How Did Your Journey Get You To The Villages? [Archive]

Taltarzac725

01-13-2022, 12:53 PM

My parents visited the Villages in 2004 from Palm Harbor, FL and loved it after spending a week or so here trying it out. They then moved here in the Summer of 2005 after their various grand kids moved back to the West Coast following my younger brother's divorce. We gained a bunch of Jamaicans and Jamaican-Americans as extended family after his 2nd marriage to a lady he met in the St. Petersburg, FL area.

I have been along for the ride. I do have 4 degrees from 5 schools in five states but have only used those for the most part for various hobbies but did work my way through school often via summer jobs, scholarships, work-study and the like. I was only at BYU Law School for about ten days though so did not experience that much of Utah. I did look into a dual degree in law and librarianship at the University of Denver (Class of May, 1984) but just had to settle for the MA. Later, went back to law school at the U of MN-- Class of 1989. Also have BAs in Philosophy and History (Classes of 1980 December and 1981 May from the U of Nevada, Reno). I took some Spanish classes at the College of San Mateo in San Mateo, CA around 1985 or 1986.

I have a habit of poking my nose where it should not be. So, ended up with my loving parents.

Grew up Lutheran but find things to value in many religions.

Stu from NYC

01-13-2022, 01:43 PM

For some years every time we cruised we would meet people from the Villages and almost all very favorable.
Visited about 6 years ago and liked it but were not ready.
Came down here 2 1/2 and rented for a month and we knew it was time and moved here 2 years ago just in time for covid.

Carla B

01-13-2022, 01:54 PM

Left Texas in 1996 aboard our 40' sailboat, an Island Packet, after selling house and most possessions, including cars. Lived aboard and cruised until 2002, then moved to a condo in Southeast Fl. with ocean access. Finally stopped boating in 2008 and started looking for a less costly and crowded place to live, away from direct hits from hurricanes, and with more of a "country" environment. Thought we'd go back to Texas but we didn't make it that far. Friends from Texas mentioned they had happened upon The Villages and were impressed, as were we on our first trip. We all moved here in 2008.

There are many people in The Villages who moved from other places in Florida.

GpaVader

01-13-2022, 02:07 PM

We were born and raised in MN. My wife has SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) so we needed to move someplace with more sun in the winter, plus we both hate snow.... We've spent the last 8 or so years of our vacations exploring where we wanted to retire. Saw a commercial on the Golf Channel and came to check it out, and we kept coming back. We tried it at different times of the year figuring if we can handle the heat and humidity at its worst, we could live here. Not ready to retire yet, 2 years ago I put out resumes from here to Orlando, Tampa to Ocala and didn't get any interest, plus COVID hit. We had planned a Life Style visit for Aug of last year and 2 weeks before our trip I had some tickles on a job. Flew out for our visit, went to the job interview, got an offer the next day and the rest is history. We get to see how we like it and if it doesn't work out we still have time to hit the reset button.... Love so far but still adjusting.

Taltarzac725

01-13-2022, 02:24 PM

My parents moved from Chicagoland in the mid-1950s to a suburb of Milwaukee where they raised us three kids even though I greeted the arrival of my younger brother by taking off at three for about a few mile tricycle ride. Wound up in the back of a police cruiser, I think. At three!

We then moved to Reno, Nevada in very early 1970 and grew up there.

I have met quite a few Villagers who worked in Reno, Nevada for a time and even more who have visited there.

I spent 5.5 years in Minneapolis getting a law degree and working at the downtown Minneapolis Public Library for about a semester before getting hired by the U of MN Law Library. Worked at that library until mid-1991. Also helped prisoners and former inmates at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater while a law student.

We were born and raised in MN. My wife has SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) so we needed to move someplace with more sun in the winter, plus we both hate snow.... We've spent the last 8 or so years of our vacations exploring where we wanted to retire. Saw a commercial on the Golf Channel and came to check it out, and we kept coming back. We tried it at different times of the year figuring if we can handle the heat and humidity at its worst, we could live here. Not ready to retire yet, 2 years ago I put out resumes from here to Orlando, Tampa to Ocala and didn't get any interest, plus COVID hit. We had planned a Life Style visit for Aug of last year and 2 weeks before our trip I had some tickles on a job. Flew out for our visit, went to the job interview, got an offer the next day and the rest is history. We get to see how we like it and if it doesn't work out we still have time to hit the reset button.... Love so far but still adjusting.

manaboutown

01-13-2022, 02:24 PM

Read about The Villages in "Leisureville" and just had to see it. I found it beautiful and very impressive and after three separate visits figured out what type house, location and so on would work best for me. It all worked out and here I am.

