[jimjamuser]

The activities are the best part of the Villages.The summer HEAT is the worst part. Stick around for hurricane season to REALLY become informed.

[Bwanajim]

Realize that you pay for a bond one way or the other. You may have a 30 K bond on new property but if you buy a house that the bond is already paid off, they'll charge you roughly the same, for the same house that has a bond or something to that effect.

[Bwanajim]

Bought my house in 2022 and I believe the bond is 30K. I have no intention of paying it off. I plan on living here till I croak. Let my heirs worry about it.

[Stu from NYC]

We moved here in 2020 and our bond has another 12 years or so to go.

Real estate pros suggested not paying it off as we would mostly not get the money back on selling.

If house has been built say 10 or so years ago bond to purchase price of house is not going to be very high so do not see it as a big issue.

[Nana2Teddy]

Originally Posted by Bwanajim

Bought my house in 2022 and I believe the bond is 30K. I have no intention of paying it off. I plan on living here till I croak. Let my heirs worry about it.

Same with us. Bought brand new in 2022, paid cash for our 4/3 veranda home, and have a bond at 3% that we won’t pay off. Our kids can deal with it after we croak. Even with the bond payment added to our property taxes we’re still paying less for our annual taxes than we did in SoCal. It’s all good.

[MNViking]

Originally Posted by asianthree

Search threads on older treatment plants, and summer odors. Some residents have zero issues with smells, others are effected.

Many homes between the 6’s will have bonds close to paid. Then again some newer areas have bonds paid.

Tell your agent you want a bond of 0- to say $12,000 (near Seabreeze Regional)

Lots of homes for sale with low bond. Older homes with new roofs, HVAC, Hot water tank.

One of our homes was preowned, 6 years old, with low bond. Sad part, within 23 months we had to replace because they died,. HVAC, Hot Water Tank, Irrigation System, Refrigerator, Dishwasher, Microwave, Washer Dryer. Roof 4 years later. Low bond for us wasn’t a bonus

That it was not! That is more of an exception than the rule, but how did all of that go within 23 months on a 6 year old home? My goodness!

[MNViking]

Originally Posted by shut the front door

Don't pay attention to the "younger people move south" thing. As older folks die, who do you think buys those homes? My neighborhood has completely turned over since I moved in at 50. Never phased me being around older people.

We love older people! That isn't a concern!

[MNViking]

Originally Posted by westernrider75

Welcome! Just so you know, when you are looking on the Villages app at available homes, click the “flyer” button and you will see lots of additional info listed including remaining bond amount. Good luck.

That I did not know, and will try that! Thank you!

[MNViking]

Quick reminder, as for the heat thing. I grew up outside of Orlando while father was in the AF. So years of being an AF Brat, born in Edwards AFB in California. Last place he was enlisted was Grand Forks, AFB in North Dakota. Now that is windy and cold! I will take sweating at 6:OO getting the newspaper, vs my body being frozen stiff by the time I get to my newspaper!

As for Hurricane's well you get a little time to plan for them, doesn't ease any devastation afterwards however. I believe The Villages doesn't get "truly" affected, but high winds are an issue. Now compare that to a Tornado that pops up you maybe have 3-15 minutes as a heads up.

I can share this, holding my 2 year old son, looking out a large front window, we were admiring the different dark and green colors of the clouds on a storm coming in. My now ex was at the back of the house, and mentions we should bring our son downstairs as she didn't like the look. (She grew up on a farm in WI, so she has seen strong winds with nothing stopping them and huge storms so no fear from her!). I stayed a couple of more seconds, and went well alright buddy let's go down with mom. More to appease then to say fearful, as it wasn't daunting IMO. Low and behold, I took about 20 steps to get to the door to our basement, got half way down the stairs and as those with tornado history or close calls, there was a very loud freight train noise. Hustled down the last remaining steps, gave my son to her hands, and ran over to the steps to see what in the heck that was. From the gap between the floor and the bottom of the door, I could see water, leaves, etc, I went you have to be kidding me! Waited for most of the sound to leave, popped up stairs. Huge old outdoor cast iron chair came through my large from window, from someone's deck a few blocks away lodged into my wall. From window to back wall was 25ft. All the popcorn in access ways to attack where sucked up and turned in the attack, and the worst thing of all was the house behind the entire 2nd and 3rd floor were gone except for a piano. Nobody injured as they were not home, thank goodness!

So, pick your poison lol... blizzards, snow, -50+ windchills with steamy 95+ Summers with high humidity, or Hurricane Season, and Steamy Heat for 4-5 months and rain! I will take that.

I can easily adapt to AC all the time, do it now, I cannot stand the Snow and Bluster anymore! I will miss the cabin, pontooning, jet skiing, etc... but time to Bass fish Lake Sumter!

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by MNViking

Quick reminder, as for the heat thing. I grew up outside of Orlando while father was in the AF. So years of being an AF Brat, born in Edwards AFB in California. Last place he was enlisted was Grand Forks, AFB in North Dakota. Now that is windy and cold! I will take sweating at 6:OO getting the newspaper, vs my body being frozen stiff by the time I get to my newspaper!

As for Hurricane's well you get a little time to plan for them, doesn't ease any devastation afterwards however. I believe The Villages doesn't get "truly" affected, but high winds are an issue. Now compare that to a Tornado that pops up you maybe have 3-15 minutes as a heads up.

