[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by M2inOR

We discovered The Villages back in February 2019 to attend a surprise 80th birthday party for my aunt. We came down for a few days to explore and liked what we saw. We stopped by at the Spanish Springs sales office, and fortunately found a great sales person, Paul Brady. He explained everything, and encouraged us to explore north and south. We didn't have that much time but we did understand the new homes were way down South near Fenny. We visited briefly but it was too sterile for us. We also checked out Brownwood town square, and it was rather dead when compared to Lake Sumter and the Spanish Springs town squares.

We decided that the areas between 466 and 466A appeared to be the hot spot neighborhoods. For the next 6 months, we focused our research on that area. We used The Villages website to search for homes in our price range. My aunt's advice was to focus on homes where the lanai faced south or east, and were stucco on the outside.

We made a list, narrowed it down to 45 homes, and in August 2019 returned to find our "part-time" new home.

The list was narrowed when we learned that to fit a car and two golf carts inside a 2 car garage, you had to be clever. We also learned about sink holes and where they'd be more likely. We learned about road noise, too. We saw for ourselves how critters like the anoles and geckos liked to nest up in the vinyl siding if it wasn't installed correctly. We found undisclosed defects in some homes that the owner or agent wasn't aware of.

We learned our agent was a top performer who complimented us on our spreadsheets identifying the homes that met our criteria. It made it easy for him to make routes to see them.

45 homes, over 3 days in August that gave us a good sense of dealing with the rain, heat, and humidity. We toured homes we liked, but we're left with the feeling that they weren't right for us.

After that 3rd day, we met friends for lunch, expressing our disappointment.

They said, "check out Fenny, again" as a lot had changed in 6 months since our first visit.

We stopped by at the Fenny sales office and asked to see a sales person, as our agent wasn't available that day. We asked to see the most recently listed home which was in Marsh Bend. We were wide eyed when we drove along Marsh Bend Trail, lined with the live oaks with the hanging Spanish moss. We passed the Pitch and Putt, and the Lowlands golf course under construction. We entered the neighborhood surrounded by the golf course, and looked at the only 3 homes available for sale at the time. Bra spanking new, and just listed that day, and we liked each of them.

We met with our agent, Paul Brady, the next day. He listened and put together a list of a few more homes to look at in the Fenny area, which was shorthand for Marsh Bend, McClure, Monarch Grove, Fenny, and Linden Isle at the time.

We decided that Marsh Bend appealed to us the best. Asked what it took to buy, gave Paul our credit card number, and put a deposit down on an Iris that faced the right direction.

Closed in September, revisited in October, and moved in permanently in January 2020. And then the pandemic lockdown struck in March, days after we sold and closed on our Oregon home of 40 years.

So glad we were stuck in Florida and Marsh Bend for the pandemic!

For the last year or so, we've seen first hand all the new construction, and explored those new neighborhoods and homes thoroughly.

We're convinced we made the right choice at the right time.

Welcome!