[DrMack]

I have a two part question.

One: What local links are there to honest truth bearing news and which do you consider to be the best? I’m not sure the article I just read is accurate.

Two: I read on another post about a pond that dried up behind some premium water view lots because of a sink hole issue. Do The Villages back their premium lot purchases with some kind of a guarantee?

The reason I ask these is to both stay informed and ease my bearing somewhat. We are getting into our new home very soon and we paid a lot for a small lot to build a home on and it is currently on water.

[Babubhat]

You are not guaranteed water for premium view. It’s in the contract you sign.

Local truth bearing news? Its an undefined term That makes me laugh.

[It's Hot There]

How do you define news?

[Normal]

There are 3 papers
The Villages Sun = Propaganda to sell homes in the Villages but has mediocre crosswords
The Villages News = Most trustworthy, but is fairly negative in article base
The Gazette = Basically here and is a mix

As far as that premium you paid, if the pond goes south, you are out of luck. Paperwork now states “Will not always contain water”? It’s a roll of the dice. A newer pond was just drained, The Villages already has the buyers money.

Hope all goes well with your signing and retirement dream,

[Pondboy]

The Villages does not guarantee water in any ponds or basins. It’s written in your new home paperwork.

[JoMar]

Originally Posted by Normal

There are 3 papers
The Villages Sun = Propaganda to sell homes in the Villages but has mediocre crosswords
The Villages News = Most trustworthy, but is fairly negative in article base
The Gazette = Basically here and is a mix

As far as that premium you paid, if the pond goes south, you are out of luck. Paperwork now states “Will not always contain water”? It’s a roll of the dice. A newer pond was just drained, The Villages already has the buyers money.

Hope all goes well with your signing and retirement dream,

Assume you don't subscribe to the Sun or you wouldn't have made that comment.

In my day, The Villages News was known as The National Enquirer.....no redeeming benift but agree mostly negative. Lot of useless stuff.

The Gazzette......tend to agree.

[Keefelane66]

Most of the ponds in the Villages have liners for golf courses. The article you may be referring to is a retention area to take runoff and let it return to the aquifer.

[Two Bills]

Best news source is definitely Cal's Barber Shop.
Very reliable!

[Bill14564]

For Villages news, Post #4 echoes my opinion.

For area news, I look at the Florida Phoenix, the Leesburg Daily Commercial, and the Tampa Bay Times.

The "true ponds" on the golf courses will always have water. The retention ponds used for irrigation will have water except for extreme droughts; I don't recall hearing of any going dry this year. The retention areas used only for runoff will often be dry though there are not as many of these.

The pond that is going dry appears to be decorative and not simply to hold runoff. This is the only one I have heard of in the last four years that has had this problem. If I read the resolution correctly, the District is about to spend something like $850,000 to try to fix it.

[Normal]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

For Villages news, Post #4 echoes my opinion.

For area news, I look at the Florida Phoenix, the Leesburg Daily Commercial, and the Tampa Bay Times.

The "true ponds" on the golf courses will always have water. The retention ponds used for irrigation will have water except for extreme droughts; I don't recall hearing of any going dry this year. The retention areas used only for runoff will often be dry though there are not as many of these.

The pond that is going dry appears to be decorative and not simply to hold runoff. This is the only one I have heard of in the last four years that has had this problem. If I read the resolution correctly, the District is about to spend something like $850,000 to try to fix it.

The Leesburg Daily Commercial seems to be a good one thanks for sharing. I would also throw in the City Leesburg Planning minutes Public Portal • CivicClerk since it looks like that’s what town Dabney will be in.

[Randall55]

This forum is a great source for questions regarding the Villages. You will always find someone who has experienced what you are going through.

As others stated, if the pond goes dry or sinks, you are out of luck. Read EVERY line of a Villages' contract and deed restrictions before signing. Each contract protects the developer in one fashion or another.

Real news about the Villages? Avoid the Sun. It is designed to sell homes and nothing negative or inflammatory is ever written. The truth is often obscured.

Example: Many of us noticed and have seen with our own eyes that new home sales are slow. Anyone affiliated with the Villages will provide you with information that bends and twists this fact.

The daily sun reported the dollar amount of new homes sold in 2023 were wonderful. Again, the Developer had a great year.

The truth? The number of homes sold was down 23%. I believe it was 900+ less than last year. The Sun's stated great year was probably due to an increase in the price of homes. Never will they mention less homes were sold and the developer has a large inventory at the moment.

[DrMack]

Thanks, I’ve gotten what I needed I think.

Those are great news sources for information.

The realtor’s map has the term, “May or may not contain water.”

[ThirdOfFive]

Which is the best of the local news sources? An unanswerable question really, one that haunts non-local news sources as well. Every one seems to have an agenda. The Sun (AKA Pravda South) is an unabashed apologist for The Developer. Same thing, more or less, can be said of WVLG. Villages News is allegedly run by a disaffected former employee of the Sun: if any story reflects negatively on The Villages on on Villagers you can bet the farm that Villages News will run it. The Gazette? Don't read it enough to really have an opinion.

As far as unbiased sources of local news goes, both the guy across the street and a former Leesburg cop I know seem to have a pretty good handle on what is going on.

[bowlingal]

several years ago, home owners cut down the trees that grew behind their houses blocking their water view. The trees were small at the time they bought. They got caught and had to hire an attorney and pay back the villages the value of the trees.....about $25,000. NO guarantees

[Sully2023]

Originally Posted by DrMack

I have a two part question.

One: What local links are there to honest truth bearing news and which do you consider to be the best? I’m not sure the article I just read is accurate.

Two: I read on another post about a pond that dried up behind some premium water view lots because of a sink hole issue. Do The Villages back their premium lot purchases with some kind of a guarantee?

The reason I ask these is to both stay informed and ease my bearing somewhat. We are getting into our new home very soon and we paid a lot for a small lot to build a home on and it is currently on water.

Best news source: the one YOU like to watch. Me, I get all my news from the Talk of the Villages site. It makes me laugh every day and sometimes has some information I can use.

As for your retention pond, like others, I was told it’s there to move water around during storms. Several dry up during the year if we don’t get enough water.

I just had to respond to the news question. - really?