I can share this, holding my 2 year old son, looking out a large front window, we were admiring the different dark and green colors of the clouds on a storm coming in. My now ex was at the back of the house, and mentions we should bring our son downstairs as she didn't like the look. (She grew up on a farm in WI, so she has seen strong winds with nothing stopping them and huge storms so no fear from her!). I stayed a couple of more seconds, and went well alright buddy let's go down with mom. More to appease then to say fearful, as it wasn't daunting IMO. Low and behold, I took about 20 steps to get to the door to our basement, got half way down the stairs and as those with tornado history or close calls, there was a very loud freight train noise. Hustled down the last remaining steps, gave my son to her hands, and ran over to the steps to see what in the heck that was. From the gap between the floor and the bottom of the door, I could see water, leaves, etc, I went you have to be kidding me! Waited for most of the sound to leave, popped up stairs. Huge old outdoor cast iron chair came through my large from window, from someone's deck a few blocks away lodged into my wall. From window to back wall was 25ft. All the popcorn in access ways to attack where sucked up and turned in the attack, and the worst thing of all was the house behind the entire 2nd and 3rd floor were gone except for a piano. Nobody injured as they were not home, thank goodness!

So, pick your poison lol... blizzards, snow, -50+ windchills with steamy 95+ Summers with high humidity, or Hurricane Season, and Steamy Heat for 4-5 months and rain! I will take that.

I can easily adapt to AC all the time, do it now, I cannot stand the Snow and Bluster anymore! I will miss the cabin, pontooning, jet skiing, etc... but time to Bass fish Lake Sumter!

We do have to worry about tornadoes here but not so much damage from hurricanes. The Groundhog Day hurricane of 2007 hit a small section of the Villages very hard . But not much in the way of damage before that nor after to the Villages from tornadoes. We have had some in house home care ladies who have lived here all their lives. A few of these are in their fifties if not older.

I was near a natural disaster on Memorial Day of 1983 while working at a food service at Bower's Mansion in Washoe Valley in Northern Nevada. An avalanche on Slide Mountain went into a mountain lake which pushed a mass of water down Davis Creek. I saw a lot of panic in the park visitors but we did not know what was happening until I went outside and saw a mass of mud pushed over the highway to the north.

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by MNViking

That I did not know, and will try that! Thank you!

You can find the bond info per property here.

Finance & Bonds - The Villages Community Development Districts

As others have suggested, be careful to not a bond be the tail that wags the dog.

Be aware the bond is not a personal debt It does not impact your credit. The interest is not tax deductable.

It is a debt against the property and transfers to the next buyer when the property is sold.

Most sellers do not recover the full bond cost when selling the property. Especially in the current market.

It's been said the average Villager move three times. I know several that said not me, paid off their bond, then sold 5 years later and assumed a new bond.

If you have the funds to pay off the bond, better to invest that money and use that interest to offset the bond interest. That way you only pay bond cost for the time you own the home.

[MNViking]

Originally Posted by JohnsonL

Wishing you well in your search for the perfect Villages home and location. You will get a lot of differing opinions about the perfect location. If you’d like to visit again, I have a rental in Fenney, which I believe has the most beautiful entrance of all locations. Villagers Homes 4 Rent, property ID 9868. We will also most likely be selling it FSBO in the next few years. Bond is low.

i agree Fenney was beautiful!!

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Regarding bonds. Some sections of The Villages never had bonds in the first place. So no, the seller won't be including the bond cost in the sales price on those. The "Historic Section" never had bonds. There are plenty of "site-built" homes, block and stucco, and wood frame, peppered between the manufactured homes here on our side of the Villages. None of them have bonds, and never did. The city of Lady Lake in Lake County handles that stuff here, and it just wasn't ever imposed. Our side isn't part of any CDD, we have no district government. We're absorbed into the VCCDD just for continuity, but technically our governmental body is the city within the county except for I believe 3 blocks down near Paradise and Aloha, which are considered "Unincorporated Lake County."

If you were to draw a line from the southernmost part of the Historic Section (which is at Griffin Avenue), west to 301, everything north of that should already have had their bond paid off by now. South of that is a small strip that's just north of 466, and many might still have a couple years more before it's paid in full.

Most people who live north of 466, did not purchase their properties as investments. They purchased them as homes for them to live in during their retirement. So recuperating the cost of their bond payments won't be an issue. When they purchased 20-30 years ago, home prices were very affordable. We're talking $60-100k. During that 20-30 year period they've made upgrades, replaced carpeting, had new roofs and HVAC and hot water heaters installed, etc. etc. They probably paid more in improvements and upgrades over the 2-3 decades they've lived there, than they paid in bonds.

[Aces4]

The bond on homes being paid off is well worth your consideration. If the bond is paid off, those owners don't have an additional amount of interest paid over the years to recoup also upon the sale of their home. There is a big difference between a 5, 10, 20 thousand dollar or even more bond coming along with a home purchase.

Don't forget to check out Hemingway Village also, another lovely location.

[jbartle1]

Lady Lake portion of Villages NO BOND, homes in our Village of LaZamora sell quick, beautiful trees and wonderful neighbors,all ages