[JimJohnson]

Originally Posted by Tmarkwald

If TV is such a horrible place to live, why did every other retirement area advertise the distance to TV ??

I don't understand comments that say all these other places have the same amenities for less money?

There are certainly places less expensive than here, but, amenities, not even close. We pay roughly 160 dollars a month for amenities that in my opinion are worth at least a thousand per month.

[Dgizzi]

I agree with you somewhat. Though I want more tropical sites. Not woods. And yes the area outside of TV is awful. I’d rather be by beaches. I lived in ft lauderdale and liked the beach area. However buying a condo on the beach or close buy is expensive. Depending where you buy. HOA can be up to $500 and hurricane insurance is crazy. You have a condo even a street or two from the beach, you will be required to have hurricane insurance and it’s big bucks. We have friends who have a condo on Cocoa Beach. I would live by the beach in a heart beat. I don’t go into Leesburg either run down old city. Yep don’t like the woods, want beaches and tropical scenery.

[FLgirl2]

Interesting thread. We are also newbies looking at TV to rent in the winter and our biggest concern is also the large population as well as how snowbirds are perceived by year rounders? We are excited to try it out, and want to be social next winter. We have a lifestyle preview visit scheduled in April, so we are excited to learn more and experience it all firsthand. I am hoping my husband can get on board!
Also, if any of you have lived in Village of Citrus Hills, would love to hear your comparisons as it is another location on our list.

[Joe V.]

Originally Posted by FLgirl2

Interesting thread. We are also newbies looking at TV to rent in the winter and our biggest concern is also the large population as well as how snowbirds are perceived by year rounders? We are excited to try it out, and want to be social next winter. We have a lifestyle preview visit scheduled in April, so we are excited to learn more and experience it all firsthand. I am hoping my husband can get on board!
Also, if any of you have lived in Village of Citrus Hills, would love to hear your comparisons as it is another location on our list.

Ditch the sales agent on your visit. Explore on your own and talk with people.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by Dgizzi

I agree with you somewhat. Though I want more tropical sites. Not woods. And yes the area outside of TV is awful. I’d rather be by beaches. I lived in ft lauderdale and liked the beach area. However buying a condo on the beach or close buy is expensive. Depending where you buy. HOA can be up to $500 and hurricane insurance is crazy. You have a condo even a street or two from the beach, you will be required to have hurricane insurance and it’s big bucks. We have friends who have a condo on Cocoa Beach. I would live by the beach in a heart beat. I don’t go into Leesburg either run down old city. Yep don’t like the woods, want beaches and tropical scenery.

Why are you still here?

[Tmarkwald]

Originally Posted by Joe V.

Ditch the sales agent on your visit. Explore on your own and talk with people.

Yes yes yes yes!!!!

[John_W]

Originally Posted by Joe V.

Ditch the sales agent on your visit. Explore on your own and talk with people.

You must of had an awful sales agent. Usually they're not pushy, I believe most successful Villages agents are not like that. I came on a 7 day lifestyle in 2011 and my salesman was Tony Trussler. A British fellow who came to America in the late 70s and if you did a search, he has a lot of recommendations on this website. He is still working although he is close to retirement.

We had spoke with Tony on the phone while still up north before our LSV. We arrived, went to the sales office, they took us to our cottage for our 7 day stay. Showed us the unit, told us the Villages Sun would be in the driveway in the morning. There is a golf cart and 2 bicycles in the garage for our use.

Tony called the next day and said, would like to see any homes. I said yes, CYVs and cottages. He took us in his car and we looked at one CYV community and walked through several units that were for sale. Then went to another village five minutes away and went several cottages. We didn't discuss any contracts, purchases, down payments, deposits, nothing to do with buying. That was it, we were done, and he wasn't pushy at all. He told me he had arranged for a round of golf at Cane Garden and an executive tee time at Heron and how to get to the courses from were we were staying at LSL.

Two days later I decided I wanted to see patio villas, so I called Tony. He took the next day and we looked at both styles of patio villas at that time, took about 30 minutes. Once again we parted ways.

When our seven days were up, we checked out and left. We were so close to the square, we went to the square every night and listened to the bands, ate at restaurants, saw one movie, and drove the golf cart around some and talked to people on our own.

We went back north and listed our home for sale 3 weeks later. We sold the home in 18 hours. I called Tony and told him we had contract with money guaranteed by their employer and I wanted to buy a patio villa in Buttonwood for $140K, and gave him the address. He said we have some masonry CYVs in a community you haven't seen.

