[jgbama]

Originally Posted by 2BNTV

There is a price to be paid to live in paradise which I will gladly pay when I get there.

I believe dhill parents objected to the word free golf in their advertising when there may be a trail fee which they felt was false advertising.

Everyone knows there is no free ride in life. Nothing is hidden and the Morse's deserve every penny for building a paradise.

Just sayin.......

You're so right 2BNTV! If you've never heard of TV and see the commercial on TV, "Free golf the rest of your life" sure gets you curious enough to check into it more. So I see it as a marketing tool. We visited before the commercials aired. We thought at first each village was truly gated, found out they actually aren't. As we got more and more educated about all the costs and understanding what a CDD is and learned the restrictive covenants, we still loved it.

To be angry at TV about the "free golf" is being trivial, which is best defined by a great Eugene O'Neill quote:

“When you're 50 you start thinking about things you haven't thought about before. I used to think getting old was about vanity - but actually it's about losing people you love. Getting wrinkles is trivial.”

[Dirigo]

Whenever I hear or read that something is "free" I always think that perhaps "included" might be a better word to describe the situation.

There is no extra charge for executive golf in TV. The greens fees are "included" in your amenity fee, should you wish to play.

[jgbama]

Originally Posted by allairenjadea

This past weekend I visited my parents and as usual they asked me about my house in TV. They have been seeing a lot of ads lately touting TV and free golf for the rest of your life. They want to know how they can say free when they charge you a monthly amenity fee. They think it's false advertising. My answer is that nothing is free.I don't know if this is false advertising or deceptive advertising. Nobody at TV ever hid the fact that there was an amenity fee so I guess I never gave much consideration to golf being free. I guess you could make a case that some people would look at TV as a place to go based on this statement and then after they figure out that it's not really free they are hooked by other things that make TV what it is. Just thinking out loud here

Wow, it seems most of our posts are about your parents statement and not on your entire post.

You are SO RIGHT about "getting hooked by the other things". There may be some things we don't necessarily agree with when first considering TV as our new home, but once we "buy in" there is no need to make an issue of any of those. JMHO

Hope your parents aren't like my in-laws use to be. . .never happy for any of our successes or choices. I think mine were angry at us or belittled our choices because they weren't doing or seeing what we have. Just saying....

[allairenjadea]

I can't believe this old post has come back to haunt me. I have no problem with the amenity fees and was well aware of them when we purchased our home. I do think the post that suggested that the word "included" be used instead of the word "free" may be on to something. As far as my parents I believe that's just a generational thing. My Mother's brother lives in TV and was one of the original people to go there. He actually can play some championship courses for free and gets free cable tv but he still pays an amenity fee. At 91 he doesn't play much golf anymore

[bluedog103]

Originally Posted by PennBF

I really love the Villages and don't have a problem with the Morse's gaining
a reward for their work and risk. Everone had a opportunity to take a risk.
Your reward is in line with the risk you are willing to take.
Having said that it should be understood that "nothing is ever free". If you see a buy one get one free, a free candy bar if you buy a soda, a free
high end music system if you buy the car, these costs have already been
built into what you are going to purchase. The recovery may be from a different product, or the free one has been built into the cost of the first one,
etc. This is a very basic requirement when compaines price prodiucts and services. THey have profit objectives they must meet to satisfy the share holders.
Given the above of course golf is not free. The recovery of their expenses
may be from the Amenity Fees, from some of the profits from sales of products, etc.etc. But rest assured golf is not free.
I really don't care..I moved here because we love the life style and I had
absolutely no expectations that I would get anything free.

Everything you say is true. TV is a great place unlike any other. The amenities are fantastic and the Amenity Fee is a bargain, but golf is not free. Call it included if you will but I don't think it makes much difference. Like the candy bar and soda you referred to. If it was indeed free you wouldn't have to buy a soda. Still, it's the biggest bargain going.

