questions about gated communities in Florida

[luvflorida]

A lot of folks think "gated community" means a gate attended by a guard.

Yes, this is what I was thinking. I was thinking that a gated community provided more in the way of security.

 

[ducklite]

AN HOA that had their dues go down??? Must be nice. Although ours haven't been increased, so I should knock on some wood.

Yup! The owners took over the community from the developer and our dues went down about $10 a month between the three associations that we have to pay into every month. Actually one went up $1 a month, the other two went down a combined $11 a month, so it worked out to about $10 a month savings.

We are very pleased with the way the HOA is running things.

Anne

 

[ilovepcot]

Our home was built in 1922 so it sits alone. DH and I built our own little "gated community" by having the entire property enclosed with fencing and adding landscaping (which now towers into the heavens) for additional privacy. There is an entrance and exit to our property and both are gated. We carry a remote in our vehicles that open the gates, very much the same as a garage door opener. Our neighbors refer to our place as
"the fortress". Yes, it is and we love it! So, truthfully, anyone can have a gated community.

 

[Bob Slydell]

A lot of folks think "gated community" means a gate attended by a guard. We rented two houses in a gated community near WDW over the least year, and it was just a gate with a keypad to punch a number into. The first time we went, construction was still going on in the community and the gate was open the entire time. The second time the keypad was working, but often we did not have to use it because someone had gone in recently and the gate had not yet closed. Also the exit gate opens automatically whenever you drive up to it, so you could always wait and drive in there after someone left. Plus, every delivery truck, garbage truck, etc., has to get the code, so it doesn't seem to offer anything except a little tag item to put into the advertisement.

Sounds like MIL's development in Fort Myers. It's nice and all, but it's no more "secure" than any other "non-gated" development around there.

 

[lowie]

i manage homeowner associations, both gated and ungated. my ungated associations have WAY lower costs for the homeowners, there are no gate repairs, no guards to pay. some communities have both guards and gates (in the case of where i live) all of my communities with gates and no guards have their gates broken several times a month.
knowing what i do now, i will probably never live in a community without an HOA, the guards and gates don't impress me much.

i don't know about the area of florida where you are moving but where i am in palm beach we're about 50/50 hoa and non-hoa.

 

[ducklite]

Yes, this is what I was thinking. I was thinking that a gated community provided more in the way of security.

It will only if it's guarded. Like I said, I do feel somewhat more secure in mine knowing that at night it would be more difficult for someone to just drive in. OF course that won't keep people out during the day, or keep them from driving in during the day and waiting until night time to strike--which is why I'm not opposed to spending the extra $75 a year per home to have the guard service increased to 24/7.

Anne

 

[kennancat]

One other thing to keep in mind with gated communities is that the HOA is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the roads, drainage, etc. If your road needs to be repaired, the city/county won't pay for it because it's not a public road. The HOA (in other words, you) will have to foot the bill.

Another word of caution - when pricing out your HOA dues, find out if the community is still "developer controlled" or if it's been on its own for a few years. Pretty much everybody I know who moved into a new community got hit with a drastically higher HOA bill after the developer moved out since the developer had been underfunding the HOA to keep dues low and make it easier to sell homes.

 

[barkley]

curious how gated communities in other areas handle schools. there's a big stink in one of our neighboring towns wherein a gated community was trying to get a school built (as older elementary schools were being closed the resident's kids were being bussed further and further out-and smaller non gated communities were getting the new schools). the school board fought building a public school inside a gated situation where there was not guaranteed access to the property by non homeowners. a group of homeowners tried to band together and build their own school but that got nixed by other homeowners who were terrified that their hoa's fees would massivly increase to cover the cost and upkeep.

so do some gated communities have public schools in them? private? or do the kids go 'outside' for school?

 

[wendy46001]

Honestly I don’t like the gate....Its a real pain...and always broken...People always try to squeeze in with the car in front of them...and bump the gate off track...or they try to dive in the exit when its closing...If you go with a gated community i recommend one with a guard...so when some idiot breaks the gate you can get to your house...(once parked my car by the gate and walked home along with several other neighbors ...we had to wait till morning for them to get someone to fix it)...Also lived in Windermere about 10yrs ago....very nice (even though i cant recognize it now...so many more homes and roads)....

 

[Feralpeg]

Okay, so non-gated communities also have HOA fees. I was thinking maybe HOA fees were only associated with gated communities or condo/townhouse subdivisions. I guess I'm not really seeing the advantages to a gated community.

I've spent quite a bit of time online looking at homes in Lakes of Windermere and I'm liking what I see. I was surprised to find that there are quite a few homes for sale. I also want to check out the surrounding neighborhoods. Are there any that you would NOT recommend? Thanks!

There are quite a few home for sale in Lakes of Windermere. Many people built homes for speculation purposes thinking they could cash in on the big jump in home prices. Unfortunately, many were left holding the bag. I've noticed in the last couple of weeks that many of the new homes that had private sale signs on them are now back to Ashton Woods (the builder). This is a good thing for buyers. Ashton Woods and the few private sellers holding these houses don't want to hold them very long. In fact, the folks that bought the house directly in back of me told me they got a really good deal. The builder is working on another phase of the development and really wants to close out the last one.

I don't know that much about the other subdivisions. I do know there was a lot of negative press about Ryland Homes right after the hurricanes. People had leaks and Ryland was not quick to help out. In fact, they only decided to fix things once the press got hold of it. Ashton Woods, on the other hand, was great. I only had one little problem after the hurricane, but they decided to come back and paint all of the homes again with a special paint to resist water seepage at no cost to the homeowners. I had no leakage after three hurricanes. They have always been very good and I would recommend them as a builder.

 

[Amity 3]

ours is fenced all around the perimeter, but no guard at the gate. we have a keycard we buzz in with. we have an off-duty deputy that patrols at night as a courtesy officer. some of the HOA rules are insipid, one is that you can't have any advertising on a vehicle parked in your driveway.

 

[icebrat001]

We live in a non-gated community and within that community is a lot of other communities, we have pools, tennis courts, baseball field, basketball court, golf course and the list goes on.

HOA fees are paid monthly. We pay $3372 a year.

ETA: A school is currently being built as well. Guess that's good for resell value.

 

[ducklite]

so do some gated communities have public schools in them? private? or do the kids go 'outside' for school?

Our communities kids all go to either one of the local public schools or to a private school--Christian schools are popular choices in thie area.

Fortunately we'll never need to address the "building a school" concept as there's no place to put it.

Anne