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Originally Posted by mrsstats
Thank you everyone for your answers. We did go the Villages in March. We are now going back in August and staying for about a week. After living on Long Island our entire life, we need to decide if moving is even the right thing for us.
I did love what we did see in March.
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We were lifelong Rhode Islanders and I lived in the home my husband and I sold in March for 32 years which I built with my late 1st husband before we purchased a new home in TV in the lower St. Johns area that we closed on the beginning of this month. Deciding to relocate to TV or anywhere else for that matter full time if that is your intent may be your biggest challenge. For us, living in Florida in retirement was a desire we had for many years, but that could not happen until both sets of parents had passed on since my husband and I provided all 4 parents with a great deal of care and support during the last years of their lives. Along with that, my husband's two children had two children each and we both wanted to be around during the grandkids early years to watch them grow up and be there to babysit when needed and do all the other things that grandparents do. And lastly, having myself worked for the Federal Government, I wanted to get my 20 service years in along with qualifying age to be eligible for what is referred to as an immediate retirement which would have a significant impact on the level of my pension. I met the age requirement three years ago and this past September 11th got in my 20 service years in and retired the following week. With all 4 parents now gone, and the youngest grandchild age 9 who she and her 12 year old sister and our grandsons age 16 and 21 now all leading very busy independent lives, with no other immediate family close by and the few close friends we have too leading their own busy lives, the timing and all else was right for us to relocate. We spent this past winter getting our house sell ready and listed it in March which the timing was right for that too as it sold in a day for $50k over asking. Having made two lifestyle visits to TV over the course of two years, we liked what we experienced of the community on visit #1 and knew we wanted to live in TV. The focus of visit #2 was deciding where in TV we wanted live and model of home we desired to purchase.. We are not shoppers and prefer a more nature focused lifestyle and that led us to the newer areas. Also we decided what model best met our living needs was a 3br courtyard villa for the added space to allow for a guest room and in-home office along with the privacy aspect these model homes provide. And we wanted new construction which was an entirely personal preference. We were not detered by the high bond purchasing new as we were fortunate to be able to be cash buyers, so with no mortgage or other debt the bond would not stress out our personal budget. During the time we were waiting to close on the sale of our R.I. home we secured a two month rental in TV, packed and arranged for PODs to pick up and store what we were going to take with us, and did all the gazillion other things people have to do when they relocate. Immediately after the closing on the sale of our home we began the two day drive to our rental which was a patio villa in McClure. Day 2 of our arrival we met with our TV agent that we had been in contact with since out 1st lifestyle visit. She showed us a list of new homes being released for sale the following day and a 3br Avondale model courtyard villa with a golf cart garage in the lower St Johns area sparked our interest and it was in our price range so she took us over to see it. We really like the area and loved everything about the villa, and not a single thing we found we needed to change as everything about it especially it being all tiled floors suited our taste. Our agent called us the next morning at 8:40 to be exact to inform us she was able to secure a hold on the villa for us if we still wanted it. The answer to that was an immediate yes, and by early evening we put down the required 10% deposit and signed the contract and closed on it a month later. We love our new home, neighborhood, and the neighbors we have met are very nice and helpful to us new kids on the block. Whatever you decide, just keep in mind that all of us that made it to TV regardless of where we purchased our homes it all began with a leap of faith into truly the unknown. And it takes a great deal of consideration and courage to take that leap of faith because it involves for most leaving behind family, friends, doctors, churchs, etc. which all of those near and dear aspects of our lives we have to leave behind. Wish you the best of luck in whatever decision you choose to make.