.

Mold on shady side




Snake coming out of siding



Many times homes will be reduced, especially villas when they are down to the last 5 or so in a villa community. In 2011 the difference between vinyl and masonry CYV was only about $10K. We got a great price on a masonry courtyard villa (CYV) cheaper than a vinyl because they were down to 4 units and in the next community prices were going up $20K, so we were already ahead before we moved in.

In a CYV you can have all the grass removed. Have landscaper put down weed block and then rocks around the shrubs, they come with pine straw. You can dress it up with retaining walls, small palms like a European Fan Palm. You'll have a fenced back yard which gives you more freedom in the backyard and I think easier to rent. Here's our CYV, it will be 9 years old in May. We had it painted for the first time 3 months ago. They said 8 to 10 for repainting is normal, I was wanting to change from the yellow color more than it really needed painting, so I had it done. We have a Sylvester Palm and a Queen Palm, there is some maintenance but we're here fulltime and I think they give you that Florida experience.

[John_W]

Originally Posted by anniepatrick

I'm also from up north and I recently purchased a condo. There are 4 villages of condos . No outside maintenance. It's perfect. I love it!

Question: where are these condos?

[Love2Swim]

Originally Posted by John_W

I had vinyl siding on my home in Baltimore for 13 years. You have to have it powered-washed about every 3 or 4 years, the shaded side will get mold. Also in Florida snakes are known to crawl up inside the siding for the warmth. People have gotten their siding painted, some of paint companies here specialize in painting vinyl.

Mold on shady side




Snake coming out of siding



Many times homes will be reduced, especially villas when they are down to the last 5 or so in a villa community. In 2011 the difference between vinyl and masonry CYV was only about $10K. We got a great price on a masonry courtyard villa (CYV) cheaper than a vinyl because they were down to 4 units and in the next community prices were going up $20K, so we were already ahead before we moved in.

In a CYV you can have all the grass removed. Have landscaper put down weed block and then rocks around the shrubs, they come with pine straw. You can dress it up with retaining walls, small palms like a European Fan Palm. You'll have a fenced back yard which gives you more freedom in the backyard and I think easier to rent. Here's our CYV, it will be 9 years old in May. We had it painted for the first time 3 months ago. They said 8 to 10 for repainting is normal, I was wanting to change from the yellow color more than it really needed painting, so I had it done. We have a Sylvester Palm and a Queen Palm, there is some maintenance but we're here fulltime and I think they give you that Florida experience.

Beautiful villa. We have a vinyl home next door to us, and it gets power washed at least once a year, because it is quite moldy. I suspect Florida gets more mold than Baltimore.

We lived through the tornado in the Villages, and we noticed a lot of vinyl homes suffered vinyl loss due to high winds, it just peeled off. The stucco homes seem a little more substantial - I feel safer in ours in case of potential hurricanes and the like.

[billethkid]

Originally Posted by Cranford61

So after navigating those issues and making careful and wise decisions, your neighbor brings in his dysfunctional adult child or sells out to a turd.

The other 99.987456% are just fine!

[Fredman]

Stay away from live oak trees they are dirty and require constant raking during the winter months. I also do not like magnolia trees for the same reason.