New Villager (almost anyway)

[Buzzerbaby]

So we did this kind of unconventionally, We first visited the Villages in December, found a house in a location we liked (Winifred Village), and am currently under contract. I'm fortunate to have worked in a profession that allowed me to retire early (I'm 52 and my wife is 55). We originally looking at Latitude Margaritaville and a couple other communities but absolutely fell in love with The Villages. I'm sure it's not all rainbows and unicorns here but everyone we came into contact with seemed really happy and had a zest for life.Looking forward to meeting some of you and I'm always looking for a fishing partner ;).

[John_W]

Winifred is a great central location. I live about 3 miles south and when I go to Glenview CC to play golf, there is a golf cart short cut right through Winifred. Everytime I drive through that Village, it seems so Ozzie & Harriet like.

I've always owned a new home, I guess 7 or 8 to be exact, my current home was new in 2011. If I moved to TV now, it would be my first resale, it's so much better here in the established Villages with the golf courses, conveniences of shopping, the ball fields. You're pretty young, I played softball for my first five years here but then quit about five years ago when I couldn't run that good anymore. You're at a good age to enjoy all the activities. The Best is yet to Come.

[PennBF]

You have made a real good choice with Winifred! The most important thing when moving to The Village's is location, location, location and you picked a very good one. We have been here around 13 years and live in a village very near by. We spent the better part of 3 years looking for the right location and settled on a village almost next Winifred. We constantly agree what a great choice we made and you just made one that is one of the best locations and a wonderful village. We have a relative that lives there and has been there around 9 years and agrees with it is one of the best locations in The Villages. Good Luck.:bigbow:

[dewilson58]

Congrats. Welcome to TV.

[Dgizzi]

I disagree I like newer homes, stores, landscaping. We over the turnpike will have the newer stores and we are now considered the “middle” of The Villages and prime location. We have all new and better landscaping then the older areas. They keep improving on stuff and nicer tunnels for our gold carts.

[John_W]

...we are now considered the “middle” of The Villages and prime location...

At 9:21 tonight, it will be the 21st minute of the 21st hour of the 21st day of the 21st year of the 21st century. No, it's not, but I made you look.

Now look at map of all The Villages old and new. Look for #40, that's Winifred, now look down near the bottom for your village and go ahead and tell us all again how central you are. Actually my Village of Tamarind Grove is more central than both. We are 14 miles from Fenney and 11 miles from Calumet Grove. The most central Villages would be Hemingway or Duval, numbers 57 and 58.

https://www.villagersfsbo.com/Main%20Page/Maps/Alpha.JPG

[La lamy]

Welcome to TV! I'm also in my 50s and it's really funny to be called the 'young one' around here.

[Scott O]

Nice reference map!

[TandHSTAR@AOL.com]

well said. Established community is always better. Everything is close by and operational. Church, stores, etc. But if you insist on a brand new home you have no choice but to go south end of TV.

[michellevanhaste]

Good map. Tks

[Quixote]

We always considered 'central' to be less important than 'location, location, location.' For our needs, 'central' in a development as big as TV would in a sense put us, well, central—but central in relation to what of our needs? More important to us was picking a location that provided the amenities that are important to us relatively nearby, rather than 'near everything.'

Our area is known as the 'Lynnhaven Corridor' which consists of five villages (Ashland, Belvedere, Bonnybrook, Lynnhaven, and Tall Trees (and BTW Winifred is directly across the traffic circle on Buena Vista from the Lynnhaven Corridor). Close by to library, supermarkets, department stores, restaurants, service businesses, extensive medical offices by Laurel Manor, two family pools plus the sports pool at Laurel Manor plus the neighborhood pools, roughly midway between Spanish Springs and Lake Sumter Landing (a bit closer to the latter), access to US-301 that goes north to Ocala via the main commercial road (CR-466) and by the 'back road' (CR-472 Rainey Trail) or south to the Turnpike or a little west to the Interstate.

