55+ Communities - Are you happy there? (relatives, grow up, older, senior)

[FiftyFiftyAboutCO]

Originally Posted by faithfulFrank

Dear 50-50,

Yes, dogs are allowed in The Plantation. Many neighbors have them. They must be leashed outside when off your property. When walking, owners are supposed to "pick up" after their dogs. All the dog owning neighbors seem to do this with no problems at all. We have gotten to know many of our neighbors and their dogs......my wife is a HUGE dog lover. There is actually a couple of "dog owners" clubs at The Plantation.

As to fences....perimeter fences are not allowed. Many have hedges around their back yards, and some I think have invisible fencing, but you cannot have regular perimeter fencing.

I'm not sure what rules The Villages have...they are about 13 miles up the road from us. There are many nice 55+ communities around. DM me if you like and I can help you further. There are some other online resources I have to find out more for you if you like.

Frank D.

Frank:

Thanks for answering so soon -- I just got the message, as I've been offline most of the evening. I know people in The Villages; they seem to like it a lot, but I think they are too expensive for what I'd want to get into. I love the fact they have a dog owner's club at your community. You will surely enjoy living there when you can go full-time. I will save this post, and thanks for the DM offer. I need to do some thinking. I ski, but ski season only lasts 2 or 3 months where I go. That leaves the rest of the year with not much for me to do, since I'm alone. I need to work the ski issue out -- not sure I can give it up forever.

The 55+ places in FL are tempting me to make a big change. My Dad lived in a retirement community (Old Bridge Park) in N. Ft. Myers for 13 years and was pretty happy there, so I've been to Florida quite a few times. One thing I'd enjoy if I lived in your area would be proximity to the Tampa Rays -- I'm a Yankee fan (originally from North Jersey), so could get in some baseball each season. As is, I travel to Kansas City most years when the Yankees come -- it's 860 miles from where I live.

Have a great New Year; hope to talk with you soon.

50-50

[nancy thereader]

Hi Frank & Happy New Year!!!

I know that you are close to The Villages, but is the typography pretty similar? The photos of your house looked as if it might be greener than a lot of The Villages.

What kinds of stores are there near you ? I know you mentioned Ace Hardware, but.... .) Any malls? Costcos? Targets?
(Sorry. I do love to shop.)

[faithfulFrank]

Hello Nancy!

Four months from today I'll be back in Lake County. Yes, we are 13 miles south of The Villages. The typography is about the same I think......just south of us it gets much more "hilly". Clairmont is much hillier. You don't seem to notice the lack of hills until you are back in them. Of course, they are nothing like what we have in NY. My place may look greener because my yard is much bigger then most.

As to shopping.....We are just about 2-3 miles south of the city of Leesburg. About 1.5 miles north of us is a little bunch of stores.....a couple of Gas stations, a Publix and a Winn Dixie, a strip mall with a bunch of smaller stores and restaurants , a furniture store, a Perkins, an Advance auto, a few banks, a Walgreens, of course, the Mighty Ace Hardware, (a personal favorite!) etc,etc.

Leesburg itself is almost cut in half by a BIG lake, Lake Harris. Thus, there is the eastern and western half....so for us to get to the western half, you kinda have to go around the big lake. The Plantation is on Hwy 27........27 joins with Hwy 441 north about 8-10 miles north of me. CR 48 connects the two highways so it is like a big letter "A". If I want to go to the Lake Square Mall I have to drive up one side of the "A", take the crossbar of the "A" over to the other side of the "A". This is where Home Depot and Lowes are.....also many car dealerships, restaurants, etc. Target, Sears, many other dept stores, etc.are there, and many stores are on both sides of the lake.

I can also get to many stores by just going up Hwy 27/441. There is another Target, Bed, Bath and Beyond, another Home Depot, Walmarts, Sam's Club, etc up there , close to The Villages.

So....the bottom line is that I have SOME stores within 2-3 miles from my home. What is not there can be found either north of me towards The Villages, or around the Lake and all over in Leesburg on BOTH 27 and/or 441, both before and after they join together at the northern end of Leesburg.

The area where we live, just south of Leesburg is getting built up pretty quickly.....so that within the next 3-5 years there will be many more options closer to where we are.

SO......although some places are close, many of the places you would be thinking of are about a 10 mile drive. It does not seem that far, but it actually is. Going around the lake is farther then it looks....so it is almost a wash, either going around the lake, or going north to the outer skirts of The Villages.

