[Coptrv1011]

Hello, I know how you feel, I jumped in with both feet, was pretty much settled and then came Irma. Since I've never experienced a hurricane I decided to leave..... while I was away I wondered if I had made a mistake as well.

[yammie]

The Villages is a wonderful place but it is not for everyone. If you can be a snowbird, you have it all. If you are leaving family, especially young grandchildren, consider renting for a while to see how you feel about being away from them. I wish we had. It is very expensive to settle in, fix up your house the way you want it and then decide you'd rather be back home. Coming from the northeast it is especially difficult to be able to go back because of the rise in housing prices.
If you are absolutely certain this is what you want, go for it, but if not, rent.

[JerryLBell]

We were born and raised in Michigan, moved to North Carolina 20 years ago and retired and moved to The Villages this February. We are full-time residents and have just finished our first summer (and first hurricane) here. I'll try to give you our impressions on what concerns we had and what to expect.

The Heat. Florida is a bit warmer than North Carolina (or, more accurately, just as warm but for a bit longer) and definitely warmer than Michigan. It will be similarly warmer than New York. For us, that's a plus as I never want to rake leaves or shovel snow again. Is it unbearably hot? It might seem so at first (North Carolina seemed that way to us at first) but I'd say it really isn't. It's flat-out gorgeous in the fall, winter and spring and the real heat is limited to the long summer. However, you don't have to be out in it. In the hottest part of the day, stay home or go to a rec center or take in a movie or go bowling or go shopping or whatever. Learn to take naps (I've become quite expert at that). Go out in the mornings or in the evenings to do outdoor things (golfing, bicycling, swimming, walking, dancing, whatever). The Villages is full of activities and while many of them are outdoors in nature and can be done in seasons where you might have been stuck inside in New York, many of them are indoors. There are hundreds if not thousands of clubs and classes and whatever that you can do inside.

Natural Disasters. Florida was in the news recently with hurricane Irma ripping through. The Villages got off very, very easily compared to some coastal communities. Some trees came down, some damage was done, there was a little (surprisingly little, actually) flooding, some power outages (again, surprisingly little) and some new sinkholes opened up. We've seen that hurricanes can happen anywhere on the east coast or along the Gulf and they seem to be getting worse. That said, new homes in The Villages are built to the latest in standards for hurricane resistance, there is a LOT in the way of wetlands, water retention ponds, lakes, water holes and even golf courses and lawns to soak up a LOT of water and the staff at The Villages did and are doing a bang-up job prepping for the hurricane and cleaning up afterwards. Some folks complain that it's been over a week and the flooded golf courses aren't open yet, but compared to areas hard-hit by hurricanes in the last few years (Houston, New Jersey, The Keys, etc.), this place handled it very well. There are potholes here, but they are everywhere in Florida and more common elsewhere than you might realize. There have been tornadoes in Florida but they've been everywhere I've lived. Florida is the lightning capital of the world (seriously), so stay in doors during electrical storms and maybe get a whole-home surge suppressor and/or lighting rods. I'm not aware of earthquakes being a thing here. By the way, we stayed here for Irma and it was pretty noisy and a little exciting but had no damage or flooding and never lost power. If a cat 4 hurricane were going to sweep in across the state, we'd have bugged out.

The Expense. The Villages are not cheap to live in. The houses come in a range of prices from under $100,000 (think smaller and pre-owned) to way over $1,000,000. They aren't nearly as expensive as those in very pricey metro areas (NYC, California, etc.) but not as cheap as rural areas in many states or even depressed urban areas (think Detroit). The newer houses are well-built though not high-end custom level. There's the bond on new properties and the monthly amenities bill plus you'll certainly spend more on air conditioning down here than up there (though WAY less on heating). Taxes are generally low, gas prices a little above average and food prices about average for what I've seen. It would be great to compare the cost of living to other Villages-like community in other states, but there simply are no Villages-like communities anywhere else. You have to compare it to far, far scaled-down communities elsewhere. I would say it compares pretty favorably to them but has so much more to offer in terms of activities that comparisons become difficult. One other thing about expenses is that there are plenty of opportunities to spend money, whether it's on dining, shopping, travel or whatever. That's true to some extent at every decent retirement community and even more true at The Villages. There's plenty of free stuff to do but also plenty of non-free stuff as well. You do have to learn to control yourself a bit.

