[bp243]

Originally Posted by La lamy

Exactly! The argument that snowbirds bring too much traffic etc... is ridiculous to me. It's the opposite, we lessen traffic for you by leaving our homes for the summer!

Guessing that you have a fresh and positive spin on life in general. How lovely to embrace your post!

[Bitsee]

We have been wintering in The Villages for 14 years now.
Only I prefer to be called a
"Snow Dog" because we travel with our 2 well behaved rescue dogs.
We own a lovely CYV in Springdale and are extremely quiet and well behaved people as well !
We don't drink, smoke , or flood the neighborhood with visitors when we stay there, that would be rude.
My husband is a licensed handyman that works cheap there for all our neighbors and they simply adore him, as they save all thier projects for his arrival.
And I will babysit our neighbor's pets for them whenever they need to go somewhere, which is quite often.
So in other words our Villages neighbors richly benefit by us being there in the winters as we are not
the bad guy's...believe it or not.
We enjoy the Florida winter weather but will never, ever move permanently from northern Wisconsin which is also referred to as God's Country ....for that is our real home.

[Ksfirefighter]

Originally Posted by JSR22

I agree with you and welcome the snowbirds. Without them there would be less amenities and shopping choices.

Yes they pay for amenities all year and we get the benefits.

[chasandvalr]

Originally Posted by Penglobal

As a newbie to The Villages, several of my neighbors have done a great job by providing me with advice on all aspects of living here. Strangely to me, one of my neighbors also warned me to be careful in the coming months when the influx of snowbirds come down to The Villages and overtake the area.

That statement appeared wrong to me as I told my neighbor that we should welcome back the snowbirds as they bring money, jobs and excitement to The Villages. Snowbirds are sometimes wealthier than the typical full-time Villager as many snowbirds own more than one home and spend their money here. These snowbirds also pay year-round taxes and Villages fees although many only live here part-time. Also, the rental fee's some snowbirds pay will cover the entire yearly cost of the mortgage payment for some homeowners.

Although I welcome the Snowbirds, my neighbor appeared upset and refused to understand that snowbirds bring prosperity to The Villages and makes The Villages a better place to live year round.

Pfffffff

[Dgodin]

Your neighbor is less concerned about jobs and profits for others and is reacting to how snowbird season affects her personally. Many of us full timers are happy to see our snowbird friends return but dread the transition from a semi sleepy town to a bustling metropolis. An aquaintance refers to snowbirds as cloggers (clog up the roads, restaurants, shops).
In any case it really isn't worth arguing about.

[ML Smith]

Haters gonna hate. Ignore them and just accept the fact that some folks just have to have something to complain about. It’s all good so enjoy the seasons and relax. Life is too important to be taken too seriously.

[Bilyclub]

Originally Posted by Penglobal

Also remember that most snowbirds can't file for homestead exceptions and they pay real estate taxes proportionally higher than the full time Villager.

On my block, there are two exact homes and valued basically the same. Last year house # 1 owned by a Floridan who took advantage of "save our homes" taxes payed $ 4915 & the exact same home but owned by a fellow mate from Pennsylvania paid $7844 in real estate taxes. The unfortunate thing is the mate from PA only lives here part time.

So once again, thank you snowbirds.

I haven't seen my neighbor in 2 years and their house has steadily been rented out. A check of the county site shows they are claiming the Homestead exemption. Who's to say that they aren't double dipping and claiming an exemption where their other home is? Either way, claiming the exemption here seems wrong when they don't live in the house.

[Vikingjunior]

I would love to see how you respond when they start building housing for the illegals in The Villages.

[nn0wheremann]

Just be REALLY CAREFUL IN THE ROUNDABOUTS for the next month, then double that in January when the renters come down. If you use AT&T for cell service, get used to a couple of hours for voicemail to show up, and don’t mind the dropped calls. But you are right, the snowflakes and snowbirds are an asset to our community.

[ML Smith]

Get over yourself.

[ML Smith]

Originally Posted by Vikingjunior

I would love to see how you respond when they start building housing for the illegals in The Villages.

OMG get over yourself.