Again personal taste, but we never wanted new construction, preferring instead a home and neighborhood that were more established. Of course, it's also a matter of finding one in which we did not have to undo someone else's taste in order to create our vision—and fortunately we did. Whatever else is going on 'out there,' all is well in our little universe 'in here.'

And property taxes?! Holy cow.... About a quarter of what we paid up north on a comparably sized home, even with the 'big' tax increase of 8% that we had after years of no increases to speak of. No more spending thousands on heating bills! Our home was about seven years old when we bought it—and we promptly paid off the bond balance (a tad over $5,000).

And you guys in your 50s ... all I can say is 'wow!' I own clothing older than you!... Well, just kidding about clothing, but we do have children your age and older! All things considered, it's a pretty good life in which one can get as involved—or not—or not at all— as one wishes. And one of the biggest pluses to us from the Northeast is 'lifetime free snow shoveling and plowing.' We don't miss it in the least! All the best to you newcomers!!!

[Bay Kid]

Welcome to Winifred. Great location!

[Dlbonivich]

You may want to look into the group South of the Sixties club. It is a younger group that gets together for activities. I’m 54. Welcome

[SusanMYun]

At 9:21 tonight, it will be the 21st minute of the 21st hour of the 21st day of the 21st year of the 21st century. No, it's not, but I made you look.

Now look at map of all The Villages old and new. Look for #40, that's Winifred, now look down near the bottom for your village and go ahead and tell us all again how central you are. Actually my Village of Tamarind Grove is more central than both. We are 14 miles from Fenney and 11 miles from Calumet Grove. The most central Villages would be Hemingway or Duval, numbers 57 and 58.

https://www.villagersfsbo.com/Main%20Page/Maps/Alpha.JPG

Don't know the source of the map, but Chitty Chatty and St Catherine's are reversed.

[Heytubes]

Jail bait.

[bonicka]

We are in Winifred and absolutely love it! You will too! Welcome!

[J1ceasar]

enjoy yourselfs and don't read those naysayers - in ten years Morse will have built out to Winter garden or Orlando and nothing will be "central"

[Spadra1]

Welcome to your new home. We are across from you in Bonnybrook. You couldn’t have picked a better area. We are close to everything and have all the established stores restaurants etc within a short drive by golf cart. You will love it. We are a little older than you we are in our 60s but still considered the youngins here. Lol. If we can be of any help or you just want to meet some new friends give us a reply.

[rmd2]

Winifred is a GREAT choice. I live near Buena Vista just a couple of blocks north of 466 and I LOVE the location. Everything you need is in this area. Enjoy. You are in a wonderful location.

[kendi]

At 9:21 tonight, it will be the 21st minute of the 21st hour of the 21st day of the 21st year of the 21st century. No, it's not, but I made you look.

Now look at map of all The Villages old and new. Look for #40, that's Winifred, now look down near the bottom for your village and go ahead and tell us all again how central you are. Actually my Village of Tamarind Grove is more central than both. We are 14 miles from Fenney and 11 miles from Calumet Grove. The most central Villages would be Hemingway or Duval, numbers 57 and 58.

https://www.villagersfsbo.com/Main%20Page/Maps/Alpha.JPG

Interesting that they are naming 470 “Central”. ( Ave or parkway.). Your map excludes all the new land TV has purchased and if they continue buying and building at the same rate it won’t be long until South of the turnpike is Central. Wouldn’t be surprised if 470 ends up being the center of TV one day.

[PugMom]

"And property taxes?! Holy cow.... About a quarter of what we paid up north on a comparably sized home, even with the 'big' tax increase of 8% that we had after years of no increases to speak of. No more spending thousands on heating bills! Our home was about seven years old when we bought it—and we promptly paid off the bond balance (a tad over $5,000)."
this is the reason a LOT of us came down here. living in high-cost areas taps people out until the quality of life drastically disappears. WELCOME!!! wishing you all the best :coolsmiley:

[John_W]

Interesting that they are naming 470 “Central”. ( Ave or parkway.). Your map excludes all the new land TV has purchased and if they continue buying and building at the same rate it won’t be long until South of the turnpike is Central. Wouldn’t be surprised if 470 ends up being the center of TV one day.