BTW I really miss Katie Belle's! :beer3:

Bilyclub

01-13-2022, 02:35 PM

We would cruise once or twice a year and a lot of the people we met were from TV. After researching and visiting both sides of Florida and figured out TV was probably our best fit. Checked out TV a few times, plus 2 lifestyle visits. Spent a few years looking for a house that suited us and bought before the current big bubble.

JMintzer

01-13-2022, 03:06 PM

Friends of ours talked about moving to TV for years before finally pulling the trigger in 2019. I laughed it off for years, thinking we'd end up in SE FL, where my mother in law had a condo (Boca Raton). After she passed, we started looking (as I didn't want a condo), but nothing that wound our watch...

We visited our friends for a week, 10 days over Thanksgiving 2 years ago. I was immediately smitten. I was ready to dive in. I loved the plethora of golf courses, all of the activities and clubs. Everyone we met, while shopping, eating out or just walking the squares was friendly and helpful.

The Boss insisted we wait and rent for a season to be sure, so we rented last Winter for 2 1/2 months. Came down just before Christmas and by the first week of January, had made an offer on a re-sale that was accepted. We were lucky. A few weeks after our offer was accepted, the market went nuts! I'm working on retiring and hopefully, we'll be "Frogs' in 2-3 years max... Sooner if the stars align correctly...

We settled in the middle of February, a few weeks before our rental expired. We moved a bunch of stuff in this past April and have been coming back and forth ever since... A week in June, 2 weeks at the end of July/August, and again in early December. Each time we come down, we bring more "stuff" that we weren't sure we wanted to keep, and we schedule contractors to tweak things to our taste. We had the inside painted just before the movers arrived, we're having light fixtures changed next week and gutters installed next month... Still to do? Landscape changes... But that can wait for now...

We'll be down again this weekend, I'll only be able to stay for a week, but the Boss will stay till the beginning of March. I'll come down in late February for a week or two and we'll drive home together...

We have a daughter's wedding coming up in May, so we're not sure when we'll be back... Probably June or July...

Garywt

01-13-2022, 03:10 PM

Hape2Bhr

01-13-2022, 03:16 PM

There are retired people from all over the nation that settled down in The Villages, some snowbirds, and some full-time residence.

My question is: "What's your story that brought to TV, and why not other areas in Florida?"

Cheers!

While still working, spent 25 years on central Florida golf trips. After retiring, while my better half continued to work, I spent a January at Citrus Hills and the next year at Black Diamond in Lecanto.
After my wife retired we rented for 3 months in Santo Domingo (a very nice house with a pool and a good size yard by the way). The following year we rented a 3 bedroom courtyard villa with a pool and separate golf cart garage. We were hooked; bought that March.
How about yourself?

laboutj

01-13-2022, 03:32 PM

My brother and sister in law purchased sight unseen in 2007. I was driving my father in law to West Palm and we scheduled an overnight stay with my brother on the way down. I was awed. Wife and I ended up renting for 1-2 months at a time for several years and then ended up purchasing in October 2020 before the housing market went crazy. I talked it up so much between that first visit and our purchase that both of my wife's siblings ended up buying homes in the Villages.

ThirdOfFive

01-13-2022, 03:39 PM

We came here on the lifestyle program a few years back, then also rented here subsequently. We enjoyed our time here but saw ourselves more as prospective snowbirds than permanent residents. However in the fall of 2020 Minneapolis and St. Paul were in the throes of rioting, violence, and looting to the extent that housing in about a 60-mile ring around those two cities skyrocketed in value, as persons living and working in those areas sought to put some distance between themselves and the unrest. Our house was one such. It was the perfect time, we found an incredibly good deal here when my wife came down to house-shop, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Why here and not another part of Florida? We talked about it, but TV is designed for retirees; not just all the golf and other activities, but the structure of the residences, shopping in TV and nearby, etc. are all conducive to healthy and active senior living. Plus its inland enough so that hurricanes are not a major problem. No other place in Florida met our needs the way "the world's largest open-air nursing home (as my wife calls it) than The Villages.

asianthree

01-13-2022, 03:45 PM

Came in 2007 after seeing TV advertised on golf magazine and Golf tournament. Rented, 07, and 09. Bought first home vaca home in 2010.

One retired in 2016, one still figuring out the love of working

Michael G.

