When we started coming to The Villages, we rented a CYV for 3 years. And once inside, we found the layout and the privacy to be great. But what I did not like was the garage and driveway layout. Because most have a slightly curved driveway entrance, your car is actually making a swinging entrance as you go into the garage. And since most CYV have a one car garage, that swinging entrance was really tight if you had a golf cart parked in the garage too. In fact, one year our CYV came with a 4 seat cart and I could not park our car in the garage the entire 2 months we were there because of the way you had to enter the garage. When we rented a Patio Villa for 2 years, we never had that problem because you were driving straight into the garage and could avoid the cart parked to the side. We also liked the interior layout of a Patio Villa but missed having a real lanai.
As a result of that experience, when it came time for us to buy I knew what I wanted in a house and what I did not want. And although we enjoyed our CYV experiences, and one of our friends owned one, I crossed that model off our list. That was before they started building the new 2 car garage models. Our must have check list therefore included a 2 car garage with a real driveway and a home with a "real" lanai, so we looked at only ranch and designer models. We eventually bought a designer and are really happy with that decision.
And based on our experiences, my recommended is to rent for at least 1 year prior to buying a home in The Villages. That will give you time to determine what you want and don't want in a home or a neighborhood before making your very big decision.
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