It will be 20 years before Fenney is central, and that's only if they continue to sell at the current rate. Right now Fenney is the very southern most edge of TV. That's about 20 to 25 miles to the northern most edge and Calumet Grove. To become central they'll have to built 20 to 25 miles further south of Fenney. Calumet Grove was started just about 20 years ago, about 2000 to 2002. I don't how anyone can look at that map and think the new area will be central in the near future. All I can say is the new home sales people much have one heck of a sales pitch.

[Buzzerbaby]

Thank you for all the warm welcomes! I figure "they" (whoever they are) say the average villager moves 2.7 times while living in the villages, so that gives us plenty of time to really figure things out as far as location. I don't think this one is our forever home, but it's definitely going to be our right now home. Now to figure out how to get the wife retired so we can get down there full time.

[newgirl]

Make sure to join the south of sixty group!

[dhdallas]

So we did this kind of unconventionally, We first visited the Villages in December, found a house in a location we liked (Winifred Village), and am currently under contract. I'm fortunate to have worked in a profession that allowed me to retire early (I'm 52 and my wife is 55). We originally looking at Latitude Margaritaville and a couple other communities but absolutely fell in love with The Villages. I'm sure it's not all rainbows and unicorns here but everyone we came into contact with seemed really happy and had a zest for life.Looking forward to meeting some of you and I'm always looking for a fishing partner ;).

So what did you do that would be considered unconventional? Usually, a person visits, picks out a house, and buys it like you did. Seems pretty conventional to me.

[Villages Kahuna]

Great location. Nice mature neighborhood.

[dougawhite]

At 9:21 tonight, it will be the 21st minute of the 21st hour of the 21st day of the 21st year of the 21st century. No, it's not, but I made you look.
https://www.villagersfsbo.com/Main%20Page/Maps/Alpha.JPG

Your map is missing Bridgeport at Laurel Valley, and probably some others...

[Buzzerbaby]

So what did you do that would be considered unconventional? Usually, a person visits, picks out a house, and buys it like you did. Seems pretty conventional to me.

I guess it was due to the fact that we knew very little about the villages when we visited. We didn’t do the lifestyle visit and probably only spent around 10 hours total there over a 2 day period. It was a h*ll of a first impression!

[John_W]

Your map is missing Bridgeport at Laurel Valley, and probably some others...

Homes 4 Rent made the map, it's on their website, it's the best map I could find of the location of the individual villages. I wish they made a nice printed version, but I haven't found one. It appears two of maps over lap in that area, Mission Hills #42 was included, and Bridgeport at Lake Sumter #41 was included and then it looks they had room to put in Laurel Valley, but forgot. I'm surprised Gracie didn't mention that since she lives in LV.

[pablo cruze]

I closed 2 weeks ago and have a ton of updates to do on my house - it is very dated and not well kept up. I think the paint is the original builders paint from 2008. Anyway, I selected the home due to the excellent location w/i the villages, and a nice corner lot.

After a few months of steady work, I should have it looking better, and make my wife happy. She won't move down till it's fixed up.

The residents on my street are a few decades older than I am, as were the previous owners of my place. Maybe some "youts" (U60's) will move in within a few years...:shrug::shrug:

Have a happy day :a040:

[cj740@comcast.net]

So we did this kind of unconventionally, We first visited the Villages in December, found a house in a location we liked (Winifred Village), and am currently under contract. I'm fortunate to have worked in a profession that allowed me to retire early (I'm 52 and my wife is 55). We originally looking at Latitude Margaritaville and a couple other communities but absolutely fell in love with The Villages. I'm sure it's not all rainbows and unicorns here but everyone we came into contact with seemed really happy and had a zest for life.Looking forward to meeting some of you and I'm always looking for a fishing partner ;).
Hi. Do you go deep sea fishing? My husband Loves to fish but ONLY deep sea......????

