[EileenK]

We bought in Monarch Grove and when we were shown the house it was perfectly quiet. Highway more than a mile from us. However, when the wind is in a certain direction, the noise from the highway was very loud. I asked about new windows and sliders and they would never call back. The sliders and windows were so thin that they should be illegal. Truth be told the house was poorly made and the Samsung appliances were the cheapest quality I’ve ever seen. TV and Samsung should be ashamed of themselves. No discount price at all! Well trained sales staff. Only took us a couple months to wise up that The Villages doesn’t give a rats ass about you. They just try to get every last dime out of your pocket...almost elder abuse. We found the people extremely snooty as well. Sold the house 5 months later and got the heck out of there. What’s up with the pumping stations and the smell? The workers put all sorts of debris down the pipes. Hey, I could go on for a long time but don’t put blame on people for buying there. Put the blame where it belongs on TV. Showing you houses when the noise is low and promising that if anything is wrong in the first year they correct it.

[banjobob]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

In general, I don't believe in bailing out people who make bad decisions. However, in this case, there are a few things to consider. It's usually in the developer's best interest to make the residents happy, it's good PR and in the long run might help sell more houses. Better to have happy residents bragging about what TV did for their noise problem than having them run and complain to the Orlando newspaper and television stations, who are not very sympathetic to TV to start with. Furthermore, the developer had to be very aware of the (potential) noise problem and sold the homes anyway. The best time for noise abatement would have been when building. Did these home sell at a "discount" because of noise? I don't know, but if they did I'm less sympathetic to the homeowners, who were in that case essentially paid to live with traffic noise.

I don’t think the developer is concerned about it, witness the sinkhole fiasco in Calumet Grove. Bad PR is not a worry to them.

[MSchad]

Originally Posted by vintageogauge

Where are there high voltage towers in Monarch Grove. To the best of my recollection, and I could be wrong, they are in Chitty Chatty, Marsh Bend, and DeLuna.

You are correct. No power lines in Monarch Grove. Poster just stirring the pot.

[JoannMH]

I live in MG...in fact on Hickey Way. The traffic does become white noise and I do not hear it inside. I built a pool with a fountain that drowns out the traffic noise when I am outside and landscaping hides the toll road. I do not see any electric wires and not sure where they are. But I have a wonderful water view with a huge oak tree that is sometimes filled with beautiful birds; the sunsets are stunning and I enjoy them every night from my lanai; I can easily walk to Riverbend recreation center and all the amenities that come with that; the huge Everglades Recreation Center and the new Magnolia Plaza are a very short golf cart or bike ride away; Sawgrass Grove will be a wonderful gathering place for entertainment and dining and will be right next to MG; a putting green and championship golf coarse will be very close by; the new Florida University hospital and Lifestyle Center are all right next to MG.........need I go on?

[Marathon Man]

Originally Posted by EileenK

We bought in Monarch Grove and when we were shown the house it was perfectly quiet. Highway more than a mile from us. However, when the wind is in a certain direction, the noise from the highway was very loud. I asked about new windows and sliders and they would never call back. The sliders and windows were so thin that they should be illegal. Truth be told the house was poorly made and the Samsung appliances were the cheapest quality I’ve ever seen. TV and Samsung should be ashamed of themselves. No discount price at all! Well trained sales staff. Only took us a couple months to wise up that The Villages doesn’t give a rats ass about you. They just try to get every last dime out of your pocket...almost elder abuse. We found the people extremely snooty as well. Sold the house 5 months later and got the heck out of there. What’s up with the pumping stations and the smell? The workers put all sorts of debris down the pipes. Hey, I could go on for a long time but don’t put blame on people for buying there. Put the blame where it belongs on TV. Showing you houses when the noise is low and promising that if anything is wrong in the first year they correct it.

So, the salesmen are able to predict when the highway noise will be low?

And they sold only to snooty people?

I suspect the neighbors are a little happier now.

[dhdallas]

Originally Posted by vintageogauge

Where are there high voltage towers in Monarch Grove. To the best of my recollection, and I could be wrong, they are in Chitty Chatty, Marsh Bend, and DeLuna.

You are right. It was a house in Marsh Bend that had the power lines photo-shopped out. I looked up my old list of favorites when I was house shopping. Sorry...

[vintageogauge]

Originally Posted by dhdallas

You are right. It was a house in Marsh Bend that had the power lines photo-shopped out. I looked up my old list of favorites when I was house shopping. Sorry...

You should edit your other post as it looks bad for those who may be trying to sell a home there.

[NotGolfer]

Noise? When we lived up north, we lived about 6 or 7 miles from the Interstate. IF we had our windows open on a summer evening, you could hear the noise but it wasn't loud. We also lived about 8 miles from a race-track (another direction) and when they were in season, you'd hear the zoom/zoom of those as well. It depends on how quiet the air outside is, wind etc. Here, we live not far from LSL but when it's quiet outside (think evening) you can hear the train whistles from Wildwood. IF we wanted true quiet---maybe move to Montana in the middle of no-where. I'd think most urban areas have some kind of noise factors going on. When I read the article (even the headline)...my thought was did they not know they were buying a home near the turn-pike?? Asking the developer to do something about the noise seems to me to be like closing the barn-door after the animals escape. Deal or no deal---do your due-diligence.

