Need a Favor...Please

[Donna]

I am looking at this house on 514 WESTON MANOR DR in Bonnybrook...I like the house but have no clue what the house backs up to, or what the neighborhood looks like...

Are there any of you guys near Bonnybrook, that would be able to take some pics for me to show me across the street, the houses on the sides, and the back yard???

The last time 007 did it for me, and the pics were great..

This is so terrible doing things from so far away...

[redwitch]

You gots it. I'll go by there today and get the pics. Just send me your email addy.

[Donna]

Thanks so much Red...I owe ya lunch!
I am curious to see what the surrounding neighborhood looks like and mostly the back yard..If it backs up to a house...

Here is my addy..

k153@epix.net

[KathieI]

Donna, its a beautiful house. Looking at it right now on web site. Looks like houses could be close by but they've done a nice job of privacy shrubs and greenery. Thanks to Red for taking the pictures. It will help a lot.

Good luck!! Kath

[SteveFromNY]

Donna, try plugging the address into Mapquest. They've update their areal photos, so you can see the finished neighborhood. I looked and the house looks good from above!

[Donna]

Steve,
How do I get mapquest...DUH!!!

[KathieI]

Donna:

mapquest.com

Put in address and zoom as close as you can

[KathieI]

ooops

www.mapquest.com

[SteveFromNY]

Here's a link www.mapquest.com (http://www.mapquest.com)
You should see a field asking for address. Type in the one you are looking for. Then look at the top right corner of the map. You'll see street and aerial tabs. Click on aerial. Then zoom in on the red star.

[graciegirl]

I wanna see. I wanna seeeeeeeee. Now that we have bought, I have no reason to browse the homes. I just love house hunting. Donna. If I were there I would help.

[Donna]

Thanks Gracie..I have a house but want a bigger one..LOL :o John is going to murder me....

If we were there, we could go house hunting together... :bigthumbsup:

[chuckinca]

Looks like a retention pond to the North - might be a good idea to ask the neighbors if there is any odor from it. TV uses reclaimed water for irrigation and it sometimes has an odor.

[Donna]

I just noticed that Chuck..I am still trying to figure out which side of this street the house is on...Is the back of the house facing north??

[KathieI]

Donna, based on the street map it looks like the rear of the house faces north to me, but the
listing features says the following:

# Rear Exposure - South
# Rear Privacy with Landscaping

But Chuck brings up a good question about any odor from the retention pond. Good to see the pictures Red sends you.

Kath

[l2ridehd]

Having done this 100's of times as we were searching for homes, I got it down to the exact house. Go to this link.

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/514+WESTON+MANOR+DR++32162/#a/maps/l::514+Weston+Manor+Dr:the+Villages:FL:32162-4346:US:28.920852:-82.004422:address:Sumter+County/m:hyb:12:28.920851:-82.004422:0::/io:0:::::f:EN:M:/e

It is the 3rd house on the left from the corner with the white roof. The red star is between the first and second house. You can always find the exact house. Use the model to get a floor plan template, use which side of the house the driveway is on, the color of the roof, is it a hip or traditional roof style, this one has a lanai extension, and several other ways you can always see the exact home.

[coach]

Donna:

I live over in Tall Trees just behind you. The retention pond is in Tall Trees and we have NEVER smelled anything. Your house rear is toward the North or at worst NorthEast. I think you have a lovely site.

Coach

[Donna]

Hi Coach..That is one of the houses I am looking at..I really like the house and property..Are you near that house???


l2ridehd ..Is the back of the house facing that pond??? or basin..lol

[coach]

Donna:

I'm back in NC right now but live just off Tall Trees Lane. From the house you are considering you cannot see the pond. The rear of your house backs up to a villa (concrete) wall that separates BonnyBrooke from Tall Trees. The structure you see in the aerial view is the Tall Trees pool and mail facility. I think its a wonderful location. But you enter and exityour neighboorhood thru the Bonneybrooke gate off Buena Vista. Does that make sense? In other words you are 200 feet from the Tall Trees pool but to get there is about 5 minutes by golf cart.
Hope this is helpful but since I'm not in TV right now I am doing alot by memory.
Coach

[TVQueen]

I got a good look at your location on Virtual Earth 3D. You are down the road, more behind the Mail facility and downwind of the pond. There is a brick wall behind your extended lanai.

[l2ridehd]

Click on that link, zoom in as close as it will go, start at the corner where the red X is located between the 1st and second home. travel away from the corner and this is the third house on the left. The one on the opposite side of the street from the pond. It has a white roof If you look at the home picture and see the side of the home the driveway is on, it can't be any of the one's backing to the pond as they all have the drive on the other side.

[Peggy D]

I got a good look at your location on Virtual Earth 3D. You are down the road, more behind the Mail facility and downwind of the pond. There is a brick wall behind your extended lanai.


That Virtual Earth 3D is the coolest thing!!

[deano_hoosier]

I've been lurking for several months and while I'd like to buy in The Villages, my better half only has agreed to do a 3-month rental which we've signed up for Jan-Mar' 09 (to be snowbirds.) Who knows, "maybe" that will expand to a longer stay??

Anyway, here are some other resources to use (if you've already seen them, I apologize for the duplication.) Also, was glad to see the updated maps on Mapquest. I really like Google Earth because of the measurement tools, but their aerial pics are not as up to date. For example, from Google Earth tools you can measure the distance to the center of the retention pond as 192 yards. Is also 3.5 miles from Spanish Springs Town Square. If you get really anal about it, you can measure by the "path" and work your way around the streets and turns, etc to get the "exact" distance. Grin!

