The Villages or Something Similar in Florida?

[MichaelB]

The 2nd amendment makes such a mess of thread discussions it’s better to leave it out altogether.

 

[Amethyst]

I agree!!

The 2nd amendment makes such a mess of thread discussions it’s better to leave it out altogether.

 

[Markola]

A retirement community is not the general public. Sometimes the conversation starter is probing. If you refuse to engage you could be assumed to be and labeled "one of them." Like high school only with old people.

Whom do you think is liked better, those who are polite, friendly and looking for commonality to discuss and build relationships upon or those who need to start with their own divisive opinions in order to sort out members and nonmembers of their tribe? In my fairly successful experience, the former and most definitely not the latter.

 

[razztazz]

Whom do you think is liked better, those who are polite, friendly and looking for commonality to discuss and build relationships upon or those who need to start with their own divisive opinions in order to sort out members and nonmembers of their tribe? In my fairly successful experience, the former and most definitely not the latter.

In my decades of personal experience I have found that, by my own code, I would like and try to be like, the former, but the latter are always more well-liked, more appreciated, (or at least that's how the lessers of the tribe proceed and project) better connected, less isolated, and have fewer problems negotiating their way around. And that's in high school, in the work place, and all the way into old agedom. It's a form of nice people finish last / the "squeaky wheel" (or other metaphor) gets the grease.

 

[Markola]

If that’s your experience, so be it, but I have far more friendships than I can keep up with to my satisfaction and one of my criteria has been studiously avoiding the a-holes. YMMV

 

[Amethyst]

It's more that confident people get their way more often, but confidence manifests in different ways.

Pushy people use noise, outrageousness, intimidation, and superior numbers to get their way. Their parents showed them the way, and now they are experts with a whole family of a-holes on their side. They do seem to gang together, and elect queen bees and kingpins who tell everybody how things should be.

Polite, helpful, confident non-aholes stand up to them now and then. In a polite way, of course, and it does take more thought and effort, but...it can be done, unless one is dealing with outright gangsters.

In my decades of personal experience I have found that, by my own code, I would like and try to be like, the former, but the latter are always more well-liked, more appreciated, (or at least that's how the lessers of the tribe proceed and project) better connected, less isolated, and have fewer problems negotiating their way around. And that's in high school, in the work place, and all the way into old agedom. It's a form of nice people finish last / the "squeaky wheel" (or other metaphor) gets the grease.

 

[garyt]

Well I guess I'll find out myself. We just rented a house in the Villages for the month of January 2022.

 

[RobbieB]

Good luck.

 

[Sunset]

Well I guess I'll find out myself. We just rented a house in the Villages for the month of January 2022.

How much is a month rental there ?

I know they have a few days trial, but to me I'd still be in the honeymoon wonderment phase and my view would be overly positive. I need a month or two for a realistic experience.

 

[garyt]

How much is a month rental there ?

I know they have a few days trial, but to me I'd still be in the honeymoon wonderment phase and my view would be overly positive. I need a month or two for a realistic experience.

It was $4k including taxes. Not cheap but I always wanted to check it out. I was surprised to be able to get a place just for January. I thought they'd hold out for a 3 month rental until well later in the year.

 

[Rocket Man]

It was $4k including taxes. Not cheap but I always wanted to check it out. I was surprised to be able to get a place just for January. I thought they'd hold out for a 3 month rental until well later in the year.

Good for you! Based on my experience, I think you will enjoy your time there.

 

[RobbieB]

A grand a week for Florida in January? Excellent deal!

 

[PoorOldCountryBoy]

Try renting for a winter before buying.

 

[Amethyst]

Better yet, rent for a summer. Cheaper, and you'll get a taste of what seven months of summer is like. Plenty of people like it (the state MVA offers a license plate that says 'Endless Summer'), and you'll learn if you are among them.

Good luck!

Try renting for a winter before buying.

 

[JoeWras]

Better yet, rent for a summer. Cheaper, and you'll get a taste of what seven months of summer is like. Plenty of people like it (the state MVA offers a license plate that says 'Endless Summer'), and you'll learn if you are among them.

Good luck!

Summer and a transfer offer by Megacorp drove me out of S. FL.

Summer good: restaurants to yourself. Cheap golf. Low traffic.

Summer bad: drive through daily monsoon to restaurant. Can't play golf due to lightning. Road construction season. You don't know humidity until you've experienced August and September in S. FL.

