House Buying Options

[JoC]

We're coming to house hunt in July. I've seen some posts that mention buying land and having a house built, etc. Can anyone tell me what the different options are when you buy either a pre-owned or new house? What do they suggest if your present home hasn't sold yet. I greatly appreciate your answers. Thanks.

[graciegirl]

Wow. That is a tall order.

First, you can hardly make a mistake here in TV no matter where and what you buy and second you should use your computer to print the floorplans of the models dividing them into Villas, Ranches, Designers and Premieres. You can find them on a realtor Lyle Gant's site if you have not received the packet from the developer.

Then read the listings everyday from thevillages.com and from the local realtors too. Then know that when you get here, all of your research will go out the window, because your perceptions will change.

I can tell you these two facts as of today. The cheapest new Gardenia listed is 238K and the cheapest new Lantana I saw was 279K. Remember that the same floor plan has different names in frame and in block and stucco.

A great many people come here and buy a smaller house and then once acclimated, sell it to buy a larger house. The VIEW from you house will affect the selling amount by a LOT of money.

I personally do not see a bargain in preowned homes on price, but people have added things to them and the bond is either paid or paid on.

You will probably find the house you want on your own. The developers rep are so low pressure that you will A. probably need to call them and B. probably need to call them back.

The homes are well built. The place sells itself. Welcome to Paradise.

GracieGirl

[JoC]

Thanks GracieGirl, We were first down in March and of course everything looked wonderful and felt warm (we're from NY's Hudson Valley). Ever since then I've been picking out Designer homes from the list. Unfortunately, some of the ones I've really taken to get pending on them very quickly. I hope something is available when we get down there in July. I've looked at the off-site RE office and I guess it would be good to go around with our Villages rep. and also an off-site realtor for the MLS's. We'll only have 5 days so I'm trying to make the best use of our time. I didn't know about there being different names for a frame vs a block & stucco. Thanks for that info. In March we went out with our rep to look at models in the new section in Hadley & Duval. I'd really prefer a gas stove and all the house out there have electric. But as my husband says, for all the cooking I do any more I shouldn't be concerned. (He's right.)

Thanks for responding. Does anyone else have experience with buying a house before your home is sold, and the various options regarding that (e.g. how much $$$$ do you need to put down to hold a house)?

Joanne in Rhinebeck, NY (we hope to soon be "Village People.")

[villages07]

JoC....

My experience is now almost 2 years old, so, more recent buyers might have more updated info to share.

Buying new is a different animal than buying a resale.

Buying new also now comes in 2 flavors.

1. A house that is finished or almost finished and ready to move in. TV's method is to get an immediate $2,500 to hold a house (can put this on a credit card) and 20% down payment within 5 days. These houses generally close within 30 days. They do not accept contingent contracts. So, if you need to sell your house up North before buying in TV, better take care of that first. With cash in hand, you can come down here, select a house, and close on it within 30 days.

2. They are also doing a 'customize' package now where you select your lot, your model, and an interior design package and the house is built for you. This process could take 3-4 months (maybe less, maybe more...others with direct experience will have to fill you in). I'm not sure what kind of down payment is required on this type of deal....someone else who is building one will have to tell you.

Resales are similar to what you would expect anywhere else....you negotiate prices, contingencies, settlement costs, etc and secure your financing. This should be true whether you buy from Properties of the Villages or an MLS listed property.

We did buy before we sold our house up North, but, were secure in our ability to carry both as long as necessary. In fact, our North house just recently sold after almost 18 months. So, make sure you know what you can handle emotionally and financially if you buy before you sell.

Hope this helps...cmon down, the living is GREAT!!!

[graciegirl]

Joanne,

I am responding to your gas stove part. I have had both in my life. I really have no preference. I do cook a lot and like to cook and even had a couple people say I cook well, but I am really into how the kitchen LOOKS.

We chose our house in Hadley because of it's size, location and price. It was brand new and it wasn't until we got down here with our "nesting items" last week that I used the stove. Just like everything else in the house I was pleased. That little beauty went from 0 to 60 in a short time. (In other words it heated up quickly for an electric stove.) I have a very nice, newly remodeled kitchen in Ohio with built in sub zero etc. But I like my new Camellia kitchen just as well, with it's smaller refrigerator, and no stainless steel. (YES. I said that).

Come on down girlfriend. But never over extend. NEVER. Not in these times.

