All the replies posted have been excellent and are ideas I hadn't considered. That's a sign of a great community which is exactly what I'm looking for.
I've probably overly emphasized my thoughts about being a landlord. My underlying thinking was to treat the purchase of the home as part of my retirement planning and saving now. With interest rates at historic lows and prices soft, this feels like a good opportunity to buy something now and have it paid in full by the time I need it full time. Stashing money in a low or no yielding investment and hoping to have enough to purchase a home in 7 years seems less appealing.
For me, the idea of retiring and then moving somewhere I've never lived, leaving everything behind and hoping that the new location is perfect is not the wisest strategy. I need to cultivate the new location and make an emotional investment there. I prefer to think of retirement as new chapter that flows out of my current life, so spending the next few years establishing a second home both financially and socially was my real plan. I'm a single guy and just pulling up stakes and hoping to make new friends in a new city isn't as appealing as beginning to incorporate it into my current life now.
The rental issue just came up as the real estate agent suggested the reverse snowbird strategy to help pay for the home while I get to know the community and live there part time. I would never do it looking for tax strategies or as something necessary to make ends meet. That is a recipe for disaster. Being a landlord has never appealed to me in a normal situation, but it seemed like The Villages might be a completely different world where the tenants it attracted would be more likely be respectful and hopefully lower maintenance.
The house I'm considering is already furnished and I wouldn't need to ask a tremendous amount for rent, so if there is a market I would think it could work. I was just skeptical that there was a market at all, or at least to the extent that agent was claiming.
If there is solid demand for the January - April months, that would be fantastic. The income from that could pay for repairs and upgrades thru the years while I locked in the low mortgage rate, and have things in place when I'm ready to occupy it full time, or maybe graduate to a regular snowbird and keep my home up north if that makes sense when the time comes.
Any thoughts on my thinking are GREATLY appreciated. I'm eager to find flaws in my strategy before finding out the hard way!
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