Thanks for the heads up on the water systems. I know i will have to have one but i will be more cautious in the process.

If you buy a resale, be sure you contact the contractors that deliver your mail to make sure they know to reassign the mailbox to you. I thought this was taken care of by The Villages but they don't do that. Orientation never mentioned this was necessary. If you need the phone number for your area, call the CDD office.

Mail is toss-able ... but if someone is coming to your door, PLEASE call the Warranty Office or VCDD office and give them names and other information .
Solicitation is not acceptable here

Best Advise
 

One of the best pieces of advise you will receive is before you hire a contractor, landscaper, dentist, etc.etc. call Seniors vs Crime to see if they have any records of the Company,practice, etc. Don't ever give any money up front, if it is a knock on the door remember door to door is not allowed in the Villages. If a Landscaper says they are "Licensed" unless they are also a contractor Florida does not license landscapers. Make sure you have a contract for work to be done and end date. There are a lot of good Companies in the Villages but there are also some not so good. Seniors vs Crime can at least give you some leads who is good and who is or may be bad!!!:bowdown:

I think one of the best resources are our neighbors, many have been here awhile and mine have been very helpful. Everything doesn't have to be done in 5 minutes, but somethings, like getting good lawn care is something that needs immediate decisions. So get to know your neighbors.

I'm moving to TV about April and will purchase a resale. Is there a book/internet site with the rules, HOA regulations, etc? For example, I may put in a pool and would need to know the process for approval. Where do I get information about utilities? It's entirely possible that I won't go through the official Villages real estate company, and I don't know what I don't know, lol.

Try these

Community standards
VCDD Community Standards

Informational Publications
Forms and Publications

Deed restrictions
VCDD Deed Compliance - Sumter County

Architectural Review
VCDD Architectural Review


And the general website for our district government.
Village Community Development Districts

Lots of regulations and approval process info at w w w.^districtgov^.org (not sure if this link is legal here so just remove the spaces and the ^ when you enter it into your browser).

Within that site look for Community Standards. Some approvals are based on the district you are interested in buying in. Info regarding utilities can also be found there.

What is the approximate cost of solar tubes?

Thanks. Will try it.

Thanks, found it on the internet. Whew. I think I will wing it with common sense and courtesy towards my neighbors, and try not to do anything rash or stupid :laugh:

Watch out for lawn services that want to give you a good rate for a 1 yr contract. Neighbor got caught in this trap and since they are snowbirds are getting skipped over consistently. We are watching the house and need to keep contacting the owners. Company they are dealing with are very unprofessional but we keep seeing them around doing more work.

Hello Laceylady,

Sorry to hear about the bad landscaping experience.

TOTV is a good forum for sharing this good and bad information, but I would think YELP.COM would be too.

If a landscaper ripped you off, why not share that on YELP. YELP is a an "all business" site whereas here it's also "social" where people are naturally reluctant to lay into a bad contractor by name, but you can to that at Yelp.

Also, may I ask, what is "Seniors vs. Crime"?

Another warning, do not respond to other totv members asking you for private information in a private message. It could be a Trojan horse.

Also don't give out personal information in the public forum either.

I agree. Such information would make a person vulnerable to trolls and constant harassment.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by Lpierleo https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...s/viewpost.gif
I also agree solar tubes were one of our best after market investments.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We have five sun tunnels in our home.
We think they are wonderful, a great after-market investment.

WARNING
beware of landscaping services performed by
"DOUBLE DISCOUNT LANDSCAPING SERVICE"
prior leaving for a doctors appointment, my wife instructed them what specifically she wanted done. upon completion, the workers came to the front door and I paid them in cash (mistake #1). since I am slightly physically disabled I did not go out to inspect their work (mistake #2). when my wife returned, she was appalled to see the shoddy trimming of the shrubs and did not trim any part of the palm tree and did not clean up any of the clippings that were spread all over the property. Numerous calls to their office went unanswered and no response to my messages. seniors against crime reports three prior complaints against this company. an expensive lesson has been learned here. they also advertise in the classified section of the daily Sun. So BEWARE

Water bill question.
 

Got our 2nd water bill today. Seems high at $208. We have not used the irrigation system and are being billed for 1500+ gals. System has been turned off since June. No visible sign of leaking. House usage was 1980 gals. Does this seem reasonable?

Water bill question
 

See now that our bill includes the monthy amenity fee. so maybe this isn't unreasonable for water.

Moving Boxes
 

I saw a TOTV ad for free moving boxes, and I went to the house immediately. Putting an ad on this thread for FREE moving boxes is a definite service to those who cannot afford new ones, plus it's a great recycle activity.

I think I saw a post from you that said a good yard maintenance person, Earl, trims shrubs, weeds, mows for $50 a month....was that right?
Thanks, looking for a new lawn person.

After having my water turned off, even irrigation for several months I was gone, I kept having water bills. The Villages Water Dept. checked the
meter, and all was checked. Research told me that water "hijacking" is common in water metered areas all over the US. I was advised to put a
water lock (available at Home Depot for about $15), or take the handles off, so it was more difficult for a "neighbor" to hook a hose up, and guess what? No more water usage....

Helpful advice and warnings for brand new Villagers.
 

