Quote:
Originally Posted by RalphTheElder
Thanks for the reply, Bogie Shooter.
I have tentative plans to visit The Villages within the next year.
The reason that I am investigating and asking questions now is so that I can target which area within The Villages I will staying during my visit. Does that make sense?
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LaBelle is just a bit north of the center of TV right now. It's a nice (relatively new) area, close to golf, rec centers, squares, etc.
We first visited 4 years ago this coming Thanksgiving, staying with friends (who had moved off Moyer Loop in Pine Hills, 3 months earlier) for about a week. Just around the corner from LaBelle.
That was our "Lifestyle Visit". We were able to explore as much as possible, participating in as many activities as we could... Honestly, I was hooked, but the Boss wanted to rent for a bit to be sure.
So, a bit over a year later, we rented near our friends for two months. I traveled back and forth to work and the wife stayed in FL. When the weather was lousy, we went to open houses and went looking for new and resales with out friend's Villages Sales Agent (another friend had also used her and was also very happy with her). No pressure, showed us what we wanted to see after asking us a few questions.
She took us to see the new builds (only Chitty Chatty and Bradford we available at the time) and to see resales between 44 and 466A (as that seemed to be where we wanted to be).
There were some very nice homes for sale south of 44, but the Boss didn't like the views of the power lines, so Chitty Chatty and Bradford dropped off our list. We focused on the above mentioned ares. We found a nice Designer home in Oscola Hills at Soaring Eagle, a 3 BR 2 BA (that happened to be just down the street from another set of friends who had also moved to TV. We met them several years earlier before they moved to TV, thru the people we stayed with). Between all of them, we were able to experience much of what TV had to offer.
The price seemed right, we made an offer, came to an agreement, got a killer mortgage rate and settled in February 2021.
Luckily, we bought just before the "Covid Boom" hit, as prices skyrocketed a month or so after out offer was accepted...
We moved in in April and since then, we've been coming down as time allows. The Boss usually stays for 2+ months in the winter (I drive her down at the beginning for two weeks, fly back to work for 5-6 weeks, fly back to FL for another two weeks, then we drive back together in early March. She drove down in early June with our middle daughter and son in law, I flew down the last week of June and we drove back the weekend after the 4th of July. We'll probably do the same thing in October, then repeat the process until I retire (hopefully in 12-18 months)...
After living (albeit part time) in our home for 2.5 years, the Boss wants a 3rd BA (or at least another 1/2 BA), and I'd like a 4th BR and a pool (probably won't be able to talk her into both...). But once we sell the house outside of DC, we'll have a lot more cash to possibly make that move... As you can see, even in the short term, things can change!
And remember 2030 is a LOOONG time away and SOOO many things can change in that time.