[Villages Kahuna]

There are several such noisy areas to avoid...

—All the houses near the railroad tracks on the western side of The Villages

—The houses nearby the prison (bright lights at night) and the quarry (frequent blasting)

—And yes, all the houses nearby the turnpike (not only noise, but also the unhealthy air quality from exhaust fumes)

Don’t expect a Properties of The Villages sales rep to point these issues out to you.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

There are several such noisy areas to avoid...

—All the houses near the railroad tracks on the western side of The Villages

—The houses nearby the prison (bright lights at night) and the quarry (frequent blasting)

—And yes, all the houses nearby the turnpike (not only noise, but also the unhealthy air quality from exhaust fumes)

Don’t expect a Properties of The Villages sales rep to point these issues out to you.

I am sure the village sales rep are told what they can and cannot say. Not to mention they are getting paid a commission to sell and will only point out the positives.

Buying a house for say $ 400,000 or so without doing a thorough investigation of the neighborhood is rather a foolish thing to do.

[Chitown]

Originally Posted by michtofla

Just saw a picture in the ************* of how close the houses in Monarch Grove are to the Turnpike. Why would anyone in their right mind buy a house so close to the Turnpike and then complain about the noise? They should sell their house and move into a memory care facility!

Only a small part of Monarch Grove is against the turnpike. When you get a few blocks away you very rarely here anything. In fact enter Monarch Grove at its main entrance at Marsh Bend Trail and listed. You won’t hear a thing until you get close to the turnpike. As far as houses being to close it’s simply not true. I lived in Mallory and visit other villages all the time, I see no difference. In fact except for some who live on the block next to the turnpike who are not happy, everyone I know in Monarch Grove loves it.

[bakon]

Monarch Grove is very nice. We looked three years before buying. We also looked at Hickey about six months before finding ours. We heard noise but still looked. Wasn’t for us. These houses were not reduced at time. But all areas reduce after builder decides it’s time to move his money. As for the highway noise, we all know they should have put up more barrier. If you barrier a golf course why wouldn’t you do it for homes? As for noise in general it travels in the villages. We rented in Pine Hills or Ridge for years and could hear 44 at night across the preserve and past Belle Glade and Ocsiolla. Has to be five miles straight shot from house to 44. Other times could hear birds and frogs on the water.

[Mrprez]

Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

There are several such noisy areas to avoid...

—All the houses near the railroad tracks on the western side of The Villages

—The houses nearby the prison (bright lights at night) and the quarry (frequent blasting)

—And yes, all the houses nearby the turnpike (not only noise, but also the unhealthy air quality from exhaust fumes)

Don’t expect a Properties of The Villages sales rep to point these issues out to you.

I only have experience with one TV rep, and she would not even show us a house that she herself would not buy. Don’t throw them all in the same basket.

Originally Posted by EileenK

We bought in Monarch Grove and when we were shown the house it was perfectly quiet. Highway more than a mile from us. However, when the wind is in a certain direction, the noise from the highway was very loud. I asked about new windows and sliders and they would never call back. The sliders and windows were so thin that they should be illegal. Truth be told the house was poorly made and the Samsung appliances were the cheapest quality I’ve ever seen. TV and Samsung should be ashamed of themselves. No discount price at all! Well trained sales staff. Only took us a couple months to wise up that The Villages doesn’t give a rats ass about you. They just try to get every last dime out of your pocket...almost elder abuse. We found the people extremely snooty as well. Sold the house 5 months later and got the heck out of there. What’s up with the pumping stations and the smell? The workers put all sorts of debris down the pipes. Hey, I could go on for a long time but don’t put blame on people for buying there. Put the blame where it belongs on TV. Showing you houses when the noise is low and promising that if anything is wrong in the first year they correct it.

You have a good point. When TV takes your $100,000 premium for a view lot, they don’t tell you apartments will block your view in a few years. Once they have your money they don’t give a rats a$$ about you.

[charlieo1126@gmail.com]

Originally Posted by EileenK

We bought in Monarch Grove and when we were shown the house it was perfectly quiet. Highway more than a mile from us. However, when the wind is in a certain direction, the noise from the highway was very loud. I asked about new windows and sliders and they would never call back. The sliders and windows were so thin that they should be illegal. Truth be told the house was poorly made and the Samsung appliances were the cheapest quality I’ve ever seen. TV and Samsung should be ashamed of themselves. No discount price at all! Well trained sales staff. Only took us a couple months to wise up that The Villages doesn’t give a rats ass about you. They just try to get every last dime out of your pocket...almost elder abuse. We found the people extremely snooty as well. Sold the house 5 months later and got the heck out of there. What’s up with the pumping stations and the smell? The workers put all sorts of debris down the pipes. Hey, I could go on for a long time but don’t put blame on people for buying there. Put the blame where it belongs on TV. Showing you houses when the noise is low and promising that if anything is wrong in the first year they correct it.

when there is no highway noise , the appliances are adequate, didn’t you have option to upgrade appliances, I’ve owned 5 new homes in villages and windows and slider still seem to be working well even in the first home 20 years ago and still has first roof ( I have friends who bought it ) I would also like to know how you were able to sell in 5 months when there always was a restriction of a year , it might come in handy for me in future. As far as people being snobby , I read this post and can see why they might have been to you