Another option is to go south towards Clairmont. Fast, less traffic, etc. The entrance to the Florida Turnpike is just two miles south of The Plantation, so going north up to The Villages may be quicker that way.

It is something you just get used to. A person living in The Villages is definitely closer to shopping.....many times being able to get to almost anywhere just by golf cart if they choose. Remember though.....golf carts go 20 mph.....IF they are 48 volts or more. A 36 volt golf cart goes about 11-12 mph. Traffic in The Villages during snowbird season is really busy and congested, IMHO.

I'm not sure if I answered your question well. Please let me know if I can answer better. Oh, a new Costco is being built in Clairmont, and a brand new Sam's club is being built just south of Home Depot close to The Villages. There is also a BJ's near by......all about 10 miles from us.

Frank D.

[FiftyFiftyAboutCO]

The people I know in the Villages told me some things that would steer me clear of that community.

They have many "neighborhoods." Some are stricter than others, and some of the rules are ridiculous. One of the dumbest ones in their particular neighborhood is that all houses must display clear lights at Christmas if they display any lights at all on the exterior. Other rules involve what you can or cannot plant in your yard -- I guess you'd need to get "permission" to plant a blade of grass, if you know what I mean. And, of course, if you want to change the color of the house, you must get their approval first, even if your color is conservative.

I'm a very responsible person who has owned and neatly maintained 9 homes over the years. Therefore, I find it hard to think I'd be under the control of people whose personal taste might be offended with choices I make to give my home curb appeal.

I lived in Del Webb's Sun City (Georgetown) TX for two years back in the late 90's and got very tired of their picky "rules." One time, I wanted to install a set of decorative shutters on a window in the garage which overlooked my front walk. The Architectural Control Committee told me "no" because "it was not specified in the original elevation of the house." My neighbors all thought the shutters would look very nice, and encouraged me to put them up, but, no, I couldn't just because of a group of busybodies. For me, that was the last straw. Shortly after, I sold and moved to Colorado. I'm starting to think, after refreshing my mind with this write-up, that maybe I better think about getting happier right here and forget moving anywhere. There's no perfect place no matter where you go.

Anyway, look out for that stuff (rules) before you leap into a sales contract with a smiling, well-dressed sales rep. I think Frank's Plantation sounds very nice and reasonable -- I would definitely give it consideration. The only thing I have a problem with is most retirement communities don't allow perimeter fences, and just wonder how some people keep their dogs in and other people's dogs and children out. I've looked at subdivisions in the Kansas City area, and few of them have fences. I just wonder if it's some issue with tornadoes and hurricanes -- they figure why put them up if they'll get blown all over. I can see them not putting up those wood fences which look ugly in a short time, but nowadays they have these no-maintenance white vinyl fences with all variations of design. I think they make the yards look very neat and quaint, plus giving them definition. But......that's me. I've been disagreed with before, lol.

[Tesaje]

Originally Posted by FiftyFiftyAboutCO

The people I know in the Villages told me some things that would steer me clear of that community.

They have many "neighborhoods." Some are stricter than others, and some of the rules are ridiculous. One of the dumbest ones in their particular neighborhood is that all houses must display clear lights at Christmas if they display any lights at all on the exterior. Other rules involve what you can or cannot plant in your yard -- I guess you'd need to get "permission" to plant a blade of grass, if you know what I mean. And, of course, if you want to change the color of the house, you must get their approval first, even if your color is conservative.

I'm a very responsible person who has owned and neatly maintained 9 homes over the years. Therefore, I find it hard to think I'd be under the control of people whose personal taste might be offended with choices I make to give my home curb appeal.

I lived in Del Webb's Sun City (Georgetown) TX for two years back in the late 90's and got very tired of their picky "rules." One time, I wanted to install a set of decorative shutters on a window in the garage which overlooked my front walk. The Architectural Control Committee told me "no" because "it was not specified in the original elevation of the house." My neighbors all thought the shutters would look very nice, and encouraged me to put them up, but, no, I couldn't just because of a group of busybodies. For me, that was the last straw. Shortly after, I sold and moved to Colorado. I'm starting to think, after refreshing my mind with this write-up, that maybe I better think about getting happier right here and forget moving anywhere. There's no perfect place no matter where you go.

