Quote:
Originally Posted by Luv2Bretired
Although I was fortunate to close sales on both my business and my house in late March due to the pandemic I have decided to remain cautious and not move down until at least June. It appears housing markets around the country are being adversely affected. Sales contracts are being canceled and rents are coming down. Now I realize The Villages is literally an anomaly which cannot be compared to typical American communities so I thought I might put it out there. How do current residents view the housing market in The Villages?
Do you see the pandemic impacting rents and sales and if so how much and in what ways?
|
From a buyer and seller's perspective:
We put our house on the market with The Villages Properties in early February. At the time, our house was showing and we had a couple of open houses. For the past month, showings have been rare and the Villages suspended all open houses. So very little activity from a seller's standpoint. As buyers, we found that some people did not want their houses to be shown during the shutdown and some even took them off the market. Fortunately, we just found a house we love and the owner who was looking to downsize suggested we swap houses. So we sold and bought a new house in the same day. I am not sure that happens very often so we were lucky. Depending on what section of the Villages you are considering and your price range, there are many anxious buyers out there. It is a good time to be buying especially with lower interest rates but we did not see a lot of drop in prices. We live in the north end of The Villages and with our price range, size and other requirements there were only 6 or 7 houses to consider. A little farther south near Sumter there are probably 50 and probably more even further south. Also, all the individuals (appraisers, inspectors, bankers, etc.) needed to make a closing happen are working and signing all paperwork can be done electronically. If you want a really wonderful real estate agent, contact Linda Canada-Stuck at The Villages Properties. When she found out that the seller of our new house suggested we swap houses, she jumped on it and the deal was sealed.