[Craig Vernon]

Originally Posted by Laker14

My wife and I were lucky enough to be exposed to TV around 2007 when friends of ours from Upstate NY bought in Largo, and had us visit several times. Wife wasn't sure it was THE PLACE for her, so we rented for 3 winter seasons before we actually bought. Renting is not a bad deal. By the time you pay for maintenance, taxes, amenities, furniture, insurance etc etc you can rent for 3 or 4 months and be well under the monthly drain of a second home in TV.
However you miss out on any property value increase (which isn't guaranteed, of course), but what we found even more troubling was the difficulty of finding rentals in the high season, which is when we really wanted to be here.
We are now in TV 7+months of the year. We love it. Glad we did it. But we are also very glad we rented those years to be sure it's what we wanted, and we learned a lot about what Villages and locations were best for us.

I'm glad you enjoyed your month here. We've spent 4 full winters here now, and we feel we are still learning about new opportunities for activities. I came for golf, then found pickleball, and last winter discovered I love the lap swimming in the sports pools. There is definitely more to do than there is time available.

Good luck with your dream.

Thanks for your nice comments and for sharing your experience with me. You did exactly what I hope to do within the next two years. Have a great day!