01-13-2022, 03:51 PM

Our adopted son and daughter in law came to TV for a visit and rented for a couple months.
They decided to move into a new home they had built, and we came down from Wisconsin to visit,
when I retired, and my wife sold her business.

We rented for the winter in 2015, brought my Goldwing trike along, put a bid in on our house and moved here in 2016.

Now you know the rest of the story.

BTW, we're still trying to adapt to the summer heat, but 6 months of Wisconsin winters for 70 + years, proved to be too much

CoachKandSportsguy

01-13-2022, 04:00 PM

We have been vacationing with golf clubs all over the US. . . except the SW. many times on the east coast between SC and FL and some gulf coast. Mostly near the beaches. Friends of ours said to check this out, so we were looking for a December vacation location and we picked a weeks lifestyle visit in Dec 2018

Just when Marsh bend opened up. . and on day4, we happen to find a lot by ourselves which has a very nice view to offer, but not a direct water view, so it was very cheap, and purchased it. we put the saved money into the house. closed May 2019, spent the next 6 months furnishing it and then since we aren't ready, put it into the rental market.

Target retire date is Dec 2024 when we reach or nearly reach FRA. . .

so it was an impulse purchase with no ball fields, no everglades and no publix and no bridge to brownwood. . .

just got lucky, but have been through this get in early drill before, and chickened out and then missed a huge opportunity so that's why i acted on impulse, not willing to miss another potential nice opportunity

pdnesbitt

01-13-2022, 04:22 PM

There are retired people from all over the nation that settled down in The Villages, some snowbirds, and some full-time residence.

My question is: "What's your story that brought to TV, and why not other areas in Florida?"

Cheers!

***CAUTION*** I tend to get a bit verbose, so grab your favorite beverage before jumping into my story.

We are right in the middle of our move to The Villages. In fact, construction started on our house in Hammocks at Fenney just yesterday. That said, if you had asked us a year ago about moving to The Villages, or anywhere else for that matter, we would have said that we had no plans to move.

Four and a half years ago we retired and moved to our “dream retirement”, a big house on a lake in South Carolina. We had planned it for years and we fully intended to live there to a ripe old age. It was a nice life. We had boats and a pool, and even belonged to the local country club. But what we hadn’t counted on was the isolation and long distances to just about anything we wanted to do, other than stuff on the lake.

Even in SC the winters were still cold (to us) so we would spend January and February in South Florida. And even then the other winter months were a bit chilly for any outdoor activities, let alone lake activities. We were even considering buying a condo or something in south FL to spend Winters in.

Then along came the 2021 real estate boom. We kinda followed it in the news, but paid little attention to it. Then our neighbor put their house on the market for (what we considered) a ridiculous price. That got us talking about “what would we do if we could get $xxxxxx for our house”. We talked about all kinds of options and kept finding reasons they wouldn’t make us happier. So it was just an occasional topic for discussion that went nowhere. After all, we had spent years planning for the place we currently had.

When we discussed what we thought would make us happier, we settled on things like better (Winter) weather, lots more activities, restaurants, clubs, and store less than 30-60 minutes away, more of a social life, closer to the activities we currently enjoy, etc… Does it sound like I am describing The Villages? We had no idea what TV was other than a big retirement community. We had never, ever, even considered moving to any type of community.

This story is starting to drag, so I’ll speed it up. It was in September last year we kinda decided on what would make us happier, IF such a place even existed, and IF our house could sell for a stupid amount of money. Big IFs. So we started looking and remembered that we knew a couple people that moved to TV, so we looked harder. We were amazed at what TV seemed to have to offer, so we booked one of the Lifestyle visits.

So in late September we visited TV and immediately thought that it was Disneyland for adults. After a 4 day visit we were hooked. We immediately went home and put our house on the market, which sold for full asking price, in just 2 days. 30 days later, we had put down a deposit on a Designer Home lot and closed on our house. Now we are Villages Guests while we anxiously wait for our house to be completed.

I am a planner by nature (and profession), so this big spontaneous life event was of some concern to my child, family and friends. In fact, words like “senile” and “crazy” were spoken at times, but here we are, trying to live our best life.

Tom52

01-13-2022, 04:34 PM

After spending our entire lives suffering thru midwest winters DW and I decided to look for a winter getaway in Florida. DW found a rental in a CYV here in TV. That would have been 2017. We really liked it here so decided to rent a couple of months in 2018. After the second visit we decided to look for a house when we returned for a couple of months in 2019.

