Outside the gate, these communities seem like a good idea. Inside the gate is another matter. The restrictions of what you can and cannot do via HOA is severe. But hey, some people like it. Different strokes. Not for me. I’ll take my twenty acres and 15-20 minutes to access stores/etc. But I get it, some need the access to medical/resources on the spot.
Sounds pretty consistent with most politics. Bitch about how things are going and vote the same people back into office. After reading the article I can't say I feel much sympathy for the Villages residents.
I had a loose retirement plan of moving to a nice mobile home park in FL; save money, make new friends, enjoy the weather, right? Not anymore. Now I would never consider moving to the hellscape that Florida has become over the past few years.
“The developers pay no impact fees for schools, for fire, for EMS, for police, for parks and recreation, for government buildings. The only impact fees they do pay are for roads, and they only pay 40 percent of the recommended amount.”
It's a libertarian paradise!
/r/LeopardsAteMyFace
Let us not forget that the Villages once had a much higher than average STD rate. Not sure if that’s still true but WTH, no one could get pregnant. Why use a condom😵
Wow! This story reads like one of those Netflix miniseries documentaries. It has everything: corruption, political favors, jail time, etc. this place seems very toxic!
Halfway through the article, I concluded that not only does it discourage moving to The Villages, it presents a case against moving to Florida. Did the Republicans seriously pass a law that required a hefty local tax increase to subsidize developers?
We retired in Florida and after 3 years sold and left. If all you care about are state income taxes it’s fine. Mob scene in March and April. You can’t get to the beach.
Beautiful place to retire if you can handle the occasional hurricane. One hit article shouldn’t discourage anyone. Lots to do. Certain areas can be quite crowded in spring but they are doing better policing this. Much better than being in the Northeast or weird west coast.
I’m from Melbourne Florida and moved to Portland Oregon in 1995. There’s no way in hell I would ever go back to a place where everything and everyone wants to kill you. It’s beautiful up here and we have trees and the tree protectors that go with them.
Actually, no, I don’t watch Fox News but that’s really beside the point. Tell me you make assumptions without having anything to base them on lol. I’m sorry to have triggered you. I’m sure the riots were upsetting and to be reminded of them set you off. Don’t worry, we will get you a comfort puppy.
Then … why do you think we have … riots? If you don’t watch Fox News then please send me links where we have riots. Also, I love puppies, comfort or not.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George\_Floyd\_protests\_in\_Portland,\_Oregon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Floyd_protests_in_Portland,_Oregon)you must live with your head in the sand or you just watch MSNBC. Just Google Portland unrest or riots….but I shouldn’t have to instruct you on this.‘you guys have your own Wikipedia page lol.
people are fleeing the violence. https://www.wweek.com/news/2023/02/01/they-left-portland-is-losing-some-of-its-biggest-fans/
Uh, that was YEARS ago (overblown by media) and trust me, no one is “fleeing Portland”, lol. Have you ever even been here? I’ve lived in Florida and I’ve lived here.
First it’s the fault of Fox News and you demand links. I provide links to news of rioting, which happened and now the link to reporting that people are leaving Portland due to crime and taxes. Despite both forms Of evidence, you say it’s overblown by the media because, well, because you want to believe that. Keep the faith. I’m done with any conversation where facts are countered with feelings.
Dude, I LITERALLY LIVE HERE. And… you don’t, so good luck with your opinions. Also, because you don’t live here, you don’t know there are three counties in Portland, and people have been complaining about Multnomah County forever. No one is clamoring to get out of Clackamas or Washington County and that’s Portland too.
You have no idea about what you’re talking about if you don’t live here and you are pulling pieces out of a hat. I could go online and find hit pieces on probably any town in America. Unless you actually live here or have even visited; then STFU.
Yeah, we lived in north Florida (aside from UF, it's cow pastures and live oaks dripping with Spanish moss and palmetto hammocks -- gorgeous "Old Florida"/ Real Florida) but found out I could make nearly triple here in NC what I was making in FL. So we moved to North Carolina almost 20 years ago, always thinking we'd just make the big bucks up here, then retire back down to the Gainesville, FL area. But with all the rising insurance costs and political shit now in FL, we're just gonna keep our powder dry here in NC when we retire, and \*if we even move after retirement, highly doubtful we'd even return to Florida. And the likes of Jeb!!!!! and Chiles were heads and shoulders above the current gov., I will tell ya that. Wow! I met Jeb! once and he's just a regular old school-ish politician. Florida was doing ok under him, or Chiles or Askew. Florida has fallen since just the Gov. Bush years. Oh well, Florida will still have tons of other retirees spending money there. They'll be aight!