The People. I can't speak for every other state, but we looked at and visited dozens of active retirement communities before buying at The Villages. People are just way more friendly here than we ran into elsewhere. Maybe we are just all having such a good time that we bubble over with enthusiasm or maybe it's something in the water. Whatever it is, people are out and about having fun and so many of them seem to want to share the fun with everyone they meet. Honestly, people tell me I sound like a salesman for The Villages because I just want to tell everybody about it. Or maybe I've just lucked into a great neighborhood with great neighbors. However, every time I've stopped in a public place and looked puzzled, I've had people volunteer to help me out. Every time I've posted a question on this forum, I've had great responses from several people.

The Food. If you've lived in one state your whole life, moving to ANY other state means that you're going to find new things to try and like but also that there will be some things you just won't be able to find anywhere in the new state. Moving from Michigan to North Carolina made us realize that there are a handful of things only available in Michigan that we simply like while in Michigan but came to crave in North Carolina. For us it was Koegel's hot dogs, bi-color corn on the cob, blueberries and weird sodas like Vernor's Ginger Ale and Ruby Red Squirt. Moving to Florida made us miss really good watermelons, barbecue and peanuts. However, we were surprised to find that some of those foods are actually available in the area. There are enough "immigrants" from other states that some of the local stores bring in out-of-state goods and some out-of-state vendors (like Koegel) actually come to the state once or twice a year for local sales. Also, since there are a lot of middle-class Villagers (as well as upper-middle-class and upper-class), restaurants tend to be more mid-level chains and not a ton of really high-end dining. Some folks with more money than me have complained on this forum and elsewhere that "really, really good" dining is hard to find. I'm pretty happy with the choices here but will happy when even more choices come in with all the new growth.

The Diversity (or lack thereof). If you come from an area with a rich ethnic, racial and/or national diversity, you might find that The Villages is stunningly homogeneous. It's wall-to-wall white folks here. However, if you look at active retirement communities (or at least the ones we looked at), you'll find them to be the same way. I don't know if it's the economics that favored white folks that allows them to afford to live here or if it's a cultural thing that a larger percentage of white folks are willing to move away from kids and grandkids to an active retirement community or just what. It does NOT seem to be any attempt on the part of the owners or the folks who live here to exclude anybody else. I met a lady the other night who says that she and her wife moved here because The Villages has a pretty healthy acceptance of the LGBTQ community, so there's that. It's just that I'm used to working with African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Latinos and folks from Asia, Africa and Europe and I just don't seem to run into them here. I have met a few from Canada, but they are legally required to live just under 6 months a year here before returning home.

People's Ages. If you haven't moved to a retirement community, you'll be a little take back by the fact that people are older here. OK, you knew that going in, but it's weird to be working one day with folks ranging from their 20s to their 60s and the next day be retired and living with folks from their 60s to their 90s. You look around in the local restaurants and it's a sea of grey and white hair and baldness. I mean, it's not like I'm a spring chicken, but I'm used to a great age diversity. But damn, the people are so friendly that you quickly get accustomed to it. It's also weird that folks 10 years or more older than you are bicycling faster and farther than you, whipping your behind at pickelball and dancing the night away while you're ready to collapse.

The Politics. If you're moving from a blue or purple state to Florida, be prepared for the fact that it is a red state. The owner's of The Villages are conservative, invite conservative speakers to town, support them financially and tend to cover conservative issues more closely than progressive issues in their privately-owned newspaper, radio station, TV channel and web media empire. However, the residents of The Villages tend (according to voter records) to be about 1/3 Republican, 1/3 Democrat and 1/3 independent. No matter where you fall on the political spectrum, you'll find folks here who agree with you. Republican may be a little louder about their feelings than Democrats (from my experience) but the majority of folks just don't talk politics that much at all. Hey, we say that we're living in "the bubble" for a reason!

Shopping. There are a lot of cute little shops in the town squares and a decent variety of shopping around The Villages. However, the closest malls (in Leesburg and Ocala) are not exactly huge or upscale. A handful of stores people really want (Costco and Trader Joes chief among them) haven't come here yet. You may find yourself trekking down to Orlando (bout an hour away) to shop the larger malls and/or the outlet malls if that's your thing.

The Golf Carts. This is a VERY golf cart-friendly community. Some folks tell you not to buy one at first; to rent one to see if you really like it. I was convinced from the start that I wanted to dump our second car and get me a golf cart and I've never regretted it. I ordered it several weeks before we moved here and picked it up the first week here. I drive around with a big silly grin on my face wherever I go. I just really like it. Your feelings may be different. We have driven from the south end clear up to Spanish Springs and it is definitely slower, but hey. I'm retired. I'm NOT in a hurry any more.

