[Mike3461]

Thank you. Do you know of a forum of people that have moved away? I would post my question there as well..

[chuck90199]

We had neighbors on our street leave The Villages and move to Sun City near Tampa. They were back in The Villages buying another house in less than a year. Very disappointed in Sun City. Things the Real Estate agent promised never happened, and golf was extremely expensive.

There's a website similar to this one. Talkofsuncity.com. There is not a lot of activity on it, but you might find some people that moved there from The Villages.

[NatureBoy]

Originally Posted by chuck90199

There's a website similar to this one. Talkofsuncity.com. There is not a lot of activity on it, but you might find some people that moved there from The Villages.

This is one of the ways I've been researching & evaluating other places: How active are the residents online?

For TV, there are multiple Facebook groups, this site, another forum site, YouTubers, and probably more I'm missing. For other places... There are a couple Sun City Tampa Facebook groups, the mentioned unused forum, and not much else. I just haven't found any other 55+ community that has near the resident activity & engagement online that TV has.

[Dan9871]

Originally Posted by NatureBoy

This is one of the ways I've been researching & evaluating other places: How active are the residents online?

Sun City FL has about 10,000 residents and the Villages has about 130,000 residents. The lower use of a bulletin board or FaceBook alone doesn't really give a good picture of how active the residents are... you have to somehow factor in the population of the community.

There are very few, maybe none, other 55+ communities that have the scale of The Villages.

Have you checked nextdoor.com? It breaks things down into smaller sections than an entire development. That might be a better measure of resident activity.

[John_W]

Originally Posted by Dan9871

Sun City FL has about 10,000 residents and the Villages has about 130,000 residents...

I never realized Sun City was so small. I grew up in St. Petersburg and I've always heard about the place. It started in 1962 and is a short drive from either Tampa or Sarasota/Brandenton, and only 10,000, that alone would make me wonder.

I remember in 2010 back in Baltimore when I was getting ready to take a lifestyle visit here in TV, I was talking to the branch manager of my bank, who was in his 50's. He said he had just bought a house in Sun City. We talked some and he said he paid $300K, I thought to myself that seemed awful high nine years ago. He also said his HOA was $350 a month, which he was already paying, again I'm thinking to myself that is high.

In 2011 when TV broke ground south of 466A in Bonifay a majority of the new homes were selling in the $200's, many in the low 200's, and that's correct, every home south of 466A has been built since August 2011. In fact Pine Ridge which was built as late as 2015, we looked at several new homes the $210K to $230K range. We purchased a new masonry CYV in 2011 for $158K just north of 466A in Tamarind Grove. At that time, prices here were very good, especially when compared to Sun City. Unfortunately now for a buyer, supply and demand in the established villages has caused prices to really escalate.

Think about it, home construction in TV really didn't kick off until the late 80's when Gary Morse moved down here to help his father. You've 10,000 from 1962 and 130,000 from 1989. TV is basically in the middle of nowhere, not between Tampa and Sarasota. The only real geographic feature that helped was the closeness of I-75 and the Florida Turnpike. Otherwise, there's no big city, no beaches, no anything, so Gary Morse had to create an environment that buyers would see was of great value in their retirement years.

[Howie1944]

After 19 years here I have witnessed the rapid growth of The Villages. Despite the developer constantly tooting his own horn in the company propaganda rag, AKA The Daily Sun, this exponential growth is a negative for many retirees. Tomorrow I leave The Villages for good. I have found a much smaller version of The Villages, with actual SECURITY GATES, gof course, golf cart community, backed by a strong financial presence, Berkshire Hathaway, and more bang for the buck in the amenities fees. AND NO CDD! . The best part is it is almost built out, and no more land available to expand. About 5000 residents. Check out Soleil of Laurel Canyon in Canton, GA.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by Howie1944

After 19 years here I have witnessed the rapid growth of The Villages. Despite the developer constantly tooting his own horn in the company propaganda rag, AKA The Daily Sun, this exponential growth is a negative for many retirees. Tomorrow I leave The Villages for good. I have found a much smaller version of The Villages, with actual SECURITY GATES, gof course, golf cart community, backed by a strong financial presence, Berkshire Hathaway, and more bang for the buck in the amenities fees. AND NO CDD! . The best part is it is almost built out, and no more land available to expand. About 5000 residents. Check out Soleil of Laurel Canyon in Canton, GA.

I went to college in Athens, GA, and student taught in Atlanta. Many moons ago, before climate change, we had some snow and some ice storms.

There may be smaller, better places than TV, and I'm not a gung-ho, this-is-heaven-on-earth person where TV is concerned, but you cannot, CAN NOT, beat the weather. Or the activities. So I put up with the sameness and largeness of the community--sea of roof tops, small lots, somewhat of a "fake paradise" look, developers' kids that yes, have taken away a bit of the stuff we enjoyed previously-- because it's WARM and active and friendly.

