This website describes our personal experiences and ultimate severe disappointment in Walden Woods South and our highly regrettable decision to reside there. As a published author of three books of non-fiction I quite naturally write about what I see and experience so it came as no surprise that when our saga with Walden Woods South became so ridiculous I would be compelled to chronicle it. Consider this our journal-blog that will be added to as things progress. That having been said, let's begin:

We studied all their sales literature for two years, liked what we read then did due diligence on the internet, were duly impressed with what our research yielded so when we were finally ready to retire we decide to visit we made a few phone calls and set the date for their $75 guest house program. The fact that they charge $75 for what really should have been free should have been the first tipoff of the misery ahead.

We decided to visit all three CRF manufactured home communities in Central Florida, absolutely hated the first two (Winter Haven Oaks and Cypress Creek) then paid a visit to Walden Woods South, their community in Homosassa.
If you read but 1 page, let it be "BIG Worries Ahead!"
When we arrived the entry gate welcomed us by being wide open (this should have been tipoff #2). We received the usual greeting by the sales staff and were shown to our quarters. In the morning we were visited by a friendly man who extolled the many virtues of life in Walden Woods South and was the first to buy into the community. At that time there were only 4-5 homes sold in the park. It looked lovely and, after bring traumatized by a post-Katrina crime-infested Houston (to the point where we felt it necessary to arm ourselves), we took much comfort in the fact that Walden Woods South was a "gated" community according to all their literature as well as the representations of their onsite salesman. But for it being gated, we wouldn't have even considered living here.

The three days we spent there were pleasant but each time we exited and reentered the grounds we drove through a wide-open gate. The fact that we never saw the gate closed didn''t dawn on us. Our critical senses, instead of being super-observant, had retreated into some sort of relaxed state - the same way it does while on vacation. At night we discussed the park, the models and the surrounding area and made a soft decision that Walden Woods South was indeed the place for us. Besides, we were physically and mentally exhausted from driving more than 1200 miles looking at manufactured home communities all over Florida and the parks and models and clubhouses and the prices and terms and all the other details were all merging into one single blur by now. Dummies that we are, we never knew that we were being deceived, so we selected a corner lot with a terrific view. Then we flew back to Houston.
Once back in Houston we firmed our decision, did some last-minute haggling then mailed Walden Woods South a check for 15% of the total to lock in our lot selection. Within a few days we had signed our formal contracts, selected a closing date then began the preparations for our move.

The move to our new ""gated"" community occurred in December 2008, was totally exhausting and cost us more than $6,000. It took us months to dig out from under the more than 14,000 pounds of stuff that was unloaded from the moving van but we slowly and surely integrated ourselves into the social fabric of the community. It was during one of first social functions shortly after arriving that the realization of what we had gotten ourselves into began to set in.

We began to notice that even though there were only 4 or 5 houses in the park, the streets seemed crowded. Walkers, joggers, noisy motorcycles, lots of cars, trucks, golf carts, people coming from outside to walk their dogs so they could crap on our streets and lawns, and a gaggle of 20-somethings pushing baby carriages! It was a street scene way out of proportion to the number of residents and way out of character for a 55+ retirement village. Since when does a 55+ retirement community that''s ""gated" have so much traffic?  We asked around only to be informed that:
  • Next door to our new private ""gated"" Walden Woods South, there are two other CRF Walden Woods retirement communities containing about 425 homes
  • And that the residents of those 425 homes are allowed free access to Walden Woods South and all its amenities
  • And our gate is open from sometime before 8 a.m. until sometime after 10 p.m. 7 days a week to allow them (and the rest of the outside world!) to pass unimpeded
  • And that the residents of those 425 homes are permitted to use our new clubhouse and all if its facilities, including the movie theater, swimming pool and Jacuzzi
We were in shock and disbelief!  So we drove through those neighboring  communities. What we saw was one section of nice manufactured homes on sizeable lots and another section of older manufactured homes, closer together on smaller lots. With those two sections feeding hundreds of additional users to our new clubhouse, it wouldn''t be long before it would look beaten half-to-death and worn out. We paid $125K for our house and all of a sudden we could visualize our investment running down the drain so we began asking around only to learn that our neighbors actually liked the concept of 900 people having unlimited access to our new facilities despite prematurely aging them thereby causing irreversible depreciation to our major investment in record time. So much for our dream of living in a "gated" community. After I did much arguing and negotiating with management they finally agreed to close the gate at night and on Sundays (Big deal!) but it still remains open to the public at all other times. (They've since reneged on their agreement.)

(IMPORTANT NOTE: Since we moved in we've had the opportunity to meet folks from all three sections of Walden Woods and have discovered some very nice folks and have made some very good friends. The problem isn't the people it's management and it's minions.)

We thought it couldn''t get any worse, but it did. After much pushing (and two thefts from our clubhouse and at least one 2:30 AM prowler!) management agreed to close the gate from 6 PM until 9 AM. That lasted a couple of months then they broke their promise saying they wanted the gate left open from 7 AM until 10 PM 7 days a week "to avoid gate repairs". Yeah, right. They sold me and everyone else a home in a "gated community" but did the old Bait and Switch game and we wound up in an open-to-the-public park, burglars, prowlers and all! When discussed with officials of our HOA we were told that management considers the streets within our "gated community" to be PUBLIC STREETS!!


 Photos
"Walden Woods South lied!"
"Our dream is lost!"
"I know. So is our money!"
"The sales reps sold us all a phoney bill of goods from day one!"
(I can't reveal who made this direct quote but it's someone in a high position who definitely knows!)
Families Warned: