We spent three winters visiting retirement areas in North and South Carolina, Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. We both said we would NEVER live in Florida. My wife's brother was staying in Zephyrhills each winter, so in 2012 we went to visit him for a week. On a whim one day, we decided to drive up and see The Villages. We came across 466, crossed the bridge and entered Lake Sumter Landing. It was lunchtime and we found a parking space near Subway. We got sandwiches but there was no place to sit inside. We walked outside, and a man and woman said, "Sit with us. There's room." We talked about dogs, and grandchildren, and family. They were from New York state... we were from New Hampshire. They seemed really nice and friendly, and told us this was the best place they'd ever lived.
After lunch we walked up the street to the square, wandered around and looked out at the water. An hour had passed since we first arrived. We hadn't seen any homes yet, but I turned to Linda and said, "I think we've found it. We've found the place to retire." She responded with, "I was just about to say that."
We went back to Zephyrhills for a few days, thought about it, and talked about it, then drove up to The Villages again. The second time it was just as nice as the first time. We talked to people who were friendly and praised the place. We met Jim McLaughlin in the Lake Sumter sales office. He drove us around and showed us a few houses in different price ranges. We went back to New Hampshire, and put our house up for sale.
It sold, and we returned homeless in the fall. Jim showed us more homes and in October we bought a new house in Charlotte, closed on my birthday, November 13th., and have not regretted our decision for a minute.
There is no way to describe The Villages in words. Even pictures don't do it. You have to visit here and see for yourself. Stay a day... a week... a month. The longer you stay here the more difficult it is to leave.
No, I don't work for the developer, either.
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