All the masonry CVYs villas that you looked at in Amberjack Villas have sold, we have only 2 units left in the next community and we have a 2 BR masonry CYV that has been discounted twice and is only $17,000 more than the patio villa. He said the next villa community has already started selling and that model with the discounts on this villa, the next units will be $25,000 more. He said there is no photos on the website, but I will drive over tonight and take pictures and email them to you, which he did. I said, I want to hold that unit. He said, give a credit card and I will put $2,500 on it, and we hold it for 15 days.

Thanks to Tony, I upgraded from a patio villa to a masonry CYV in a great location 3-1/2 miles from LSL and 3-1/2 from Brownwood and for a bargain price.

You can ditch your salesman and learn half of what you need to know on your own or you can be serious about buying a home and get the inside scoop.

[Garywt]

I guess it might depend on the area but we rarely find anything over crowded and never feel in the way. Grocery store is never crowded, the squares have plenty of room although we sit on the outside. There are a couple crossings that might get backed up a little with golf carts but for the most part we do not have issues. Also we bought a Villa and have all the privacy we could ever want.

[davem4616]

Originally Posted by Dgizzi

I agree with you somewhat. Though I want more tropical sites. Not woods. And yes the area outside of TV is awful. I’d rather be by beaches. I lived in ft lauderdale and liked the beach area. However buying a condo on the beach or close buy is expensive. Depending where you buy. HOA can be up to $500 and hurricane insurance is crazy. You have a condo even a street or two from the beach, you will be required to have hurricane insurance and it’s big bucks. We have friends who have a condo on Cocoa Beach. I would live by the beach in a heart beat. I don’t go into Leesburg either run down old city. Yep don’t like the woods, want beaches and tropical scenery.

We moved to TV from Ft Lauderdale in 2017. We had a home in Ft Lauderdale on a canal since 1995.

We like 'live theatre' and traveled up to West Palm, down to Miami and of course to Broward Center for the Arts to see shows and concerts....Now everything comes to us here in the TV.

Yes it was very nice being that close to some wonderful beaches. We loved to take a walk on the beach after dinner...or go for the day with a picnic....but the traffic and the darn iguanas that constantly walked up and down the canal eating all of our plants finally got to us.

[Joe V.]

Originally Posted by John_W

You must of had an awful sales agent. Usually they're not pushy, I believe most successful Villages agents are not like that. I came on a 7 day lifestyle in 2011 and my salesman was Tony Trussler. A British fellow who came to America in the late 70s and if you did a search, he has a lot of recommendations on this website. He is still working although he is close to retirement.

We had spoke with Tony on the phone while still up north before our LSV. We arrived, went to the sales office, they took us to our cottage for our 7 day stay. Showed us the unit, told us the Villages Sun would be in the driveway in the morning. There is a golf cart and 2 bicycles in the garage for our use.

Tony called the next day and said, would like to see any homes. I said yes, CYVs and cottages. He took us in his car and we looked at one CYV community and walked through several units that were for sale. Then went to another village five minutes away and went several cottages. We didn't discuss any contracts, purchases, down payments, deposits, nothing to do with buying. That was it, we were done, and he wasn't pushy at all. He told me he had arranged for a round of golf at Cane Garden and an executive tee time at Heron and how to get to the courses from were we were staying at LSL.

Two days later I decided I wanted to see patio villas, so I called Tony. He took the next day and we looked at both styles of patio villas at that time, took about 30 minutes. Once again we parted ways.

When our seven days were up, we checked out and left. We were so close to the square, we went to the square every night and listened to the bands, ate at restaurants, saw one movie, and drove the golf cart around some and talked to people on our own.

We went back north and listed our home for sale 3 weeks later. We sold the home in 18 hours. I called Tony and told him we had contract with money guaranteed by their employer and I wanted to buy a patio villa in Buttonwood for $140K, and gave him the address. He said we have some masonry CYVs in a community you haven't seen.

All the masonry CVYs villas that you looked at in Amberjack Villas have sold, we have only 2 units left in the next community and we have a 2 BR masonry CYV that has been discounted twice and is only $17,000 more than the patio villa. He said the next villa community has already started selling and that model with the discounts on this villa, the next units will be $25,000 more. He said there is no photos on the website, but I will drive over tonight and take pictures and email them to you, which he did. I said, I want to hold that unit. He said, give a credit card and I will put $2,500 on it, and we hold it for 15 days.

