On Top of the World or the Villages (Ocala, Leesburg: house, neighborhoods)

[Ghaati]

Originally Posted by Chas863

Huh??? Since when? Many "resales" in The Villages don't have a paid up Bond and the Bond then becomes the responsibility of the buyer.

Context is everything.

A NEW bond would never be imposed on a resale house. The bond originates with the FIRST buyer, and is carried over to any resales until the bond has been paid off.

A house doesn't get built, and then sold, and then sold AGAIN with no bond, and a bond suddenly added to the second buyer when the first buyer never had a bone. It doesn't happen.

[Tall Traveler]

Originally Posted by Ghaati

Context is everything.

A NEW bond would never be imposed on a resale house. The bond originates with the FIRST buyer, and is carried over to any resales until the bond has been paid off.

A house doesn't get built, and then sold, and then sold AGAIN with no bond, and a bond suddenly added to the second buyer when the first buyer never had a bone. It doesn't happen.

My SIL looked at re-sell houses with no bond and some with the bond. For comparison, I just added the bond amount to the sell price because that's essentially what you're paying, correct?

I can see why The Villages are so popular but we still might choose OTOW for wife and I at some point in time.

[Ghaati]

Originally Posted by Tall Traveler

My SIL looked at re-sell houses with no bond and some with the bond. For comparison, I just added the bond amount to the sell price because that's essentially what you're paying, correct?

I can see why The Villages are so popular but we still might choose OTOW for wife and I at some point in time.

Correct. That's what most people do when configuring the actual cost of a home in the Villages. If there's a bond on the home, whether it's new construction or a bond that still has a balance from the previous owner, you just tack it onto the total cost when figuring the financial obligation.

A lot of homes here no longer have bonds, they've already been paid off. Those would be a huge chunk of homes north of Sumter Landing Town Square, and all of the "historic" section east/north of 441 across from Spanish Springs town Square.

Plus any homes whose original buyers chose to pay the bond off in full up front.

I think you'll find plenty to do no matter which place you move to! If you prefer a more city-ish suburb, the Villages would be your best bet. If you prefer a more intimate setting where you can get to recognize (if not actually know) everyone you see in the community, On Top of the World is probably more your style.

[Atari2600]

I'm trying to figure out how to say this without being a jerk.


OTOW wants to be The Villages. Period... I think deep down, we all recognize this. I'm not going to demonize everyone who went to OTOW because people make decisions for a variety of reasons, and The Villages would end up being too packed. But when we're not in a low-interest rate, pent-up pandemic / "flee the blue states as fast as possible" type of environment, The Villages has equally affordable homes to what's in OTOW. Someone mentioned something about "traditional" neighborhoods. My parents live in a neighborhood in The Villages that has... 20-25 homes in it? They're large homes... 4,800+ square feet. But they're pretty traditional. They're not on market square if that's what everyone thinks.


LOL, if you're looking to retire, sell your house right now and rent somewhere for a year until prices plateau... and then buy at one of them.

[Tall Traveler]

Originally Posted by Atari2600

I'm trying to figure out how to say this without being a jerk.


OTOW wants to be The Villages. Period... I think deep down, we all recognize this. I'm not going to demonize everyone who went to OTOW because people make decisions for a variety of reasons, and The Villages would end up being too packed. But when we're not in a low-interest rate, pent-up pandemic / "flee the blue states as fast as possible" type of environment, The Villages has equally affordable homes to what's in OTOW. Someone mentioned something about "traditional" neighborhoods. My parents live in a neighborhood in The Villages that has... 20-25 homes in it? They're large homes... 4,800+ square feet. But they're pretty traditional. They're not on market square if that's what everyone thinks.


LOL, if you're looking to retire, sell your house right now and rent somewhere for a year until prices plateau... and then buy at one of them.

OTOW did seem pretty dead compared to The Villages but I think there are many that prefer that vibe and my wife even commented that she preferred OTOW over The Villages so I think OTOW attracts a bit of a different retiree that is not solely based on price differential.

For those of us from high cost areas such as Washington state (where we just moved from), even the prices in The Villages seem bargain priced so the prices may seem very high are super low depending on where a person is coming from.

