[Boomer]

I just spent quite a while typing a big long post here, part of which was about how much I appreciate all the answers. I am learning a lot. Thank you for the time and the thoughts and the clarification of some things. This really does help.

And I wrote some more stuff.

And then I hit submit.

And then I found out that this computer of mine had logged me out when I was not paying attention.

And you should see the snow coming down here in Ohio right now.

Do you remember Jack Nicholson when he hacked through that door with an ax, in that cold, icy scene in that movie "The Shining"? Well, I am starting to understand exactly how he felt.

But you have been great. My computer and my weather have not.

Boomer

[Yoda]

Boomer,
Your issues seem to be the same as I had even before I retired. I still have them.

I am in TV now. If all goes to hell in 5 years, I will have had a great 5 years. If not, I will continue to enjoy TV and still have the same concerns.

Good luck

Yoda

[Boomer]

Geez.

Sometimes it happens at 6:00 AM and sometimes it is at 7:00 AM. -- Every morning my dog Annie wakes me up to let her outside. She is kind of like a hairy, four-legged alarm clock, with floppy ears.

Annie is an old lady, almost 16, and she definitely has a morning routine and I am a part of that routine. She goes outside and sniffs around while I flip on the computer and wait for the coffee to be ready and for Annie to knock on the door to be let back inside.

And that is how I got hooked on TOTV, first thing in the morning, most mornings, a really long time ago. It is all my dog's fault. (Yes. There are times when I resist and do not turn on the computer until later in the day or maybe even not at all. But most mornings, early, I do. And I would like to take this opportunity to officially blame it on the dog.)

Well, considering this longtime routine, imagine my dismay when I could not find this thread this morning. I thought -- OH MY! Did they finally kick me and all my posts out???? What did I do???? Where is my thread with the short little title of just one word????

After I messed up the title for this thread yesterday morning and could not change it, it started to kind of grow on me and I had decided I liked it. It was a whole new world for me. A world of brevity. No stream of consciousness anywhere in sight. No digressing. Fate had created that one-word title "Buying" when I accidentally hit submit while blabbing on the phone while working on the first post in this thread.

This morning though, I could not find this thread. Really. I glanced through the opening page a couple of times. (It was early.) And then I actually went to my own profile page and looked under my own posts. (I was pretty sleepy.)

Obviously I finally found it because here I am in it babbling away.

Obviously an admin changed it, trying to be helpful. I know......But.......I am not sure I like it much this way. For one thing, I would not have used that exclamation point after the word 'Lifestyle' -- maybe a question mark would be OK there. The exclamation point just is not workin' for me.

And then it seems like there should be something in the title that says, "The thread formerly known as Buying" -- but I guess that would not fit.

(Sigh) I miss my short title. Oh well, tis early. There is blowing snow outside my window now.

(Please Mr. Tony, Will you please change the exclamation point to a question mark? That exclamation point is making me look a little overwrought.)

I do want to talk more about the topic in this thread. I plan to be back later. I hope I can find myself.

Boomer

[Boomer]

Mr. Tony! Thank you! I love the new title! (And you did not anywhere accuse me of being an English major.) Thank you. -- uh oh...I just used a whole bunch of exclamation points.....

Boomer

[tony]

Why . . . it never even crossed my mind.

[Boomer]

Geez. Three posts in a row from me. Can you tell it is snowing here in Ohio?

But for this one I am at least back to topic.

About that commercial property....(and coach, I love what that econ prof said about the butcher and the baker. Yep. That's the way it works.)...Anyway, about that commercial property.....

I had not really thought about the extent of the developer's interest in the commercial property there. And considering that TV is a unique market because of its location and demographics, that commercial property should have a decent chance of remaining profitable.

Outside the bubble -- where I do a lot of thinking -- I see commercial property in serious distress. Malls all around Cincinnati are suffering. Little strip malls and great big malls -- both kinds are suffering. Some are suffering from their own stupid financing, under a house of cards. But all are suffering from this economy.

But in TV, commercial property should do better than other places.

Villagers might think about how when they shop with local merchants, they are actually kind of making an investment in TV's future.

