Agree
 

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.”

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.

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....

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

:agree: 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.

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)

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.

Reminds me of the saying:

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.