[Mark1130]

My wife and I are very much interested in moving to the villages soon.

We live in the panhandle area of Florida. We have a copy of the Estimated Monthly Expenses from TV. A few questions about the expenses;

Do we have to be "re-homsteaded" or does that carry with us?

Is the Development District Assessment the bond that needs to be paid or is there another yearly assessment that we need to be aware of?

We want to by a CYV with 2 bed and a den/ study, preowned, for under 180k. My biggest fear is committing to the move and later finding out about unaccounted for expenses from the property or county. From all that I have read and researched, we should be able to live comfortably.

Lastly, what about full time employment? I work in sales for the building industry and may still want to do the same. If I could, we can move this year.

Thank you all in advance.

[rjm1cc]

There have been a lot of discussions on this board about both living and buying costs.
If you have searched through these postings I do not think you should find any big problems. However I would set a side at least 1% of your purchase price for misc items. Consider using a home inspector and an attorney in addition to a Realtor. These will add a few thousand to your costs. If you age getting a mortgage then more costs. If you have a problem selling your home you could end up with months of owning two homes and the related expense.

[skip0358]

I believe you'll have to reapply your homestead to your home in TV after your other home is sold. I would deff. have the home your buying inspected by an outside inspector. Watch for the obvious roof,cracks, check inside airhandles for rust,water stains, mold etc. Age of AC compressor,appliances. If they're all good shouldn't be much more then paint maybe some landscape changes. There's a 3 part post in here about moving to TV. If your read it there really shouldn't be any surprises. Good luck, hope it works out for you. TV is a great place.

[judynsc]

How can you find the 3 part post?

We are planning to move to tv as soon as we sell our house and want to be fully educated as to costs.

Judy

[jojo]

There is a yearly assessment in addition to the bond which I believe covers mainly landscaping.

[Carla B]

You'll either apply for the homestead exemption here or keep the one you have if you haven't sold your house. If you decide to homestead here you will automatically abandon your previous exemption. It's very easy to switch over when coming from another FL residence; I think you just need to change your driver's license address.

When we did it, the tax office had all the information on the lot and house in their system already. We just had to show our drivers' licenses. It took just a few minutes. Good luck!

[pklein9747]

Originally Posted by judynsc

How can you find the 3 part post?

We are planning to move to tv as soon as we sell our house and want to be fully educated as to costs.

Judy

Click on Talk of the Villages link at the top of the page, then scroll all the way down to the Nuts and Bolts link. Lots of great information for those of us who are new.

[RealJudy]

Homestead does not move with you. It stays with the home. You will need to re-apply for homestead when you move here.
There are 3 assessments on your tax bill - fire, maintenance, and bond. The bond can be paid off. The other 2 will always be there.

[jebartle]

might save you $20,000 to $50,000 on bond...Many pre-owns either have NO bond or it is paid off....

[starflyte1]

Your Homestead Exemption is now "portable" to a certain extent. It is figured on a percentage of your previous exemption, and the value of the homes involved. The new law went into effect about three years ago, and is a BIG money saver. You have to fill out a page or two of paperwork. Be sure to tie your old exemption to your new home so it carries over.

[katezbox]

Originally Posted by jebartle

might save you $20,000 to $50,000 on bond...Many pre-owns either have NO bond or it is paid off....

Just remember - you want to look at the true bottom line. many of the pre-owned we looked at with the bond paid off were marked up about $20K above those with an unpaid bond...

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by katezbox

Just remember - you want to look at the true bottom line. many of the pre-owned we looked at with the bond paid off were marked up about $20K above those with an unpaid bond...

Kate is right as always.

On general expenses, the sales office has some information on that and I found it to be pretty close to reality.

[l2ridehd]

I agree, look at the true bottom line. However if two homes were exactly the same, features, location, upgrades, etc, and one had a bond of 10K and one had a paid off bond, I would expect a 10K difference in their price. Just as when I looked at new homes with a 30K bond, I added that delta to a pre-owned. I know no other way to compare apples to apples. That's why I wonder when everyone says new is cheaper. Just the cost is in a different bucket. But it is still real cost to you. And when that is added to new and a 8K to 10K balance is added to pre-owned, adjusted for upgrades that I want, I almost always find pre-owned cheaper then new.

[rjm1cc]

I think I recall a discussion on roof warranties and if the home was sold the warranty may not follow the home. Do some searching on this site or maybe someone will recall. Be sure you follow what ever the rules are so you get any remaing warranty if that is important.

[Mark1130]

I appreciate all the input. We are working hard trying to find the right place and see if we can make the expenses workout.

This is an awesome blog for information. You all are great.