[DAVES]

Thank you for all the warm welcomes! I figure "they" (whoever they are) say the average villager moves 2.7 times while living in the villages, so that gives us plenty of time to really figure things out as far as location. I don't think this one is our forever home, but it's definitely going to be our right now home. Now to figure out how to get the wife retired so we can get down there full time.

From my dad, long departed.
If, you think you understand your wife, you are wrong. Even if you are right, it will change shortly.
From me
If, you care about what other people think such as my Village is better than yours. First you give them power that should be yours. Secondly, they were the same in elementary school
Borrowed from a Villages friend, they do not get better as they age, they get worse.

DON'T WORRY BE HAPPY.

[Buzzerbaby]

Hi. Do you go deep sea fishing? My husband Loves to fish but ONLY deep sea......????
Yes I do, I grew up on rivers and ponds in the northwest, but now I seem to spend more time in the salt. I do try to get up to Alaska at least once a year where I split my time between salt and freshwater.

[budfor]

At 9:21 tonight, it will be the 21st minute of the 21st hour of the 21st day of the 21st year of the 21st century. No, it's not, but I made you look.

Now look at map of all The Villages old and new. Look for #40, that's Winifred, now look down near the bottom for your village and go ahead and tell us all again how central you are. Actually my Village of Tamarind Grove is more central than both. We are 14 miles from Fenney and 11 miles from Calumet Grove. The most central Villages would be Hemingway or Duval, numbers 57 and 58.

https://www.villagersfsbo.com/Main%20Page/Maps/Alpha.JPG
The new homes south of CR44 don't have and won't have for another 5 years minimum all the entertainment, shopping, restaurants, healthcare, The 2 best Town Squares, businesses and much more all within a shorter distance to travel than the established homes around CR 466.

[Catalina36]

HOW about Bonnybrook # 37 or Ashland # 39. I recently purchased in Ashland and love the location. 2.7 mile to Sumter Landing. 1.7 miles to Wedgewood Lane where there is so many stores. Publix, Ace Hardware, Walmart etc. etc. In the other direction heading south there's a Winn Dixie, Sumter Landing, and Brownwood maybe 8.5 miles away. Check out Whispering Oaks winery 6.5 miles away. Everyday I am enjoying TV more and more. The more I am venturing out the more I am loving this place. TV is awesome.

[PennBF]

You will be 5 minutes from Shopping Center, Banks, Restaurants, Hardware Store, Wallgreens, Walmark, Auto Store, Next door to a major Rec Center and golf course and driving range and Golf Center Restaurant plus other stuff but this is a start. That
is why Winifred is terrific location. Before the nuts fall out of trees and attack the 5 minutes time, it may be as high as 10 minutes in a couple of cases but who cares for another 5 minutes. :ho:

[Bay Kid]

It will be 20 years before Fenney is central, and that's only if they continue to sell at the current rate. Right now Fenney is the very southern most edge of TV. That's about 20 to 25 miles to the northern most edge and Calumet Grove. To become central they'll have to built 20 to 25 miles further south of Fenney. Calumet Grove was started just about 20 years ago, about 2000 to 2002. I don't how anyone can look at that map and think the new area will be central in the near future. All I can say is the new home sales people much have one heck of a sales pitch.

Winifred is pretty central, to all the golf.

[Marathon Man]

It seems that this is becoming a contest. All areas of TV are great. The reasons vary. People make choices based on their personal criteria, as it should be. No reason to claim that other areas are not as good.

[graciegirl]

Welcome Home to both of you. You have no idea what a great choice you made to move here to lower Paradise.

As for being in your fifties....I once thought that age didn't matter here in The Villages but now that I am 81, (which happened VERY quickly while having fun) I can see that it does.

I do not want to roller skate with you but we will welcome you and give you coffee and snacks (or a cold beer) and enjoy listening to you telling us of all of the adventures of your life before you arrived here. You are just gonna love this place.

Don't discount us olders. We are quite nice and fun to be around.