We left spring of 2018 and wondered if we would come back. There were some things that bothered us, and we looked at other places. But it's tough to beat what TV offers if you want to remain active, not to mention warm. I find the things that bothered me when we lived there full time don't bother me anymore because where we live the other half of the year is a complete opposite. (There's not one house the same; it's a village of 500 people in a countryside of other villages.)

Moving full time to Florida was not a good fit for us, but The Villages certainly is. What we found was it did not have to be an either-or situation.

Just my thoughts.

[John_W]

I was going to say something similar in reference to the weather. I lived in Cumming, Georgia in 1988, that just east of where your moving and we had 4" of snow and everything shut down for a week. They have no snow removal equipment, other than Starvin Marvin, everything was closed, even the malls.

Cumming is in Forsyth County, I really liked going over to Lake Lanier, huge lake and didn't have to worry about gators. It was pretty sparse living out there, but via GA 400 you could be in Atlanta in 30 minutes. I noticed the place you're moving homes are in the upper $300's to $500k, little too high for me.

One thing that was so unusual about Forsyth County was when I was there in '88, Oprah had just been on TV a couple of years and was trying to get noticed, so she brough her show down to the Holiday Inn in Cumming for a week. You see, Forsyth County doesn't have one black person in the entire county. I guess she saw a problem with that.

You could stayed in Florida, just 75 minutes away and gotten the same things you're going to get, plus nicer weather and saved a couple of $200K on your home by going to Pasco County. Here's a place I mentioned on another thread, Heritage Pines in Hudson, FL. It's also built out and truly gated entrance.

Did you research other communities?

[Howie1944]

I lived in knoxville TN for several years. Played golf every weekend in the winter. Didn't swelter in the summer. 4 seasons but nothing brutal. 4 inches of snow? OMG.

[beachbaby]

If only the health care were as good as where we moved from

[John_W]

Originally Posted by Howie1944

I lived in knoxville TN for several years. Played golf every weekend in the winter. Didn't swelter in the summer. 4 seasons but nothing brutal. 4 inches of snow? OMG.

Obviously Knoxville was prepared, Tennessee is a little further north. I also lived in Savannah for 8 years, one year of 4" of snow there had the same effect. When people are not accustomed to driving on snow covered roads, remember they have no plows or salt, everyone stays home and in most cases are ordered to by the local officials. Maybe Atlanta and surrounding areas have improved since 1988, that's just something to consider when moving there. BTW, the humidity in the Atlanta area is sweltering, I would say of all the places I've lived, Atlanta was my least favorite. One reason, it's the only place someone has attempted to steal my car where I lived. Of course we have that right here in Orlando, which is why I don't live there.

[Rapscallion St Croix]

No regrets, but after a lifetime in the military, we get itchy feet after a few years. Moving to Pinehurst, NC in the coming year.

[Loridoma]

I did struggle for about 6 months to a year. It takes a while to build up friendships like you had at home.And left my entire family up north. I found a few activities that I enjoyed and gradually made some wonderful friends.
Everyone is in the same boat...moving to a new place and starting over.
I also found Allegiant airlines has some very reasonable airfares back home, so I’m able to visit often.
I have no regrets moving here, it’s just to beautiful!
I tried some brand new things like dragon boating and found groups for hobbies I enjoy. Now I feel more a part of the community. I would suggest giving it a year. I do know a fee people who moved back home to be closer to family. But not many! I wish you well!

[kittysons]

My wife and I lived full time in The Villages from the end of 2010 through mid-2016. We were full time residents in Florida (and still are) since 2002 having originally moved from Chicago. We now live in Southwest Florida. The experience of living in The Villages was a great one that neither of us regrets, especially because of the new friendships we made. The activities and socialization were tremendous and we both would recommend The Villages as a great place to transition into retirement. However, the first reason we moved was because of the sense that we were "moving down a conveyor belt" as we watched people we knew age, get sick and/or require assistance and in some cases die. We all know this is a reality yet it stares you in the face the longer you live there. The second reason is that regardless of what you think, old people(and that includes us) can be very grumpy, stubborn, set in their ways and ridiculously cheap(using 2 for 1 coupons and only tipping on one meal). The contrast in friendliness and attitude is stark between waitstaff and other service workers in The Villages and outside The Villages such as Southwest Florida because of the previous reason. We enjoy being around all age groups(including children) because it exposes us to different ways of thinking and, in our opinion, keeps us more open-minded. The third reason we moved is because of the way everything begins to recycle in The Villages. How many times can you see Hemans Hermits, the parades etc. before you stop going? Finally, we started out in 2002 in Southwest Florida and like our friends there, the variety of restaurants and activities and the ocean nearby. You may feel. differently and we respect that.

[beckyallen]

We moved here almost 2 years ago from Maui and only regret not having done it sooner! There is so much to love here and lots to do. Give it some time and try new things to meet new people. Many people still spend summers up north but we are here year round to stay and LOVE it! Good luck!