[mtdjed]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

I am very analytical and we had a spreadsheet with our list, but our list was prioritized differently. FYI, when we bought they were still building houses north of 44, most, if not all Villages residents, had no idea anything would ever be built south of 44, much of the commercial space in Brownwood was still vacant, and Rocky and the Rollers weren’t yet Rocky and the Olders. Also, we were already fairly familiar with the Villages because we have friends who had already been living there for several years who graciously invited us to stay at their home several times.

Our list looked like this.

- We would only look at homes listed below $xxx price, including bond balance. We had two prices, one with an existing pool, and a lower price for a home without a pool.

- Home absolutely had to have a private backyard and room to build a pool/birdcage if one didn’t already exist. Kissing lanai’s were a not starter and a south/west orientation were a bonus.

- Home could not be near anything we deemed undesirable, including unwelcomed noise (major road, pickleball courts, etc…), could not be on a residential road with significant traffic, and couldn’t be near something like commercial space or a sewage treatment system.

- Home had to be in close proximity to what we deemed to be desirable things, including lots of both Championship and Executive golf, regional recreation centers with sports pools, golf cart accessible shopping and dining options, entertainment venues, and town squares.

- Home had to be north of 466A and preferably in the greater Lake Sumter area.

- The homes price had to accurately reflect the condition of the home with particular emphasis on important things like the roof, HVAC system, flooring, kitchen, etc…

- We had no preference for the homes model/design except it had to have a minimum 2 bed/ 2 bath/two car garage and meet our other higher priority constraints.

Based on both our timing and criteria we were pretty much limited to pre owned homes. We rented long term in the fall, retained the services of both a VLS agent and MLS realtor, and identified every home on the market that appeared to fit within our criteria (including a few homes for sale by owner). Very few of the homes that fit our criteria had a pool because of our price constraint. During the next three weeks we saw a few homes almost daily until we saw a total of close to 50 homes. Every home we visited we began our tour outside, and we never went inside almost half the homes after going into the back yard and seeing no privacy, hearing traffic, or hearing/seeing someone we found undesirable.

We then reviewed our spreadsheet and made a list of only a few homes to visit again that passed our initial screening. The list was then narrowed down again to six homes. We made a couple offers that fell through, one because of price and the other because we learned the land behind the home had its zoning changed from agricultural to commercial. We crossed a couple other homes off our list after going there after dark and hanging out in the back yard and hearing traffic noise/seeing light pollution that turned us off. At the end, we made a take it or leave it offer of $10 K below asking price on the very first home we visited, with a contingency that we had 10 days to determine that a pool could be built in the back yard. Our offer was accepted and the next day I set up a meeting with a pool designer from T&D who pulled the homes plot plan and sketched out a pool design that would fit within zoning requirements.

Buying the home was lots of work, but we wanted to be one and done and to this day have no regrets. At the end of the day, we got our home, built a beautiful brand new pool and birdcage, did extensive landscaping, stained and sealed our driveway, screened in our front porch, put in an overhead garage door screen, put in a new slider going to the birdcage, bought three golf carts and a used BMW convertible, and came in right at our maximum home price budget with everything. After almost 9 years we did have to put on a new roof and we will be needing a new HVAC in a couple years, but we knew that going in and it was reflected in the homes price.

Hope this information and thought process helps the OP, and best of luck.

Two items

I agree with the above post. Make a list of your must haves. Things you can't compromise on. i.e. Type of home and size. Size of garage, two cars plus golf cart or whatever.

Regarding heat. That was one of my primary concerns. I used to perspire in New England at 75F. First, you do get used to it and as you get older even like it. Summer is a great time to visit cooler places or take tours.

And it only took me 10 years in the south, to learn that a northerner always looks for the closest parking place and a southerner looks for the closest shady parking place. That lesson can apply to any activity.

Remember, you can spend some time here first before you buy.

Best Wishes