On Top of the World Communities — Local services in Ocala

We built a new home here and recently moved in. We have had one disappointment after another. Yes, for the most part these homes are built well but several issues we have experienced that would have changed our mind about buying here. We signed a contract in July of 2021. The models we were shown and the neighborhoods being built at that time led us to believe we would receive comparable homes and yards. We were not told before purchase that you, the buyer, are limited to preplanned color schemes of OTOW's choice. If the scheme you want has been chosen by a neighbor on either side of you, you can't have it. You are forced to pick something else even if there's nothing left that you would want. You are forced to the house orientation that OTOW chooses. We discovered several months into our build that other neighbors were getting design choices that our Design Center representative had told us was not available (ie. Floor tiles could not be installed in a diamond pattern). We were led to believe that our neighborhood was in a manned security gated area, wrong! We purchased in the "more exclusive" Candler Hills. All of the yards that we saw had nice landscaping, mostly flat yards, with nice lawn turf throughout the yard. After 8 months of waiting while our home was being built, without any notifications from sales, management, or the contact representative for our purchase, management changed the lawns and installed a totally different, substandard, and unattractive grass in the back and side yards AND decided to not install irrigation in those areas because"this type of grass can live on rain alone and is a "water saver!" Not only is the lawn noticeably different in style, color, and overall looks but there are potholes throughout, many 4 inches deep. A person cannot walk comfortably on the lawn and for older people, who are more prone for falls, this is a minefield. One neighbors has already had to see a physician after hurting his ankle. I wrote an email to the warranty department, sales, and the building rep describing the safety issue and sent pictures using a ruler to show depths of the holes. No response what so ever. I would not recommend anyone building in OTOW without doing do diligence to KNOW what you're getting for...

My wife Connie and I took the On top of the world challenge and stayed two nights three days for $159.00 but ended up staying 3 nights and 4 days and buying a villa while we were there.

We're in the process of selling Our real estate sales and property management business in Rochester New York. We will be moving full-time to the On Top of the World Retirement Community in Nov 13, 2017.

We were going to buy a new Home but decided while we were staying in the community that we wanted to live in the older section of the Community. We decided to purchase older villa where we could be closer to other retirement aged people.

I'm currently a Keller Williams real estate broker in Rochester New York and now I'm going to get my Brokers license in Florida and join the Cornerstone Keller Williams Agency in Ocala.

I will be a buyer's agent for retirement age people to buy their Retirement Homes in the On Top of the World Resort Retirement Community.

The people that work in the On top of the world Community are so nice and so helpful I can't say enough good things about them.

I'm a very critical person when it comes to service and I can't say enough good about the staff and the owner of the On Top of the World Retirement Community.

My wife Connie and I cannot wait to move into our new-old home in January as full time Florida residents.

Thank you On top of the world for giving my wife and I the opportunity to retire in your community.

TJ Harrington. Real Estate Broker...

My husband and I just ended our 48-hr "lifestyle visit" at OTOW. The guest home was new, clean & beautifully furnished & the residents we interacted with were fun & welcoming. (That's the 2 stars.) The 5-hr tour was excessive & mostly unnecessary. Our tour guide spent most of the time suggesting things to do off-property. The tour of the amenities took about 1.5 hours, & that was painfully slow. Parts of Ocala are scary & dirty, and much of the city is supported by wealthy horse ranchers. Travel around the area is conjested. Once the staff learned that we weren't going to buy a home, we were treated with rudeness & ignorant accusations. One staff member, Cheryl, told us we had to leave on our second day (even though we were paid for the 2-night stay) & she sent the housekeeping staff to clean our guest house without telling us when we were elsewhere in the community. They invite you to experience the lifestyle, but they don't really want you to do that. They consume the majority of daylight hours with required scheduled meetings. Many of the amenities & equipment are unkept & old. There are excessive club/amenity fees & rules everywhere, yet the homesites are rundown & barely landscaped. They also track residents by amenity use throughout the community so they know what each person is doing. Golf is very expensive...