The Crowds. I'm told that a third or so of Villages are snowbirds and things get very crowded and busy here in the winter. I've visited in October, November and December and lived here from February to September so I think I've seen the range. Yes, it does get busier. Reservations get harder to make. Restaurants are more crowded. Hey, more than 100,000 people call The Villages home and it continues to grow. But it still seems to me to be manageable.

The Size. The Villages can be overwhelming. We got SO lost the first time we visited. The second time not as much. By the third time, we had a vague idea of where we were most of the time. And that's when we bought. We moved ourselves in several visits, one trailer-load at a time and each time we got more confident. I was going to program our car's GPS with the locations of the town square and all the main shopping plazas and such once we moved here but within a couple of weeks, I realized I pretty much knew my way around all the main streets. There are a zillion residential streets, but that's what the GPS (or the GPS app on your smartphone) is for.

The Life Change. OK, going from a working life style to a retired life style will be a different experience for everybody. That's true of moving to The Villages, moving elsewhere or not moving at all. Neither my wife nor I miss our jobs but she misses her co-workers, friends and neighbors from North Carolina and family from Michigan and has taken a while to adjust from her job-related responsibilities and valued expertise to the more free-form lifestyle. For me, there was no adjustment at all. I think I was mentally retired for a year before physically retiring. I just bloody love being retired and being retired in The Villages. You'll have to see how it affects you. You may find yourself wanting to get a job or volunteer just to keep busy or to feel like you're contributing. There are plenty of jobs here and tons of fabulous volunteer opportunities. Or you may throw yourself into playing full-time and wonder, like I do, how you ever managed to find 40 or 50 hours a week to go to work.

Being a Hotel. Yes, when your family and friends find out you've moved here and are an hour or so away from Disney, Universal, Sea World, Busch Gardens, etc., etc., you WILL find some folks fishing for an invitation to visit. Hey, that beats leaving here and driving back up there to visit them! Also, if you enjoy the theme parks, they have some awesome deals for Florida residents. For example, we found it cheaper to get an annual pass to the four major Disney parks than to visit each of them for a single day.

Being Pioneers. We didn't feel like we were pioneers moving here. We'd already done that by moving from MI to NC 20 years ago. Also, my mother-in-law moved from Michigan to Arizona to an active retirement community 30+ years ago without knowing a soul there and having nobody to take with her (her husband had recently passed). She totally blossomed in that environment and inspired us to plan and work and save to be able to live the active retirement lifestyle ourselves. There's no guarantees in life, but the vast majority of folks who moved to The Villages seem to be pretty darned pleased with it.

Good luck with your decision and on your retirement to wherever you end up!

[OCsun]

Wow! Great post Jerry L Bell!

[jsw14]

Hmmm, Question? Is this the first Chapter of the Book U R writing Jerry L Bell? I Like it....

[pgc4340]

Originally Posted by TOMCAT

If you moved from another state to live in the Villages, what was your feeling. I seem to be overwhelmed with worry. Leaving a job, selling a house. I did not think this would happen to me. I know some of you are snowbirds, but would like to hear from the permanent residents. 😳

