we moved in in 2007 and out in 2009. Renting our Villages home to unsuspecting northerns is much more profitable to us. maybe in 10 years or so we will give it another try.

So glad you love it there.

Wow! Thanks for the update.

What does the cost of any house in the Villages mean to you unless you plan on buying one ?

I could fix that... Oh WAIT. I meant to say I agree with all your posts on this issue. Especially with living in Sumter.

Great question !!!

Wow. Unsuspecting northerners.

Didn't they say Designer homes in Fruitland Park would would be $500K??
 

Yeah. No sarcasm there. LOL!! I'm sure kstew is really SO GLAD we 're happy here!! ;)

As we always say, this place isn't for everyone. Some just can't handle the change, doesn't matter where you are from, some buy without doing due diligence, some just don't fit in and some just change their mind. The good news is that those like kstew43 get out of here, there are many that stay and live miserably here.

So far I am only seeing cottages for sale in the dairy section? Have they started the designers yet

According to The Villages website, there are five pages of new homes for sale in Pine Ridge, and only one is a designer home. All the rest are courtyard villas and cottages. No photo yet for the designer home.

Is it five hundred thousand?:wave:

If I am not mistaken Pine Ridge homes are available as part of the FRUITLAND PARK of Lake County. Labelle is district 10 and still part of the Villages and not considered as part of Fruitland Park and is part of Sumter County. It helps to keep the facts straight!

On sale for $455,158 plus the bond, of course.

Amazing that there are probably 90-100K "unsuspecting northerners" living here---did the average IQ north of the Mason-Dixon line suddenly drop, or was it just mine?

I'm getting mix signals after reading these threads about the bonds (or lack of) in the new Fruitland Park section. Are these bonds to be issued as normal or are these bonds built into the purchase price of each new home? I know there has to be a bond in the Fruitland Park area because I invested in District 11 municipal bonds a few months back. Now if these bond prices are built into the purchase price of each house, I could see my investment being paid off much sooner than hoped for since a lot of folks pay cash for their homes in TV and this, I assume, would automatically pay off their bond debt in the process.

You may want to check with your bond broker. I was looking at villages bonds also. Here is what I found: Most of the bonds have a date far out; yours may be 2030, 2040, 2050. There is also a callable date of maybe 2020 or something like that, when the bond can be called anytime after that date. There is also a provision in most, but not all, of these bonds that allows the bond to be paid off much sooner, even as early as six months or less after you purchased it. It's called something like "extraordinary circumstance", or something like that. Basically, whenever enough people pay the bond off, several of the bonds are called in and paid off. The risk is that if you paid a premium for the bond, which you probably did, then you could lose money if it is paid off in six months, or three months, or whenever, but you can calculate when you would break even. That's the way I understand how these bonds work. If you don't specifically ask the broker about this possibility of early payoff, they may not tell you. I had to talk to a bond broker at USAA to find this out.

You can pay that bond (the one for the cost of the infrastructure) off the day you close if you wish.(Well actually the day it comes due I think which is tax bill time) We paid cash for both homes but kept the bond so that if we decided to move again within The Villages we would not have to add the bond price to the asking price of the home. Many people do this.

Yes, your pretty much correct. Even though my district 11 bonds have a maturity of 2045, Village bonds are always paid off sooner. I bought them knowing they would most likely be paid off in full in 10-15 years. I don't see there being any risk for them being completely paid off in only a few short years though. As you said, when enough people pay off their bonds in a district, the money is divvied up, split and distributed to all the bond investors of that particular district. I have only had this happen once when I was reimbursed only a small amount ($2k) of my initial investment back from some older district 6 Village bonds which I had purchased a year ago.

Bonds in Fruitland Park
 

Just confirming that there is a bond in the Fruitland Park areas. There are two Villages there: Pine Ridge and I think Pine Hills. The bonds are a little higher than the ones in District 10. Designer area is running about $23,000. This area is in Lake County. Looks like it is going to be another beautiful area.

