I don't think the hot sales are unique to The Villages. Home sales are hot all over. A friends daughter bid $100, 000 over the asking price for a house in Texas... and didn't get the house. When you come in February, perhaps the market will have cooled somewhat.
Start looking online at retirement communities in whatever area you think you might like to move to. If that's north central Florida (the area encompassing The Villages), then look there. Look elsewhere as well if you are flexible. Get an idea not just of prices but of facilities and amenities and anything else affecting your retired lifestyle. That could be proximity of hospitals and doctor or dental offices or it could be libraries, beaches, sports arenas or whatever. What is it you want to do with your retired life and what will you need to sustain you while doing it? Boil it down to the top several communities in your target areas. If at all possible, visit the target areas long enough to go to each of those top several communities for an in-person visit and tour. You may have to schedule these in advance with the community and you might want to leave up to a full day for each (though some can be done in half a day). Come with a checklist and mark off where the communities shine and where they fall flat.
Once you've boiled it down to the top couple of communities, you might want to schedule a week-long stay there, something many communities offer. Try the lifestyle out. You may find that a really large retirement community like The Villages is daunting initially to get around in but after a few days of checking it out, you'll get to know the basics of getting around. You might find a smaller community more to your liking or you might find they lack some key feature you're particularly interested in. Don't try to compare The Villages to any other retirement community in terms of sheer number of activities, clubs, facilities, amenities, etc. as nobody can compare. It's like trying to compare New York City to Podunk on the basis of ethnic food restaurants. Podunk can't compete. However, if all you care about is one particular kind of ethnic food, then Podunk might have it for you.
We visited a LOT of retirement communities in North and South Carolina and in Florida but kept coming back to The Villages. It felt so right for us that we skipped the lifestyle visit and just bought. While we've never regretted it, we do know of some folks who have lived here and moved elsewhere, each for their own particular reasons. The Villages may be perfect for us but it isn't for everybody. Try to figure out what is right for you before committing to any retirement community.
Good luck with this major decision for what can be the best part of your life!
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