[OhioBuckeye]

Originally Posted by wlasowicz

Hi I have owned a villa for over 5 year now. So for the most part I have a general idea what the monthly amenity fee pays for. My wife and I will be looking at new home to buy possibility in the future in Fl. There's no guarantee it will be in the villages. Its not cheap to live in the villages even though they provide a lot . My wife doesn't play golf and I do very occasionally. She feels the monthly amenity goes a lot toward golfing . So I was curious if the CDD a general percent breakdown of the monthly amenity fee of how much goes to support golf, how much to the pools , rec. centers, community watch, etc.
Thanks

I had an older gentleman that lives in the historic side, north side of 27/441 & he told me when he moved there 25/30 yrs. ago you could live like a millionaire, now you have to be a millionaire to live there. Yea, I know he was exaggerating but, I know exactly what he was trying say! As you get older & don’t use the amenities or 1 or 2 of them, $150. to $170. a month is month gets pretty expensive for some people when you’re on a fixed income.

[donnamayo]

Originally Posted by jedalton

With a 4-k firestick a d $19/mth streaming service and get over 5000 channels. Including all local channels, all sports channels, all movie channels and much more. Ask me how.

How?

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Maineguides

I see everyone talking about a monthly amenity feeand that there’s no hoa fee. Where does the “bond” figure in

The bond is a totally separate fee imposed on new construction. The buyer can choose to pay it off monthly, or they can pay it off in a lump sum. If they pay it off all at once, then whoever they sell that home to, some day, will have no bond fee to pay. If they pay it off monthly, then the -next- buyer will pay whatever balance is left, or nothing, if there's no balance left.

[Rodneysblue]

Originally Posted by Goldwingnut

Here's information on the Amenity Fee

The Amenity Fee (part 1) and The Villages 7-26-2020 Construction Update - YouTube
The Amenity Fee (part 2) and The Villages 8/17/20 Construction Update - YouTube

Your wife's perception about golf's budget cost is very common, but wrong. Golf accounts for about 3% of the total expenditures of the combined amenity districts budgets.

Thank you, I knew someone had just done something on this. I just couldn’t remember who.

[Rodneysblue]

Originally Posted by NoMo50

As always, Don (GoldWingNut) does an excellent job of explaining things in his videos. And yes...for all you receive in return, the amenity fee is a bargain.

He sure does.

[tuccillo]

Not exactly. You don't pay off the bond monthly. It is charged annually on your property tax bill send out around November each year, at least it is in my CDD.

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

The bond is a totally separate fee imposed on new construction. The buyer can choose to pay it off monthly, or they can pay it off in a lump sum. If they pay it off all at once, then whoever they sell that home to, some day, will have no bond fee to pay. If they pay it off monthly, then the -next- buyer will pay whatever balance is left, or nothing, if there's no balance left.

[Darield]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

I suspect anyone would be very hard pressed to find a retirement community anyplace in the world where one gets more for the very reasonable amenity fees charged in the Villages.

I agree. When we were looking in the Charleston area, amenity fees were as high as $500 a month for one recreation center. We get so much at The Villages for these fees. The clean up after a major storm is fast. Streets are cleared quickly. So many recreation centers with so many choices. When our daughter and family were visiting in April, it was cold, so we played ping pong, shuffleboard, and darts. We also went dancing at the squares.

[Tmarkwald]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

I suspect anyone would be very hard pressed to find a retirement community anyplace in the world where one gets more for the very reasonable amenity fees charged in the Villages.

$164 amenity fee vs $350 average HOA fee in Florida

[EdFNJ]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

I suspect anyone would be very hard pressed to find a retirement community anyplace in the world where one gets more for the very reasonable amenity fees charged in the Villages.

Yea, my father paid $580 "condo fees" per month for a small 3rd floor 1 bedroom condo in South FL. It got him 2 golf courses and 2 pools and a room to play cards and 2 treadmills and LOTS more civilization outside his bubble. But he did have a automated gate pass under the hood of his vehicle and That alone was worth the extra $400+.

In the world of HOA TYPE fees, if nothing else here is a bargain, the $160 is an absolute bargain.

Edit: Of course he didn't have to pay $50+ a month to have his lawn mowed but he was required to pay $200/year to buy a "prepaid card" to use it in the one and only restaurant on their property which was opened 4 days a week for breakfast and 5 days for dinner!

[stebooo]

We own a small 855sf condo in mpls. Fee is 352 we have a pool and hot tub. Grass cut, snow shoveled, water, and cable. I love the villages.

[bobdeb]

Originally Posted by jedalton

With a 4-k firestick a d $19/mth streaming service and get over 5000 channels. Including all local channels, all sports channels, all movie channels and much more. Ask me how.

Yes please how?

[newgirl]

You definitely can get a loan to pay it off much cheaper then the 6.5 interest they charge you monthly. If you don't pay it off and decide to move you can add it to the house in the price,or they can pay you direct on a separate bill of sale . It would save you lots of money .

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by newgirl

If you don't pay it off and decide to move you can add it to the house in the price, or they can pay you direct on a separate bill of sale .

This is being Tee'd up for someone.

[EdFNJ]

Originally Posted by jedalton

With a 4-k firestick a d $19/mth streaming service and get over 5000 channels. Including all local channels, all sports channels, all movie channels and much more. Ask me how.

Originally Posted by donnamayo

How?

Originally Posted by bobdeb

Yes please how?

Just don't ask him how LEGAL it is. Obviously the chances of an end user getting "caught" are very very slim. It's the SELLER who is most at risk because he is selling illegally obtained content. Here is a local example: Undercover Cops Arrest Sellers of 'Pirate' Amazon Firesticks At Florida Flea Market * TorrentFreak You can also do it yourself for free in minutes. There are dozens of YouTube vids rather than paying someone $240 a year for what you can do for free if you follow directions.

Watching TV For Free With Kodi (or other apps) – Legal or Not?

However, Kodi or other such hacked Firestick devices may open up a plethora of free streaming content which may otherwise cost money or have a subscription fee such as Netflix or Hulu. This is where you start to break the law. You are not allowed to violate copyrighted material or receive paid services for free. Do you follow? That is stealing.

If you are caught streaming or violating copyrighted material, your ISP may even suspend your service permanently and you won’t have any way to access the internet at all ever again. You may be sued, fined, and more. Is it really worth it?

Legally, you can get in big trouble.
And people have been arrested.


This is one article of thousands if you search: Yes, Jailbreaking a Firestick is illegal. But you can "Protect" yourself/hide Actually, "jailbreaking" a Firestick is NOT illegal, what is illegal are the "extra" apps you download or devices purchased from sellers on the web, locally or at fleamarkets to steal paid content.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by J1ceasar

Here is the other side of the coin, it's a both positive and a negative. If you bought your home 5 or 10 years ago, you definitely got a bargain. However if you're newly what in the last one or two years then your housing price is at least one or $200,000 more did any of the other communities within 20 miles of The villages. I live in a community that's very nice with over 1,000 homes mostly stick build but yes some are modulars and we paid much less than the villages and there's still 27 holes of golf for those who want it two pools hundreds of activities and mostly of all nice neighbors. So you can consider it's a positive and a negative housing prices are way up in The villages and it's pricing some people out if they still pay mortgages or don't have the assets to out right buy a home

Good, interesting post.