I don't know anything about that but I am now in an HOA, home owners association and I hate it. I lost my property rights when I bought this house. I can't take out a bush without permission which might take a month. No matter how your question is answered you will be in the same type of situation. Do people really buy homes on leased property are they really that stupid?

I would suggest traveling a bit first then rent in a area you might want to live in Where are you now? Why move? Weather? Family? etc
Remember as we get older, we need to be closer to medical, shopping etc.
Also don't count on friends to help out all the time--or family.

You are going to live in "Sinkhole City" the most sinkholes over many years then anywhere else. I bet they do not disclose that fact in the brochure?

PattyDee:

I do not live in The Villages, but I live close enough to shop, eat out, and enjoy the movies there.

When we were looking about 10 years ago, DH & I dismissed On Top of the World because of the lease issue. And we dismissed The Villages because of the bond issue. I don't really understand what it's all about, but a buyer pays and additional 25K for this bond.

If you buy a resale in The Villages, you may find homes where the bond has already been paid.

I don't know what the HOA fee is in The Villages, but I believe it is quite high. You will be paying for all the rec centers, pools, landscaping, and road maintenance.

The Village will NEVER be homeowner-owned. That is, someone else will always own the community, and you may pay for whatever the owners want to do.

Again, I do not live in The Villages, so my facts may be wrong.

I also do not know how restrictive the HOA is.

As far as "sinkhole city", I don't think The Villages is more prone to sinkholes than anywhere else in FL.

I live in The Plantation at Leesburg. WE are 100% built out, and have been homeowner owned since 2007 or 2008. No new homes are being built, but there are resales available.

Our HOA fees are $85 a month, and cover the community itself - we pay for our own home & yard services and maintenance.

There are 3 yard-maintained "villages" within The Plantation. The homes tend to be smaller, but the outside of the home is taken care of: mowing, trimming, fertilization, and insect control. (you would pay for the water for your yard). I know in one of these yard-maintained villages, the extra HOA fee is $85 per month. By comparison, I pay $100 a month just for weeding and lawn mowing. I also have to pay for fertilization, and insect control.

Our HOA is very reasonable about exterior changes, and meets every 2 weeks, so you get an answer fairly quickly.

I wouldn't want to live as far north as Ocala (about 50miles north of here), as it is at least 5-10 degrees colder in the winter.

The Villages have had by far the most sinkholes over several yrs then anywhere else in FL. going back to 2004 at least, maybe farther back not sure? so I'm guessing that area is very prone to them.

Aputernut:

Where are you getting this information? While I can believe that the developer-controlled Villages newspaper, The Daily Sun, wouldn't report this negative news, I've never seen any paper or TV reports of "by far, the most sinkholes".

Florida gets sinkholes - ALL of Florida, not just The Villages.

>Florida gets sinkholes - ALL of Florida,

Not to anything like the extent the Orlando/Tampa area does. I grew up in Miami and you never heard of anyone having a house or car fall into a sinkhole there. I currently live in the treasure coast area and ditto for that.

Below is a link to a PDF map showing sinkhole locations reported in since 1954. It's from the U of F. if you google for "sinkhole map florida" you will also find county by county maps.

I don't know about The Villages specifically, but for sure it is in the part of Fl where sinkholes are by far more likely than in other places.

Here is a link that might be useful: UF sinkhole pdf

We had a friend and his wife just return last week from a scouting trip down to the Villages retirement community. We will be retirement ages in a handful of years. They will be retiring to Florida, we are staying here in the NorthEast when we retire. They did not like the Villages at all. To many rules and regulations. He said they probably have regulations on farting, how long it could be, the decibel level and the smell that was let out into the air (his words, not mine). They said just being inside the complex gave them a creepy feeling...like Stepford Wives type of creepy. So they are still looking for a place to retire.

Your friends and anyone looking for place to retire....needs to google a city in Arkansas, Greenwood for example and check out the prices and sq footage of the homes. I was totally shocked at what you got for $175,000. You have hills and trees everywhere there except in the inner city. You also have FT Smith which has a lot of the stores people like to shop. If you move from the east or west coast, you will probably get a good price for your home and if you buy in the mid west, you will have a lot to add to your retirement funds or spend. All new homes have covenants and some HOAs. It is the HOAs you want to avoid. I read one set of covenants and all it was....was a list of ordinances most cities have. Beware of Ft Smith regarding covenants, be sure you read them before you buy on any home. I would move there if the HOA I am in had not put a stop to damaging my home with their 6 nights a week watering with well water.

Emma, but I don't think you need to keep a lookout for a stampede of people from the West Coast moving to the Midwest or the South. Except for those returning to their own home town areas, etc., It's not a matter of good or bad, right or wrong, but I think most people are happiest with what they've become familiar with and the areas you mention are perhaps too different from the coastal west to be of interest to many here.

They were in Florida looking for a retirement home in Florida. There seems to be an awful of people leaving their homes to live in Florida, they must not feel like staying where they are familiar.

I did not order them to go there, just something to check out on the internet.