I think there is another side to the story but in my case it is if you want to come to the Villages every year because we do not want to rent our place.If you do not want to come to the Villages every year I would agree that renting is the way to go. We rented for the first three years and have owned for two. Each time we rented the pics we were shown were taken several years previous when the furniture was new. When we got there we were stuck with worn out carpets and furniture, no high speed, basic cable, local phone etc. Not much fun for three months, and we rented from known rental agents, not some place we found on line. We found a place that we liked, where we wanted to be and bought it, paying cash, no mortgage. After all expenses,and I mean all expenses,, including lawns, maintenance of heat pump, house sitter, insurance on golf car - I found that it is cheaper to own and pay everything - than it is to rent for three months. Our total bills for the year were less than three months rent. Also, the place has gone up in value over ten percent, not like my investments that have gone the other way and probably will for the next year or two. As you know, when you own a place you know what is there when you get there, no surprises. We are only there about four and a half months and it is still a better deal than renting. I suspect that in a few years we will have to start replacing things but even with that I still feel it is better to own if as I said before, the Villages is where you want to be. If we ever decide to rent, which I doubt, we could rent it in ten minutes. The people never stop driving by, trying to find one. I think a big part is buying in a central area, especially if you want to rent it .
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