[perrjojo]

Originally Posted by CatskillBill

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.

I'm not sure I understand. We pay one trail fee and my husband and I never pay a trail fee even if we are not in our own cart. Seems to me that the trail fee covers both members of the family regardless of what cart they might be in. So the fee covers the members owning the cart, not the cart itself.

[casita37]

Originally Posted by perrjojo

I'm not sure I understand. We pay one trail fee and my husband and I never pay a trail fee even if we are not in our own cart. Seems to me that the trail fee covers both members of the family regardless of what cart they might be in. So the fee covers the members owning the cart, not the cart itself.

You are correct, if you pay the trail fee in advance...approx. $145/yr for the family. When they enter your ID number, it shows you paid. Works the same way a AAA membership does. Doesn't matter whose car you are in, the membership covers YOU.

[Ripcord13]

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.

Amen, but there is nothing free in life.

[casita37]

Whenever we tell people outside TV we get all the "free" golf we can stand, the first question is ALWAYS, "How much is your HOA fee?" People do understand how it works.

[graciegirl]

If you have played golf all of your adult life than you will know what a huge present the use of the executive courses is.

The trail fee is so low and the choices for golf so wide it is just wonderful.

If you are coming here and you don't play golf and it will annoy you to pay the amenity fee and not play golf, than please don't come here.

[JoeC1947]

Originally Posted by Ripcord13

Amen, but there is nothing free in life.

Ahhh, but there is. Here's 10 free things.

1) Sunsets.
2) Sunrises
3) Being nice to others.
4) Looking at and smelling flowers.
5) Listening to the morning doves.
6) Walking around the LSL boardwalk.
7) Walking anywhere.
8) Bird watching.
9) Breathing air.
10) Loving your family.

[Golfingnut]

The vast majority of communities in the US have no amenity fees at all. My question is if the FEE bothers you, why would you seek out a community that has one. I assure you if all the amenities that are paid for by the fee we pay were removed, you would then have something to be concerned about. I would not complain if the amenity fee for The Villages was 500 dollars a month. We would still be getting a lot for a small price.

[graciegirl]

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...

Well, say, Pebble Beach is a little more than that. It's all relative.

http://www.pebblebeach.com/golf/pebb.../current-rates

[BobKat1]

In the sales and marketing of just about every product, a lot of words, descriptions, platitudes etc. are tossed around. "Free" is one of them.

One can't take any of them too literally or seriously. Do your homework and make a decision that is best for you.

[graciegirl]

Our amenity fee is about $135 per month.. We pay the family rate for the cart fees yearly, about $145 so that means when I go out on the executive courses (32) to play four times a week they don't charge me ANYTHING. I also go to Laurel Manor and paint and draw, I go to the pool almost daily for nothing. I go to Bingo at the rec centers that costs me a couple of bucks and they give back the take and also give you a bodacious ice cream sundae in the middle, I go to Bocce and Sweetie plays pickleball and I could play Bunko, Bridge, pool, shuffleboard, horseshoes, and a number of other card and board games for free, seven days a week. I can go to free seminars on Florida plants, lightning, and other interesting stuff. I can drive around in my Ohio State themed golf cart and look at the beautifully maintained areas and the beautifully maintained people.

I can attend any of the over 1000 special interest clubs in the many beautifully decorated recreation centers and go to water aerobics at the regional pools. I can go to any number of dance lessons, tap, ballet, jazz, modern, clogging, ballet barre, line dancing for NOTHING. I can join the villages workshop and learn how to frame my canvases after they teach me how to run all of their equipment safely. I can walk off the pounds, I can zumba, I can yoga and I can walk over miles and miles and miles of streets that are lined with beautiful homes.

OR I can live in a lot of areas of Florida that have NO amenity fees. It is my choice...and if I ever decide and it isn't for me, the houses aren't hard to sell.

[hockyb]

Originally Posted by 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.

I think "Carl in Tampa" has it right....Where would TV be if the Morse's lost a ton of money when they built Spanish Springs and developed the W side.

[Roaddog53]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

Our amenity fee is about $135 per month.. We pay the family rate for the cart fees yearly, about $145 so that means when I go out on the executive courses (32) to play four times a week they don't charge me ANYTHING. I also go to Laurel Manor and paint and draw, I go to the pool almost daily for nothing. I go to Bingo at the rec centers that costs me a couple of bucks and they give back the take and also give you a bodacious ice cream sundae in the middle, I go to Bocce and Sweetie plays pickleball and I could play Bunko, Bridge, pool, shuffleboard, horseshoes, and a number of other card and board games for free, seven days a week. I can go to free seminars on Florida plants, lightning, and other interesting stuff. I can drive around in my Ohio State themed golf cart and look at the beautifully maintained areas and the beautifully maintained people.

I can attend any of the over 1000 special interest clubs in the many beautifully decorated recreation centers and go to water aerobics at the regional pools. I can go to any number of dance lessons, tap, ballet, jazz, modern, clogging, ballet barre, line dancing for NOTHING. I can join the villages workshop and learn how to frame my canvases after they teach me how to run all of their equipment safely. I can walk off the pounds, I can zumba, I can yoga and I can walk over miles and miles and miles of streets that are lined with beautiful homes.

OR I can live in a lot of areas of Florida that have NO amenity fees. It is my choice...and if I ever decide and it isn't for me, the houses aren't hard to sell.

Well said! A combination of jealousy of the Morse family, and simple whining. Bottom line as so many have said...if they don't like it here, no one is forcing them to live here. Find another community of which there are many out there.

[jimmy D]

Once again someone is blaming the Developers for making money. What a concept . It is the American way. Look what you get for your $$s.

They took the risk and let us enjoy the wonderful exp of the Villages.

When does your house go up for sale

[downeaster]

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.

Army Guy and ijusluvit have pretty much answered the OP's question.

Of course there are very few things that are free. There is a price for about everything. But calling it a "ruse" is a bit much. I think we all (85,000+ of us) were aware there was an amenity fee before we purchased. In my ten plus years here I have yet to hear a resident say they were "lured" into their purchase and were not aware of the amenity fee.

So I helped the developer amass a fortune by purchasing a home from him. I also helped Bill Gates amass a fortune by buying his products. The same goes for Dell, the Ford family, the Busch family, etc. etc.

[villages3412]

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

We are from NJ and New Jersey Law required TO to places a disclaimer
stating the amenity fee provided the golfing and it was not free without paying the fee. During point of sale