[RickeyD]

Originally Posted by charmed59

We are here now and I am extremely disappointed in the "Lifestyle Preview" program.

We are in a bungalow in the Alden section, which is south of pretty much everything. There is tons of construction going on here, and we are, by golf cart, 30 minutes away from Lake Sumter and at least 30 minutes away from all activities our realtor has signed us up for.

Unless we pack a suitcase for the day, we can't get more than two activities into a single day. We had to cancel a tee time to be able to try out the center closest to here, the Eisenhower center. Tennis on a clay court is 18 minutes by car.

The realtor showing us around told us the only homes available, new or pre-owned were near here. (Which a quick jump onto either the villages website or the MLS tells me is just not true.) However, what I did learn about the villages is if the only option is to live this far south, near a partially built out square where the only place to get a morning latte has lines out the door, I'm thinking the villages is not for me.

We did learn to play pickle ball, and that was great fun. I can see how people get addicted. The line dancing on the squares is extremely fun, though, in our case, hard to get to. Everyone (save the very grumbly realtor/lifestyle counselor) we meet here is very nice, and extremely happy here, though when we mention where we are located they cringe. I feel like we missed the opportunity to find somewhere in the villages we would be able to live that life we keep hearing about, as attempting it from here is just exhausting.

Forward this post to Villages Sales to see how they reply. We also have met several sales reps that weren't very pleasant. They are under pressure to sell, sell, sell. Their jobs may be on the line and that may translate into attitudes for the unprofessional one's. Our lifestyle rep we learned was fired 2 months after our first visit. He had sold only 2 houses in 3 months.