And so on. So, yeah, I agree with Amethyst.

I still have a soft place in my heart for S. FL. If I go back, I'll turn on the A/C.

 

[Amethyst]

It must be awful for golfers, tied to tee times. But I suppose it's a tradeoff for no golf at all during December, January, and February up north.

Summer bad: drive through daily monsoon to restaurant. Can't play golf due to lightning. Road construction season. You don't know humidity until you've experienced August and September in S. FL.

.

 

[kgtest]

It was $4k including taxes. Not cheap but I always wanted to check it out. I was surprised to be able to get a place just for January. I thought they'd hold out for a 3 month rental until well later in the year.

Will be out there visiting Grandma and Grandpa with the kiddos in Jan. I like the villages for what it is but could never own there, or many other places that are great to 'visit'.

I am only 40, but when we ER ....and reach 55 which I believe is the age they let you stay/rent in TV...we will do a one month or 2 month stint, perhaps splitting months with family.

I could find things to be annoyed about in TV...but its just a place we visit and I try not to let that consume me. Life is too short.

 

[RAE]

Winters in Florida are great. Summers.............no thanks. I don't do well in heat and humidity, so if I had to spend a summer here, I would probably spend way too much time inside, with the A/C running. I don't want to live like that, so I'll head north for the summer, where I can enjoy doing things outside (at least most of the time).

 

[JoeWras]

It must be awful for golfers, tied to tee times. But I suppose it's a tradeoff for no golf at all during December, January, and February up north.

As a young man trying to save money, I played in the summer and dodged the storms. It was 4x cheaper and easy to get a tee time. Megacorp also had leagues. We looked like responsible people to certain private clubs, and they were more than happy to let us play a round of 9 in the late afternoon. Free money for the club by people who wouldn't abuse the course. They charged us $7 for 9 holes, which is about $18 today. We're talking courses that the PGA tour used from time to time. Bargain!

The problem was the storms. Somehow, we made it through with no casualties.

Winter golf is wonderful in FL but very crowded and expensive. My perspective today would be to Blow That Dough and go for it!

 

[boilerman]

It must be awful for golfers, tied to tee times. But I suppose it's a tradeoff for no golf at all during December, January, and February up north.

Actually, golf in the Villages during summer is great if you play in the mornings. Tee times are plentiful and cheap, and if you finish before around 11am, the heat and humidity and tolerable. Another perk of RE!

 

[boilerman]

Winters in Florida are great. Summers.............no thanks. I don't do well in heat and humidity, so if I had to spend a summer here, I would probably spend way too much time inside, with the A/C running. I don't want to live like that, so I'll head north for the summer, where I can enjoy doing things outside (at least most of the time).

Winters in the Villages and summers up north is ideal although many cannot afford that. We are fortunate enough to have a place up north in the mountains where it’s cool and spend 3 months there during summer.

Due to COVID, we spent this past summer in The Villages and got the full summer experience. It’s brutal, but we adjusted and did all of our outdoor stuff in the mornings, pool in the afternoon, and then went out after 8pm again when it cooled off (a little). Summers up north is still our preference.

 

[always_learning]

But I'm talking about vastly different HOA's within the SAME community. That's what I don't understand.

I'm quite late to this thread, but I thought I'd comment on this part, for what it's worth.

From what I've seen, the price swings could be due to several factors. Some HOAs might keep a higher % in reserves than other areas, some might pay for more perks (internet & cable TV, water, pest control), and some might have had a rash of, say, trees that needed removing and had to increase their dues for a few years to bump their reserves back up to where they were.

Also, if there is a variety of housing styles in the community, one HOA might need a larger monthly fee to cover roofs (more pitches = higher roofing cost than simpler roofs), fancier exterior trim work costs more to paint (more time-consuming, different paint colors, etc), extensive landscaping costs more to maintain, and some HOAs not only cover the roads in the community, as someone pointed out upthread, so paving & milling costs are there, but also driveway & sidewalk crack fixing/concrete replacing.

And, some HOAs have fancier green spaces than others, whether it's that particular HOA's entry (fencing, stonework, mansonry), or retaining walls on some ponds that other HOAs might not have. Some HOAs even have a line item for gatherings and those are funded through the monthly fees.

I also had these questions while looking and it took a good bit of deep diving to figure out that not all HOAs in the same community were run/funded the same way as they had different needs. It was eye-opening and interesting, for sure.