We decided we would look for a resale designer home as we liked the amenities in the already established areas. Problem was a minimum of a 3 car garage was required. They were few and far between but we found one that would suit us and made the purchase.

We arrived back to our existing home on March 9, 2019 and less that 7 weeks later we moved to our new home in TV on April 23, 2019. During that 7 weeks we sold our house and most all our possessions accumulated over 40 plus years. Looking back on that, it seems nearly impossible what we went thru to make the move in such a short time.

The reasons we chose TV was because of the lifestyle we would be able to live, it is unlike anywhere else we could imagine. Also DW would never consider living where there is a higher chance of hurricane damage. We feel very lucky to have many new friends here and good health to enjoy the lifestyle. Sure the summers are hot but it gets just as hot and humid in the midwest. This beautiful winter weather way more than offsets the hot summers. We have been here full time going on three years now with few regrets. My main regret is that we did not find a house with an even larger garage.

Michael G.

01-13-2022, 05:29 PM

***CAUTION*** I tend to get a bit verbose, so grab your favorite beverage before jumping into my story.

Four and a half years ago we retired and moved to our “dream retirement”, a big house on a lake in South Carolina. We had planned it for years and we fully intended to live there to a ripe old age. It was a nice life. We had boats and a pool, and even belonged to the local country club. But what we hadn’t counted on was the isolation and long distances to just about anything we wanted to do, other than stuff on the lake.

I just read the best place to retire for all-around weather was S. Carolina

bagboy

01-13-2022, 07:02 PM

I just read the best place to retire for all-around weather was S. Carolina

Not true, we lived at the beach for almost 12 years.

manaboutown

01-13-2022, 07:09 PM

I just read the best place to retire for all-around weather was S. Carolina

I was stationed at Ft. Jackson near Columbia, SC while in the army. It was quite cold and damp in the winter - pneumonia weather - and hot and humid in the summer.

The best place to retire for weather is San Diego, CA IMHO. No, I have not lived there as an adult but an aunt and grandmother did and I spent a lot of time there while I was growing up.

tophcfa

01-13-2022, 07:27 PM

Good friends bought a place here back when Lake Sumter Landing was just built and no one yet visualized anything south of 466A. We were invited down several times over the years, at first we were still relatively young and thought the place was fun and interesting but never saw ourselves living with all those “old people”. However, as time passed the place really grew on us and suddenly we became a couple of those “old people” and realized we fit right in. And besides, where else in the world can we go everywhere in a golf cart, get to 8 regulation lap swimming sports pools, 12 Championship golf courses, a whole bunch of Executive golf courses, three town squares with nightly entertainment, and a whole lot more all within about a 35 minute golf cart ride? We are both very active people and know of nowhere else where there is more fun stuff to do all in one place. Plus, the weather from November through April is soooooooo much better than up north. So here we are, living large and making all our friends still up north jealous.

Professor

01-14-2022, 05:51 AM

My wife and I had decided many years ago that Florida would some day be our home. Looked up and down both coasts over the years but never found exactly what we thought could be our forever home. Wife saw an add for The Villages on Fox News and mentioned it when we flew down for a company seminar in Orlando. We drove up after the seminar ended one day and fell in love with the place. We did two lifestyle visits over the next 12 months and bought our house as a vacation property that same year. 3 years later I received an offer to work remotely full-time. I accepted it and two months later we moved here full time. I still work full-time remotely and we are still in the original house we bought back in 2009. Love it here.

La lamy

01-14-2022, 05:56 AM

I thought I'd retire near St-Pete on gulf side of Florida, but a pickleball buddy told me I should check out TV. I'm so thrilled to have had that reference!

Zenmama18

01-14-2022, 06:38 AM

There are retired people from all over the nation that settled down in The Villages, some snowbirds, and some full-time residence.

My question is: "What's your story that brought to TV, and why not other areas in Florida?"

Cheers!

We stayed at my sister-in-laws place in Duval many times over the years. Looked at several other retirement communities nearby. TV checked off the most boxes for us. We wanted minimal maintenance and a lot of activities. Hubby is disabled so golf not a big draw for us.