Anyway, look out for that stuff (rules) before you leap into a sales contract with a smiling, well-dressed sales rep. I think Frank's Plantation sounds very nice and reasonable -- I would definitely give it consideration. The only thing I have a problem with is most retirement communities don't allow perimeter fences, and just wonder how some people keep their dogs in and other people's dogs and children out. I've looked at subdivisions in the Kansas City area, and few of them have fences. I just wonder if it's some issue with tornadoes and hurricanes -- they figure why put them up if they'll get blown all over. I can see them not putting up those wood fences which look ugly in a short time, but nowadays they have these no-maintenance white vinyl fences with all variations of design. I think they make the yards look very neat and quaint, plus giving them definition. But......that's me. I've been disagreed with before, lol.

This is exactly why I would be very leery of living in one of these communities. I don't like the bland look of communities under the thumb of busybody neighborhood associations. I don't like yards full of garbage either but to me, the most attractive places have a lot of personal variability. Even those places that started off with 5-6 house styles look nicer when thru the years individual owners made personal choices in the house and landscaping.

But then when an association puts arbitrary rules on me, it makes me want to paint my door bright purple with pink poka dots while normally I would not want that at all.

[FiftyFiftyAboutCO]

Originally Posted by Tesaje

This is exactly why I would be very leery of living in one of these communities. I don't like the bland look of communities under the thumb of busybody neighborhood associations. I don't like yards full of garbage either but to me, the most attractive places have a lot of personal variability. Even those places that started off with 5-6 house styles look nicer when thru the years individual owners made personal choices in the house and landscaping.

But then when an association puts arbitrary rules on me, it makes me want to paint my door bright purple with pink poka dots while normally I would not want that at all.

Of course, in fairness to the world of retirement communities, you can find the same rules in all-age subdivisions. Believe me, I've gone around with some of them also. The bottom line is: look before you leap.

The people in my current subdivision here in CO had two start-up meetings last fall and decided to can the whole idea of a homeowners association because they don't want anyone telling them what to do. I feel that most of the worst transgressions in subs can be dealt with through city ordinances, i.e., abandoned vehicles on the street, disturbing the peace, and dogs running loose and barking. So far, we have a very peaceful little neighborhood. If the "neighbors from heck" ever move in next to me, well then, I know how to pack, and I'll be long gone. Moving anywhere is a gamble, but you can always move on and try something new. It keeps life interesting.

[nancy thereader]

Thank you, Frank. As always your answers are so imformative and help me to get an exact picture of what I had wondered about. Thanks for taking so much time to help me.

And , thanks 50/50. That would be something that I would not be crazy about... the non-planting rule. I love my little garden. I can not imagine why such a rule would exist (I could see if they said, " no bamboo", or something like that though. )

[faithfulFrank]

HOA's are a touchy subject.
They are like Tylenol.....the right amount can keep headaches from happening, but too much causes acetaminophen poisoning, a slow, painful death due to liver shutdown....not a nice way to die.

Sometimes HOA's are much too restricting and subjective. In the Plantation, the only place I have first hand experience with HOA's........they have been no problem at all. People seem able to do many things. I cut down 7 trees and did a lot of replanting with no problems at all. I have done many home improvements with no problems.

Our neighborhood does not look cookie cutter at all. In fact, I love walking around and seeing the interesting things neighbors have done to enhance their property and the neighborhood.

I just got a garage addition approved. They only asked if I was going to try to match my existing siding. Of course, I planned on matching it...it would look stupid if I didn't. They were quite helpful. They basically wanted to make sure I would be getting the proper county building permits. Once they knew it was approved by the building dept, they knew it would be done correctly to code, etc, and they had no problems at all.

Every place has different types of HOA's, etc........it is wise to know what you are dealing with before you buy in any community.

It is a two edged sword......every river needs banks, or else you have a flood. After over 20 years of being involved with building codes, etc, I have seen some scary, foolish things out there. All it takes is one idiot who thinks he knows what he is doing to ruin his house, and take the neighborhood down with it. I take pride in my homes, and when I look out a window or down the street, I do not want to see a blight.

Life is full of trade offs. I'll give up my right to build a fence as long as I know I can live in a clean, safe, nice looking neighborhood.

Remember, almost everyplace has SOME restrictions. In the city I currently work for here in NY, I think they have more restrictions through the building code officer then I've ever seen from my Florida HOA.

Frank D.

[BFW]

He** NO! Sun City Hilton HeaD SUCKS!

[faithfulFrank]

Originally Posted by BFW

He** NO! Sun City Hilton HeaD SUCKS!

Instead of just spouting off inflammatory, negative opinions, perhaps backing them up with some facts to support them would give your post a bit more credibility......

Frank D.