Thanks to Tony, I upgraded from a patio villa to a masonry CYV in a great location 3-1/2 miles from LSL and 3-1/2 from Brownwood and for a bargain price.

You can ditch your salesman and learn half of what you need to know on your own or you can be serious about buying a home and get the inside scoop.

The original agent made us feel uncomfortable and always pushed us to new homes not in our selected ranges or styles. We did not buy. We came back 2 more times on our own and by then found the agent we liked the third time. Then we bought exactly what we wanted to buy into on our first visit.

Having lived in FL for years we had friends in TV. We had no surprises when we finally decided. I have trouble with people not listening to our concerns when we are spending real money on their product.

We like being here but not how this agent acted. I did not care for the vulture that was assigned to watch over me.

[talleyjm]

Originally Posted by dhdallas

I am only here in TV because my wife insisted. This is not her opinion; she loves every little thing about it. For me though other than the warm winter weather, it sucks. Driving anywhere is a pain. Way too much traffic and it will continue to get worse as they are continuing nonstop developing. Homes are crammed together. Heavy golf cart traffic is ridiculous and dangerous. I ride my bike on the cart paths and it is scary. Read The **************.com for all the latest drunk cart driving accidents and crimes.



I am more prejudiced than most because I don’t play golf, I don’t like games or clubs, I don’t like to socialize, I don’t swim or like pools, and would rather be around animals than people. I’ve been here 3 months and haven’t even needed or would use a TV ID card for anything. I prefer solitary pursuits, cycling, hunting, fishing, kayaking, reading, television, sitting on a beach, etc.

TV is a marvel of cookie-cutter overpriced homes in town that reminds me of The Twilight Zone episode where a couple woke up in this picture perfect town only to find out everything in it was fake and they were in a giant being’s terrarium. The place is just plain weird.

Get outside TV and this central part of FL is pretty darn ugly. Swamps, brush & scrubs, ugly trees, trashy homes, dumpy house trailers with plenty of crime & drugs to go around. I carry a legally concealed handgun pretty much everywhere I go.

Last year we stayed at Navarre Beach which is near Pensacola and absolutely gorgeous. Sugar white sand with the turquoise water of the Gulf on one side of Santa Rosa Island and the sound on the other. It is in the Central Time Zone. No bugs or alligators (at least on the island).

There is 20 miles of protected seashore with wind swept dunes and sparsely populated beaches with a bike/hike trail almost the entire length of the island. At one end of the island is a historic fort dating back to the civil war and toward the eastern end is a Marine Science Station. Golf carts are used by some residents but really very few. Overall traffic is extremely light on the island. The 4-lane on the mainland can be busy but there are no roundabouts and traffic moves right along.

There are many fresh seafood, authentic southern BBQ restaurants and local markets (as in real markets, not the imitation overpriced ones in the TV pretend town squares). Navarre Beach is NOT a tourist trap. The summers there are bearable too, not 100 degrees in the shade like here.

Beautiful homes and condos (some <$300k) on the waterfront at reasonable prices (2019). The condo amenities/fees are next to nothing compared to TV. From our rental condo's bedroom window, we could watch porpoises playing in the water. I thought Navarre was a slice of heaven. I wanted to buy there but my wife insisted on TV. I got my summer lakefront home though for most of the year so all is not lost.

I admit, I am not the typical TV resident and my comments will generate plenty of “Yankee go home” comments but you asked for opinions so there you go...to each his own.

I bet you were hoping for an outpouring of outrage about the comments you voiced about TV. Glad it didn’t happen. You know why? Because Nobody who lives here happily cares.

[talleyjm]

Originally Posted by Tsalla Apopka

There are so many nice places in Florida. The Villages is crowded and very overpriced because so many folks want to live there.
Look on Zillow at some places in Ocala, like Oak Run and OTOW, to compare. Same amenities, much less cost. OR, look down around Tampa and St Pete for same things with the same high costs.

Same amenities as TV❓ Right. 🤦🏼

[Kayakguy]

Originally Posted by John_W

You have a valid point about, I'm not into clubs, I was in car club but quit after 3 months. I don't use the rec centers, it's the golf courses that brought me here, and since I've arrived I'm trying to make up for lost time, when I discovered MVP at Brownwood. I only wish I had worked out the rest of life instead sitting on my butt.

I also like the panhandle, I lived in Pensacola for six years in the late 70s and early 80s and built 3 houses during that time. I discovered Panama City Beach in 1970, I went through Army school at the Ft. Rucker, Alabama, which is just a 2 hour drive north just across the state line. I was there during summer and every weekend was down at PC.