OronocoCharlie

01-14-2022, 06:42 AM

I'm from Minnesota and I retired in the Summer of 2019. Covid hit just as I was returning from an extended vacation in Arizona. I went from feeling footloose and fancy free to being on virtual house arrest. Covid torpedoed my planned life of endless traveling and was the catalyst for me deciding to move to Florida, where I’d escape both the cold Winters and the high Minnesota state income tax. I put my Minnesota home on the market and it sold in 3 days. The buyers set the closing date nearly 3 months out so I had lots of time to plan next steps. I did some research on the internet and discovered a planned retirement community called The Villages. What a neat idea I thought. I secured a villages rental home for after my Minnesota home sold and I flew down to do some advanced scouting via "Lifestyles Preview Visit". During my visit I was shown around by a really nice Villages employee. I found a home I liked and nearly bought it, but the seller was a greedy contractor/house-flipper who set the asking price 10's of thousands above the appraised value. Frustrated, I ditched the Villages sales team and struck out on my own to find a new home. Using MOVOTO and their nice filters, I quickly found a really nice home for a fair price. So far I love the home and being a Villager.

midiwiz

01-14-2022, 06:45 AM

There are retired people from all over the nation that settled down in The Villages, some snowbirds, and some full-time residence.

My question is: "What's your story that brought to TV, and why not other areas in Florida?"

Cheers!

This nightmare of sorts is 100% blamed on my wife's job offer/contract inclusive to that is that it was the only place I could snag a house within the timeframe (trust me I tried real hard not to be in T.V.)

We aren't retired, our house is far too small, the prices... OMG, and at least I don't fit any of this possibly ever (including the way over the top censorship) We don't like being shut down at 9pm. We like to take our time go to dinner later, etc. So here we are, the neighborhood is nice. Thats all I have for that

You asked - there's your answer.

RICH1

01-14-2022, 06:49 AM

I heard about the variety of casseroles!

BarbaraB

01-14-2022, 07:07 AM

Saw The Villages on the Golf Channel. The Villages is Del Webb on steroids. Husband died and all was right here. Wonderful place to live out the final years.

OronocoCharlie

01-14-2022, 07:17 AM

Saw The Villages on the Golf Channel. The Villages is Del Webb on steroids. Husband died and all was right here. Wonderful place to live out the final years.

LOL, I'm picturing Del Webb with bulging muscles, striking a body builders pose.

mkjelenbaas

01-14-2022, 07:39 AM

There are retired people from all over the nation that settled down in The Villages, some snowbirds, and some full-time residence.

My question is: "What's your story that brought to TV, and why not other areas in Florida?"

Cheers!
We came down 75 and got off the expressway at the Wildwood exit and went East on 44. Hope that helps you?

Michael G.

01-14-2022, 07:57 AM

We came down 75 and got off the expressway at the Wildwood exit and went East on 44. Hope that helps you?

Thanks that helps a lot
I been stuck up here in Gainsville since last week, confused and lonely and you help me get home.

Shadowrider

01-14-2022, 07:58 AM

Used to come to visit Brother in law in inverness. We always ended up in TV for something. I decided then that this is where I wanted to retire. Toledo to Indiana to Maryland to The Villages

IndianaJones

01-14-2022, 08:17 AM

Grew up down here - used to be mostly watermelons & wild boar in this area. When my better half insisted we retire & move back to FL, I said, “No problem! Back to Ft. Lauderdale we go!” Uh, nope - she had another idea (heard about TV from a relative) - guess who won? So here we are - yay!

giorgio1948

01-14-2022, 08:24 AM

noslices1

01-14-2022, 08:26 AM

There are retired people from all over the nation that settled down in The Villages, some snowbirds, and some full-time residence.

My question is: "What's your story that brought to TV, and why not other areas in Florida?"

Cheers!

Retired in January, 2010 in Southern California. Two weeks later started a 7500 mile drive around the country looking for somewhere other than CA to retire to. Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, all the way to Florida to visit my brother. After a week or so there, we drove ip to TV to look around. Took the bus tour and liked what I saw. Continued my drive up the coast to DC and Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nevada and back to CA by June. Spent a month cleaning and fixing anything wrong with my townhouse and put it on the market. Sold in three days, so I went online to the Villages real estate website and checked out all the preowned homes and found one I liked. Called the salesperson I had talked to when I was here and made an offer. Too low, but there was already an offer, but contingent on selling a home in Canada. I made another offer, lower than the Canadian, but no contingency and it was accepted. My townhouse closed in 20 days, had my furniture and everything else picked up the day of the closing and got back in my car and headed for Florida. About 500 miles a day and arrived on a Tuesday morning, closed at around 10:00 am and got the keys to my new home. Slept on an air mattress for a week until my stuff arrived. Played a couple thousand rounds of golf since them.

