Need ideas if this happens

[conn8757]

We have had our house on the market for about two weeks - had 2 people look at it this week. The first one made an offer today - low - we have countered, but the realtor says couple #2 may offer also. We have our fingers crossed it sells.
My dilemma is if it sells, the buyer wants to take possession of our house before Thanksgiving. That would put us up at the villages in December. I really don't want to pay $2500 or more a month to rent there for 3 - 6 months. I know it gets cheaper in the spring. Joe just wants to buy something right away, but I would like to take my time and not feel any pressure to get it done in a week. I keep saying this is a good problem, this is a good problem. Anyone have any ideas?

[Coconuts]

If you already know that this is where you want to live, all you have to decide is price and floorplan. You know your price and there are only so many floorplans. All the neighborhoods are wonderful. We found our home in two hours (although we kept looking for 2 days to be sure). Unless you are building a home, it's easy as pie to pick out a home. And as far as prices, could go up....could go down.....who knows?

[Bogie Shooter]

1. There are places to rent cheaper than $2500/month.
2. I would sell if I had to move next week, ask the folks with their houses on the market for 6 months.
3. A lot of happy people have bought "right away".
4. If all else fails....move in with the kids for 6 months!

[JohnN]

Be happy you sold the place,
rent anywhere, it's really not that much, you know?
find the floorplan and price you like and get it.

lucky you , enjoy

[dfn8tly]

I bought my house in under 24 hours. There are not all that many floor plans to consider. The builders keep changing names to minimize comparisons and prices. If you know your price point it's simply a matter of location. I don't think renting for a long period of time is a smart decision. Someone else gets the tax advantages. Remember too that if you are going to reside in TV full time you must qualify and apply for Homeowner's Exemption during the period Jan. to March.

Good luck!

[Indy-Guy]

Look to rent out side of The Villages try Stone Crest or Spruce Creek or Del Web I am sure that it is less. You can always rent but you can't always sell. Get the money and run!

Call The Villages and tell them your problem they may help you out with a rental.

This is a buyers market if you can become a buyer instead of a seller you will be in the drivers seat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[The Great Fumar]

If you have a buyer , grab it quick !!! Put your furniture in temp storage and head south ...........in two weeks you can find the home of your dreams , most people take two days.....

70,000 people can't be wrong.............

Fumar took 2 days.......

[Cassie325]

If you have a buyer , grab it quick !!! Put your furniture in temp storage and head south ...........in two weeks you can find the home of your dreams , most people take two days.....

70,000 people can't be wrong.............

Fumar took 2 days.......


Oh say your prayers for me tonight....I am agreeing with FUMAR...and this does not happen often...

My parents arrived (age 64) and in the car came from the new Walmart to Santiago...near Savannah center....

I was home making sure there was food and drink for them upon their arrival....

ALL they wanted to know was....what homes are for sale...who do I talk to...when can we sign....SHOOT....I should have been a Realtor!!!

SO....INSTEAD of golfing at Palmer or Lopez tomorrow....we are going to the open houses...pre-owned and new.....apparently we are going to house watch for mom and dad....

SELL YOUR HOUSE....GET DOWN here....we will all help you...it is the ONLY thing that is keeping the sanity of good people...The Villages is ALIVE and WELL!!!

[Shirleevee]

I agree, we bought ours in one day! :a040:

[Talk Host]

Our house sold in two weeks. Our new TV house was still three months from completion. We stored our furniture, rented an apartment near our old house(that smelled like a wet dog I thought) and lived there til the day we moved to Florida. If you can convince yourself that it is really a non problem, just a complication, it will be fun.

Take the money and run.

[rekop]

I would rent just outside of The Villages. You can find something for 2 or 3 months in the prime season at around $1700/month in Spruce Creek, for example, and probably cheaper in November/December. That will give you time to properly assess which neighborhood you'd like to live in, whether you want new or pre-owned, what model you'd like. There are other factors to consider as well - how the house sits in relation to the other homes, for example might affect your privacy. If you have a dog you might want a courtyard villa. If you want a central location you might want to consider Mallory Square, or Duval. Or if you want to be close to a particular town square, you'd pick a certain village. Many people do buy on the spur of the moment and come out okay, but there are no guarantees. Let's face it, the prices on homes aren't going to be going up for awhile, you certainly have the luxury of taking your time. Yes you'd be paying rent, but you'd be saving on amenity fees, cable tv, utilties, etc., so you wouldn't be paying that much more. And actually, you can usually find rentals in The Villages proper, cheaper in November and December. If you put your stuff in storage and stayed in a patio villa, there are bargains out there. Good luck, and pm me if you have any questions.

[conn8757]

Thanks to all who replied - we know our way around the Villages, but I have always heard rents are really steep December - March due to everyone coming down from up north. I think we will call our Village realtor if it does sell and see what she can do for us. Otherwise, we can rent a patio villa or outside TV for a couple of months to make sure we have time to negotiate the house we want. Got our fingers crossed it will happen.

[BritParrothead]

It took us 2 months to sell our house in Orlando, it took two YEARS to sell our old home here in England. Take the money & rent a while.

[meriboo]

Take the $$$$ and run. Oh, don't forget to thank the good Lord for your blessing. As a wannabe...we are still waiting for our house to sell. It has been way toooooo looooong of a wait!!

