[OldDave]

Greetings folks. I haven't had anything to post since our visit in June. For those of you that remember me, again thanks for all your support for our medically interesting visit. You may recall I had double vision for the whole trip. I'm pleased to report that my vision returned to normal about a month after we got home. I will always be very grateful for all the help, sympathy and information I received here. Now, I would like to begin to ask for some more as we consider a move.

We are beginning to get an idea of what kind of house we'd want, whether new or used, etc. While many of the folks I've talked to here are very excited about the idea of a new house, our preference has always been for a house that has been lived in a bit and all the bugs have been worked out, and of course most places it would be a bit cheaper...although I'm not sure that is true here. Having the bond paid would be nice. I would like some reaction to some of our notions.

We believe we would be happiest in a villa somewhere north of 466. We would like to be somewhere close to Spanish Springs and reasonably close to Lake Sumter. Certainly not the isolated part up near Nancy Lopez. What do you think of the construction of the older homes? With my health issues, we really didn't get a chance to look at the used houses. The new and model homes we looked at were not the best built houses I've ever seen, although admitedly we were looking at the cheapest range of houses. I'm wondering if this is a function of the current break neck building speed, or it that was the case for the last 15 to 20 years. I'm not saying the homes are poor, just not carefully built. Just a brief example...brand new patio villa. There were more seams showing in the siding than I could count. Most parts of the country no one would sell a house like that. The seams make a good entrance for bugs, and in hurricanes would be a great place for the wind to take hold. (The much more expensive 3 bedroom we rented in June seemed much better built. As everywhere you get what you pay for.)

Please do give me a lecture about love it or leave it. I think we've already decided that the shortcomings of the Villages are probably outweighted by the many wonderful things we found. We really did like it a great deal. But I'm not the kind of person to pretend the shortcomings aren't there. We want to try to get the best purchase for our money. So tell me anything you have to say about those older areas.

Also, I do worry about sink holes. It seems to make sense more stable soil in older areas might be better than the new builds where they are moving all the soil. Also from what I've read the further away from water features you can get the better. Any thoughts on that?

Finally, if you would be so kind. Those who live in villas, have you found them too close to neighbors, or are the ones with walls pretty insolated. We've kind of come to the conclusion these are kind of like nice apartments that just don't quite touch each other. I'd really like to know your thoughts. Even the large house we rented was so close to the neighbors, I would probably never open a window...and of course the villas are much closer.

I'm sure as we consider further I will have more questions and thank you all in advance for your help. It is deeply appreciated.

Dave