celiarw

01-14-2022, 08:33 AM

Living in Chicagoland made us decide to be snowbirds upon retirement. We visited Phoenix for 3 days touring the Del Webb communities, then took another trip to Austin, Tx to the Del Webb north of Austin. Our next trip was to The Villages (friends lived here) and then south Florida to the bundled golf communities around Naples. We bought here in 2013 but hadn't sold the "big" house yet so rented the unfurnished house for the first 17 months. Came down the fall of 2015, furnished but ended up renting it Jan - Feb of 2016. Sold the big house and the rest is history! Love being here!

tedquick

01-14-2022, 08:34 AM

I was in real estate for 41 years in Omaha. I had two sets of former clients and present-day friends who had moved to The Villages (I also used to see TV advertised on the tvs as I worked out at the gym). My late mother-in-law lived in Lakeland, FL and I had visited many times so I knew that because of the heat and humidity that I could never live in FL. In any case, the friends who had moved here invited us down just for fun. To see them we came down late one spring, however all the time knowing that I would/could never live here. The end of the second day, riding around on one of their golf carts, I looked at my wife and said that if I ever retire this is where I wanted to live.

We’ve been here since 2014.

Bay Kid

01-14-2022, 08:38 AM

Dad brought Mom, who has dementia, to a rental by Sumter Landing every winter. In 2013 Mom didn't want to go so I told her I would come with them for a few days. 2 days here I fell in love with TVs. Went back home, sold a waterfront lot and came straight back. I found my home before their rental was over. I have been a seasonal resident ever since. I haven't brought the parents back in a couple of years because of covid, but I still take care of Mom after over 15 years of this dreadful disease.

birdiebill

01-14-2022, 08:45 AM

My wife and I grew up in Indiana. After college and dental school I entered military service, liked dental practice in the military and stayed as a career. After many assignments in southern states and Hawaii, retired from the military to Olympia, WA where we had a home after being stationed at Ft. Lewis.

After four years of returning to Olympia, our parents in Indiana developed health concerns, so we moved back to Indiana in 2001. For years we took trips to the Hilton Head area of South Carolina where our older son worked as a golf pro at a resort at Hilton Head and then a head pro at a small club off island. He now works in IT at the Marine Corps air station. After many trips there and liking the restaurants, golf, warmth of the winter compared to Indiana, we started looking seriously at Del Webb Sun City Hilton Head as a place to move to once our parents were gone. As an aside we had no children or grandchildren in Indiana.

Once the parents had passed, we came to Florida in January of 2016 for a cruise in Ft. Lauderdale preceded by a week in Orlando. We drove down because I wanted to have my own car for traveling around. Two days before we were to leave Indiana, a winter storm was forecast for Nashville, TN, Chattanooga, TN and Atlanta to include snow and ice. We left a day prior to the storm so as to beat the wintery weather. That meant we had to find a place to spend a day prior to getting our place in Orlando. So I suggested we spend it at this retirement community called the Villages.

We spent Friday night at the Hampton Inn and all day Saturday driving around Morse, Lake Sumter Landing, Brownwood, and looking at the open houses of new homes that were being built in Labelle. As a golfer I was mesmerized by the golf courses at Mallory, Havana and Volusia executive as we drove south on Morse. Of course I did not know much about the courses yet. After our week in Orlando and our cruise, as we were driving back north, as we passed the exit from I-75 to Wildwood, I suggested we rent for a month so we could learn everything pertinent comparing The Villages to Sun City Hilton Head.

We spent May of 2016 in a rental in the Village of Bonita; it took three days to decide we wanted to move here instead of Bluffton/Beaufort SC. It would be warmer in the winter; it was inland to minimize the risk from hurricanes; we did our due diligence and have not been surprised by anything other than the continued rapid growth. Also we had access to swimming pools year around, ballroom dancing, golf, shopping by golf cart, driving around by golf cart, regular entertainment indoors and out, and multiple social clubs that a person could be involved, and most importantly found a church we dearly love.

We are happy here and can not think of another place we would want to live. The Covid Pandemic has messed up our lifestyle and medical issues have cramped it even further. During 2021wife had breast cancer and I have developed a bone marrow cancer with no cure. Being immunocrompromised, I can not risk being exposed to any infections, whether it be flu, common cold, Covid, etc. Which means no indoor activities, no eating inside restaurants, no shopping without wearing masks, no attending church in person, no activities where we can not socially distance. But we feel we are getting good medical care, so why go some where else.