Online shopping, for anybody still shopping, has to be taking a huge hit on stores everywhere. But rather than shopping online, Villagers might be more likely to take a little ride over to the stores that are there. (I did my part while we were renting in TV. You have a great Coldwater Creek at LSL. And I love that Barnes and Noble. And don't forget the little franchised stores that are there, too. And the small business owners. You have a nice Merle Norman in Colony Plaza, along with lots of other places around TV where people have invested in TV's future by opening businesses. -- And we always go to Bruster's Ice Cream when we are there.)

The point is that if the developer is getting a piece of the action from all the commercial property, and the commercial property thrives. that should help TV's future after build-out.

Actually, what do I know. Nothing really. But what some of you have said about the commercial property keeping the developer's interest in his interest makes sense.

Boomer

PS: Now, back to Mr. Tony and the title of this thread.

Dear Mr. Tony,

As much as I grew to love my accidental one-word title, and as much as I truly love the new one that you just changed it to -- "The thread formerly known as Buying," welllll, I know that the title will not work for future reference, when this thread gets all long in the tooth and is buried in the archives. So maybe we should work a little more on the title. Maybe it should say. "The Lifestyle? What protects its future?" -- Will that fit? And oh how lovely it would be if there could be a subtitle that says, "The thread formerly known as Buying," but that probably will not fit at all. So I will just have to sacrifice for future reference.

.....Unless, Mr. Tony, you could maybe cross-reference all these titles and enter them into the card catalogue as such....

But maybe I should just shut up about the title. Somebody might think I am some kind of librarian, trying to make things all organized and shelved in the proper place, under the correct subject-headings, Dewey number, cross-referenced, all that. Easy to find. Easy to access. In case anybody wants to read on down the road about this topic. -- toldya I think too much...and when it is snowing....it gets a little out of control.

So please see what you think works, Mr. Tony, Mr. Admin, Sir. Just please leave out any exclamation points. I just cannot appear to be oh so overwrought. Oh my. Besides, I am starting to get this future of the Lifestyle thing kind of figured out -- thanks to the help of TOTVers.

[ssmith]

You 2 always crack me up

[tony]

English majors . . . .

[Boomer]

Hey Mr. Tony, I saw that. I hope you are working on the cross-referencing of all these different titles.

Boomer

[Donna2]

I am so confused. Where am I?

[Bogie Shooter]

Who's on first?

[Donna2]

What's on second?

[Talk Host]

This may be the first time that somebody has hijacked their own thread.

[Boomer]

Originally Posted by villages07

Boomer...good question. I have read everything I could find on the Villages and asked anyone who I thought had some inside knowledge. With all that, I was very comfortable making the decision to buy here (even when we hit the peak of the housing market in Summer '06). My only concern then and it is still lingering just a bit..... is this lifestyle and this beautiful community sustainable over the long term at costs comparable to today's very affordable fees? I bought at age 51 so, the Good Lord willin', I'm looking at a potential of 30+ years here.

I believe that final buildout is at least 5 years away. As long as new homes are being built and sold, the lifestyle, the amenities, the developer-supported stuff (entertainment, polo, etc) goes on as well as always, if not better. Buildout could be 5 years, or 8 or 10..who knows?

Governance: The residential (aka numbered) Central Development Districts (CDD's) are in place and grow as new building grows. In older districts, the elected board is all homeowners, in newer districts a mix of elected homeowners and supervisors appointed by the developer. TV is much more like a mini-city than an HOA. We have professional city planner types and a robust organization in place to negotiate contracts, formulate budgets, invest funds, etc. The supervisors provide direction but the guidance and execution is done by professionals. This includes common area landscaping, recreational trails, common lighting, maintenance of the common infrastructure.

There are two central CDDs, comprised of supervisors appointed by the Developer from among the commercial landowners. The central CDDs oversee the amenity budget, purchase of amenities from the Developer, prioritization of amenity maintenance and enhancement projects, etc. Just within the past year, there is now an elected resident Amenity Authority Committe (for north of 466) that provides recommendations to the central CDDs on policies and projects. This, to me, is the stickier issue as far as the future. After buildout, will the amenity fees be sufficient to sustain, operate, and enhance the amenities while also paying down the debt to purchase them from the Developer? We know the fees will continue to creep up as inflation/cost of living rises. Will the Developer still be around or will he sell out to ResortQuest or some other management company? There are some unknowns here and perhaps some risk. Janet Tutt, the general manager for residential and numbered CDDs, has said many times that this CDD form of government is the best solution for future sustainability. Time will tell.

