Well you have some sound advice on your question. In particular from....

A) graciegirl......" Ladies First "

B) JohnW

C) RickyD

I will add to their comments: The one item that wasn't mentioned is Stonecrest HOA/POA..and their " Reserve Fund " that they have. I would strongly advise you to check that out. Extremely important especially long term.

I do know that they they were having problems with the developer with regards to turning over control of the development to the residents. I believe Leland management is now managing the community.

In the past Stonecrest has had multiple builders right now " Armstrong " is the builder.

Walk around the neighborhoods, the Community center, ask various residents questions.

Now comparing the Villages vs Stonecrest honestly there is no comparison...it simply is Lifestyle ( Villages) many, many choices with your free time...Stonecrest ( Retirement Community ) Gated, with Limited Choices with your free time...as for the Shopping, Restaurants, etc. as mentioned by some postings.

The Villages has dozens most are Golf Cart accessible. I could go on but I type with two fingers and loads of information is available by simply using " google " .

Lastly it really is Stonecrest vs Del Webb, On Top of The World (Ocala ) etc. etc. The Villages is unique, The Morse Family have done an amazing job and have made hundreds very happy...they even have a Charter School...with an truly amazing success rate.

When I built I looked at it this way. Block will not rot. Still has to be painted and sealed properly. Its simple things down here in Florida that can cause a problem. I had a section of my front door jam become rotted. The reason, there was a small hole in the lower corner where the door did not seal properly. The cold inside air was meeting with the warm humid air from outdoors. It created condensation right there on the jam by the hole. In about 5 years it rotted a small section of the door jam. Simple little hole to the outside in the wrong place and I had a repair to do. Two ways to fix this without replacing the entire frame. Cut the section out and replace with new wood, or, clean out all the rotted wood and use Bondo to fix it. I used the Bondo. This way it will never rot again. In Florida you just have to continually look for problems and get to it early. When I built I also use steel studs instead of wood. Termites can't chew steel.

Saw some items about Stonecrest: (I live Here so I am Biased but the below are just the facts)

1) The developer is gone and done. The community is run by the residents.
2) The Reserve Fund is over $2 Million and getting larger.
3) The last builder will be Armstrong (Once he's done its done).
4) Amenity fees are $108 per Month For those fees you get 3 outdoor pools and one indoor pool, A Jacuzzi (Which is being replaced with a larger one in the future, Tennis Courts, Two different Pickle Ball Courts (One is Lighted), There is a gym with equipment which is going to be expanded, Soft Ball Field, Dog Park, Shuffle Board Courts (Lighted), Bocci Ball, Horse Shoe bits, Stocked Bass Pond for fishing (Catch and Release). There are a number of social clubs.
5) Two Golf Courses on sight (Privately Owned) one is a 9 hole short course. Many of the Villagers come here to play. It also has a Country Club Associated with it and Restaurant.
6) We elect a board of directors to run the place every year. We have been very fortunate as there are many ex-business owners on the board who have experience in the areas we need, like road maintenance, building maintenance etc.
7) Day to Day Operations are run by Leeland Management.
8) We have two private gates directly into Walmart. You can then get to Aldi, Belles, Lowes, Doctors Offices, about 4 places to eat, and if you buy a street legal golf cart you can get to everything at Spanish Springs and beyond.
9) We are a gated community. We pay for everything inside the gates and is why they have control on who can and cannot access the facility.
10) If I were to build again I would again build with block. If you look at the commercial buildings being done in the area, they are block. There is only one thing I see being done in the area that I like better. I see the Villages are now pouring the walls with concrete. I think that would be superior to block.

I've heard all about the life style for years. The bottom line is Life Style is up to you. Life is what you make of it and has nothing to do with a developer.

Let's cut to the chase - there is only two reasons to live around here:

1. Piggyback on The Villages lifestyle without paying the bucks
2. You have friends or relatives nearby

If not 1 or 2 explain what in this area has attracted you here

So explain what is the Villages Life Style?

There is no question that homes in Stonecrest are going to be cheaper than the same type of home in The Villages. And yes, the Villages has more activities to offer. But you need to ask yourself, are you going to participate in those activities? If all you do is play golf, and mah jong, and take walks in the morning, you'll be paying a huge price to live in The Villages which offers so much more, than you would in another development such as Stone Crest. And the other thing to consider is that the Villages is huge, keeps growing, and traffic is just horrible in the snow bird season. You won't encounter that in a smaller development like Stonecrest.

The close proximity to infrastructure is a blessing but in the peak season 441/27 traffic is really heavy. Another community people forget about is Spruce Creek South. Now the homes in there are all frame. They have access via Golf Cart to everything Stonecrest does since the addition of the Golf Cart Crossing there at the light. If your only going to be a Snow Bird putting $400K to $500K in a house you will use for at most 4 months is not a good use of Capital, my opinion. Florida has so much to offer that people forget there is more going on then what is in your little community. I came to get out of the cold and found that living in the Center of Florida is one of my better choices in life.

I also hear this a lot and am curious as to what this special lifestyle consists of that is on every advertising piece put out by TV.

Its extremely good marketing.

I respect the OP's decision to move to Stonecrest but I would say he will be spending time in TV going to events that Stonecrest doesn't have, i.e. the night life.

More house for the money and some people like a sedate lifestyle but I see Stonecrester's here in TV for it's restaurants, entertainment shows, etc........

Some people like to have their cake and eat it too!

Sex, drugs, and rock and roll.

Works for me. Thanks for spending all that cash. We all appreciate. As for the night life is that the excessive alcohol consummation or the public horizontal pop?

This statement made me chuckle as a certain developer came to mind, one who has succeeded at accomplishing this very thing!

My cake is always stale......

Here. There appears to be 75 homes for sale in Stonecrest. Take a look;


Community Of Stonecrest - 34491 Real Estate - 34491 Homes For Sale | Zillow