Renting for 3-6 months (I don't think you need a year) is money well spent. You can't possibly know where you want to live before you've actually lived here. We are snowbirds, so we rented the first year near Lake Sumter Landing because I thought that's where I wanted to be. I envisioned myself riding my bike into LSL in the mornings; my husband envisioned himself playing championship golf a few times a week. Then we got here and found we were so busy with all our activities that we never rode our bikes, and my husband didn't want to commit to 5 hours a day of golf with everything else we do, so he switched to executive golf, which he can do 3-4 times a week without sacrificing other activities.
Our second year we rented in Charlotte, which is between 466 and 466A because we found a lot of our activities were in that area, plus some south of 44. That year we decided to buy because we knew we'd be here at least six months a year. I wanted to go south of 44 and my husband initially didn't, but eventually saw my point. We ended up buying a year-old, turnkey house near Everglades Rec Center, and we feel like we're in the "center of the universe." We're equidistance between Brownwood, Sawgrass, and Eastport. Everything is newer and more vibrant, including the residents. Lake Sumter Landing looks dated to me now, and Spanish Springs - well, we don't even go there anymore. Now, having said that, everyone will explain why their area is the best. A lot of folks have never traveled south of 44 and never will. The fact is, you won't know how you feel until you get here and experience the lifestyle for more than four days.
I haven't even mentioned the actual house yet. If you rent, you'll get a feel for the size of house you need. There's no basements here, which is an adjustment for us northerners. Can you get by with a 2-car garage or not? Do you want a privacy wall or are you okay with kissing lanais? Are you willing to buy a fixer-upper, or do you want your home to be mostly maintenance-free?
You also are going to want to interview realtors/sales associates. The easiest way to do that is to go the many open houses that are offered each day and "interview" the host realtors/sales associates. You'll want one who works for The Villages (sales associate) and one outside realtor. Villages sales associates sell only Villages listed properties. Outside realtors sell only MLS properties. If you want to see everything that's available, you need both. And now there's the new national law of buyers needing to have a written agreement with their agent on how much they will pay. The seller's agent won't work with you.
You're making a big investment in the next stage of your life. Don't cheap out or rush it by trying to purchase a home 1500 miles away sight unseen.
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