Talk of The Villages Florida - View Single Post - Shouldn't there be a new square
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Old 03-12-2014, 01:42 PM
ilovetv ilovetv is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Xavier View Post
Another Town Square would be nice, but not in the North end. From Savannah north is truly God's Country. We wouldn't want to mess it up. It is the IDEAL for some of us. In fact, I was on a few of the Real Estate websites this morning. Zillow predicts home values up our way will increase 8.2% next year, compared to a 7.6% rise for The Villages as a whole. I would recommend that, if you haven't already done so, you should take a relaxing golf cart ride up Buena Vista to Mulberry Grove Rec. Center located at Route 42. Don't forget to drive through a few of the Villages in Marion County along the way.

Maybe a Town Square near Colony would be a better location!

Xavier
Your point is well taken, except for relying on Zillow for pricing.

And since you're concerned about the home values and like it that they're going up, I would caution again to look at the area thru the eyes of potential buyers, who will, in the end, decide what is true market value when they write a check for it at closing. Age 55 or 60 is looking younger and younger all the time as people are living longer. The appeal when we came a few years ago was that The Villages did NOT look like a sleepy "retirement" community deserving the name Geriatric Estates.

The nightly music, dancing, retail and bar-restaurants open etc. at the town squares is a big draw for potential buyers who are about to retire and finally are gaining the freedom to go out and have fun, not go to bed at 8:30pm because they have to get up at 5 to commute to work and get home after dark--too tired to go out and too little time before bedtime anyway.

I think The Villages has been extremely wise in marketing to the 55-60 age group (even the music on 640 am radio show this). They've been wise in knowing buyers are looking for activity and vitality, NOT "heaven's waiting room" as some characterize TV without ever having been here. Homeowners hoping for rising home values would be wise follow The Villages' lead and think about what buyers are looking for as they retire.

P.S. Skip2MySue just put the perfect example of what buyers are NOT looking for, at this thread, "Another Retirement Option":
Another retirement option