Which Village to choose

[cwnavy1]

We made a brief visit to TV in October and have a six-day visit the end of December, and will be seriously looking at homes. There have been discussions which have indicated that the newer villages would probably have many folks who may be younger than in the older sections. As first wave boomers, we are interested in this situation, if it's true. Any thoughts, guidance, suggestions?

[graciegirl]

We made a brief visit to TV in October and have a six-day visit the end of December, and will be seriously looking at homes. There have been discussions which have indicated that the newer villages would probably have many folks who may be younger than in the older sections. As first wave boomers, we are interested in this situation, if it's true. Any thoughts, guidance, suggestions?

It is really confusing this age thing. We moved into a new house in Hadley and just immediately loved all of our neighbors and have had many get togethers and celebrations.They are all ages. I particularly hit if off with my next door neighbor. She was just immediately someone that I enjoyed doing everything with. She played all kinds of games and loved decorating and took water aerobics, walking for long distances, SHOPPING and regular aerobics and I could HARDLY keep up with her. Plus she looked so very young...

She told me she is 71. I swear anyone would think she was 50.

So...you just can't tell about people and their age.

:welcome::MOJE_whot:

[BarryB]

If you are looking for a new home you will be in a newer village. If it's resale you are looking for you have your pick of any village

[wlou]

I agree with the previous post about age does not matter..I find that the newer villages south of LSL do seem to have younger villagers..( in actual years only, not attitudes!) We find that the younger villagers appear to be buying in the newer sections...

[ijusluvit]

Briar Meadow is the village farthest north, I've never seen it mentioned on TOTV and many of you never heard of it. In fact, someone recently posted a complete list all of the villages and the year they were built. Briar Meadow was omitted. We have a major recreation center, a full service shopping center, and one of the best championship golf courses. But we also have peace and quiet. There are all ages and amazing diversity in my three-street complex. One of our newest neighbors moved here from a place a few blocks from 466. "It was a zoo!" she said. "I move right along in my new golf cart, but I had speed demons who even passed me in the tunnels!" "It's like heaven here."
I used to think it was your only your home; private or open/modest or immodest/older or newer which made things different. Not so. The only difference is traffic/tranquility.

(geez, maybe I shouldn't have spilled the beans about Briar Meadow.)

[funinthesun59]

I'm 50 in Sabal Chase



We made a brief visit to TV in October and have a six-day visit the end of December, and will be seriously looking at homes. There have been discussions which have indicated that the newer villages would probably have many folks who may be younger than in the older sections. As first wave boomers, we are interested in this situation, if it's true. Any thoughts, guidance, suggestions?

[Xavier]

Of course everyone loves where they live so it really is a matter of individual tastes. We are 63 and 62 years old and we also love the northern section of The Villages. Briar Meadow, Calumet Grove and Chatham are just beautiful and so are all of the people we've met in the past year. The homes are lovely and have mature landscaping. We have slight rolling hills and the scenery is stunning. You'll need to drive north on Buena Vista Blvd and just take in the beauty. We like the easy access to Route 42 at the north edge of The Villages. Take a left and you are soon on Rt 301 or take a right and you are soon on Rt 27/441. Both provide great north - south access.

The homes were built in and around 2003. One of the advantages of a pre-owned home, in our opinion, is that many have the add-ons that you may want. For example our home had pavers for the driveway and sidewalk to the front door. It had a Bose sound system through-out. It had an extended lanai with tile flooring and a built in spa. The den has 11 feet of built in office cabinetry and book cases. The pull down stairs in the garage is already there. It is wired for a security system. It has an additional air filteration system, a whole house surge protector, and, best of all, it came completely furnished and the bond was paid. We have changed out the flooring and are now in the process of having some color added to our walls (painting). We are as happy as "two bugs in a rug."

(Oh, we don't really have two bugs in a rug!)

No matter where you end up in The Villages will be just fine. Good luck to you and happy house hunting.

[rshoffer]

We made a brief visit to TV in October and have a six-day visit the end of December, and will be seriously looking at homes. There have been discussions which have indicated that the newer villages would probably have many folks who may be younger than in the older sections. As first wave boomers, we are interested in this situation, if it's true. Any thoughts, guidance, suggestions?Rent for 6 mos

[Xavier]

Rent for 6 mos

I'm not sure I'd be willing to pay $9,000 to $14,000 (or more) to rent for 6 months when I could put that into my new home. Of course, I've never been that "well-off." Maybe a couple of weeks to a month would do.

[katezbox]

I'm not sure I'd be willing to pay $9,000 to $14,000 (or more) to rent for 6 months when I could put that into my new home. Of course, I've never been that "well-off." Maybe a couple of weeks to a month would do.

Xavier, you are quite right about many of us not having the funds to rent for 6 mos or so. However, it is within your means, I think RSH offers solid advice. So many people move within the villages - many times for reasons that could have been avoided by doing better research - and renting may be the very best way to get that research done. In the long run it is certainly cheaper than selling and moving another time or two.

As Mary says, if you buy in a newer neighborhood, all of your neighbors will be new together. (Except those folks who moved from within, of course).