We moved here from out of state 22 years ago, so some of what we experienced might not apply. We built a home here, and afterwards realized how much we were rushed through the whole process, from picking a lot, being pushed with a deadline or we'd lose the lot we bought, to picking out everything for our house. We fell for what the salesman said, that we didn't need to be present while it was being built. Big, BIG mistake!!! The quality of work which was supposedly approved and signed off on was terrible. During the years we have replaced carpet, and updated the interior of the house. The original upgraded carpet and pad were installed so poorly, were never fixed properly, so two years later we got tired of dealing with it so had it replaced by a company outside of The Villages. To our surprise the original carpet had been installed over screws, marijuana butts, dirt, small pieces of wood and scraps of paper. They obviously did not bother to even sweep the slab before installing! Then when we remodeled our kitchen which had upgraded cabinets, we realized just how poorly the upgraded cabinets were made and installed. For instance the sides of the cabinets on either side of the stove were nothing but fiberboard covered with contact paper which had shrunk and peeled back. You can imagine the surprise and near miss of injury to the crew who was tearing down the original upper cabinets experienced when they unscrewed one cabinet from the wall, only to have 3 other upper cabinets fall down with it. There were screwed to each other, but had never been attached to the wall. When sheetrock was torn out, we found soda cans which still had liquid in them, paper soda cups with plastic tops and straws still in place, and crumbled up wrappers from take out food sitting within the frame for the wall.. Tools and boxes of nails were left on braces between 2x4's and so much other garbage and building supplies it was ridiculous. We had a crack in the ceiling at the end of our entry hall. When we had our ceilings scraped and refinished before having crown molding installed, they had a devil of a time repairing that crack because it kept reappearing. It turned out that when the original drywall was put up in that area, where two pieces met, there was absolutely nothing to which it could be attached, hence the reappearing crack. When we built the house we added 4 feet onto the master bath and 7 feet onto the master bedroom. Nowhere in the plans did it show us that there would be a difference in ceiling height between the existing size of the rooms and the square footage we added on, but in both rooms there is a crazy slope from the original height of the ceilings down to the 8 foot height they made the addon portions. We paid for highly upgraded insulation on our home. We discovered later that the addon on square footage is not insulated at all! The Villages fights tooth and nail to keep from correcting any mistakes they make! We should rented a place and stayed locally during the build! If we had it to do over again, we would have never built here. We have had other homes built, but never experienced the problems we have had with The Villages product. Next, Run! Run! You pay more for a house in The Villages than elsewhere, and you are getting much less for your money on a postage stamp lot. They are selling a lifestyle, but keep in mind, they change the rules of that lifestyle as they are going along. Things have changed from the early days of The Villages. Oh by the way, don't be fooled into thinking you are buying into a gated community, because the gates don't keep anyone out. In fact if a resident pulls up to a gate in one lane, and a visitor in the other at the same time, visitors are most often let through first! This was to be our retirement home, but after seeing the increase in crime and other more petty things which are going on, we are biting the bullet and moving on! I had never had a home break in until I moved to The Villages. We were robbed in broad daylight during a two hour window and lost $40,000 of property, some of which was not replaceable. Our neighbor went away for overnight and came home to find he had been robbed of $50,000 of property. I hope no one falls for the idea of a "Villages certified resale home", because our newer neighbors bought one of those. The seller was complaining about the number of repairs which they were being dinged for, and which were causing them to lose some profit on the sale. I saw what the new owners encountered when they moved in, and are still living with. I am also sure that the previous owner did not disclose other, major, major problems they had with that home, but hired people for cash to cover it up, saying they wouldn't live to see the house fall down! What a mess! It appears a "Villages certification" might mean that the buyers are certified to buy a hidden mess. BTW, I won't go into the problems we experienced with leaking windows and the cheap fake wood they used on the outside of our house. Their solution, cover it with metal from a manufactured home supplier! Good Luck if you intend to live here. We've had enough!

[TOMCAT]

[QUOTE=JerryLBell;1453274]We were born and raised in Michigan, moved to North Carolina 20 years ago and retired and moved to The Villages this February. We are full-time residents and have just finished our first summer (and first hurricane) here. I'll try to give you our impressions on what concerns we had and what to expect.

The Heat. Florida is a bit warmer than North Carolina (or, more accurately, just as warm but for a bit longer) and definitely warmer than Michigan. It will be similarly warmer than New York. For us, that's a plus as I never want to rake leaves or shovel snow again. Is it unbearably hot? It might seem so at first (North Carolina seemed that way to us at first) but I'd say it really isn't. It's flat-out gorgeous in the fall, winter and spring and the real heat is limited to the long summer. However, you don't have to be out in it. In the hottest part of the day, stay home or go to a rec center or take in a movie or go bowling or go shopping or whatever. Learn to take naps (I've become quite expert at that). Go out in the mornings or in the evenings to do outdoor things (golfing, bicycling, swimming, walking, dancing, whatever). The Villages is full of activities and while many of them are outdoors in nature and can be done in seasons where you might have been stuck inside in New York, many of them are indoors. There are hundreds if not thousands of clubs and classes and whatever that you can do inside.