Your new village buddy,

GracieGirl

[NYVette]

JoC......
When we were looking at houses in July and September I didn't notice that some areas were electric only. As it happened, the house we bought in October is a Bougainvillea in Duval and is all electric. Living on Long Island and getting electric and gas bills from LIPA my initial reaction was visions of huge electric bills. Our sales person (Tom Griffo....great guy) told me the air cond/heat pump used is very efficient and the electric bills would be much less than in NY. He said he had lived in NY several years before. Usually I would be skeptical of what a sales person tells me but he was so low key and correct about everything prior to this I had no reason not to trust him. He knew we were buying a house it was just a matter of picking one out. The only time the house was occupied full time was Feb and March. My average electric bill from SECO was about $80.00 tax included. This house is about 1000 square feet smaller than the NY house. However, in NY my gas bill for the same period was twice the SECO bill and gas is used only for heat and hot water/clothes dryer...we cook with electric which is an additional bill. I'm not familiar with the electric company in your part of NY but to me, $80.00 for everything in TV very reasonable. Does my $80.00 per month seem about right to you other Villagers?

[Shirleevee]

We bought in March 2008. From then until we left May 1........our total electric bills were $138.00. I cooked on the electric stove often and ran the AC most days. For the same square footage here approx. 2400 (Staten Island), my electric bill without stove is $177.00 monthly.

Shirleevee

[mike warren]

We looked diligently at new and pre-owned homes on the internet for about a year after we first visited TV. We personally liked the Gardenia model, but we ran off floor plans of every model available. The main problem we had was that every time we found a home we liked, it would be gone within a matter of days. We scheduled a second visit to look at more house the first week of July. However, even though we never thought that we would buy without a visit, we did so last week, and instead of looking we are now closing on a Hadley home on July 1st. We had an associate of the TV rep who showed us around last April take pictures of the exterior surroundings of the home and had her e-mail them to us. We saw the home, reviewed the pictures, and put down our $2500 deposit via credit card within about a total of 1 hour!!
This probably seems stupid, but we basically knew what we wanted, so it was not as scary as we thought, even though we have not yet sold our WY home, and will not move to TV until around Oct 1st. We have already contacted Floormasters to replace the carpet in in the living room with tile that matches the of the tile. They give you about a $150 credit and the extra cost will be around $3500. We also have made contact with a guy whoo will paint the garage floor (with non-slip sprinkles ) for around $375. We have also contacted the various telephone, internet , television companies so hopefully when we move in Oct. everything will already be installed (including 4 new flat screened tvs )
We found the sales reps to be very helpful with regard to just about every ques. we had.
Good luck!!

[Lucko]

We have a ranch in Duval and are building in Hemmingway -- The villages will hold a building lot for a few hours and then for $2500 will hold the lot for two weeks while you make a few choices on floor plan, color, expansions, cabinets, appliances, and roof line -- Then you must add money to have 20 % down and usually they close in about 110 days -- you do not need to be there for closing, but it helps -- they also build spec homes furnished and unfurnished -- I can recommend Debra Park as a sales person in TV -- My old house had a $15,000 view, and the new one has a $133,000 view -- As Pogo says, " You pays your money and you takes your choice !!! " Happy hunting !!!

[fizzbyn]

Graciegirl...
I guess I'm not the only one who says NO MORE STAINLESS STEEL! Right now everyone seems to want it, so I hope this house in AZ sells before everyone finds out about the SS. Also, no more ice dispenser in the fridge door... we're just going to reach in and get the ice. Simplify Simplify.

[mulligan]

there's 2 of us that remember pogo

[rshoffer]

My advice is to rent a furnished villa for 3-6 months (have your "stuff" put in storage) and take your time so you can get the house you want the first time. Trust me here, there are so many nuances to buying a home in The Villages that it is impossible to do it during a brief visit. It is very expensive to turn around and sell a home in a year or two if you decide you found something you like much better. Homes are not appreciating in value right now so you lose 6% if you resell just with the realtor fee. That'll cover a lot of rent. By renting you can have tons of fun house hunting at a sane and enjoyable pace.

[rrepp]

My advice is to rent a furnished villa for 3-6 months (have your "stuff" put in storage) and take your time so you can get the house you want the first time. Trust me here, there are so many nuances to buying a home in The Villages that it is impossible to do it during a brief visit. It is very expensive to turn around and sell a home in a year or two if you decide you found something you like much better. Homes are not appreciating in value right now so you lose 6% if you resell just with the realtor fee. That'll cover a lot of rent. By renting you can have tons of fun house hunting at a sane and enjoyable pace.
Where is a good place to locate rentals in the Villages?

[tucson]

Thevillages4rent.com is the best !