MrFlorida

01-14-2022, 09:50 AM

We had friends that lived here............Came for a visit and drank the cool aid.

OhioBuckeye

01-14-2022, 09:51 AM

We were introduced to TV by a family member from Harbour Hills. Like someone reminded me & my comment recently, we no longer live there because we thought one of our children were more important. But that’s OK because I think they thought I didn’t know what was going on there. But really that’s OK!

davem4616

01-14-2022, 10:09 AM

we had a second home in Fort Lauderdale, which we remodeled and intended to move into full time when we retired....we did that, after two years the traffic was such a challenge that when iguanas moved in and started eating my tomato plants, I said let's get the hell out of here....

We looked up along the eastern seaboard...some really nice 55+ communities, but not for us

Finally came to visit a cousin in TV and put money down on a home that weekend....but we knew what we were looking for and we were ready

DaleDivine

01-14-2022, 01:48 PM

Friends of ours did the search around Florida and ended up buying in The Villages. It was surprising to us up north. We had never heard of the Villages and had never really thought of living down south. Our friends invited us down for a visit and we spent a week, then another week and after many weeks and a ton of open houses we figured we could buy something. We pulled our finances together, found the house we wanted and bought in March 2019. We only get down 4-6 weeks a year but we love it.

Similar situation with my wife and I. We visited my former boss in 2012 for a week and I loved it here. I played golf every day except rain in Virginia and thought this was a golfers paradise. Came back for another week when our grand daughter was born in Jax. and stayed with our friends. I told my wife we had to move because we lived in a two story house and she was having back issues. I said we're moving to The Villages but she didn't want to move. Welllll, I said I'm moving and taking the dogs. She said no but finally gave in. In February 2014 Our friends found us a CYV because my wife said a fenced in yard was a stipulation on us moving here. Put a down payment on it while 4 other couples were waiting in line to get it if we didn't. Now she loves it here and wished we had found out about this place 10 years earlier.

:clap2::doggie::clap2::doggie:

OrangeBlossomBaby

01-14-2022, 02:08 PM

I lived in Florida one summer after college, and absolutely hated it. The only redeeming quality it had, was that my grandparents lived there. Then my parents moved here. Grandparents have since passed away. So half the incentive to be in this horrible state in the first place.

Then, met and married husband. Lived happily, paying our state income tax, paying our high property tax, having pension add up and savings account getting modestly larger every year. Visited people who moved to the Villages, I hated Florida even more (the friends were still great, pretty house on the inside, but it was a courtyard villa and the entire area was just WAY too borg/sardine can/stepford for my taste.) Just being in that area of the Villages gave me the creeps. Husband fell in love with it.

After a few years he decreed we would retire to the Villages and if I didn't go with him he'd miss me.

I love my husband more than I hate Florida.

I still hate Florida.

I'm okay with my "neighborhood" of the Villages, it's more neighborly than any other that we've visited/driven into. But I still miss New England and probably always will.

Hape2Bhr

01-14-2022, 02:33 PM

I just read the best place to retire for all-around weather was S. Carolina

Years ago I would head to Myrtle Beach 2/3 times a year golfing. One November it snowed and from then on Florida became our golf destination.

MEbner2805

01-14-2022, 07:05 PM

It’s a bubble away from real world crime, country setting, way more expensive to live anywhere else in FL and we all come here for the social life. It’s a beautiful utopia! Very obvious reasons for most so not sure why you asked this question? You want to pay 400.00 or more association fees elsewhere in FL to live in a bubble or golf course place, Or live in the crime ridden trashed world, go for it!

Stu from NYC

01-14-2022, 07:19 PM

BigSteph

01-15-2022, 01:04 AM

On Christmas Day, 2020, my sister informed my parents and my wife and I that she was moving to Florida.

My wife and I have threatened to move to Florida for over a decade, but honestly figured we would wait until our 60's to even think about it.

A few weeks later, my parents called us and stated they were moving to Florida with my sister.

A few hours later, my sister called and said that my parents were definitely not moving in with her in Florida.

A few months later, we went to Disney for 2 weeks. My parents asked that we check out retirement communities in Florida if we had time.

We've been to Disney a dozen times, so we decided to take a look at The Villages. We found several homes that my parents would love. In looking, my wife asked if we could be happy here. During that vacation, we can back up to TV a couple of times and ultimately found a house we like.

We signed a contract a contract on it, got a 60-day close, and came home to Virginia to a cyclone of activity to make it all happen.

