[Veronica]

Has anyone been to Terra Vista/Citrus Hills outside Tampa? Is it as nice as TV?

[Mudder]

No way is it as nice as Villages !

[billlaur]

Yes I was there in Aug 2010. A very nice community, rolling hills,all the amenities that the Villages has, but not to the extent of the Villages.. Where the villages has 30 rec . centers they have 1,where the villages has NUMEROUS pools ,they have 2 0r 3..no town squares. Its just a low key place.if thats for you..It has 2 or 3 golf courses,nice houses and golf carts...Its about 45 min. ride to the villages.A lot of residents there take a day trip to the villages every so often..

[chuckster]

"sky view" at Terra Vista is an exceptional golf course, well worth the 1 hour trip.

[batman911]

Wife and I have done two "life stye visits" to Citrus Hills. We went out for a walk one night and felt like we were in a ghost town. Lots of snow birds. Great gym and indoor pool, spa, etc. Puts TV to shame. Houses are very nice and reasonably priced compared to TV. However, it is just an ordinary retirement community in the middle of no where. Wish I could build one of those houses in TV. The actually had one of their builders draw up a plan to incorporate a master bath from a 1.5M home we stayed in into the model of home we liked. Now that is customer service but alas, not TV. I would love to see a gym/spa like theirs in TV.

[manaboutown]

Last year (2009) I flew into Tampa and drove to Terra Vista/Citrus Hills from the airport, about an hour and fifteen minute drive on the Suncoast Parkway, a toll road, for a lifestyle visit for two nights after which I drove over to TV for its lifestyle visit for four nights. As a previous post mentioned the rolling hills, landscaping, golf courses, clubhouses and homes are spectacular. It appeared to be a true gated community which TV is not. The nearest beach is man made, nice but small. Nearby are some historic small towns, beautiful rivers, manatees and Old Florida nature. The onsite physical training facilities are first class, something TV lacks by my standards. Their homes are also first class, architecturally detailed, aesthetically pleasing and have granite, stone and high end appliances all at quite reasonable prices. The problem is it felt remote, an island of country club life in the middle of an unchanged rural environment. Once one has eaten at the handful or restaurants and played the golf courses what is there to do for someone with urban or even suburban interests? Also, the nearest major medical facilities are probably in the Tampa/Clearwater/St. Petersburg area. Since my condo was not ready when I arrived the developer comped my whole visit which left a very pleasant taste in my mouth.

After leaving Terra Vista I drove to TV which only took an hour or so. The contrast was significant. TV is huge by comparison, has the two - soon three - town squares, many activities and clubs, more golf courses for those who golf, golf cart paths, many nearby restaurants and big box retailers and is closer to major hospitals, and car dealers in Ocala and Orlando as well as Orlando's airport. TV does not feel remote to me. It feels suburban and laid back. TV is also not far from Florida's east coast beaches.

I would love to have a Terra Vista style home and a first class recreation center physical training facility nearby but I do prefer the lifestyle TV offers, more people, more to do, closer prximity to hospitals and more choice in medical providers and shopping. As an aside, I am single and finding a good dating partner or significant other is a numbers game. I was out to dinner in Terra Vista at one of the clubs and the female pianist who was providing dinner music and I chatted quite a bit. She was very friendly, in her midfifties and single herself. She hinted that not much was happening for singles in the Citrus Hills area.

[Taj44]

We checked our quite a few retirement communities before we bought in The Villages, and pretty much came to the same conclusion. The houses here (in TV) are overpriced for what you get, but the golf courses, clubs, pools, rec centers, town squares, etc. are the plus side of the equation. I wish we had more "fine" dining, as opposed to the chain restaurants we have here. And I too wish we had some decent health clubs/spas, indoor pool - definitely lacking in The Villages. You weigh the pros and cons and make a decision which correlates to your desired lifestyle. We looked at some beautiful communites in North Carolina, and even in south Florida, but they felt "in the middle of nowhere", and as you said, one golf course, a couple of pools, just doesn't cut it (for us).

[LittleDog]

The houses in the Villages may be overpriced but from my perspective, coming from NJ, the prices here are very reasonable. However, we bought 5 years ago and the prices have gone up in those 5 years. Still the prices are very comparable with NJ and the taxes sure are a lot less.

John

[svzitney]

Buyer beware of their supplemental sales agreement! We fell in love with this community and gave them $38,500 as 10% downpayment. Within three weeks of signing their agreement, I became seriously ill ending up septic in ICU. They kept all of our money when we decided we needed to remain close to adult children and medical doctors. Nothing had started. Just the sales agreement. The supplement was strategically placed in a folder with over 100 pages of neighborhood covenants, etc. So...if you like this community, don't sign their agreement without fully reading the supplement. We would have never given them so much had we known they were so heartless.

[duffysmom]

svzitney, so sorry that happended to you. Hope you're well and living the good life.