Cost of Living in TV
 

I removed my comment about Chicago and it's various issues. This is not a political forum.


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Low crime is probably a bigger Village benefit than golf or cost of living.

Taxachusetts, that's about the size of it.

If you own your own home its amazingly cheap to live here. I moved here 16 years ago. I have lost 2 husbands to cancer. I live on one income and have no trouble getting by. I even save money every year. I travel at least twice a year by air including vacationing to Europe every year. I have a designer home. Taxes are about $2000 per year. Monthly total expenses are around $1000 per month and that's for everything - water, food, electricity, gas, car expenses, everything. I attend lots of shows, eat out at least once a week and eat well at home. Shop Aldis which is less than half of what Publix charges. If you are careful to not waste money by doing a little checking around you can live very well here on not much. Oh, by the way there was no life ins. and I pay for everything. No sugar daddies here. Move here, you'll love it. So much to do here, your days will fly by.

Snowbird costs.
 

Except for groceries (which are very uncompetitive here), nearly everything else is cheaper here than at our northern home. Our annual cost of having a second home in TV runs under $12,000 per year (not including painting, re-roofing, repairs, etc.)

That includes:
Insurance
Taxes
Energy (all electric home)
Water, sewer, garbage, and amenity fees.
Cable TV & Internet
Lawn care with periodic treatment for critters, fertilizing, etc.
Termite and other pest treatments.
Shrub, flower, etc. care during the five months we are not here.

Our house is 2,150 square feet. No pool.

From viewing a number of retirement communities, our observation was that homes are more expensive in TV than some other communities, but running costs are equal or less.

Also, just from observation, it appears it's cheaper to live in Sumter county than Marion.

Good luck. It's an easy place to like.

As the NJ guy said, we are living much more cheaply here than we did in Virginia. Every month we have more than $1000 MORE left over after all bills are paid than we did before moving to TV. I find food prices comparable to what we paid in VA. Insurance, taxes, home expenses are all cheaper. Living the Life of Riley!

I don't disagree with John & The Dude but here's my 2 cents worth. I'm from the midwest, Ohio. If you're trying to compare where you live now & here like John says he's from Maryland. In Ohio my electric bill was about 60 to $70. a month, the highest. I think my property taxes here are less, mine are 1,950 a yr. but you have a bond payment with your property taxes which is about another $2,000. a yr. my total bill is around $4,100. a yr. So what I'm saying is after your bond, (unless the bond is already paid) is paid my taxes would only be about $2,000. a yr. In Ohio my property taxes were approximately $4,000. a yr. So TV is less in that respect is less. My water bill in Ohio was an amazingly never got a water bill higher than $15. you heard me right, $15. Here in TV it's runs as an average between 60 & $70. a month, but when I moved here people said water was high. As far as amenities, mine are $151.??, those do very. I think on the old side I think amenities are less than $100. correct me if I'm wrong. Ins. down here is about the same maybe a bit higher, that's house Ins. they want you to by some extra's, which might be worth it. Now as far as car Ins. well I'm getting my car repair now as we speak. Car Ins. is OK but watch who you buy from, the Ins. I have is going to go, I'm surprised they can stay in business down here, to put it short I'm dumping my Ins. & going with someone else. Like the advertisement on TV says, "You have the wrong Ins, No I have the wrong Ins. company". Hope this helps some. As far as expense in TV I think the merchants are expensive, resturants vendors & people who bang on your door wanting to fix something. I've talked to I bet a dozen people & everyone of them said they lived here anywhere from 10 to 22 yrs. & their quote was, "When I moved here "X" amount of yrs. ago you could live like a millionaire, now you've got to be a millionaire to live here". But again it really depends where you come from, Calif. or NY, it is cheap to live here. Well there's my 2 cents worth. Overall depends on what your living standards are but TV is like a Disneyland for retirees.

