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Originally Posted by Gulfcoast
I often hear people recommend renting in TV before buying. I'm curious to know who followed that advice (or wish that they did) and what they learned from renting first. Did renting change your mind about where you bought or what style home you wanted?
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I came from the cold midwest in January to rent in the Villages as a home base while I looked at other 55 plus areas in Florida. I wasn't interested in the Villages when I came, but was having so much darn fun driving that golf cart all over the place, hitting all the pools, exploring, and shopping. The first week I went thru the newspaper and wrote down 19 different events I wanted to do weekly; mostly water aerobics and yoga! I got so busy that I didn't have time to look at all the art classes or want to leave for day trips to look at other communities.
Exploring gave me the opportunity to see what areas I liked the best; I chose south of 44 for the beautiful trails and live oak trees; newer areas are supposed to attract younger people whose social groups are still forming, but I found everyone to be very friendly.
I went to lots of open houses to see what models I liked, and finally called a realtor and made it official--I had drank the koolaid. And I bought a house. Because of the pandemic, the bank allowed me to do a 90 day closing rather than the standard 30.
After COVID hit, things slowed down but I stayed until mid May and enjoyed exploring on the golf cart. I finally came back to the midwest to sell my house here, did not return for the closing on my new house, and I'm anxious to return to start Chapter 3 (or 4) of my life. First order of business when I get back to the Villages--buy a golf cart.