Do you invite friends and neighbiors over to discuss how you will spend your money? What gives you or anyone the right to an "open forum" on how the developer's family spends and invests theirs? What an entitled perspective.

I guess they are lies if you expect them to be. Otherwise they are the truth with out having to go into a long explanation. City or town.....vs CDD. Many have lived here decades and still don’t understand CDDs. Mileage to Orlando, is probably to the northern city limits (just like on most highways). MCO is in southern Orlando. Police....TV is covered by 3 county sheriff and 3 town police forces.....try explaining that one. This is a 55 age restricted community, but fed or state law requires some accepted under 55. So if believe all these are lies....stay where you are....you will only be looking for more lies and not enjoying our “friendliest hometown”.

Maybe, but in 10-15 years Orlando will be a suburb of TVs.

Maybe, as the crow fly's?

Well I did ask my TV realtor if they sell to anyone under 55 and she NO! And it is true. why bother having TV as 55 and older. I am hearing more stories of younger people living here. TV is so large no way to keep track anyhow.

They can track ages via the Villages ID cards.

Well, there are some people in The Villages who are somewhat “quaint,” to be kind about it. I’ll bet there would be a lot more “quaint” decorations if it weren’t for the “quaintness patrol” people reporting on deviations from normality. (Laughing)

Answers were honest even though not what you wanted.

What would the practical difference be were The Villages to have its own police force? Residents would have to pay for it, of course, but what would the advantage be? Is there a crime issue that's not being addressed by the area police forces now? What if a "Villages Police Force" amounted to three people? The FAQ could then say "Yes" to that question, and most people would find that much more misleading, in my view. I don't see the issue with the way they answered this question. They clearly state that policing is handled on the local/county level. I read "local" as the towns in the counties involved.

Again, I don't see what the issue with this is. When the question is posed whether TV is a city or town, the answer is that it's a 55+ active retirement community. What difference would it make as to whether TV existed in a city or town? Do The Villages rules/regulations/restrictions supersede federal/state/county/town laws? Are you or any prospective buyer unaware of HOAs and how they impact community life? They exist all over the place. Due diligence is key.

On this, I agree. The way they chose to answer this question is misleading. I don't know if that was an intentional motive, of course. Here's the thing: they are absolutely correct about the point-to-point mileage between TV and Orlando. Where they skew the answer is by adding "via Florida's Turnpike".

Many people are not aware that you can do "point-to-point" mileage calculations in Google Maps. You do so (on a desktop/laptop, at least) by opening Google Maps and find your starting point. Then, right-click on that starting-point location. A context menu will come up on screen. You'll see "Measure Distance" as one of the options in that menu. Left-click on Measure Distance. Now, find your end-point that you want to find the direct point-to-point mileage for and left-click on that. You'll see a straight-line appear between those two points, and the mileage will be shown at the bottom of the map. Of course, roads don't usually go on straight lines. There's water, communities, etc., that the roads circumvent. But were you able to fly, this would be the distance between the two points.

What I did was find an easier way. I opened up Google Maps, and then did the "Directions" routine. I entered "The Villages, FL 32162" as the starting point, and "Orlando, FL" as the end point. Then I did the "Measure Distance" routine. Google Maps chose the intersection of Buena Vista Blvd and 466 as The Villages starting point. (I know this because I zoomed in on the map to see close up where Google Maps was selecting its location balloons.)

Google Maps chose downtown Orlando - essentially the center of town - as the end point. The direct point-to-point mileage between these points? ~46 miles. However, the Florida Turnpike directions (and Route 301) between these two points was ~62 miles. That's not insignificant.

See image below. I put a red rectangle on the image of the map where the Measure distance is stated. You'll also see the Florida Turnpike calculations:

https://i.imgur.com/wgAvY4R.jpg

As my father use to say, "they didn't lie just toyed with the truth!"

When it comes to material things......Believe in nothing, until you can prove it factually.

Thanks for honesty. I want to Sell my house.

Thanks have to remember this one

Product advertising and the news does the same thing.
I, myself saw this starting years ago in everything... Years ago in my life it started with buying a new car/ car salesman. (Step Grandfather was one)
Some see it as a spin, some believe these people who answer this way to the letter. It’s just a generality.
For me, I don’t believe anything anymore, “just the facts ma’am.”
Yes, it means I have to spend hours sometimes finding out the truth or facts as I call it.
I find those type of answers despicable, always have always will.
Weasels are not great mascots for human kind. I aspired to be better than that in my life. We grew up with weasels being depicted in cartoons as having those traits, so for our generation, at least we understand what that truly means, and I agree.