[TNKYGAL]

Originally Posted by Penglobal

As a newbie to The Villages, several of my neighbors have done a great job by providing me with advice on all aspects of living here. Strangely to me, one of my neighbors also warned me to be careful in the coming months when the influx of snowbirds come down to The Villages and overtake the area.

That statement appeared wrong to me as I told my neighbor that we should welcome back the snowbirds as they bring money, jobs and excitement to The Villages. Snowbirds are sometimes wealthier than the typical full-time Villager as many snowbirds own more than one home and spend their money here. These snowbirds also pay year-round taxes and Villages fees although many only live here part-time. Also, the rental fee's some snowbirds pay will cover the entire yearly cost of the mortgage payment for some homeowners.

Although I welcome the Snowbirds, my neighbor appeared upset and refused to understand that snowbirds bring prosperity to The Villages and makes The Villages a better place to live year round.

Thank you for your post. We, too, have had great neighbors who helped with our transition to The Villages - and thus far the comments we've heard are more about being sad when friends are going to be gone. But perhaps that is because we are currently "snowbird plus". (we come for about 4 months in the winter and make 3-4 visits throughout the summer and fall.) Like so many before us, we enjoy our children and activities that don't reside in Florida, so we are not quite ready to commit to full time in Florida. I feel very blessed that we are still able to travel back and forth.

Having experienced The Villages during both the summer and winter seasons, I see both as having advantages. I love the energy in the winter. Do people/crowds ever annoy me? To be honest, yes. But that happens in both seasons and has nothing to do with "Snowbirds" but everything to do with unhappy, rude people. Fortunately that has been RARE for us! Although the relative quiet of the summer does provide ease for seating at restaurants and less traffic, I find myself feeling sad for the bands who don't experience the fun and energy of a packed audience, and wonder if the stores/restaurants are doing okay with less commerce.

And by the way, I don't LOVE when the bills come every month, but we do enjoy our Villages home and are content to support the great lifestyle for ALL of us!!

[sktb888]

Originally Posted by Penglobal

As a newbie to The Villages, several of my neighbors have done a great job by providing me with advice on all aspects of living here. Strangely to me, one of my neighbors also warned me to be careful in the coming months when the influx of snowbirds come down to The Villages and overtake the area.

That statement appeared wrong to me as I told my neighbor that we should welcome back the snowbirds as they bring money, jobs and excitement to The Villages. Snowbirds are sometimes wealthier than the typical full-time Villager as many snowbirds own more than one home and spend their money here. These snowbirds also pay year-round taxes and Villages fees although many only live here part-time. Also, the rental fee's some snowbirds pay will cover the entire yearly cost of the mortgage payment for some homeowners.

Although I welcome the Snowbirds, my neighbor appeared upset and refused to understand that snowbirds bring prosperity to The Villages and makes The Villages a better place to live year round.

You're welcome! 🥳 Lol

[sktb888]

You're welcome! 🥳 Lol

[Penglobal]

Originally Posted by Bilyclub

I haven't seen my neighbor in 2 years and their house has steadily been rented out. A check of the county site shows they are claiming the Homestead exemption. Who's to say that they aren't double dipping and claiming an exemption where their other home is? Either way, claiming the exemption here seems wrong when they don't live in the house.

Examples of homestead fraud are:

The owner(s) claim homestead exemption, but permanent residence is elsewhere.
***The owner(s) claim homestead exemption, but they rent the property to others for a profit throughout the year. I don't believe that your neighbors are renting the house for free. *** Your case!
The individual or family unit claim homestead exemption on more than one property (including a homestead exemption filed in another state).

An anonymous letter or a phone call to the county tax collector would be sincerely appreciated

The Villages Annex ( Sumter county )
8033 East CR 466
The Villages, FL 32162
Phone: (352) 689-4645
Fax: (352) 689-4646
Office Hours: 8:00am-5:00pm M-F
Closed 12:30pm-1:30pm

Lake County Tax Collector, 320 West Main St., Tavares, FL 32778 ( Lake County )

Main Office, McPherson Complex (Marion County )
503 SE 25th Avenue
Ocala, FL 34471
Phone: (352) 368-8200
Fax: (352) 368-8081
Mon-Fri 8AM - 4:00PM

Mailing Address:
PO Box 970
Ocala, Florida
34478-0970