1. Sumter County Recorder office (http://64.234.218.210/cgi-bin/sumter_alsearch.cgi) shows this property's current owners, the tax information, the most recent sales info (last was Mar '06 for $310,900).

2. Zillow.com (the search on this address shows estimated sales value of $264,000). You can also see what other properties in the area are "worth" according to Zillow.com. Under the details on the property you can also get some of the property info, just not as much as from the Sumter County Recorder's office.

Anyway, good luck with your search. Mine for a rental property was nearly as exhaustive.

Dean

[Donna]

Hi Dean,
Thank you so much for the information..All the best on your house hunting..
This is a great place for information and great friends... :bigthumbsup:

Good Luck and thanks again...
Donna ;)

[golfnut]

good info Deano. Can you tell me how you get the estimated value on a specific address on Zillow? Thanks, GN.

[Barefoot]

We used zillow.com a lot when we were house hunting in TV! I thought the site was great for viewing street locations, SF, pictures, taxes and some information. But sometimes misleading regarding prices. They often (not always) use properties which aren't similar to determine a price; and of course they can't take the condition/improvements of what has sold into consideration.

[chuckinca]

IMHO: zillow prices are all over the place and not to be relied upon.

[deano_hoosier]

good info Deano. Can you tell me how you get the estimated value on a specific address on Zillow? Thanks, GN.


Sure, log on to Zillow.com and in box "find homes" enter the street number, then name. Tab over to the next box for entering city, state or zip code.

BTW, I agree that Zillow's estimates are just that and are only part of the equation. There is more data in Zillow, such as time on market in months, etc that also is worth considering.

FYI, Google Maps has an interesting application that is active for some parts on the country called "Street View". It does not seem to be available, yet, for The Villages. It depends on each street in a community to be videotaped and then uploaded and connected into Google Map locations. For example, my house and street is available and you can try it out if you'd like to play around with it. Open Google Maps. (maps.google.com) Click on the box called "street view". A video opens if you want to watch it explaining how "street view" works. Or you can skip the video and click on "go to street view". You can enter an address like mine, eg (3408 woodland pl, 47203). BTW, Google shows you a view of the US with camera icons. The camera icons indicate the areas where they have recorded "street view" data. Once you've searched on the address/location, in my case, the street level view of our area shows with blue outlines around the streets. The blue outline indicates video is available. Next click on the inserted box that shows the address "street view" and box expands showing our house and two driveways. You can "drive" down the street in either direction looking at other houses as recorded from the street by clicking on the street or by using the direction box in the upper left hand side of the street view. Must apologize for the nasty looking yard (it was a dry summer and we were killing violets).

Columbus, IN is world renown for modern architecture and you can use "street view" to see it. Move the little yellow guy from the map to the downtown area (try 5th street in the Lafayette or Franklin street intersections to see some buildings. I'm an architectural tour guide for our Visitors Center so I get to see these marvelous buildings real time! Enjoy!

[Donna]

Great info Dean...

I am lucky enough to have a friend in TV who took pics of the house for me..It certainly puts a different light on that idea! The last house I liked, some other friends in TV took pics for me..It's great to have friends like mine! :bigthumbsup:

The house is very close to all the houses surrounding it..My husband would have a nightmare!

I will try Google Earth to see the other house, although I have already been there..

[johnfarr]

I live down the street on Callaway and go on my evening walk through there often. It is a very quiet street - almost like a cul-de-sac, as only the homeowners on that street would use it.

We feel The Village of Bonnybrook is in the best location! 3 exec courses 5 mins away, Arnold Palmer Championship Course is close, as are Pimlico and Churchill neighborhood rec centers, and Laurel Manor Regional Rec Center. Two softball complexes are close, and there is plenty of shopping nearby - plus both town squares are fairly close, with LSL about 10 minutes away.

If closeness to others is an issue, most of the lots here are that way. A corner lot or pie shaped lot may be the answer, but remember that you are responsible for mowing the lawn. If you use a gardener they will usually charge more to mow the larger lots. We have no problems at all with the closeness of the lots. Most of us, at our age, are past wild parties at 3:00 AM.

[Donna]

Hi John,
I have a house in Lynnhaven, on the corner..My lot is the largest of all my neighbors, and I do pay more for the extra lawn..LOL

I love that area, Lynnhaven, Bonnybrook, Belvedere, etc..If ya come across a designer on a corner lot, please keep me in mind.. :bigthumbsup:

[villages07]

Donna,

Saw in the paper that the house on Weston Manor has open house from 10-12 today; unfortunately, I will not be able to be in that area around that time, so, can't do a personal 'check-it-out' for you. Anybody else out there???

V07

[Donna]

007..I think that is the house that Red saw yesterday, she also took pics if that is the same house...

The yard is almost in the neighbors kitchen..LOL...Too close to the other houses...
514 WESTON MANOR DR :dontknow:

[redwitch]

It is a beautiful house and the landscaping around it is awesome. It actually had REAL roses, even some sterling silver ones. But it is very close on all sides. The extended lanai in the back even makes the back the closer than is the case in most houses here. I think it would be hard to come from a ranch or rural setting to something that is that crowded by its neighbors.