No one needs to "toy with the truth here to sell homes".

For 14 years I have watched them sell. (I am not a realtor . My husband and I had built 10 homes over time in Ohio and Indiana.) I have not ever seen a phenomena like The Villages. In our Village when the view lots went up for sale at Bridgeport at Laurel Valley, they all sold within several hours. We missed out. We are satisfied with our lot and have watched several homes sell here in the last nine years for over 100K more than was paid for them.

In Hadley where we bought our first house here the homes that went for sale sold quickly and at a greater price than was paid for them.

No one needs to lie about The Villages. Jealous people will quickly tell you any minuses and the common Joe and Karen on the street are going to lavish you with wonderful stuff if you engage them.

Only if you are new here do you think that people have to fib to sell houses in The Villages.

I am not a realtor. I was a pre-school teacher for decades. I really am not crazy about most realtors.

Yes sir! I would like to buy your home! What Village are you in and what price would you sell it for? This is a serious inquiry. Thanks so much!

I think the point is that if they will lie about these little simple things, how can you trust anything else they say or promise about bigger things. I think many of the buyers south of 44 have experienced that. Would they have bought there if the developers had been honest about the timing of amenities, access, etc.? And now if they want to move north it will not be easy or inexpensive. These people are billionaires, so why do they need to lie about anything any more?

I have been here for 8 years, so not new. We were lied to our faces. Now maybe the TV rep only told us what they were told, or maybe they made up their own lies, I don’t know. But given the premium you pay for homes here we had valid questions about build-out and the easement and it’s use and were lied to about both. Regarding the latter, I don’t think we would have bought this property if we had known the truth. And if I had known there will never be build out, I am not sure I would have bought here at all. Given the premium we paid for a home here I felt that the value would be locked in after build out. Now, I am not so sure.

What are you crying about?
 

If you would do your diligence before buying in TV you would know that people over 55 can buy a home here, our police protection is provided for the most part by Sumter County (also Marion, Lake, Lady Lake City, Fruitland Park City and Wildwood City), there are sinkholes all over this area, the mileage to Orlando is not to the airport, there is a large industrial park bordering a southern portion of TV and there is also a federal prison. CSX operates a large rail switching yard in Wildwood and operates trains during the day and night. We pay our property taxes as determined by our county commissioners, to the respective counties we reside in, not the developer and the roads are maintained by those counties. The country clubs, the town squares and most, if not all commercial property is owned and maintained by the developer or those that lease the property. The executive golf courses, and the flowers and shrubbery along our roadways are maintained by our ammenities fees we pay monthly.
I may not have covered all of the issues I have seen on this thread but the cry babies on this site need to get their facts straight. This is the best place I could live in and I am so thankfull I chose to live in The Villages.

YES: A factual lie
 

We were told in 2014 TV would not build beyond 44.

Should have said they would not build beyond Miami.

They also call it the "friendliest hometown" It is nobodies home town. As for the "friendliest" maybe once upon a time, a long time ago.

We are ruled by a CDD that is elected by the residents of that district. It may not be a city but they are your elected officials. Once an area is sold out the developers create a CDD and move on. As far as the police look around. The county sheriff has multiple offices throughout The Villages to protect and they seem to do a decent job. If you want to move because the developer lied about how far it is to Orlando go ahead if those extra 10 miles are significant. If you want a reason look at the greed the developers show by continuing to build long after they were suppose to build this community out. Now they are putting in apartments and going to create an area by Finney that is not age restricted and will have apartments and low cost housing for people who work in the Villages. Should be interesting how that works out.

The entire state of Florida is a sinkhole zone.

Things change companies want to grow.

There are and always have been areas for people to live who work for and in The Villages and the developer has built them. They are not part of The Villages and do not have use of our amenities. I wouldn't call them "low cost housing". They are the same prices as many ranches and designers and premier homes.

The apartments are new and I bet they too will be a success. Many of us are thinking about our future with less space and stuff to take care of as we age and not ready for the "home".

The latest video from The Morse family explained that the three of them did pause and think to stop building but they decided to go on. It isn't just the three of them you know. Their business keeps literally thousands of people employed around here. I like how they do things. I am glad they will be here for awhile to keep things nice.

You might be forgetting that The Villages (the developer) aren't the only homesellers in the Villages. Most homes in the Villages are already owned by people living in them, or renting them out to other people.

When THOSE homeowners choose to sell their properties, the Villages (the Developer) has no input into who ends up buying them. Those are private sales.

They could choose the Villages official realtors to do the selling/buying on the private persons' behalf. But it is still a private sale. And many sellers go through NON-Villages listing service realtors to do the selling. Others don't use any realtors at all, but opt for a "for sale by owner" situation.