Natural Disasters. Florida was in the news recently with hurricane Irma ripping through. The Villages got off very, very easily compared to some coastal communities. Some trees came down, some damage was done, there was a little (surprisingly little, actually) flooding, some power outages (again, surprisingly little) and some new sinkholes opened up. We've seen that hurricanes can happen anywhere on the east coast or along the Gulf and they seem to be getting worse. That said, new homes in The Villages are built to the latest in standards for hurricane resistance, there is a LOT in the way of wetlands, water retention ponds, lakes, water holes and even golf courses and lawns to soak up a LOT of water and the staff at The Villages did and are doing a bang-up job prepping for the hurricane and cleaning up afterwards. Some folks complain that it's been over a week and the flooded golf courses aren't open yet, but compared to areas hard-hit by hurricanes in the last few years (Houston, New Jersey, The Keys, etc.), this place handled it very well. There are potholes here, but they are everywhere in Florida and more common elsewhere than you might realize. There have been tornadoes in Florida but they've been everywhere I've lived. Florida is the lightning capital of the world (seriously), so stay in doors during electrical storms and maybe get a whole-home surge suppressor and/or lighting rods. I'm not aware of earthquakes being a thing here. By the way, we stayed here for Irma and it was pretty noisy and a little exciting but had no damage or flooding and never lost power. If a cat 4 hurricane were going to sweep in across the state, we'd have bugged out.

The Expense. The Villages are not cheap to live in. The houses come in a range of prices from under $100,000 (think smaller and pre-owned) to way over $1,000,000. They aren't nearly as expensive as those in very pricey metro areas (NYC, California, etc.) but not as cheap as rural areas in many states or even depressed urban areas (think Detroit). The newer houses are well-built though not high-end custom level. There's the bond on new properties and the monthly amenities bill plus you'll certainly spend more on air conditioning down here than up there (though WAY less on heating). Taxes are generally low, gas prices a little above average and food prices about average for what I've seen. It would be great to compare the cost of living to other Villages-like community in other states, but there simply are no Villages-like communities anywhere else. You have to compare it to far, far scaled-down communities elsewhere. I would say it compares pretty favorably to them but has so much more to offer in terms of activities that comparisons become difficult. One other thing about expenses is that there are plenty of opportunities to spend money, whether it's on dining, shopping, travel or whatever. That's true to some extent at every decent retirement community and even more true at The Villages. There's plenty of free stuff to do but also plenty of non-free stuff as well. You do have to learn to control yourself a bit.

The People. I can't speak for every other state, but we looked at and visited dozens of active retirement communities before buying at The Villages. People are just way more friendly here than we ran into elsewhere. Maybe we are just all having such a good time that we bubble over with enthusiasm or maybe it's something in the water. Whatever it is, people are out and about having fun and so many of them seem to want to share the fun with everyone they meet. Honestly, people tell me I sound like a salesman for The Villages because I just want to tell everybody about it. Or maybe I've just lucked into a great neighborhood with great neighbors. However, every time I've stopped in a public place and looked puzzled, I've had people volunteer to help me out. Every time I've posted a question on this forum, I've had great responses from several people.

The Food. If you've lived in one state your whole life, moving to ANY other state means that you're going to find new things to try and like but also that there will be some things you just won't be able to find anywhere in the new state. Moving from Michigan to North Carolina made us realize that there are a handful of things only available in Michigan that we simply like while in Michigan but came to crave in North Carolina. For us it was Koegel's hot dogs, bi-color corn on the cob, blueberries and weird sodas like Vernor's Ginger Ale and Ruby Red Squirt. Moving to Florida made us miss really good watermelons, barbecue and peanuts. However, we were surprised to find that some of those foods are actually available in the area. There are enough "immigrants" from other states that some of the local stores bring in out-of-state goods and some out-of-state vendors (like Koegel) actually come to the state once or twice a year for local sales. Also, since there are a lot of middle-class Villagers (as well as upper-middle-class and upper-class), restaurants tend to be more mid-level chains and not a ton of really high-end dining. Some folks with more money than me have complained on this forum and elsewhere that "really, really good" dining is hard to find. I'm pretty happy with the choices here but will happy when even more choices come in with all the new growth.

The Diversity (or lack thereof). If you come from an area with a rich ethnic, racial and/or national diversity, you might find that The Villages is stunningly homogeneous. It's wall-to-wall white folks here. However, if you look at active retirement communities (or at least the ones we looked at), you'll find them to be the same way. I don't know if it's the economics that favored white folks that allows them to afford to live here or if it's a cultural thing that a larger percentage of white folks are willing to move away from kids and grandkids to an active retirement community or just what. It does NOT seem to be any attempt on the part of the owners or the folks who live here to exclude anybody else. I met a lady the other night who says that she and her wife moved here because The Villages has a pretty healthy acceptance of the LGBTQ community, so there's that. It's just that I'm used to working with African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Latinos and folks from Asia, Africa and Europe and I just don't seem to run into them here. I have met a few from Canada, but they are legally required to live just under 6 months a year here before returning home.