You would not believe how much PC has grown. The entire commercial area was about ten blocks long in '70 and five of us would rent a cottage for $15 a night right on the strip. Only if I was smart enough to have bought land back then, it's now 30 miles of condos, amusement parks, restaurants, and then wait til spring break, it's get wild. I went to PC during spring break '86 and I don't remember the bar, but it was on the beach with the biggest deck I ever seen. The guy that sang "Key Largo" Bernie Higgins was singing on the deck with his guitar. It was great and hundreds of women.

My best friend lives in Navarre, we were in the Army together 50 years ago and worked in the FAA at Pensacola together. He lives in Navarre, bought a masonry home with a 2 car garage, 3 BR, 2 BA and swimming pool in 1990 for $98,000, today it's worth about $275K. The biggest problem with the panhandle and one of the reasons I settled in TV, besides the golf here, is hurricanes. In just my 6 years of living there I went through two hurricanes. The one in '79 I rode out in the hallway and winds at the airport a mile from my house reached 100 mph. No damage to speak of except for a million pine cones in my pool, we don't have birdcages because of the hurricanes.

My neighbor who lives and loves golf even more than me, I shot a 78 yesterday at Cane Garden and he shot a 70. Him and his wife go the beach at least 3 weekends a month. Monday he's leaving for a week in the Florida Keys. In the past 12 months, he's been to Destin, St. Pete Beach, Siesta Key and his favorite Venice Beach about 20 times. He doesn't mind driving, to me, I rather never have to drive again.

Hang in there, if you don't like golf, try pickleball. Look to see when they have the 101 classes, I took that back in 2013 and it's really a neat sport. I also enjoy music when things are normal, the Hooligans, Uncle Bob, the classic rock bands I enjoy going to see. Movies, it's neat to go the theater and there's not a million kids and their mothers there to see some cartoon in the other theater. That's one of reasons I like it here, now that I'm 70 I rather be around people my own age than young people.

Traffic here, I grew up in St. Petersburg, and when I go there the traffic is 20 times worse and I remember when there was hardly anybody. Traffic here is really nothing. Condos are cheap in PC, maybe get a vacation condo for $200K and then rent it out when you're not there. The heat, I lived up north before moving here and in Maryland it would hit 100 degrees 15 days in the month of August. At the beach we got constant thunderstorms, they were really more over the city. I remember being on Pensacola Beach a few times in beautiful sunshine and looking back at Pensacola and seeing dark clouds and lightning. However, the storms didn't last long, the air over the gulf meeting the air over the land you get thunderstorms just about every afternoon. So for that reason, I really don't mind the heat here.

You could own something like this in PC and rent it out for $250 a night when you're not there.





BTW, Jaws 2 was filmed at Navarre Beach in '77, I went several days during shooting and saw the sharks sitting on the trailers, didn't see any actors but did see the director setting up shots. Base camp was at the Holiday Inn Navarre, beautiful motel with a Holidome and indoor pool, the movie's opening scene with the band playing was shot inside the Holidome, however that motel was destroyed in a 2005 hurricane and wasn't rebuilt.

I was assigned to the US Aviation Test Board at Fort Rucker from 1962-1964. And got on flight status and flew as tech observer on every plane and helicopter the Army had there.Most fun was in the co-pilot's seat of a Huey practicing a strafing run at top speed 10 feet off the runways in the farmer's fields.
Also went to Panama City, and spent summer at the Climatic Laboratory at Eglin AFB in Fort Walton Beach.Tests for our helicopters, never forget walking through those double doors from the hangar at -65 to the Florida sunshine at close to 100.

[jswirs]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

Are we to take it that you think it is OK to drive down a parking aisle the wrong way or ride you bike down the middle of the street? I've seen more parking lot accidents due to people doing exactly what you describe. Consider yourself "chastised"

Please re-read and this time comprehend what I wrote. Yes, I agree I was wrong for driving the wrong way in a parking lot, but please note that no one was impacted, again, I was in the wrong. As for the bicycle incident, I was completely within my rights of riding a bike in a street. The woman who chastised me claimed she could not hold onto her dog leash when the dog pulls away to chase me, because she has a balance problem. So maybe she should not have a dog, and not expect others to change their actions to make up for her lack of health.
Sounds to me like you are one of the grumpy people I have mentioned. You can't wait to correct someone whether or not you are impacted. Consider yourself "grumpy!"

[Rwirish]

Pretty much the way it is during snowbird season. TV is getting bigger and more congested everyday.