It is not cheap to live here in The Villages. But if you look at what you get for your money it isn't that costly. The Villages is not for everyone you need to be active and take advantage of those activities that are free. People that belong to a country club pay monthly fees up to $500 a month plus bar bill and cart rental.
You get a lot more here in TV for that kind of money, dancing lessons free, group exercise, card lessons free, pickleball lessons free, golf at the executive courses free if you walk, dancing at the town squares and so on. Yes it's paided for in your amenities fees but if you divide it up you pay a lot,lot,lot less to do a lot more.

We are in a golf course and water view house - Lantana - and we have a total cost of approximately $16,000 per year for every single expense outside of food.

Our friends have a Villa and say that their total is nearer to $9,000 per year.

Eating out and drinking is inexpensive. And the activities are all within that pricing (above). I can't imagine a less expensive community where you can have this much fun.

We find it very cheap t live here as a retired couple. We can stay busy with activities every day for little or no money. Most things are free to do. We pay for Championship golf, which is the most expensive thing. You can get a copy of the rates at any Championship Golf Club. Depending on where you live now, you may think the property taxes are cheap or high. Hope this helps.

If you are coming fro New England, your expenses for taxes, utilities, food, entertainment, heating, etc. will be cut substantially. Don't worry about the details, just do it.

Yes, it is expensive in the villages. Example bond payments total cost of $ 22,000 dollars over 25 years or so. Taxes, $ 2300 per year

ammentiys fees $ 149.00 per month, maintance fees $ 600 dollars per year. Outside the villages you get much more house for less money, and there is no bond payments example: Arlington ridge area is beautiful south on 27

The $149 is the greatest bargain in entertainment, if you use it. Most that came here probably had every intention of using the amenities.

Here in MA, my home is in a Condo development.

Maintenance fee $250 per month.
Property tax is $4,600 per year.
Amenities Fee 0, because there is no amenities here LOL.

The bond is the charge for the infrastructure and rec centers and green spaces in your area. If you add it into the cost of the home as it would be in other areas it is more understandable. I do not doubt that other areas may have larger homes for less money, but those areas aren't selling thousands of homes like the Villages do.

The bond is about $50K for Premiers.
The bond is about $22 for designers and some CYVs
The bond is about $??? for patio villas and cottages.

If a person cannot afford to live comfortably with the amenity fee, cost of home or taxes, than they should seek a place that is better suited to their budget.

There are huge differences in cost of living if you factor in or out alcohol and dining out frequently. Groceries are a little more expensive, but water is not (to us) taxes are about the same. Heating and cooling is cheaper. We moved from Cincinnati area.

You must know that the place is run by the developer south of 466. And run well, I think. North of 466 control is largely on elected people. There was a group of people who sued the developer and won.

I agree 100% with this.

We are closing on a home there next week. We will be moving from NC. Our taxes have consistently increased the past few years, and they are now more expensive than the Villages, Water in TV is much cheaper than here, From what I can tell, heating and cooling is also cheaper. The home we bought had the bond paid off so we don't have that expense. We don't have an amenity fee here since our PUD (Planned Urban Development) and our Subdivision doesn't have any. We do have an inexpensive HOA fee which is comparable to the maintenance fee. The price of food both in groceries and restaurants are very comparable. Alcohol and beer is cheaper in TV. Home insurance is about the same and I don't know about car insurance but I do know I will have less cars so it should be less. Cable, internet etc are about the same. Overall, I think it will cost me the same in TV as it does in NC with the exception of amenity fees which, we plan on making extensive use of. And, I think once I sell my house here (that has a mortgage) I will be able to pay off the small mortgage we are taking to buy the house there so I won't have one.

Don't forget to factor in (at least for the present) that Florida imposes no state income tax when comparing costs of living in TV to the cost of living in states in which one must pay state income tax.

TV is the best bang for the buck you can get-we bailed out of NJ in 95--our real estate tax was $19 K--the people who bought our house bulldozed it & built a mansion, guess 4200 sq ft was too small==the villages is a comfy fit, except for dining & thats my opinion about dining