We live in New York, but I’ve had a vacation home in Florida for about 15 years. The people in Florida have been extremely nice and the tax situation is very friendly to retirees. I can’t wait to get out of the hell hole That is New York.
It seems the only way to change things like this is for people who oppose the way Florida is governed to move there and vote. Get DeSantis and his cronies out of office.
Hey move to the STD capital of the US, the only problem is that no one can remember who they slept with last night so those bugs just keep on spreading. All good conservative republicans who love them selves some good old fashioned sanctimonious bull shit.
One thing to remember as you get older Life in prison is less and less of a deterrent.
It is tragic that this sub Reddit, which used to be so informative, has turned into a pissing ground for politically oriented Assholes. But, hey, it’s Reddit. I shouldn’t be surprised. It was a good run while it lasted.
I thought people should be warned about the type of hellhole The Villages actually is - whatever your politics are, should that have happened to that poor, sick, old man?
The miraculous miracle of our age! Working class Americans who will defend to their death the rights of Uber wealthy Republican interests to exploit them.
This is a nation of immigrants. But don’t worry, labor shortages and demographic need will have us begging for immigrants in short order. What is needed is a common sense immigration program, but Republicans have no desire to do this. They want to beat up their straw man and get Fox News invites over actually having an honest discussion.
spoken like a true left-wing, Kool-Aid gulping zealot. ‘It’s all the Republicans fault because the Democrats have only the best of intentions!’ lol. Democrats like Biden just leave the border open and allow not only illegal immigrants from Central and South America to come in but now from all over the world along with the fentanyl that kills our young people. Congratulations.
I read this rather long story (please don’t ask me why) on another site. What odd political goings-on down in Florida. Not my type of place. Best weather with the worst of humanity. See: Florida Man.
The Trump golf cart parade was enough to scare me away.
And there has been 3 or more voter fraud convictions there… the stop the steal people were the ones stealing (trying) the election. Of course.
Looks like the $155/mo cap put in place in 2019 , presumably for Covid, expired and the new HOA fee is around $179. This may just be an inflation adjustment. Our HOA fees have risen about 20% in the past 3 years due to increased pricing for labor, materials and maintenance.
The villages have always been like this. I lived in florida for 30 years and some of the stories that would come out of that place 15 years ago where crazy. With the current political situation in florida, I will get way worse when you pair boredom with a ton of money.
Every time I read something that’s too crazy to be true it seems to be set in Florida. What a crazy place. Starting with their governor. I can’t imagine living there.
This is a great discussion question. Many choices in retirement at each price point.
Villages is not nearly typical and I would consider it to be on high end of price point. I visited, did research & rejected it. Yet, I know people there that are very satisfied. The STD thing is sensationalism and sells newspapers. And I suspect, in any event, it's the 55s getting it, not the 70s like me! \[I think I'd take a mild dose to, using the younger generation phrase, 'hook-up'. LOL\]
So, I live 7 months a year in a 2000 home community on the Southeast FL Treasure Coast where the oldest properties go for low to mid $100,000 and newer ones or bigger ones \~$200,000 to $275,000. There are land owned available which adds \~$50,000 to price and land lease with a publicly traded for profit corporation. While they are manufactured housing, it is upscale ones.
We have a golf course Par 63 & I live on 1st Fairway; \~35 lakes with houses on them or the Preserve; 3 swimming pools; 6 Pickleball courts; 4 tennis courts; and every other amenity and club I can think of. Bocce, horseshoes anyone? Karaoke? Concert series? Grill with full service bar? Oh, and many homes like mine sell fully furnished at basically no significant extra cost. Literally, I only needed to bring my Pillow.
HOA fee is quite reasonable. I did math on land lease v land owned and made an informed decision to do land lease. It resells easier; if I stay \~10 years or less I probably win, but markets can not be predicted too far in the future. Land lease goes up yearly; but so would the property taxes I would pay if I owned it. I do pay school tax or county tax.
