[Vinny]

After 8 months our home is sold and we move in with family in Ocala in three weeks. Our original plan was to move to TV after visiting it 3 times and downsize our home and thereby reduce our monthly living expenses to a level that does not require my current salary and is affodable when we retire.

Unfortunately during this time we have had second thoughts. We are both in our late fifties and cannot retire for at least 7 more years. We are not joiners and tend to have a few very close friends and limit our activities to visiting each other and going out to dinner once in a while. We are not pool people. We are more BBQ people who love air conditioning. Since we both work full time 5 days a week, we are too exhausted to do anything during weekday nights. Last but not least is that we want a fenced in yard with some grass for our two dogs. No fence with grass is a deal breaker. That limits us to CYV homes for my price range. Don't get me wrong. We are not anti-social. Just that our careers do not allow us much time for fun and games. I work every weekday and my wife works some weekdays and weekends. We planned on expanding our social life after we retire.

We have looked at homes we found on MLS (and in person during our previous visits to Central Florida) and found that for the same amount of money we can get a larger, nicer home with more land and less restrictions outside of the Villages. Plus the homes are not on top of each other. We are used to a lot of space between homes. Then there is the Bond cost which does not exist elsewhere. I know that I can get a custom home but the CYV is the only home that meets all of our needs.

We were all set to simply pick a CYV from what is available when we get there next month and now we find ourselves dealing with real estate agents looking for homes outside of the Villages. It is amazing how inexpensive some of the homes, in good areas, are. Some even have inground pools and still cost less than the CYV model we were going to buy. More land, bigger home, better quality construction, ability to fence in yard for our children; I mean doggies, etc.

We are really torn. We fell in love with TV during our visits. My cousin lives in TV and loves it. My in-laws live near TV and have been encourging us to move there. I think they just want to get into Katie Belle. TV seems to be in a world of its own and that is very attractive to us. The people are friendly and there is just a nice, comfortable, get away from the rat race atmosphere wherever we went. We really love the idea of the Villages if you know what I mean. The best way to describe it is it is like loving a beautiful sports car that may not be very practical for your current needs. We have moved 13 times in our marriage and we want this to be our final one.

Anyone else working full time or is in similar circumstances in the Villages that can comment? Hard to justify moving into a place where everyone around us will be having fun while we are working. I would think it hard to make very close friendships with people who are engaged in activities with other people all week long while you are working.