Much of our future fortunes do lie with the fate of the Developer. I've called him/it a benevolent dictator before. Yes, the Morse family are business people first and foremost and quite frankly, very good at what they do. TV took a lot of vision and a lot of guts and I don't begrudge them reaping the rewards. Gary Morse, now 70+ is the visionary in the family. Fortunately, his 3 children seemed to have adopted his work ethic and vision and run 3 of the major departments...construction, sales, and design. Their children are also now starting into the various related businesses. One of my hopes is the family has great pride in their legacy and will do what's best to sustain the uniqueness and positive reputation of the villages (while still making money). Just as Bill Gates and Warren Buffet discovered, there's only so much money one can make before you start looking for other ways to leave a legacy.

I personally hope the family does stay as the overall developer and continues to exert influence over TV and Sumter County.

Music in the squares sustains local businesses...so, it will probably continue is some way, shape or form.

Supposedly, the lifelong learning college takes in enough revenue to cover its expenses.

Amenity fees are not so much invested as spent (maybe there is a reserve fund, but, I don't recall seeing that). Spent to operate, pay salaries, spent to pay down the bond debt used to purchase them, spent to do upgrades and repairs (e.g. refurbishing of La Hacienda, Paradise rec center, buying new chairs for Belvedere pool, etc).

My, my...an almost Boomeresque lengthy reply.

In short, like Gracie said, time's a wasting....buy what you can afford, get here sooner than later, and enjoy what life has to offer you. And, you know, this is still a pretty fun place to be in the middle of August. You'd be surprised how much 'off season' time you might spend here. I think the investment is pretty darn safe for at least 10 years and then who knows? So many other natural, global, financial, personal things can happen between now and then to screw it all up anyway. Seize the day!!!

Hi 7,

Thank you. And I appreciate the "Boomeresque" reply. This thread has lots of good information in it. (Of course, I guess I started kind of a play within the play and maybe got some people lost with all those title changes. I hope they get found again. This is a good topic. And I will try hard to stay on it now....I'll try.)

Anyway, I think I am starting to understand how the elected residents serve as a part of the governance, as the areas begin to turn over to elections. If I am understanding it right, the elected residents serve in an advisory capacity only and the decisions about the big stuff remain in the hands of professionals who look at the big picture, for TV as a whole. If I have my understanding correct, then that makes sense to me. I could not imagine how TV could run on resident governance alone. It's just too big. There has to be an ongoing government structure in place or I would think that the place could not run. I was confused by the elections and the word 'turnover' that I was hearing. Advisory capacity? That I understand. -- if I have that right.

The fog is starting to clear a little. And I think I need to acknowledge just how old I am. Not as old as Gary Morse. But not as young as you. (sigh)

Boomer

[batman911]

I have lived in a housing development governed by a Community Association for over 30 years. When the developer was the majority voting interest for several years until build out. At that point, the residents were in total control of the Community Association. The transition was smooth as the developer also owned the shopping center and commercial office building in the development (no golf course, only bike/walking trails, city owns the parks). Over time, the developer sold the commercial property but the occupancy and types of vendors did not change significantly. The new owners did cut down a lot of the nice trees on their property due to the liability and trimming cost. Over the years the maintenance of the common areas has degraded significantly. This is primarily due to the Community Associations reluctance to raise the monthly fee. We only pay $300 per year. I would rather raise the fee and maintain the common areas to the level they were when we purchased our home. The truth is that a lot of residents do not agree (either do not care or can not afford). In the end, the appearance of the common areas does affect the value of your home and the prestiege of the community. This is one of my fears about TV after build out. Will the residents agree to raise the maintenance fees the level necessary to fund proper maintenance? Again, some may not be able to afford the increase in fees. Will some villages be better maintained than others? One of the large expenses our Community Association has is repair of damage and vandalism to sprinkler systems, trees, walls, etc. Most all of that is caused by kids (some of whom do not live in our development but just like TV have access because the streets are city owned) so it should not be as large of an expense in TV. One of the things we lost when the developer stepped away was the deep pocket for legal fees to enforce the rules (for those homeowners who think they are exempt). That all said, I still think TV is the place to retire but we must all work to ensure that the very standards that attracted us to TV are maintained and funded.