The Villages (the Developer) can't dictate who buys those properties sold by individual owners, because the Villages has no ownership in those properties anymore.

They CAN (meaning - it's in the deed restrictions so they are allowed) enforce the rule after the fact - but they have demonstrated on several occasions that they are preferring a hands-off approach to these types of violations.

Short term air b&b rentals
 

anyone else see a constant turn over of young people in houses that are on air B&B. some people also want to rent rooms like a b&B in our neighborhood.

This law states that it is legal for communities to market themselves as "55+"or "age-restricted" provided they maintain that 80 percent of the occupied units are occupied by at least one person who is 55 years of age or older. ... Most 55+ age-restricted active adult communities will place an age-minimum on the residents. Also, if someone in the home is 55 or over and others are under 55 (but not under 19), it also complies with the law. That's why you see somepeople in their 30's, living with mama and/or a 55 year old married to a 45 year old.

2 points:
1) You can bet all of the "weasel" answers have been reviewed, and possibly written, by a lawyer who will make sure they are legally acceptable.
2) With reference to the under 55 age living here by law it is permissible (but not required) to have UP TO 20% under 55 and still be considered a retirement community. By law the developer must keep records to make sure they do not go over 20%. HOWEVER, there are many retirement communities (some right around here) that DO NOT allow anyone under 55 years of age to live there. There is NO law that we must allow persons under 55 to live here - the developer made the decision to allow it.

Regarding the apartments @ Hacienda:

At the time Hacienda was built (or being built) there were only two rec centers. That, and Paradise. Paradise was "built out" and the point of buying at the Villages was to be near recreation activities, amenities, that were being paid for monthly.

The rec center for that entire area of the Villages has been eliminated, and will not be replaced. In fact - not only will it not be replaced, but up to 300 more couples will be moving in and using up whatever is left of the recreational facilities in the area. They will have access to ALL the same amenities as people living in the houses next to it have. All, being more limited because the rec center no longer exists.

So you'll have to squeeze more people into other rec centers. You'll have to squeeze all the EXISTING residents into the other rec centers, plus an additional 300+ people who will occupy those apartments (most of them won't be moving in as singles, they'll be in as couples).

And of course the clubhouse restaurants that have already been getting the Hacienda patronage, will have to squeeze another 300+ customers into them.

That's fine in the summer when the snowbirds are up north. But imagine the traffic at the roundabout right next to the property there - when the snowbirds are down here for the winter.

Many of us chose the Villages over any other community to escape the "business" of cities and nearby suburbs. We wanted to get away from rush hour, to find that little "bubble" where we were isolated from those mundane inconveniences of life. That was what was sold to us, it's what we bought and in the case of Hacienda, it's what they paid extra for. It has been eliminated. What they paid extra for no longer exists, AND they're being told that they'll now have to share what little was left for them, with another 300+ people.

And they get zero say in the matter.

If you find a better place that meets your concerns, be sure to write now and then.

:ho:

Very interesting

Blueash, you’ve been here for looks like 12 years, and you’re just now checking this out?

This is Marketing, pure and simple. They aren’t “weasel” answers. Have you ever been house hunting and had a realtor refer to a house as “a cute little starter home”?

Same thing.

I’m not certain about the percentage, but I think I’ve read that in Florida, for a community to be registered as 55 or older. At least one buyer in 85% of the NEW homes sold has to be 55 or older. I’ve read that this doesn’t apply to USED homes. Any light on that?

"Caveat emptor" will always apply. I personally go into every transaction with the attitude that even if the seller isn't overtly lying (even though so many do) about their product or services, they are almost always definitely not voluntarily offering the negatives (lying by omission) about what they're selling. Which is why, when it comes to buying something anyway, this is such a great time to be alive given that it is so easy to research and find out more about the seller, goods or services.

These are not lies at all. I certainly do not interpret their wording as you do. Keep in mind you said "answered the way I think it should be answered." Did you take a poll to find out what the average person would think? I'm not so sure your your interpretation would be the same as the "average" person's.

And where we lived in middle Tennessee it is the same thing, many, many sinkholes.

is the Pope a Catholic? Does a bear... well, you get it by now. Sure they lie.

All PLUSSES and MINUSES of TV aside, the point of the original comment was . . . . seeking an Affirmative or Negative answer. All the rationalization and "SALES-TALK" does is to avoid the general nature of QUESTIONS. Yes or No. If a Buyer accepts fuzzy or misleading answers is something most of us have encountered. But it doesn't make the "answer" any more "honest".