That being said, we were not able to afford that option so we used TOTV, the TV website, Lyle Sells Florida, Realtor.com etc to really get our arms around the place. We also did one LSV and stayed with friends in Largo on another visit.

A couple of things worth mentioning....

Xavier's comments on the add-ons to a preowned house are absolutely correct. However, you may want to make a list of what you definitely want and don't want in a home and stick to it. It is so easy to be swayed by a great design on a driveway - and then you buy a home with a lanai that doesn't suit, etc. Think of the bond as only one more cost - because really that is all it is. Some pre-owned homes with a bond paid off are priced to recoup that - so it is no deal to you.

Think about how you would like to live in Florida. Do think a view is important? Would you be happy living on a golf course knowing that you have a chance of a ball being hit your way and golfers in your backyard? Would you mind the noise of a street behind you or is that better than neighbors behind you?

I think doing a LSV is critical and, if you can swing it, try to stay a few extra days with friends or in a hotel to give yourself time to look around. Check out the exposure of houses you like at different times of the day - if that lanai is hot at sunset now, what will it be like in the summer?

I have a spreadsheet that I am willing to share - just know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and what my hubs and I find important you may totally disagree on. There are lots of threads on this topic here - devour them!

Best of luck - this is a wonderful place!

[ajbrown]

We made a brief visit to TV in October and have a six-day visit the end of December, and will be seriously looking at homes. There have been discussions which have indicated that the newer villages would probably have many folks who may be younger than in the older sections. As first wave boomers, we are interested in this situation, if it's true. Any thoughts, guidance, suggestions?

This is my thinking on your question with absolutely NO statistical evidence to support it :). I think new areas are in general 'younger' ONLY as measured by the calendar for a period of time.

As an example, we bought in Mallory about 3 years ago. All of the houses here were new at the time, so you have 50 - 75 (I did not count) new buyers coming into the area all at once. After meeting the neighbors at golf, garage parties, etc. I have not met many that came from another neighborhood. This was their first home in TV and for most their first retirement home.

That said there is a wide range of age groups in our neighborhood, depending when folks find TV and decide to retire, but I suspect this is the youngest our neighborhood will ever be.

It makes sense to me that newer areas would on average be younger as it is being filled with new buyers all at once. After that initial filling of the area, I bet that neighborhoods age together for some period of time.

Most of us are very happy here so our neighborhood is 3 years older already. In 10 years it would seem to me our mean age would be higher than it was when we bought and higher than new areas being built down south.

Even if my silly hypothesis is correct, I would absolutely NOT make that the reason you select an area to buy. TV is a young place and you will likely fit in anywhere. Stay here a bit, you will understand what I mean by young. Then you will also understand more important buying criteria like how often you wish to drop into town square, different country clubs, etc, etc, etc.

Hopefully I have skirted any offensive remarks as none were intended.

[katezbox]

AJ,

I think you got it right. One of the youngest folks on our street may be chronologically the oldest. Age really doesn't matter.

On our little cul de sac of about 20 homes - 3 are 2nd time village buyers.

k

[BobKat1]

I'm not sure I'd be willing to pay $9,000 to $14,000 (or more) to rent for 6 months when I could put that into my new home. Of course, I've never been that "well-off." Maybe a couple of weeks to a month would do.

Renting for a month or so makes sense.

It could also help to avoid a potential more costly mistake if one finds out maybe TV isn't the place for them.

[TrudyM]

I am a number cruncher to the max. I am always checking this site and adjusting my numbers to reflect new data. Although not an expert. My calculations say that the same money (principal invested well or the lack of a mortgage and utlities taxes et all) if you omit the three winter months will let you rent. (actually my numbers come out cheaper at the moment) We may if we find the perfect, fall in love with it spot, change our minds. However as it is a big adjustment, a life style change, we can't figure how much room we will be comfortable in let alone which village. And that 6% commission to resell (not to mention closing costs) if you make the wrong choice would eat up any difference. We plan to rent a golf cart also (even if one comes with the rental) for the same reason, try out gas versus electric compare size etc.

Just my thoughts
Trudy waiting for the realestate market in Seattle to recover so we can retire as planned.

[Anntwirls]

I agree with another blogger here.
My husband and I are both in our mid 50's!
WE are HIGHLY active.
We live in the Briar Meadow Neighborhood (North Side) and it is so quiet and less hustle bustle here. Regional Rec Center 3 minutes away with golf cart and the shopping is just as close as is our Doctor.
Our friends are 50's-60's and HIGHLY active as well.
We have lived here for 7 years now and really appreciate where we live!
I have many friends from one end of The Villages to the other end and I don't think that certain age groups move to certain areas.
You will find that everyone is friendly and loves getting together with their neighbors.

[Mel1]

I live in a ten year old section and we have had about a 50% turnover rate due mostly to wear out modes of the folks getting Older. thus our average age stays about the same and of course fresh faces that we help out a lot.

I tell my friends to pick carefully based on lot location (trees, golf courses, water and most importantly traffic). If you want to design your dream house then go new. If you want established landscaping then buy used. If you want friendly folks then just move anywhere in TV land.

I suspect that the biggest disappointments have been based on lot locations after people have bought.

Mel