So, either one or more of your neighbors are thieves OR people they hired to do work are thieves. Back in the 70's people would need to install gas tank locks because of the rapid gas price increases back then.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This thread has been very helpful. Thank for starting it!

Specific Advice
 

We were never pressured. Lynn Petersen had the patience of Jobe with us. We looked for almost two years until we were a year away from retirement. In the meantime, he took us looking at new areas and sent us information as we requested. We ended up buying a lot while on a cruise in the Greek Isles. Lynn managed to put a lock on the lot so we had time to pull into Athens and take the necessary steps to purchase the property. No regrets!

Who do you recommend for Internet service and do you use cable for TV or Roku thanks Anne

Suggestion
 

First register with do not call list.
Many people do not do the important second step which is if you are called report the call to the do not call list. The caller is finded for this intrusion.
Do NOT give any information over the phone-Is this Mr. Smith-Reply-Whose asking?
Use your telephone answering machine. You can always call people you want to speak to back.

We haven't had these problems yet. we bought I'm early May, I immediately put a "no soliciting" sign near my doorbell. The first to ignore it was last Friday and unfortunately my wife went to the door instead of me. Phone solicitors none to date but we do get a nasty religious guy calling about doomsday. No junk mail either although they may not deliver it to Fenney if it is not first class mail, having a problem with the post office down here.

Purchased September of last year, moved in May of this year. Companies I've had good luck with so far: Carpet cleaning Dan - 352-409-0812, does work for the Empty Nest program and was recommended by them and me; Exterior House Cleaning - Edgar's 352-728-8537, great price, on time and didn't leave a mess; Window Cleaning - Michael's 352-288-0937, on time, fast and great work; I use Dean's for the yard and pest control, not the best but not the worst, customer service is excellent, call a complaint they get right on it, especially if the crew is still in the area; Munn's AC & Heating 352-787-7741, on time, quality service, professional.

[QUOTE=suesiegel;1459350]First register with do not call list.
Many people do not do the important second step which is if you are called report the call to the do not call list. The caller is finded for this intrusion.
Do NOT give any information over the phone-Is this Mr. Smith-Reply-Whose asking?
Use your telephone answering machine. You can always call people

...

Totally off topic. . . in the early 1980's when I got my first apartment near Loyola University's campus in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, my 3 roommates and I got an answering machine from Sears. Answering machines were still relatively new. Our ans. machine had a pre-recorded generic outgoing message in a man's voice, something like "We can't take your call right now; please leave a message." A few days after we get the ans. machine, my mother calls. The ans. machine turns on in the man's voice with the pre-recorded generic outgoing message.

Then I hear my mother on the other end saying "I knew those girls had a man living in that apartment." Click and my mother hangs up the phone. My roommates and I had a good laugh over my mom's reaction to the answering machine.

Get seatbelts in your golf cart. Saves lives.

For furniture, check out Bargains and Treasures and Nearly New. They are very reasonable and they deliver. We purchased a beautiful Cherry Wood China Cabinet and three beautiful cherry wood bookcases at a very, very reasonable price. We were lucky when we arrived there and it was almost like they were waiting for us. We got lucky. Good luck!

I like Kelly McKnight, DDS in Laurel Manor for a dentist.

Great Advice, we've had several "door pounder's"once we moved in over a year ago. We were kind, but decided to wait before return visits and estimates for any services; especially LAWN CARE. We decided, to go with our neighbors provider; Fertigator Lawn Care. BEST. DECISION. EVER. We heard horror stories of companies taking advantage of the residents here, so we didn't prepay for our first year. We have NO COMPLAINTS. Everything is completed with ONE company (we chose the total care option). We've lived in Florida for over 20 years (West Palm), and our lawn has NEVER looked better. This year we did prepay for services, and have not been let down with the quality of service we have received. They even take care of our Termite control now. I've read several threads with former customers from some of the other companies that, in fact, did knock on our door, needless to say we are happy that we didn't make a quick decision from a fast talking salesman. We spoke with our neighbors, and made an excellent choice. Take your time, use your resources. It will all come together.

Sounds like all great advice, we brought our master bedroom but bought the rest down here, had unfortunate dealings with City Furniture and the quality if the furniture is not very good. Had my first door knocker today (landscaper) so far no phone calls

Yes, delima2000 is right! They are not from welcome wagon and want to sell you things you don't need. Also there are two transports to the airport. The Villages Van will pick you up at your house. The Villages Transportation will not. The Villages Transportation does not honor their prepaid orders. I personally had them increase the cost of my transportation by $26 in the airport parking lot before they would bring me back.

My wife and I just moved here permanently this past October. Talking to your neighbors is good advice. A lot of quality contractors rely on word of mouth. Also check the forums for the near do wells and rip off artists. Here are the ones I found and would recommend (I live in Springdale). Ben Sykes electrician 352-267-1766. Sprinkler James Baumgartner 352-504-2317, Landscaping used Michael at Landsculpture (Curbing All American), I ordered a garage screen from Michele's Hideway waiting to install but seem nice husband and wife team, Blinds for Less just installed came out great, The Villages Insurance

"solar tubes in the dark area's of our home' "


Are these the same/similar to skylights?

Better.