People's Ages. If you haven't moved to a retirement community, you'll be a little take back by the fact that people are older here. OK, you knew that going in, but it's weird to be working one day with folks ranging from their 20s to their 60s and the next day be retired and living with folks from their 60s to their 90s. You look around in the local restaurants and it's a sea of grey and white hair and baldness. I mean, it's not like I'm a spring chicken, but I'm used to a great age diversity. But damn, the people are so friendly that you quickly get accustomed to it. It's also weird that folks 10 years or more older than you are bicycling faster and farther than you, whipping your behind at pickelball and dancing the night away while you're ready to collapse.

The Politics. If you're moving from a blue or purple state to Florida, be prepared for the fact that it is a red state. The owner's of The Villages are conservative, invite conservative speakers to town, support them financially and tend to cover conservative issues more closely than progressive issues in their privately-owned newspaper, radio station, TV channel and web media empire. However, the residents of The Villages tend (according to voter records) to be about 1/3 Republican, 1/3 Democrat and 1/3 independent. No matter where you fall on the political spectrum, you'll find folks here who agree with you. Republican may be a little louder about their feelings than Democrats (from my experience) but the majority of folks just don't talk politics that much at all. Hey, we say that we're living in "the bubble" for a reason!

Shopping. There are a lot of cute little shops in the town

The Golf Carts. This is a VERY golf cart-friendly community. Some folks tell you not to buy one at first; to rent one to see if you really like it. I was convinced from the start that I wanted to dump our second car and get me a golf cart and I've never regretted it. I ordered it several weeks before we moved here and picked it up the first week here. I drive around with a big silly grin on my face wherever I go. I just really like it. Your feelings may be different. We have driven from the south end clear up to Spanish Springs and it is definitely slower, but hey. I'm retired. I'm NOT in a hurry any more.

The Crowds. I'm told that a third or so of Villages are snowbirds and things get very crowded and busy here in the winter. I've visited in October, November and December and lived here from February to September so I think I've seen the range. Yes, it does get busier. Reservations get harder to make. Restaurants are more crowded. Hey, more than 100,000 people call The Villages home and it continues to grow. But it still seems to me to be manageable.

The Size. The Villages can be overwhelming. We got SO lost the first time we visited. The second time not as much. By the third time, we had a vague idea of where we were most of the time. And that's when we bought. We moved ourselves in several visits, one trailer-load at a time and each time we got more confident. I was going to program our car's GPS with the locations of the town square and all the main shopping plazas and such once we moved here but within a couple of weeks, I realized I pretty much knew my way around all the main streets. There are a zillion residential streets, but that's what the GPS (or the GPS app on your smartphone) is for.

The Life Change. OK, going from a working life style to a retired life style will be a different experience for everybody. That's true of moving to The Villages, moving elsewhere or not moving at all. Neither my wife nor I miss our jobs but she misses her co-workers, friends and neighbors from North Carolina and family from Michigan and has taken a while to adjust from her job-related responsibilities and valued expertise to the more free-form lifestyle. For me, there was no adjustment at all. I think I was mentally retired for a year before physically retiring. I just bloody love being retired and being retired in The Villages. You'll have to see how it affects you. You may find yourself wanting to get a job or volunteer just to keep busy or to feel like you're contributing. There are plenty of jobs here and tons of fabulous volunteer opportunities. Or you may throw yourself into playing full-time and wonder, like I do, how you ever managed to find 40 or 50 hours a week to go to work.

Being a Hotel. Yes, when your family and friends find out you've moved here and are an hour or so away from Disney, Universal, Sea World, Busch Gardens, etc., etc., you WILL find some folks fishing for an invitation to visit. Hey, that beats leaving here and driving back up there to visit them! Also, if you enjoy the theme parks, they have some awesome deals for Florida residents. For example, we found it cheaper to get an annual pass to the four major Disney parks than to visit each of them for a single day.

