We just closed in Feb with 2.75 rate and no points and no escrow. Got our 30 year mortgage thru better.com on line with 20 percent down payment. No intention to ever pay off the bond or the mortgage. We sold a house that was paid off for many years for much more than we paid for this house and invested that money. This house has already increased in value about 30k. We are on a pond with a pool and have a stretched 4/2 house and other houses on our street just built that are smaller and have neither are priced way MORE than we paid. It is crazy here so buy now before it gets worse ....

Everyone is entitled to an opinion. There are a lot of things to like and not like in The Villages. Some issues come up only after being here a while.

That's why it is good to do your research before you buy. Avoid the surprises.

If you can afford 500K for a house...the smartest thing would be to pay the entire bond up front. That way, you bypass fees, interest, payments, never-ending debt. Then your taxes should be about $8k or so (net of homestead). Enjoy your new home.

My friend bought in Fenny 2 years ago. She has a $30,000 bond, plus Sumter County and City of Wildwood property tax, has a homestead exemption and pays around $10,000 per year on a $396,000 purchase price home. I've been in the same home here for 20 years, a designer on golf course, my home value if I sold is higher than hers but my property tax is $1,800 and bond was originally $2,500 but was paid off a long time ago. You might be better off financially remodeling and adding to your current home.

Lake Deaton and Osceola Hills have Villas, Designer Homes, and Premier Homes. The bonds on Premier homes are in the $40K+ range. Bonds on Designer homes are typically under $25K. YMMV.

Living in the Villages and Florida in general is no longer cheap. The only thing Florida has going for it is no income tax for now.

2%
 

We are under contract for a new home and will close in early July. Our bond and property taxes are at 2%.the value of the home. The bond portion was about $425/mo and property taxes $615/mo. Our Realtor let us know both were running this high when we were looking.

A back of the envelope calculation would suggest the bond will be about $90K based on a $425 per month bond payment. Sounds too high ...

You have your bond you have your Sumter you have Wildwood City taxed. You can transfer your homestead from your current home under Save our Homes. It takes about six months for that to be approved and kick in. I think your sells from is about right Andrea Bonivich, Sellstate Superior Realty

We live in a remodeled manufactured home in The Village of Silver Lake in Lake County. NO BONDS -- they are not allowed!! Property taxes are around $600.00 per year. We have lived in manufactured homes for over 30 years with nary a complaint. Just sayin'.

:bigbow:

There are plenty of adult communities that do not have bonds and are also very nice. It depends on if you play golf or not and want it for "free". Mission inn is a very upscale community we can certainly buy a house for 500,000 and not have a bond. Plantation you can get a beautiful house for 300,000 or so with pool and not have a bond. If you want to live with us average folk you can live right in Pennbroke Fairways and spend not a penny over $250,000 for a beautiful house 2500 square feet or so. Keep in mind that you're overpaying by the square foot for living in The villages to have some of the big amenities like golf courses at your door and a golf cart accessible community which may or may not be overrated if you drive around in the heat. Just saying and not starting an argument it's a beautiful place but if you worried about an extra 5 or 6,000 a year maybe get a house that's a little cheaper and don't stretch your budget or pay off the bond as the real estate taxes are going to be about 1.2%, -minus the first $50,000 in value.

Bond
 

In the village of St Catherine our sales person indicated the the bond total was roughly $30K. It varies because of development cost between villages that each house shares in the total cost. The bonds in the new villages will keep getting higher.

Good to see transparence.
 

The people that are buying here must look at the talk of the Villages before they buy. They will be surprised.