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Grumpy, When you find an area that you think you'll like, RENT! By renting you'll be able to determine if the area is right for you. Restuarants, shopping, safety and activities may be a concern for you. We thought about buying in the Villages, but thought that it got cold during the winter. Take your time and find the right place for you. I live in a +55 community called Solivita and am satisied with living here, as I don't ever want to mow grass or putter around in the yard.
Good Luck and Success with your move!
We have never visited the Villages but have done some online research. While the Villages looks great on the web, we had two problems with it that we just could not overcome. The first was the developer H. Gary Morse and family.The guy is one of the richest people in the country yet he had to resort to legal shenanigans to steal money from the residents through the dubious use\misappropriation of CDD fees\bonds.The residents sued him, the case was settled for millions with oversight of the CDDs\bonds. If this guy settled for a penny let alone millions you know he pilfered a lot more. More interesting was in the complaint it was alleged he was misappropriating tee times for him and his special guests. Tee times?
Second problem was golf expenses. I don't even play golf but the Villages advertise their golf as "free". Yea, right and pigs can fly. The costs of the gold are paid out of the CDDs\fees you pay as a resident. On the regulation courses, you pay greens fees, cart fees anyway.
Before buying at the Villages I would research the resident's suit as mentioned above, the ongoing IRS investigation concerning the setup and use of the CDD money taken by Morse (plenty of info online), and read the book Leisureville ( although the author admits his bias against the Villages.)But for the developers shenanigans, the Villages looks like its a great place be. From my point of view, I cant get past my distrust of the developer and paying for golf I won't use. Love the golf cart concept though.
If anyone knows of other golf cart communities, please post. BTW Grumpy, we too are looking for a full time home and will not be snowbirds.
Last edited by slug1; 04-15-2012 at 06:18 AM..
Reason: spelling
Back to Kings Ridge, most residents use golf carts for getting to the amenities and to the adjacent shopping center. The developer was Lennar, no CDD that I'm aware of and the HOA was turned over to the residents years ago.
We have never visited the Villages but have done some online research. While the Villages looks great on the web, we had two problems with it that we just could not overcome. The first was the developer H. Gary Morse and family.The guy is one of the richest people in the country yet he had to resort to legal shenanigans to steal money from the residents through the dubious use\misappropriation of CDD fees\bonds.The residents sued him, the case was settled for millions with oversight of the CDDs\bonds. If this guy settled for a penny let alone millions you know he pilfered a lot more. More interesting was in the complaint it was alleged he was misappropriating tee times for him and his special guests. Tee times?
Second problem was golf expenses. I don't even play golf but the Villages advertise their golf as "free". Yea, right and pigs can fly. The costs of the gold are paid out of the CDDs\fees you pay as a resident. On the regulation courses, you pay greens fees, cart fees anyway.
Before buying at the Villages I would research the resident's suit as mentioned above, the ongoing IRS investigation concerning the setup and use of the CDD money taken by Morse (plenty of info online), and read the book Leisureville ( although the author admits his bias against the Villages.)But for the developers shenanigans, the Villages looks like its a great place be. From my point of view, I cant get past my distrust of the developer and paying for golf I won't use. Love the golf cart concept though.
If anyone knows of other golf cart communities, please post. BTW Grumpy, we too are looking for a full time home and will not be snowbirds.
We felt the same as you and read the book too but decided to visit The Villages and keep open minded when we visited friends in January 2012.
We are now building a 3200sf home with 3 car garage (not 2 plus golf), pool and summer kitchen and move in in June and can't wait.
You have to see it to believe it and BONDS?
We have one in Orlando too so its pretty typical in newer develpments.
You get what you pay for.
Just came back from a week doing the same kind of shopping you are describing. We have been to a lot of 55+ Communities becaues we, like you, will be retiring about 3 years and wish to purchase now. The Plantation seems to be very nice. Hard to really get a grip because it is built out and the only way in is with a realtor. Not like staying at a new build with their stay and play programs. I will say that it is a true gated community, unlike The Villages. It is beautiful with a lot of large oak trees, the community is well kept and the fees are only $85.00. The builder built the community and handed it over to the homeowners. We have been told there is a $2 million dollar reserve. The amenities are nice, not spectacular like you see in the newest communites but well appointed. Hard to get a feel for age group. We would say don't waste your time in Legacy of Leesburg, Highland Lakes or Arlington Ridge. Royal Highlands is also a nice community, but amenities seemed old and the age of the residents to match. Good luck in your search - we could be neighbors some day. So far, the Plantation gives us what we are looking for and you are very close to very large lakes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grumpyprof
annerk - I would appreciate that opportunity. Like so many others who post on this board, we are trying to learn about retirement options in Florida. We don't intend to be snowbirds so finding a community that is a good fit is important to us. We are active, late 50's and actually aren't looking to move for another 3-4 years - - so the search process is just starting for us. I am, as my name indicates, a University faculty member & administrator so I tend to do a great deal of research before making decisions.
Our "wants" are probably like most others. First and foremost concern is safety and crime. Second is not ending up in a high traffic zone. Third, I've heard horror stories about gated communities experiencing financial troubles and either greatly cutting services and maintenance or significantly raising the fees of those left to cover the costs so we are thinking that an existing community with an established track record for responsibility might be a better choice than a newly developing one. We don't need fancy restaurants or mega-malls but it would be nice to have some basic places to shop and occasionally to to dinner (we don't mind the chains). We are mixed on whether we need to be in a planned 55+ community with clubs and activities or just move to a town and not worry about gates.
