[dotneko]

So hubby and I are dreaming about a semi-retirement
and he just hit 55 last week. We have been looking into
buying a house in the Villages for 6 months of the year.
Does anyone have any info on it?
(other than it seems to be VERY white-bread with
no ethic diversity that I could see)
On the surface it just seems a bit Stepford wives -ish,
but the free golf for life sounds good.

[JanM]

I looked at the houses there online, and think they are rather overpriced for the size and construction. Plus, check on the insurance costs and maintenance fees involved also. Maybe renting the first winter to see if you like it would be a better plan. That way you could check out the different communities and see if one is a better fit than the others. It would be awful to make an expensive commitment and then not like the location you choose.

[Tommyknockers]

My cousin works in the Villages and told me that there is a very high incidence of std's being passed around there (not kidding), and she also said that it is very "clickish" there. A lot of who has the best or most expensive toys and keeping up with the Jone's crap going on.

[PAF]

to see what it is like. I believe for $150.00 a night you get a fully furnished home to stay in, a golf cart to use and discount/free coupons for the facilities. There are times of year when it is less expensive. My sister thinks it is great and is considering buying a place there. She likes all of the various activities that are going on all the time. It looks like right now the pre-owned places are the way to go. It is is a nice central location in Florida.

[suniday]

My father lives in the Villages. I was just there last weekend. He likes it a lot. My parents were originally going to purchase a home in Stonecrest, but decided on the Villages for the golf courses. There are quite a few deed restrictions (i.e. no Pink Flamingos , pool must be attached to the home, gazebo must be attached to the home).

They have two TV stations. There is a daily newspaper, too. If you subscribe to that for a month or two, you may be able to learn more about the daily life.

The Florida Horse Park is about 20 minutes from there.

You are welcome to PM me if you would like some information. I don't know a lot of details, but I may be able to fill in some of the blanks.

[dotneko]

Thanks for the info - we were planning on doing
'the stay a few nights' thing.
Yes, they are overpriced, but the infrastructure
seems worth it - so many golf courses to play,
golf cart paths to the many restaurants, doctors,
their own hospital, so many pools (though we want
our own patio pool). It truly feels as if
One of the things that concerns me is that we are
so used to being isolated - right now we have a
56 acre farm. The houses are right on top of one
another. I suppose as we get older our hearing goes
anyway

[HalfArabian]

Ex in-laws live there, fwiw, it seemed to me(and I have been there alot) that its very clickish, not too much privacy, kind of like a compound, and tons of rules. On the upside, if you are very social, there is tons of activities, ammenities, and stuff like that.

good luck,

KH

[JanM]

Tommyknockers-I heard that about the STD rate too, as I recall the HIV infection rate was particularly high. I guess older people may not think about the possibilities of this after many years of not dating, and not be up-to-date on current precautions. And don't think chemical assistance like Viagra hasn't really impacted the seniors communities. Or as my widowed aunt (who had no intention of ever remarrying and didn't) said 'The second your uncle died every person I met was trying to fix me up with someone'.

[SFrost]

I have some family that lives there and I visited once. Kinda made me wish I could live there. They have a screened in pool in the back, drive a golf cart everywhere, you never really have to leave the place. I loved it.

[Pirateer]

My cousin works in the Villages and told me that there is a very high incidence of std's being passed around there (not kidding), and she also said that it is very "clickish" there. A lot of who has the best or most expensive toys and keeping up with the Jone's crap going on.

Yepp, I've heard this too.

My grandpa visited there when he moved to florida, but ended up in Ocala at Oak Run.