[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive

We took the double-barreled approach when buying: working both with a Villages guy and an outside realtor. Both were excellent. Lennie Berger (the Villages agent) was outstanding. We ended up not buying from him (opting instead to purchase a home listed by an outside realty company) but we had no issues with either. If you're looking at new, however, as other posts indicate, you'll have to work with a Villages agent.

We chose pre-owned, for several reasons. More established neighborhoods, generally quieter (our village has only one way in and out so very little traffic), no bond (a biggie), and a whole lot closer to essential businesses and services that the new construction in the South seems to be (we're maybe 10 minutes by golf cart from Lowe's, Wal-mart, Publix, Aldi, Doctor, Dentist, Spanish Springs Town square, a couple of strip malls, etc.).

Enjoy your lifestyle visit! But be prepared for the lily to be heavily gilded. Back in the world I enjoyed woodworking. When discussing hobbies with our Villages "guide" during our lifestyle visit I mentioned that fact. He took us to the woodshop (only one at the time) and proudly showed how it worked, what was expected of the people using it, etc. No mention however that the waiting list was years long (and with the huge influx of people recently, probably approaching a decade). A few other such gildings, but really minor in comparison to what The Villages is, and has to offer.

Enjoy your visit and best of luck buying

Someone just posted (who is a member of the woodshop) that the waiting list is NOT 'years long"...