Being Pioneers. We didn't feel like we were pioneers moving here. We'd already done that by moving from MI to NC 20 years ago. Also, my mother-in-law moved from Michigan to Arizona to an active retirement community 30+ years ago without knowing a soul there and having nobody to take with her (her husband had recently passed). She totally blossomed in that environment and inspired us to plan and work and save to be able to live the active retirement lifestyle ourselves. There's no guarantees in life, but the vast majority of folks who moved to The Villages seem to be pretty darned pleased with it

Thank you do much. You expressed it very well.

[TOMCAT]

Originally Posted by pgc4340

We moved here from out of state 22 years ago, so some of what we experienced might not apply. We built a home here, and afterwards realized how much we were rushed through the whole process, from picking a lot, being pushed with a deadline or we'd lose the lot we bought, to picking out everything for our house. We fell for what the salesman said, that we didn't need to be present while it was being built. Big, BIG mistake!!! The quality of work which was supposedly approved and signed off on was terrible. During the years we have replaced carpet, and updated the interior of the house. The original upgraded carpet and pad were installed so poorly, were never fixed properly, so two years later we got tired of dealing with it so had it replaced by a company outside of The Villages. To our surprise the original carpet had been installed over screws, marijuana butts, dirt, small pieces of wood and scraps of paper. They obviously did not bother to even sweep the slab before installing! Then when we remodeled our kitchen which had upgraded cabinets, we realized just how poorly the upgraded cabinets were made and installed. For instance the sides of the cabinets on either side of the stove were nothing but fiberboard covered with contact paper which had shrunk and peeled back. You can imagine the surprise and near miss of injury to the crew who was tearing down the original upper cabinets experienced when they unscrewed one cabinet from the wall, only to have 3 other upper cabinets fall down with it. There were screwed to each other, but had never been attached to the wall. When sheetrock was torn out, we found soda cans which still had liquid in them, paper soda cups with plastic tops and straws still in place, and crumbled up wrappers from take out food sitting within the frame for the wall.. Tools and boxes of nails were left on braces between 2x4's and so much other garbage and building supplies it was ridiculous. We had a crack in the ceiling at the end of our entry hall. When we had our ceilings scraped and refinished before having crown molding installed, they had a devil of a time repairing that crack because it kept reappearing. It turned out that when the original drywall was put up in that area, where two pieces met, there was absolutely nothing to which it could be attached, hence the reappearing crack. When we built the house we added 4 feet onto the master bath and 7 feet onto the master bedroom. Nowhere in the plans did it show us that there would be a difference in ceiling height between the existing size of the rooms and the square footage we added on, but in both rooms there is a crazy slope from the original height of the ceilings down to the 8 foot height they made the addon portions. We paid for highly upgraded insulation on our home. We discovered later that the addon on square footage is not insulated at all! The Villages fights tooth and nail to keep from correcting any mistakes they make! We should rented a place and stayed locally during the build! If we had it to do over again, we would have never built here. We have had other homes built, but never experienced the problems we have had with The Villages product. Next, Run! Run! You pay more for a house in The Villages than elsewhere, and you are getting much less for your money on a postage stamp lot. They are selling a lifestyle, but keep in mind, they change the rules of that lifestyle as they are going along. Things have changed from the early days of The Villages. Oh by the way, don't be fooled into thinking you are buying into a gated community, because the gates don't keep anyone out. In fact if a resident pulls up to a gate in one lane, and a visitor in the other at the same time, visitors are most often let through first! This was to be our retirement home, but after seeing the increase in crime and other more petty things which are going on, we are biting the bullet and moving on! I had never had a home break in until I moved to The Villages. We were robbed in broad daylight during a two hour window and lost $40,000 of property, some of which was not replaceable. Our neighbor went away for overnight and came home to find he had been robbed of $50,000 of property. I hope no one falls for the idea of a "Villages certified resale home", because our newer neighbors bought one of those. The seller was complaining about the number of repairs which they were being dinged for, and which were causing them to lose some profit on the sale. I saw what the new owners encountered when they moved in, and are still living with. I am also sure that the previous owner did not disclose other, major, major problems they had with that home, but hired people for cash to cover it up, saying they wouldn't live to see the house fall down! What a mess! It appears a "Villages certification" might mean that the buyers are certified to buy a hidden mess. BTW, I won't go into the problems we experienced with leaking windows and the cheap fake wood they used on the outside of our house. Their solution, cover it with metal from a manufactured home supplier! Good Luck if you intend to live here. We've had enough!

So sorry to hear of your problems. That is discouraging as to all the encouraging comments that were posted.

[TOMCAT]

...