[Posh 08]

I'm one of those that think of golf there as free on the ECs. No digging into my pocket each time I will be playing golf because I'll be paying the cart fee annually, so I'm "free" of the burden of digging into my wallet. (unless I'm down after the round)

[logdog]

At my previous residence, my amenity fee was $40 per month. That paid for common area maintenance, two small kids parks (which we didn't use) and weekly graffiti removal. No pools, rec centers, golf, nightly entertainment, gates, shopping, community watch, etc. Plus we paid about $125 per month in state income tax. Here, I'm paying less per month and getting so much more.

[2BNTV]

Originally Posted by asianthree

what ever you think free or not free, you can stay love it here or put your home up for sale and that is the meaning of free to stay or free to go

Reminds me of the saying:

"Some people brighten a room when they enter and some when they leave".

[2BNTV]

Originally Posted by jgbama

You're so right 2BNTV! If you've never heard of TV and see the commercial on TV, "Free golf the rest of your life" sure gets you curious enough to check into it more. So I see it as a marketing tool. We visited before the commercials aired. We thought at first each village was truly gated, found out they actually aren't. As we got more and more educated about all the costs and understanding what a CDD is and learned the restrictive covenants, we still loved it.

To be angry at TV about the "free golf" is being trivial, which is best defined by a great Eugene O'Neill quote:

“When you're 50 you start thinking about things you haven't thought about before. I used to think getting old was about vanity - but actually it's about losing people you love. Getting wrinkles is trivial.”

Thanks John. I hope you meet you at Crispers when I get there.

[Carl in Tampa]

I'm really tired of hearing people grump about how much money the Morse family has made from developing The Villages. They came here, bought a small mobile home park and a large amount of acreage, and developed it into an incredibly resident-friendly retirement community.

They owned the property. They developed it in a manner that made them very, very wealthy. They were smart. They didn't break the law. It's called capitalism. Anyone with some investment money and a vision could have done it. I wish my family had done it.

The family that owned much of the acreage that is now The Villages were ranchers and farmers. One of my best friends is from that family. He hunted and fished this land. But when they owned it, his family never had the vision to develop it as the Morse family has done. He doesn't begrudge their success.

Enough of this class envy bull.

With regard to "free golf" it might be more accurate to say "golf at no extra charge" but that's splitting hairs as far as I'm concerned. The fact is that you must pay the amenity fees whether or not you play golf. So if you choose to play golf it costs you nothing extra, and is in effect free.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion; that's mine.

[sueandskip]

Originally Posted by philnpat

We've got to remember that the amenity fee doesn't just cover golf. There's a multitude of things that it pays for. I believe it's money well spent!
Because I'm new here (an occasional visitor to our home in Duval), the $3.50 trail fee for the executive courses...is that per person in the cart? or only the cart driver?
Thanks,
Phil

that is per person wheather they play or not and the last time I played turtle mound it was $4.00 trail fee...

[sueandskip]

Originally Posted by golf2140

The Morse family had a lot of exposure building this great place. Don't like their act, don't stay.

Quit worrying about things you can't change, it's a waste of time ...

[Cantwaittoarrive]

You pay the amenity fee if you use the courses or not. Sure you could say golf isn't free but there are many areas around the country with larger fees and no golf

[keithwand]

Originally Posted by dlhill

If part of your amenity fee goes toward maintenance of the Executive golf courses, then golf is NOT free. The Morse family has used this ruse to help lure people to the villages so they could accumulate their current worth of $2.5 BILLON dollars. If you think you are getting something for free, then you need to rethink.

Aah you're just jealous you couldn't do what the Morses did now aren't you.
Guess you don't like folks who have taken risks and done well or REALLY well.
Sounds like you feel cheated in life; sorry.
Maybe you'd be happier if he had lost his shirt and gone broke then you'd feel much better.

[CatskillBill]

Originally Posted by sueandskip

that is per person wheather they play or not and the last time I played turtle mound it was $4.00 trail fee...

Just my opinion, but I feel the "trail fee" should be accessed for the cart only, for the wear and tear on the paths. There isn't any more wear on the cart paths whether there are one or two people in the cart. I'd like to see one annual fee and get a decal for the cart. This way who ever uses the cart is covered. Just dreaming and venting. After all it's my cart and my gas.