[rshoffer]

We have had our house on the market for about two weeks - had 2 people look at it this week. The first one made an offer today - low - we have countered, but the realtor says couple #2 may offer also. We have our fingers crossed it sells.
My dilemma is if it sells, the buyer wants to take possession of our house before Thanksgiving. That would put us up at the villages in December. I really don't want to pay $2500 or more a month to rent there for 3 - 6 months. I know it gets cheaper in the spring. Joe just wants to buy something right away, but I would like to take my time and not feel any pressure to get it done in a week. I keep saying this is a good problem, this is a good problem. Anyone have any ideas?Trust me on my own experience... RENT! Take your time. rent a small villa and don't rush it. if you buy a home in a hurry I promise you you'll end up finding a home later you wish you could buy. RENT for 3-6 monts and enjoy finding your dream home.

[Boomer]

Hi Conn8757,

Congratulations. I think it may have been you who wrote here a couple of months ago about whether to put your house on the market at that point or wait. (Please forgive me if I am remembering incorrectly, but I am pretty sure it was you. I got all into that discussion.)

It looks like you made the right decision. Selling a house in this market is a reason to dance in the streets. You might as well start dancing in the streets of TV as soon as possible.

Your quick sale may have surprised you. That happened to us when we downsized a few years ago from the bigger house on acreage. 3 days. It sold. I was in a state of shock I think. I had not expected that to happen. But I knew that it needed to happen. I knew that we would not get any younger and I was so ready to get rid of all that square footage that we did not need.

But it happened really fast. And we had nowhere to live. But I was absolutely ecstatic and we took the money and ran. It all worked out for the best. And I look back at all of it in wonder. It was exactly what needed to happen.

Sounds like that might be the case for you, too.

I wish you the best on your new adventure.

Boomer

[jojo]

Good news for you. Our house sold in ten days with a two-month possession and we felt homeless. We came down to TV knowing the parameters and criteria for the house we wanted. We looked three days, found a lot as a back up to build and on the fourth day found the perfect house. I absolutely did not want to do a double move and the rent routine if I could avoid it. There is much available and not many variations in home types so it is more location that matters. I posted several times while down here about villages etc and received great feedback from the wonderful TOTVers Felt confident and no second guessing when we made the decision.

[Boomer]

Hi again, Conn,

I got so carried away with congratulations that I forgot to throw in my thoughts on the other part.

What would I do?

I would rent for awhile, unless the right house, in the right location, at the right price was falling right in my lap. Renting is one of the few things where money can buy you time.

We are considering a second home there. That decision is harder because we will not give up our downsized house here in Ohio. But we will not make a final decision until we rent again.

So anyway, those are just my thoughts. I would stop and breathe a little. And get the lay of the land. Even if it costs what seems like wasted money. That rent could end up being one of the best investments you ever make.

But that's just me.

But who knows -- maybe the perfect home for you will be there waiting and you will find it right away.

Please keep us posted. And again, congratulations!

Boomer

[conn8757]

I may be counting my chickens before they hatch as we countered on their offier and they have until Tuesday to accept.

Boomer - you are right - I was the one that was thinking we should wait until spring to put it on the market. Now it looks like things could be happening very fast. I do have 3 sons with families here, so I can give them whatever we don't want to take. I don't want to move our furniture twice and am thinking we rent a POD and rent a furnished villa - when we find a house, we move our furniture to it. We know we want to be in Lake Sumter, but from there, all the villages appeal to us. We love the Somerset, but cannot afford it. We are thinking something in the 1400-1600 square feet range.

We just want to ride around in a golf car - we may be the homeless couple sleeping in their golf car.

[F16 1UB]

We have had our house on the market for about two weeks - had 2 people look at it this week. The first one made an offer today - low - we have countered, but the realtor says couple #2 may offer also. We have our fingers crossed it sells.
My dilemma is if it sells, the buyer wants to take possession of our house before Thanksgiving.


Conn8757 - Man, I wish we had your dilemma. BTW, we bought our house in 1 day. Had been looking for years at floorplans and visited TV 2 previous times. You'll know when you find it. Congrats to you. Dilemma huh?

[efrahingarcia]

It has taken us 9 months to sell. The buyers always want to close fast, but if they really like the house (mostly the wife) they will consider 60 days.
The Villages salesmen all want to sell you an old house (they apparentely make more commission). Dont let then push you, take your time. We are going there Oct 14 to see if we find something we like. I have the blessing that one of my sons has a beach house and offered for all the time we need it, mostly because nobody goes to beach in these Long Island winters.

[gfmucci]

:agree:
We sold and then rented (in our home town) before we bought here. Rent anywhere, either in your home town or in TV - or near TV where it can be much cheaper. And even if you have to sacrifice your living conditions for a few month to rent for $1,000 or $1,500 a month, you'll appreciate your new TV home that much more.

There are plenty of afforable and decent rentals in the nearby communities of Fruitland Park, Lady Lake, Weirsdale, Oxford and other nearby communities.

It would be worth your while between signing of the sales contract and closing to spend a week down here to pick out a rental.

Spend at least a couple of days looking in TV for a home to purchase while you're at it...you might be pleasantly surprised if you could by-pass the rental step.