Live Oak question. (Tampa: appointed, sale, HOA)

[bentlebee]

Hillsborough: New Tampa residents protest over services (http://www.sptimes.com/2007/10/22/Hillsborough/New_Tampa_residents_p.shtml - broken link)

I just read this old article and qonder if there has anything been changed in this community, for the better, worse or nothing has done?

There are some nice deals out there, and I know the taxes are higher than in Pasco.

Does anyopne knows anything about the CDD's (amount) and if changes are made, the location is great.

[wildmark]

Originally Posted by bentlebee

Hillsborough: New Tampa residents protest over services (http://www.sptimes.com/2007/10/22/Hillsborough/New_Tampa_residents_p.shtml - broken link)

I just read this old article and qonder if there has anything been changed in this community, for the better, worse or nothing has done?

There are some nice deals out there, and I know the taxes are higher than in Pasco.

Does anyopne knows anything about the CDD's (amount) and if changes are made, the location is great.

Funny seeing this post, I live in Live oak, in fact the lady in the middle of the picture in the news article is my wife, I was just out of the picture!!!!

That was back at the beginning of the summer and a lot has changed, we spent the whole day outside their show homes they spent thousands on the day to promote the sale and we completely destroyed it..why? they made promises to all the home owners and flat out lied, they told us it was 24 hour gated security, the reality was the gates were wide open from 6am to 7pm, and we worked out the gates were in fact broken 75% of the time, there were dozens of other problems. I must say some of the problems are still there but things have changed a lot and I would actually recommend the place.

There is a website for the estate you should take a look at.... and be aware Engle has filed my bankruptcy protection.

[bentlebee]

Originally Posted by wildmark

Funny seeing this post, I live in Live oak, in fact the lady in the middle of the picture in the news article is my wife, I was just out of the picture!!!!

That was back at the beginning of the summer and a lot has changed, we spent the whole day outside their show homes they spent thousands on the day to promote the sale and we completely destroyed it..why? they made promises to all the home owners and flat out lied, they told us it was 24 hour gated security, the reality was the gates were wide open from 6am to 7pm, and we worked out the gates were in fact broken 75% of the time, there were dozens of other problems. I must say some of the problems are still there but things have changed a lot and I would actually recommend the place.

There is a website for the estate you should take a look at.... and be aware Engle has filed my bankruptcy protection.

Does that mean chapter 11?

I happen to be in the neighborhood and drove into the community and indeed the gates were open. I wanted to have a look at the clubhouse, but they wouldn't let me in, only with a realtor or with people from Engle. There was nothing to do at the clubhouse only 2 smoking persons sitting there and telling us this....
We went to the Engle office and nobody was there until after 2 pm and it was 11am... A friendly lady came out of the designers office and gave us a brochure and I asked about the CDD's and she told me it is all in the paperwork. She also told us that a few new construction that is being started on, is sold. Good News!! But on our drive back we looked at the CDD's and HOA and we were shocked to see how high they are. They CDD is okay but a monthly HOA on top of it of $ 148.- is very high. For Seven Oaks I pay $ 1500- CDD and $ 65- a year of HOA!! I know the CDD in Seven Oaks for a gated community is around $ 2600- but still is much lower than in Live Oak, and than the higher taxes, that is not making it to excited for us to buy.
By the way the Location is one of the best, just like Seven Oaks. Maybe the people in the clubhouse should do the same as in Seven Oaks and let people who just need some orientation to have a quick look in the clubhouse before they are calling realtors to have them show the clubhouse and having realtors to pay for gas just to see the neighborhood. When the time to look at a home it is soon enough to make that call.

[wildmark]

Originally Posted by bentlebee

Does that mean chapter 11?

I happen to be in the neighborhood and drove into the community and indeed the gates were open. I wanted to have a look at the clubhouse, but they wouldn't let me in, only with a realtor or with people from Engle. There was nothing to do at the clubhouse only 2 smoking persons sitting there and telling us this....
We went to the Engle office and nobody was there until after 2 pm and it was 11am... A friendly lady came out of the designers office and gave us a brochure and I asked about the CDD's and she told me it is all in the paperwork. She also told us that a few new construction that is being started on, is sold. Good News!! But on our drive back we looked at the CDD's and HOA and we were shocked to see how high they are. They CDD is okay but a monthly HOA on top of it of $ 148.- is very high. For Seven Oaks I pay $ 1500- CDD and $ 65- a year of HOA!! I know the CDD in Seven Oaks for a gated community is around $ 2600- but still is much lower than in Live Oak, and than the higher taxes, that is not making it to excited for us to buy.
By the way the Location is one of the best, just like Seven Oaks. Maybe the people in the clubhouse should do the same as in Seven Oaks and let people who just need some orientation to have a quick look in the clubhouse before they are calling realtors to have them show the clubhouse and having realtors to pay for gas just to see the neighborhood. When the time to look at a home it is soon enough to make that call.