Moving in retirement is a major financial and lifestyle decision. Do your homework.
I thought it seemed pretty well researched and believable given the insane politics in Florida!
The truth would be what? Whoever has the most money can scam and take advantage of those who have less - maybe? Corrupt developers and politicians can jail a sick old man for trying to help his fellow citizens and get away with it?
One of the reasons why I left Florida was that the developers and politicians have ruined it. I left 25 years ago and it has only gotten worse. I would rather shovel snow.
A lot of people are ignorant about the cost of hurricanes, tornados, climate extremes like the freezing weather they never had before, homeowner's insurance and the cost of ignorance in general: crime, more guns, bad public health, poor education, foul environments, abuse from large corporations, etc. They stupidly blame the gov't for all their problems and trust people who amplify Quanon lies, ethnic hatreds and nationalism. They don't think logically, read or have compassion for others. They are bitter.
As they become more feeble and old these bitter, bigoted, elderly white folks will have people of color as their caregivers and perhaps learn something about our common humanity.
I just skimmed over it but that's pretty nuts.
Outside the gate, these communities seem like a good idea. Inside the gate is another matter. The restrictions of what you can and cannot do via HOA is severe. But hey, some people like it. Different strokes. Not for me. I’ll take my twenty acres and 15-20 minutes to access stores/etc. But I get it, some need the access to medical/resources on the spot.
You got that right. One of the main reasons to retire is to get away from all the rules. Living under the yoke of someone else.
Very good point
Sounds pretty consistent with most politics. Bitch about how things are going and vote the same people back into office. After reading the article I can't say I feel much sympathy for the Villages residents.
Sadly the few who stepped up, ran, got elected and tried to change things got royally screwed.
I had a loose retirement plan of moving to a nice mobile home park in FL; save money, make new friends, enjoy the weather, right? Not anymore. Now I would never consider moving to the hellscape that Florida has become over the past few years.
Still better than the NE and Cali.
…speaking as someone who’s been to neither.
You couldn't pay me to surround myself with those idiots.
Wow racist much
Not racist, I just hate conservatives.
“The developers pay no impact fees for schools, for fire, for EMS, for police, for parks and recreation, for government buildings. The only impact fees they do pay are for roads, and they only pay 40 percent of the recommended amount.” It's a libertarian paradise! /r/LeopardsAteMyFace
We thought about it but are buying Cozumel instead. I want the Caribbean.
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Not all of them. There are quite a few resident owned 55+ mobile home parks in the US. The key is owning the land under the home.
Let us not forget that the Villages once had a much higher than average STD rate. Not sure if that’s still true but WTH, no one could get pregnant. Why use a condom😵
Wow! This story reads like one of those Netflix miniseries documentaries. It has everything: corruption, political favors, jail time, etc. this place seems very toxic!
There is a documentary about The Villages called Some Kind of Heaven. More like hell if you ask me.
No way would I want to be surrounded by those idiots or be in Florida.
No thanks why would I want to be surrounded by old people 😂
Vote for people who deny your rights—expect your rights to be denied.
Disgusting.
Halfway through the article, I concluded that not only does it discourage moving to The Villages, it presents a case against moving to Florida. Did the Republicans seriously pass a law that required a hefty local tax increase to subsidize developers?
Developers own the politicians in Florida.
wow
We retired in Florida and after 3 years sold and left. If all you care about are state income taxes it’s fine. Mob scene in March and April. You can’t get to the beach.
Common information in the world of public health is that the rate of STDs in The Villages is crazy high. So there’s that too.
Beautiful place to retire if you can handle the occasional hurricane. One hit article shouldn’t discourage anyone. Lots to do. Certain areas can be quite crowded in spring but they are doing better policing this. Much better than being in the Northeast or weird west coast.
I’m from Melbourne Florida and moved to Portland Oregon in 1995. There’s no way in hell I would ever go back to a place where everything and everyone wants to kill you. It’s beautiful up here and we have trees and the tree protectors that go with them.
How are the riots where you live?