[Buzzerbaby]

Welcome Home to both of you. You have no idea what a great choice you made to move here to lower Paradise.

As for being in your fifties....I once thought that age didn't matter here in The Villages but now that I am 81, (which happened VERY quickly while having fun) I can see that it does.

I do not want to roller skate with you but we will welcome you and give you coffee and snacks (or a cold beer) and enjoy listening to you telling us of all of the adventures of your life before you arrived here. You are just gonna love this place.

Don't discount us olders. We are quite nice and fun to be around.

And I would thoroughly enjoy that! I'm sure you have many tales to tell as well.

[Boston-Sean]

Reading everyone rave about being in the middle of everything has driven me to my first post here.

I’ve been “in the middle of everything” for the last 30+ years and I’ve had enough. For my coming retirement, The Villages is currently my plan B. Plan A is renting an out building on Kanye West’s Wyoming ranch.

For the Villages the new areas down south are what appeal to me. If I were to buy right now I’d probably go with Bradford. Small and quiet but near enough to activities I’m interested in. For shopping it’s just the grocery store once or twice a week, Costco once a month and Home Depot/Lowes occasionally. Everything else I can get online.

For recreation it’s USPSA pistol matches in Clearwater once a week, Archery once a week and the standard Villager activities: Biking, Golf, Softball, Pickleball, Orgies, etc. None of which have to be within walking distance.

I have no interest in the Town Squares. In fact, I’ll be leaving my family strict instructions. If they ever hear of me line dancing they are to immediately dispatch Seal Team 6 for an emergency extraction.

I’ve read that the typical Villager buys 2-3 houses. Maybe I’ll end up buying further and further south as time goes on. I’m pretty sure I’m going to have a hard time adjusting to all the friendliness. Joining the social group for sarcastic and cynical north-easterners might help though.

You do have one of those groups, right?

[John_W]

Reading everyone rave about being in the middle of everything has driven me to my first post here.

I’ve been “in the middle of everything” for the last 30+ years and I’ve had enough. For my coming retirement, The Villages is currently my plan B...

When I moved to TV in 2011 we didn't have an area like south of 44, the new area was the end of Buena Vista at 466A. The quiet area and still is to this day, is the northern end of Buena Vista. That year my village didn't have a neighborhood softball team yet. So I played for Calumet Grove, as far north as you can get, 11 miles from my village. We don't play our games there, but I once went to a team party at their Rec Center and have traveled to the VA Clinic at Mulberry now and then and occasionally play Lopez Country Club when I feel like spending 45 minutes each way on my cart. That area is not much different than what you're describing.

Big exception, they already have an existing 27 hole golf course, and Lopez is one of the best and most beautiful in the TV. It's also only one of the three courses that have a driving range. You have a Publix Shopping Center and you are within 10 to 15 minutes by cart Glenview Country Club and the Saddlebrook Softball Complex and the Polo Fields where more than polo goes on, RC airplanes, kite flying, all types of clubs and many times special events, and none involve line dancing. Did I forget the Savannah Center, the 840 seat theater where many of the shows go on during normal times. Last show I attended was Molly Hatchet last January, I like southern rock.

So if you decide not to build but to buy a resale, then take a look at the north end of the TV, the trip along Buena Vista north of the Polo Fields is like nothing else. Remember, whatever you do, don't buy a golf cart and drive it to the square.

https://blog.eragrizzard.com/hs-fs/hubfs/The_Villages/the_villages_florida_55_Plus_community.jpg?width=6 19&height=464&name=the_villages_florida_55_Plus_community.jpg

[Boston-Sean]

Remember, whatever you do, don't buy a golf cart and drive it to the square.

https://blog.eragrizzard.com/hs-fs/hubfs/The_Villages/the_villages_florida_55_Plus_community.jpg?width=6 19&height=464&name=the_villages_florida_55_Plus_community.jpg

Noted.

[Garywt]

Welcome aboard. Looking at the map posted, we are in the #1 area.