[Best Mom]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

The cost and size of your house determines the bond. All amenities fees are the same for everyone, about $130 per month. My husband just said that Lake County and Marion County had a different bond base, but they are older than the houses currently being built in Sumter County and those bonds have been paid down on older homes.

All amenities fees are NOT the same for everyone. At dinner tonight we compared and everyone was different. Doesn't seem fair but that is the way it is. It seems to depend on when you buy.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by Best Mom

All amenities fees are NOT the same for everyone. At dinner tonight we compared and everyone was different. Doesn't seem fair but that is the way it is. It seems to depend on when you buy.

This is a total surprise to me. We pay $130 a month and we bought this year in June.

Anybody else care to share?

[twynsmom]

We bought in June of 2007 and ours was $130 and recently increased to $135 a month.

[Alex]

Bought in 2004. Amenity fee raised about every year. Now pay 125.00 a month.

[graciegirl]

How much do you pay Best Mom?

[schotzyb]

Purchased in Nov.2003. Amenity Fee is $125.Next calculation in Feb. 2009

[SABRMnLgs]

Originally Posted by l2ridehd

If you really want to be away from everything then why move to The Villages? Go to the hills of North Carolina, the mountains of NH, or someplace else where few people live. There are plenty of wide open spaces still available in this country. I do understand needing space and can relate to that lifestyle. But I guess when living in TV I only want to go there if I can take part in all it has to offer. I want to go and dance in the square or listen to music. I want to have the availability of 100 places to eat. The golf, clubs, and everything else it has to offer. And I like the fact I can get to all of it in my golf cart.

There are pro's and con's to every village. Not any one is perfect for everyone. Each one seems a little different from the others. My personal goal was to not be near the trains, not be able to see the power towers, away from a busy street, open golf view from lanai, pool, south of 466, 5 minutes from a town square, and some back yard privacy. Took 3 years and two homes, but I found it.

So list your priorities, establish a price range, utilize all the available tools and you will find the perfect home for you.

Not "everything". All we ask is peace and quiet. If others want to be social butterflies, sportsters and such, that is their right and I am very happy for them. We are and never have been into that type of social lifestyle.
The idea behind retiring, I had thought was to live out your days doing what YOU like to do. Not what your neighbors like to do.

[Best Mom]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

How much do you pay Best Mom?

Gracie,
I honestly don't know as they are automatically deducted. I think when I bought they were 123.00 and since have been slipped into another billing system.
My dinner friends were mainly from the old side and have been here ranging from 8 years to 25 years.

[bogart]

We bought a resale in Winifred (cyv) in Feb 2007 and currently pay $138.58 for our amenity fee. We expect small annual cost of living increases.

[twynsmom]

I wrote to the Pres. of the POA and he explained the Amenity fees to us..Hope this helps...

"New resident always pay a higher amenity fee than the highest fee charged current residents. That is just the way the administration decided to set the fee for new residents. The rationale is that no new owner should pay less than existing residents.

Then the fee is recalculated annually based on the CPI increase to the month in which the original sale of the property occurred (not the sale to you if you bought a re-sale; but, the original month in which the developer sold the property to the first owner). So, the recalculation may be different from house to house, even among owners who bought at the same time.

In addition, some people were offered incentives when purchasing their homes that fixed the amenity fee at the original level for 3 years with no increase. After 3 years the entire 3 year increase in the CPI was billed.

Also, some people on the historic side were grandfathered for much lower amenity fees that do not change. Very few of these arrangements are left as people pass on or move away.

Thus far this year, the CPI peaked in July and then declined afterwards. So, people with re-sets after July saw smaller increases than those in July and before.

Hope these comments help to explain this complicated issue"

[sandybill2]

We bought in Sept 2007--amenity fee was 135--just went up to 139--

[Best Mom]

Thanks twynsmom.
Also, thanks to the President of POA.

[Peggy D]

What village are you in? Sounds like the perfect place

[zcaveman]

Originally Posted by twynsmom

I wrote to the Pres. of the POA and he explained the Amenity fees to us..Hope this helps...

In addition, some people were offered incentives when purchasing their homes that fixed the amenity fee at the original level for 3 years with no increase. After 3 years the entire 3 year increase in the CPI was billed.

This is incorrect. After three years mine went up only the current CPI rate - not the entire 3 year increase.

[another Linda]

To get back to the original question (ahem!) ...

We are in the Village of Rio Grande, north of 466 and one of the older areas built in 1993 or thereabouts. We specifically wanted that location because it is a nice walk (a little under a mile) to Spanish Springs but very close to LSL too. We have a CYV that we liked better than the new ones we looked at because the courtyard walls are all stucco rather than vinyl on the sides like the newer ones. We back onto a forever wild area so it is very quiet as well. Our neighbors are a mixture of young and old, permanent and snowbirds, with a lot of Brits who are delightful.

That's the good. For the bad, so many people seem to want to be south of 466 that I worry about whether or not money will continue to be spent on the older sections to keep them on the same level as the newer sections.