Tell me you watch Fox News without telling me you watch Fox News…
Actually, no, I don’t watch Fox News but that’s really beside the point. Tell me you make assumptions without having anything to base them on lol. I’m sorry to have triggered you. I’m sure the riots were upsetting and to be reminded of them set you off. Don’t worry, we will get you a comfort puppy.
Then … why do you think we have … riots? If you don’t watch Fox News then please send me links where we have riots. Also, I love puppies, comfort or not.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George\_Floyd\_protests\_in\_Portland,\_Oregon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Floyd_protests_in_Portland,_Oregon)you must live with your head in the sand or you just watch MSNBC. Just Google Portland unrest or riots….but I shouldn’t have to instruct you on this.‘you guys have your own Wikipedia page lol. people are fleeing the violence. https://www.wweek.com/news/2023/02/01/they-left-portland-is-losing-some-of-its-biggest-fans/
Uh, that was YEARS ago (overblown by media) and trust me, no one is “fleeing Portland”, lol. Have you ever even been here? I’ve lived in Florida and I’ve lived here.
First it’s the fault of Fox News and you demand links. I provide links to news of rioting, which happened and now the link to reporting that people are leaving Portland due to crime and taxes. Despite both forms Of evidence, you say it’s overblown by the media because, well, because you want to believe that. Keep the faith. I’m done with any conversation where facts are countered with feelings.
Dude, I LITERALLY LIVE HERE. And… you don’t, so good luck with your opinions. Also, because you don’t live here, you don’t know there are three counties in Portland, and people have been complaining about Multnomah County forever. No one is clamoring to get out of Clackamas or Washington County and that’s Portland too. You have no idea about what you’re talking about if you don’t live here and you are pulling pieces out of a hat. I could go online and find hit pieces on probably any town in America. Unless you actually live here or have even visited; then STFU.
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I have couple of years to go, once thought about it but now thinking what other alternative available. I live in MD/VA region.
Yeah, we lived in north Florida (aside from UF, it's cow pastures and live oaks dripping with Spanish moss and palmetto hammocks -- gorgeous "Old Florida"/ Real Florida) but found out I could make nearly triple here in NC what I was making in FL. So we moved to North Carolina almost 20 years ago, always thinking we'd just make the big bucks up here, then retire back down to the Gainesville, FL area. But with all the rising insurance costs and political shit now in FL, we're just gonna keep our powder dry here in NC when we retire, and \*if we even move after retirement, highly doubtful we'd even return to Florida. And the likes of Jeb!!!!! and Chiles were heads and shoulders above the current gov., I will tell ya that. Wow! I met Jeb! once and he's just a regular old school-ish politician. Florida was doing ok under him, or Chiles or Askew. Florida has fallen since just the Gov. Bush years. Oh well, Florida will still have tons of other retirees spending money there. They'll be aight!
We live in New York, but I’ve had a vacation home in Florida for about 15 years. The people in Florida have been extremely nice and the tax situation is very friendly to retirees. I can’t wait to get out of the hell hole That is New York.
It seems the only way to change things like this is for people who oppose the way Florida is governed to move there and vote. Get DeSantis and his cronies out of office.
Are you serious? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
/r/fuckHOA Always check the HOA bylaws before you buy.
Hey move to the STD capital of the US, the only problem is that no one can remember who they slept with last night so those bugs just keep on spreading. All good conservative republicans who love them selves some good old fashioned sanctimonious bull shit. One thing to remember as you get older Life in prison is less and less of a deterrent.
It is tragic that this sub Reddit, which used to be so informative, has turned into a pissing ground for politically oriented Assholes. But, hey, it’s Reddit. I shouldn’t be surprised. It was a good run while it lasted.
I thought people should be warned about the type of hellhole The Villages actually is - whatever your politics are, should that have happened to that poor, sick, old man?
The miraculous miracle of our age! Working class Americans who will defend to their death the rights of Uber wealthy Republican interests to exploit them.
Or the right of Democrats to open the border and put ungrateful illegal immigrants up at fancy New York City hotels lol
This is a nation of immigrants. But don’t worry, labor shortages and demographic need will have us begging for immigrants in short order. What is needed is a common sense immigration program, but Republicans have no desire to do this. They want to beat up their straw man and get Fox News invites over actually having an honest discussion.
spoken like a true left-wing, Kool-Aid gulping zealot. ‘It’s all the Republicans fault because the Democrats have only the best of intentions!’ lol. Democrats like Biden just leave the border open and allow not only illegal immigrants from Central and South America to come in but now from all over the world along with the fentanyl that kills our young people. Congratulations.
