About only way you’ll get out of bond buy older house with bond paid. The newer the house most likely the more the bond?

Hummm thats the "historic side" of the villages I would suggest Anything on the other side of 441 in Villages would be better

Some people, like my husband and I, prefer preowned to new. Improvements have been made and settling has occurred.

Not true, out pool gets checked on every few days, must have a Villages ID.

If you read other threads on this topic…..you will find this isn’t very popular/acceptable to many Village residents.

The Villages is not a gated community, they just try to make it look like it is. Anybody can go in and look around.

I'm aware it's not very common. We may just wait another year or so and pay full cash. That's providing the market does soar.

I wonder how many more posts will read, “the Villages is not a gated community”?

Our pools in Fenney are checked three times a day for IDs. YEAR ROUND. You don’t mess with Rick. Great guy that DOES HIS JOB.

You don’t live in Fenney. Checking at least three times a day at ALL of our pools. And we like that they do the job WE PAY THEM FOR…yes, that’s our amenities fee at work.

They already live in FL... I'm sure they are quite aware of the weather...

BTW, when are you moving NORTH?

Some of the new homes have a $50,000 bond, most expensive bond is in Enclave, that bond is $71,000. To get away from a bond the LSL area will have home with bonds of less than $10,000. But you are also looking at a 10-14 yo house, but most convenient to many amenities

Be aware prices here have typically increased +6% a year. Even more for the most desirable locations. Waiting can cost you more than a bridge loan.

The impact of the bond relative to the cost of the home can be more psychological than financial. It can be passed on to the next buyer. Don't let the trail wag the dog.


Good luck in your search.

Because new houses are on the south side: no shopping, no restaurants, no gas stations, turn Pike noise, high power transmission lines......no significant land set aside for stores, only more houses. Mostly plastic clad houses with plastic floors, plastic kitchens, plastic baths. Miles of Golf cart paths leading to wilderness. Buyers still wearing rose color glasses not yet having figured it out.

Many rec center family pools check for IDs regularly all year long. We saw it happen often this summer at our local pools. Fenney rec center’s family pool always has someone sitting inside the gate entrance checking everyone’s ID as they enter.

When we walk in rec centers we are almost always asked “can I help you” by the person manning the front desk.

Yep, same here, and we see others being asked too as they enter, but mainly at the family pools.

Hey skip, did you buy on the .”south side? Sorry you did? If not why the bashing?

It's just too funny that some people think that they can stop new home sales by typing up a list of false statements.

Our pools , rec. centers , pickleball courts and golf shacks ask for ID . Not sure you would want to be embarrassed by not having ID.

Whenever we go to a rec center for an exercise class, or whatnot, the person at the desk scans our IDs... Year round...

What houses were YOU looking at? When we we house shopping, there were plenty of Block/Stucco homes with tile floors, granite kitchens and baths...

I'll agree on the power lines (when we bought, Chitty Chatty and Bradford were where the new builds were and that area had a lot of power lines. But since then, there are plenty of villages without them. More to be built on the far side of the turnpike...

There is plenty of land set aside for shopping centers, along with privately owned land waiting to be developed.

They are currently building a shopping center adjacent to Middleton and will have another shopping area in Eastport...

The gas station in the Marsh Bend shopping center is awaiting permitting to open...

No embarrassment... Just let the person at the desk know you want to take a peek around, that you're looking at buying a home. They'll be happy to assist you...

On rare occasions I forget my ID I just give them my ID number. Most will enter that number and my face and information pops up.

Yes, and if you answer "we're visiting potential homeowners and want to have a look around" they'll either tell you "oh - go ahead!" or they'll give you the tour themselves.

If you want neighbors who actually welcome you to the neighborhood when you're ready to finally move in, you'll avoid renting your home out for short-term rentals via Airbnb or other "independent" rental method.

You could try the Villages' own Property Management company, which takes a fee for their service and you'd make less per night/week/month. But you'd also know that the place is being properly cared for by a company that has a VERY specific financial interest in ensuring the property is kept up and presentable inside and out, all the time - not just when the neighbor calls you to tell you the handyman you hired to mow the lawn never showed up or the current tenant has their three kids sleeping in tents on the front lawn.

"MYTH" is right, lol, it seems there is no end to the percentage of people who don't quite "get it" that a gated community and a community with gates, are very different. My own cousin was just fooled by this same circumstance in another state, so it's not just Florida, or just the Villages. Always ask ! IF YOU pay a huge premium for streets and roads in addition to the HOA fee, you "probably" have found a private community. I think deep down people know when they can't afford a private community, like my cousin, but... when it sounds like a dream come true, don't ask too many questions, or the bubble might burst ! It's a very nice retirement community with a lot of advantages, but private, gate passes (used to $50 each, and although not even needed, they were mandatory when we built ....LOL !) live people in "gate houses"... smoke and mirrors, it screams safety to seniors.

The gates are there to slow cars down , so golf cars can safely cross the streets...

Maybe, but this is what The Villages website says about the gates:

"The Villages offers many safety and security services including gated neighborhood entries and The Villages Public Safety “Home Away” house check and community watch program."

,,,

Yes, why not invite let EVERYONE IN on the pretext that they “looking” for a house. Not that OP is not sincere but boy, can I think of others…

As far as gates go, the confusion is that they “look” like gates. They are actually traffic signs. If we had red/yellow lights (with cameras) in their place, which may happen if too many gates are driven through accidentally, no one would talk about a “gated community”. Just as traffic lights don’t filter traffic, neither do these gates.

I read where it says “Villages offers many safety and security services” etc… they mean vehicle safety by controlling traffic, when it comes to the gates. They just lumped it in with other services to make it sound more vague. And some people jump to the conclusion, they have gates, it MUST be a gated community.

Ah gracie, go ahead and say what you want…….😀

Honestly, the home we buy will determine if we rent it out or not. If we get something under 300k, we probably wouldn't. But one we just looked at that's almost 700k, that would be a different story as we wouldn't be willing to spend that much if we couldn't recover a good chunk of the monthly expenses until we actually move full time. We'll have to play it by ear as we go.

Please, no!

Personally, I think it is deliberately deceptive to say that The Villages is "safe" because it has "gated neighborhood entries". It clearly implies that The Villages is a gated community. Almost anyone who has never been to The Villages would think that it is a gated community.

gat·ed com·mu·ni·ty
[ɡādid kəˈmyo͞onədē]
NOUN
a residential area with roads that have gates to control the movement of traffic and people into and out of the area.

The Villages meets this definition of a gated community.

Lol…yes and it has a lot of those railway crossing type gates too…. But have you seen the actual iron gates at Harmeswood Village, by any chance?

Watch out for neighborhoods with rentals
 

Ask questions, talk to neighbors and above all avoid the AirBnB Verbo rental areas.