At this point, we are interested in the area a bit west of Orlando. Clermont and Minneola seem likely and Auburndale, Polk City and Winter Garden also have potential...but we also are thinking about Mt. Dora. If none of those become feasible, we may look to the areas north of Tampa for we have friends in Palm Harbor.
So, all that leads me to Kings Ridge and Heritage Hills. Thanks for much for anything you might be willing to share. We'd love to know your impressions of each as well as the surrounding community. It's hard to filter out the posts that seem a bit extreme from those that are realistic.
We went for a second look at the Plantation in Leesburg. The timing just feels right. It is a beautiful community, feels safe. It has been around a long time, but only finished build out in 2006. They seem to know how to run a community. The HOA fees are only $85.00 and has only been raised once in the past 10 years. The amenities are very nice, with three pools and clubhouses, two nice fitness centers, a nice billiards room, softball field, and much more. We are looking to go ahead with a purchase and put it into the Pal Realty rental program. Figured it might as well be making us some money and help pay for itself while we work another couple of years. It is a bit frightening buying so early, but we want to try to capitalize on the low interest rates and lower housing costs, plus it gives us the opportunity to be there a few times within the next few years to experience it. If we don't like it we still will have our current home and can resell. I think you could look for decades at these communities and still wonder if you picked the right one. It is about six minutes to the nearest boat ramp on Lake Harris and only about 10-15 minutes from the mall, restaurants, big box stores and major medical. It seems to have it all in a country setting and only 30 minutes to the villages and the busy city like atmosphere. We can be in Orlando in about 40 minutes. Good luck in your continued search.
We have stayed at The Villages on two different occasions for a month at a time and loved it. We stayed at off peak times there and from what I have learned is that in the winter months the traffic is awful and the town centers extremely busy. Other than the peak times it is very nice there. Our other concerns were that it is privately owned by the Morse family and there is much debate on what will happen when it is totally sold out in the next 2 - 3 years. Will they sell it to another private owner? Will they raise the ammenity fees? Will the up keep of the facilities drop? They no longer will have to try and keep them low to attract new buyers into the community when it is sold out. Also there is the legal battle about using tax free bonds to build the infrastructure. If the lose that battle in court will the homeowners have to cough up money to settle that? Lots of unknowns.
We decided to purchase in The Plantation, it is a very beautiful community which is owned by the people that live there which to my way of thinking is very important. It has very nice facilities, 3 pools, 3 recreation centers, tennis courts, pickleball courts, fitness centers, all included in the ammenity fee. (Also the fitness center you have to pay extra in The Villages if you are into going to the gym). The fees are only $85 a month and very seldom are raised which is important once you are retired living on a fixed income. Also homes are much less expensive than The Villages. The home we just purchased for a little over 100,000 would cost probably 160,000 in the Villages or more. The thing I will miss about the Villages is the golf cart access to shopping, town centers, etc. The one thing though, even living at other retirement communities, you still have access to shopping in the Villages and the nightly entertainment in the town centers even though you can't drive a golf cart there. Also we checked out The Legacy, Pennbrooke and Highland Lakes, but none compared we felt to The Plantation. Also the Plantation is in a more rural area and is a truly gated community which safety was important to us at retirement age. We want to be able to walk the community early morning or after dark and feel safe which was another reason we picked The Plantation. Each to their own I guess so these are the reasons we picked The Plantation.
Just came back from a week doing the same kind of shopping you are describing. We have been to a lot of 55+ Communities becaues we, like you, will be retiring about 3 years and wish to purchase now. The Plantation seems to be very nice. Hard to really get a grip because it is built out and the only way in is with a realtor. Not like staying at a new build with their stay and play programs. I will say that it is a true gated community, unlike The Villages. It is beautiful with a lot of large oak trees, the community is well kept and the fees are only $85.00. The builder built the community and handed it over to the homeowners. We have been told there is a $2 million dollar reserve. The amenities are nice, not spectacular like you see in the newest communites but well appointed. Hard to get a feel for age group. We would say don't waste your time in Legacy of Leesburg, Highland Lakes or Arlington Ridge. Royal Highlands is also a nice community, but amenities seemed old and the age of the residents to match. Good luck in your search - we could be neighbors some day. So far, the Plantation gives us what we are looking for and you are very close to very large lakes.
2014retire - Sounds like you did a lot of looking around! We will be there in a couple of weeks doing the same. At this point, I think we are most interested in The Plantation, Kings Ridge and Independence (in Winter Garden). Did you consider Kings Ridge and, if so, what made you choose The Plantation over Kings Ridge?
We definitely want a single family home but we have friends who would like to live in the same community/area as us and they seem to want a condo or townhouse....that is why Independence sound interesting to us. Did you look into Independence? It looks like it isn't gated and also isn't a 55+ community. That may be okay as long as it has a pool and a clubhouse...and maybe some community activities. I know...we want it all!!
We are Canadians and we have been wintering in the Leesburg, Florida for the past few years. We enjoy it very much. One of our main disappointments is the cost of phone and internet service. We currently use Century Link and are very happy with the service but it is very upsetting that it cost's so much while on "seasonal break" during the time we are not in Florida. There is no charge for the internet while we are not there but the phone costs between $15 and $20 a month.
We have a T-Mobile prepaid phone in Florida but I think we need a land line to use the internet - high speed not dial up. Although there doesn't appear to be many options, there has to be a better way.
Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.
By the way, we are back in Canada right now, we won't be in Florida until November.
If you have cable, just get a phone through your cable provider or use Vonage. Usually cable service can be suspended for up to six months at a time while your gone.
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Just came back from shopping RE in Florida