The prices of houses in the Villages is far from extravagant, I feel they are fairly priced as well as the amenity fees-combined with low taxes--this place is a steal

Point of comparison--go to Zillow-Chatham,NJ --hang on to hats as your mouths drop-this is where I used to live-rentals are @ 5K a month-houses make our biggest premiers look cheap price wise

It is true that most residents move 3 times but there are many reason that happens...some good and some not so good. A good Realtor sits with you and listens to what your needs are and finds a home that best suits your needs and budget. A sales person sells you a house without a care in the world as the whether or not it suits your needs therefore most move in and don't feel comfortable, start to look around and trust a sales agent again and get sucked in again. The third time around they find a Realtor that gets them where they need to be, in a comfortable home that fits their budget and meets all of their needs! Now some downsize after the death of a spouse or upsize after downsizing due to a new marriage...yep it happens...in The Villages!

La Belle as it is South of 466A and East of Morse Blvd. which is the most Easterly part of The Villages is within "Fruitland Park" as well as in "Lake County".

baloney, substantiate your claim please!

If you check out the sale listings, you will discover Labelle is located in Sumter County.

Didn't they say Designer homes in Fruitland Park would would be $500K??
 

It's a common claim/rumor/story/whatever that on average, TV residents move three times. I too find it highly questionable.

The bond only pays for improvements in a diffent way. You will not get them for free.

Ur kind'a bouncing around to different threads..............as suggested by others, you might want to start a new thread or jump on a thread relating to roundabouts.

We made a profit.
 

We just sold our 2 bedroom courtyard villa, which was new when we bought it in 2012. We very carefully improved it. (meaning we did NOT over-improve it) We made $50K profit, and used it to buy a 3 year old house in Sanibel that had what the villa did not, a 3rd bedroom, an inside laundry, and a 2-car garage. And oh yeah, a straight driveway! We believe that our new house, which was reasonably priced, will also be sold at a profit should we choose to sell.

Labelle not in Fruitland Park
 

Labelle is not in Fruitland Park it is opposite Charlotte and encompasses the area east of Morse Blvd

It is true... since we are now a community of 100,000 the average is about right. Don't forget going from a Villa to a cottage or designer, back to a Courtyard or a newer neighborhood and finally the independent and assisted living facilities could add to the equation. By the way several folks have moved more than 3 times.

Why do I get the feeling that you are a Realtor?

We have neighbors that are on their 4th house!!

Taxes are also higher

Approx 45% higher, Ouch !

We have several in our neighborhood who are in their 3rd home. We know one couple who have just moved into their 8th home here in 13 years.

CDDs Stewardship Districts and bonds
 

Hopping Green and Sams (great outfit) has an info sheet entitled "An Introduction to Community Development Districts and Stewardship Districts). Google it, it's a great read. Although the District (Rohan) does a good job the real pro is Gary Moyer (now a VP with the Developer) he was the District Manager before Janet Tutt and Pete Wahl. Gary was an architect of Chapter 190 the foundation F.S. for CDDs. Because a CDD is a Special District it is entitled to issue bonds (no problem for infrastructure bonds like those of the numbered districts but there is problem with the IRS whether the bonds issued by the VCCDD are muni's)....contrary to the SUN, the fat lady is not ready to sing. Wouldn't be surprised if the VCCDD and the PWA don't form a Stewardship district in the future. Most folks know the bonds as impact fees usually funded by the developer and included in the home price...our bonds are the direct responsibility of the homeowner....even if a house is never built.

How does that work? You can't close on a home here until it is finished in every way. Perhaps I didn't understand your point? Oh, and what is the PWA? And welcome to the forum. Been here long?

He is correct, the lien is against the LAND and any improvements that may eventually be made to it. It would exist whether or not it was built upon, which doesn't happen because of the way properties are sold in The Villages.

On our third house

Sure, there have to be people that have moved more then three times. Three times is an average. I'm sure a lot of people here buy once and never move. Somebody has to make up for that for the average to be three.