[mgm4444]

How much maintenance does it take with a home in TV? -- The older I get, the more I dislike the idea of taking care of a house and everything to do with it. How much, approximately, a year do you spend on maintenance (general maintenance - not sprinkler systems or anything like that...just keeping it up and presentable)? What's the biggest expense you have for maintenance? (fyi: I plan on a rock garden; no grass). Maybe about the size of a courtyard villa... not a designer or premiere.

Thanks, all!

[Ooper]

If you don't have grass, there's really not much left to maintain. Probably need to wash your house a couple times a year at about $40-$50 a pop for a pressure washer. Carpet cleaning depends on how clean you are. A lot of the expense of maintenance depends on your habits and house cleaning, how you treat your house and appliances, etc. Most exteriors are minimal maintenance.

[Ohiogirl]

IMO, maintenance of a CYV even with no grass is more than that. You will have weeds regardless of whether or not you have used rock or mulch - probably fewer weeds if you have weedmat under the rock/mulch, but you'll still have them. Could hire someone to spray/pull, don't know how much or how often. We were appalled when we returned in October, after our July closing, to see the weeds that had sprung up.

You'll also need to occasionally pressure wash/clean the vinyl fencing, maybe not every time you have the house washed, but maybe every other time - maybe $10-12 added to the pressure wash bill.

Mine is 5 years old - I cleaned my stucco back wall this past year, could have probably used it sooner. Pressure washing doesn't work on this, needed to use a rust/lime cleaner - several brands available. Used a long handled brush dipped in a bucket and then the hose. Had to cover all the landscaping first.

We haven't painted ours yet, but that is the owner's responsibility as well. This will be interesting when we do it because we have started several vining plants, mostly on trellises. I'm thinking I should do this the coming fall before all these vines get too big.

The screened lanai also needs a thorough cleaning now and then - how often probably depends on your clean house tolerance. We roll up the rug and take all the furniture out once a year in the fall when we return. Just vacuum and spot clean the rest of the time. I shampooed the outdoor rug in May when I did the rest of the house (have a Hoover steam cleaner and do it myself). Continually need to clean all the aluminum supports/dividers for the screens.

You will also need to sweep the patio occasionally as the prevailing winds will tend to blow leaves, etc into a corner somewhere, more than likely. We have a wide step outside the lanai screen door where everything seems to accumulate.

Then, there will be plants to trim (you won't believe how fast things grow here), or remove, or ones that die and need replaced. There is no such thing as a "no maintenance" yard.

Inside, no difference from a house. If you are looking to end all home maintenance, you might want to consider Freedom Pointe, although I think it's pretty expensive. You could rent, with a landlord agreement to take care of all those things, but you might have to move frequently as the owners could sell or move down, etc. Or, just buy a patio or CYV that you can afford and budget to pay someone to do all these things - that would likellyy be far more affordable than Freedom Pointe.

There is no shortage of hourly workers here, both outside contractors and residents who are looking to supplement their income. Might take a few months to find good ones, but you can do it just by asking neighbors and people you meet. There are good sources on this forum as well.