Yep you have summed it up, If I had my chance all over again I would have bought in Hunters Green, there is more to do. Your right the club house looks great but were not allowed in! its only there as a marketing tool, there are some great deals to be had, but like I said I would have moved to Hunters Green.

[CPT Hammonds]

Let me tell you about a couple of problems in the last couple of months since I moved here a year ago:

March:

While getting out of my truck with my fiancée at the clubhouse, three young black teens almost hit my truck as they were trying to “drift” their car as they have seen in the movies. I approached them and told them I did not appreciate them doing that and almost hitting my truck. The driver got out and responded by saying, “Hold on…I’ll shoot you in the head if you don’t shut the fu#k up!”

I called the police as the property manager came out of the clubhouse when he heard the yelling. While on the phone with the police, the same subject walked up to me and told me, “You know what your problem is? You have to learn how to treat a nig#er!” (The 911 operator got it on tape.)

They left LONG before the police arrived, but I got their plate and turned it in to HCSO. (The car traced to a property outside Live Oak…)

May:

The unit beside me had been vacant for over six months and my fiancée was leaving me, so I left my trailer in the vacant unit’s driveway for a week and there was a ticket put on it that informed me that it is against HOA rules to leave it in the driveway. I was embarrassed that I got a neighbor (sort of…) ticketed and have never received a listing of the rules, so I moved it into my garage and didn’t give it another thought.

June:

I was helping the family of a Sergeant First Class (SFC) in my unit with moving some of his personal effects with my utility trailer since he is going through treatment for cancer. I got a call from the SFC when I got home and he said he had fallen and could not get off the floor because he hurt his hip pretty badly.

I disconnected my trailer and went to his aid because he is a widower that lives alone. I stayed in the hospital with him for two days. When I came back, I put my trailer in my garage. (I have a lot of stuff in there, so it takes some time to get it in there…)

On the 15th, I received a nasty and threatening letter from the HOA that informed me that I was going to be sued if "(the HOA president) ever sees my trailer ever again." Due to the tone being so threatening, I decided to call the person that wrote the letter that was listed as the “President of the HOA” on the letter.

During this call, he refused to provide me a copy of the HOA rules and spent several minutes yelling at me for “testing his resolve” and telling me that I was going to learn to respect his authority. (I thought he sounded a little like a character on the TV show “South Park” when he kept saying it...HAHAHA…what a tool…)

I told him that I am a military officer, and I was not trying to do test anyone and that I am the sort of person that is usually informing others about rules as a Captain. He said he did not care about me being in the military and kept yelling as he told me to “I can see you are just trying to get around the rules because you think you are special, so go ahead and let me ever see that trailer again at anytime or under any circumstance...”

Eventually I had enough and told him to adjust his tone when he speaks to me and he responded by yelling “I don’t have to take this from you” and slammed the phone down as he hung up on me.

Conclusion:

I don’t know what his problem is! Is his title President of the HOA or Der Führer of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei?!
This fella had better never set foot on my little patch of grass or I will have HCSO (not the community patrol officer) issue him a warning of trespassing under Florida Statute 810.09.

Moreover, if he comes here and wishes to accelerate the situation the way he did in the letter and on the phone, I hope he understands that I will fully practice my rights by meeting (but not escalating) whatever level of force he brings at me. (Though I doubt he would because big mouth guys are usually too afraid to talk to someone like me in person like they will over the phone…)

I’ve served in the Marines, Navy and Army since I joined in 1989 and have been in more than one dispute with people, so I hope he understands that he cannot treat me the way I’m sure he treats his wife and kids!!!!!!!!

[bentlebee]

I'm sorry to hear about your issues and if you have proof of all this, the HOA should deal with it accordingly to what the circumstances are.
I wish you good luck and maybe you should move to Pasco County

[Brepal]

Why dont you guys petition to get a real HOA management group. Rizzetta has one that deals with ammenties and they could possibly help with the clubhouse problems. That should be open and welcoming like ours over in LakeShore Ranch.

[SeaDude]

Just recently found issues with the Rizzetta idea. They are looking to cut things like security and then down the line use that extra budget to increase their fees. In Lakeshore Ranch, Rizzetta has received a bid to get rid of the manned gate and roving guard and replace them with cameras at the gate and at the amenities. Many people who bought their houses did so because of the dedicated security. The really odd thing is that they are "just looking into this", but they have asked the security company to come back with other options like part time only cameras and manned gate. This all being done with only one contractor. How many of you would just get one bid on something, especially when the cost is around 100K a year.

I am in the process of creating a new website Lakeshore Ranch Residents Home Page to give people a Lakeshore Ranch residents perspective. The builders (KHOV and Home Dynamics) and developers are good, but at this point the CDD is being run by their appointed people. They don't have the resident perspective and they are willing to go along with just about anything the management company says. I would suggest that when you look for a new community, you find one that has some checks and balances in place. One idea would be to have the management of the CDD be done by one company and the management of the amenities be done by another company. I bought before the management company was hired and had no way of knowing the developers plan to hire one company to do both jobs.