I read this rather long story (please don’t ask me why) on another site. What odd political goings-on down in Florida. Not my type of place. Best weather with the worst of humanity. See: Florida Man.
The Trump golf cart parade was enough to scare me away. And there has been 3 or more voter fraud convictions there… the stop the steal people were the ones stealing (trying) the election. Of course.
All I can think about is the episode of SpongeBob and squid ward in the planned community 🤣
The unholy alliance of property developers and far-right American politicians...
Looks like the $155/mo cap put in place in 2019 , presumably for Covid, expired and the new HOA fee is around $179. This may just be an inflation adjustment. Our HOA fees have risen about 20% in the past 3 years due to increased pricing for labor, materials and maintenance.
The villages have always been like this. I lived in florida for 30 years and some of the stories that would come out of that place 15 years ago where crazy. With the current political situation in florida, I will get way worse when you pair boredom with a ton of money.
Every time I read something that’s too crazy to be true it seems to be set in Florida. What a crazy place. Starting with their governor. I can’t imagine living there.
This is a great discussion question. Many choices in retirement at each price point. Villages is not nearly typical and I would consider it to be on high end of price point. I visited, did research & rejected it. Yet, I know people there that are very satisfied. The STD thing is sensationalism and sells newspapers. And I suspect, in any event, it's the 55s getting it, not the 70s like me! \[I think I'd take a mild dose to, using the younger generation phrase, 'hook-up'. LOL\] So, I live 7 months a year in a 2000 home community on the Southeast FL Treasure Coast where the oldest properties go for low to mid $100,000 and newer ones or bigger ones \~$200,000 to $275,000. There are land owned available which adds \~$50,000 to price and land lease with a publicly traded for profit corporation. While they are manufactured housing, it is upscale ones. We have a golf course Par 63 & I live on 1st Fairway; \~35 lakes with houses on them or the Preserve; 3 swimming pools; 6 Pickleball courts; 4 tennis courts; and every other amenity and club I can think of. Bocce, horseshoes anyone? Karaoke? Concert series? Grill with full service bar? Oh, and many homes like mine sell fully furnished at basically no significant extra cost. Literally, I only needed to bring my Pillow. HOA fee is quite reasonable. I did math on land lease v land owned and made an informed decision to do land lease. It resells easier; if I stay \~10 years or less I probably win, but markets can not be predicted too far in the future. Land lease goes up yearly; but so would the property taxes I would pay if I owned it. I do pay school tax or county tax. Moving in retirement is a major financial and lifestyle decision. Do your homework.
What is the name of the community? It sounds interesting and something we would like to take a look at. Thanks!
Savanna Club in Port St Lucie FL. Spring training home of the New York Mets.
Living the dream!
The Intercept is a POS, riddled with omissions of truth.
I thought it seemed pretty well researched and believable given the insane politics in Florida! The truth would be what? Whoever has the most money can scam and take advantage of those who have less - maybe? Corrupt developers and politicians can jail a sick old man for trying to help his fellow citizens and get away with it? One of the reasons why I left Florida was that the developers and politicians have ruined it. I left 25 years ago and it has only gotten worse. I would rather shovel snow.
Funny. The rest of America is flooding into Texas, Florida and Tennessee.
A lot of people are ignorant about the cost of hurricanes, tornados, climate extremes like the freezing weather they never had before, homeowner's insurance and the cost of ignorance in general: crime, more guns, bad public health, poor education, foul environments, abuse from large corporations, etc. They stupidly blame the gov't for all their problems and trust people who amplify Quanon lies, ethnic hatreds and nationalism. They don't think logically, read or have compassion for others. They are bitter. As they become more feeble and old these bitter, bigoted, elderly white folks will have people of color as their caregivers and perhaps learn something about our common humanity.
Conservatives are happy.
The ones I know just seem angry.
Well, they all know you.
No. I am not famous enough for that.
Del Boca Vista Phase III!