[rjm1cc]

Originally Posted by Ghaati

Correct. That's what most people do when configuring the actual cost of a home in the Villages. If there's a bond on the home, whether it's new construction or a bond that still has a balance from the previous owner, you just tack it onto the total cost when figuring the financial obligation.

A lot of homes here no longer have bonds, they've already been paid off. Those would be a huge chunk of homes north of Sumter Landing Town Square, and all of the "historic" section east/north of 441 across from Spanish Springs town Square.

Plus any homes whose original buyers chose to pay the bond off in full up front.

I think you'll find plenty to do no matter which place you move to! If you prefer a more city-ish suburb, the Villages would be your best bet. If you prefer a more intimate setting where you can get to recognize (if not actually know) everyone you see in the community, On Top of the World is probably more your style.

I think you have to look at the two as a large community (Villages) with lots of activities from rentals verses a small community (OTOW) of residences. As far as activities I think either can have the activities you want.



Having said that I would think of over 55 communities as small, medium, large and the Villages. Figure out the size you would like and then see if the community you find has the activities you like. OTOW wold be in the large category.

[Ghaati]

Originally Posted by rjm1cc

I think you have to look at the two as a large community (Villages) with lots of activities from rentals verses a small community (OTOW) of residences. As far as activities I think either can have the activities you want.



Having said that I would think of over 55 communities as small, medium, large and the Villages. Figure out the size you would like and then see if the community you find has the activities you like. OTOW wold be in the large category.

I'm not sure what you mean by "lots of activity from rentals." Most of the homes in the Villages are occupied by owners of the property. I mean, considering there are over 130,000 residents total, and some of those rentals are short-term used by people taking a month-long vacation and not actually "living" in the Villages at all, the percentage of properties that are offered as rentals vs. the percentage resided in by owners is pretty small.

[OldOzarkLady]

Originally Posted by Tall Traveler

OTOW did seem pretty dead compared to The Villages but I think there are many that prefer that vibe and my wife even commented that she preferred OTOW over The Villages so I think OTOW attracts a bit of a different retiree that is not solely based on price differential.

For those of us from high cost areas such as Washington state (where we just moved from), even the prices in The Villages seem bargain priced so the prices may seem very high are super low depending on where a person is coming from.

I think The Villages is more active, so, if I were 55 to 62 and wanted to move to Florida, I'd choose TV, and almost did back in 2007-2008.

Originally Posted by rjm1cc

I think you have to look at the two as a large community (Villages) with lots of activities from rentals verses a small community (OTOW) of residences. As far as activities I think either can have the activities you want.



Having said that I would think of over 55 communities as small, medium, large and the Villages. Figure out the size you would like and then see if the community you find has the activities you like. OTOW would be in the large category.

Then The Villages would be a gigantic community, right?
OTOTW has a 'older person' feel to me. It seems nicer for someone living a more sedimentary lifestyle, not that it is limited to that,

[rjm1cc]

Originally Posted by OldOzarkLady

I think The Villages is more active, so, if I were 55 to 62 and wanted to move to Florida, I'd choose TV, and almost did back in 2007-2008.

Then The Villages would be a gigantic community, right?
OTOTW has a 'older person' feel to me. It seems nicer for someone living a more sedimentary lifestyle, not that it is limited to that,

i would rent first VH4R Home Rentals in The Villages Florida The Villages Rentals (villagershomes4rent.com)


Villages any period of time.


OTOW 6 months min rental.

[OldOzarkLady]

Originally Posted by rjm1cc

i would rent first VH4R Home Rentals in The Villages Florida The Villages Rentals (villagershomes4rent.com)


Villages any period of time.


OTOW 6 months min rental.

Thanks
Perhaps good advice, if I were 62, but at my age, add twenty years, the move would take a year to recover, so two moves, that dog wont hunt. I would have to do it in one move, or chuck it and go into independent living, which may be the most prudent action.
I think I'll give another home a try as long as I hold up.

hey, come to think about it, renting without moving for a few months might be good idea. What I could never manage is sell my house and having all my home furnishings moved. I may try an estate sale anyway, rather than have to hire a mover.