We stopped and visited The Villages three times over three years, each time checking out a few open houses. The last time we visited, we toured a model that we really, really liked. On the way home to North Carolina, we decided to definitely buy a house in The Villages and probably one of that model. We checked online and found about a dozen houses of that model that were for sale. We did virtual tours of all of them and dismissed them one by one on the basis of orientation (we wanted southern facing to keep the lanai comfortable longer each year), flooring (I actually prefer carpeting over wood or tile for the living room for the acoustics of my home theater) and choice of colors of cabinetry and such. When we decided on the one we liked the best, it turned out to be the one we'd actually toured. We contacted our realtor and got the purchase going. So we bought almost based on looking at pictures on the computer.
We didn't move in for almost 2 years as we hadn't retired yet so we were a little apprehensive about fitting in with the neighbors we'd never met. We needn't have worried as they were all very welcoming and many have become good friends. From what others have told me about their experiences moving into neighborhoods with strangers for neighbors, we're not that unique. Most of us moved here to make new friends, have new experiences and enjoy this stage of our lives. A few have told us some negative experiences about neighbors but that does seem to be more of a rarity than the norm.
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