By the way, neither of us were retired or 55. My wife works from home and her employer didn't mind she moved. I had to find a place to work. I had extensive interviews with The Villages, but on the last meeting, something happened that I still don't fully understand -- I think it was money. Anyway, I didn't end up working for the Villages and was unemployed for a few months, but we had savings to carry us. I found a good job with a local college.

We are here. We are still not adapted to Florida or TV, but we plan to stay.

By the way, my sister moved to St. Pete and my parents live about 1 mile away from us, South of 44 in The Villages.

If I could go back in time 365 days and ask my 2021 self if I thought I would live in the Villages by the middle of 2021, I would ask me if I had just smoked something.

I don't find Florida or The Villages to be paradise, but I don't hate it either. I'm really just still reeling from everything that happened in 2021 ending in us moving to TV.

There are retired people from all over the nation that settled down in The Villages, some snowbirds, and some full-time residence.

My question is: "What's your story that brought to TV, and why not other areas in Florida?"

Cheers!

jbartle1

01-15-2022, 07:49 AM

We are/were golf nuts. A good friend moved here, we made a visit, 3 times was the charm, found home, love neighborhood, location and weather. We thought NC would be our forever home but our kids live in Winter Park and we wanted to live closer to kids and grand kids. We love this place, I mean REALLY REALLY ❤ this place.

ChicagoNative

01-15-2022, 09:47 AM

We had been snowbirding in St. Petersburg since 2000. We liked St. Pete a lot, but after several years of near-miss hurricanes, in Fall of 2017 we started looking for alternatives to Florida Gulf Coast living. Had lunch with a cousin in Chicago earlier that summer who was snowbirding here and told us about the Villages. We booked a lifestyle visit and immediately started researching the area. We had driven up here a few times from St. Pete before our lifestyle preview and really liked the whole concept. We were convinced and set to buy, but decided on a whim to check out a couple communities outside of the bubble, and absolutely fell in love with, and felt at home when we drove through the gates of our current subdivision. After only one visit in mid October of2017, we came back the next week and put a deposit down on a new home being built.

Our lifestyle preview happened the week before Thanksgiving and we used that week here to line up contractors for work we wanted done in our new home. A combination of hurricane fatigue and family who lived in the Villages is what attracted us to the area, and it’s kind of ironic that the hurricane that had St. Pete in its crosshairs took a slight turn at the last minute and came up through here. We also ended up buying right next to the bubble. (Our community shares a border with TV on two sides). After the Floyd riots in 2020, we sold our properties in Chicago and are now full-time Floridians. There are those who make a point of saying that we aren’t true Villagers, that we are “stealing” amenities we don’t pay for by driving on the golf cart paths, using the Squares, yada yada, but it rolls off my back. We love it here. Our next move will be to the cemetery.

Viking55

01-15-2022, 06:59 PM

A few years ago we were introduced to pickleball, and began to look for vacation spots where we could play. The Villages came up, and it looked promising. For four years we rented a home for a week in various locations in TV. TV was beautiful, sunny, warm and the pickleball people welcoming even to us strangers. During the last rental my significant other wanted to take in some open houses. We connected with a realtor and ended up (long story) finding a home we liked. Made an offer, which was prescient as, unknown to us, the house had an open house the next day and ended up with 4 couples looking to buy. We were close to retirement, but COVID pushed us out of work, so retirement to TV it was. Love it here.

bark4me

01-15-2022, 08:08 PM

There are retired people from all over the nation that settled down in The Villages, some snowbirds, and some full-time residence.

My question is: "What's your story that brought to TV, and why not other areas in Florida?"

Cheers!

We moved to Fla in 2008 and were living in South Fla. We heard about the Villages in about 8 yrs ago. We have friends that live here too so we started coming up here alot to visit and decided this is where we want to be. So we pulled the plug last year and moved here! And the rest is history

VILLAGERBB

01-16-2022, 01:19 PM

Started watching AAN and Jeremiah Hartmann selling Florida real estate. Couldn't believe the prices so after exploring Nevada, Texas, Arizona decided to leave California in 2015 and moved to The Villages. It was not an easy decision.

Bilyclub

01-16-2022, 02:51 PM

The OP asked what brought you to The Villages, not Lakeside Landings.

twoplanekid

01-16-2022, 04:05 PM

Around the turn of the century, a couple in our church announced that they were relocating from Ohio to a small retirement community in Florida called The Villages. While my dad lived in Englewood, Florida for several years, I had no desire or interest in leaving Ohio.

Several years later around 2007, good friends of ours in Urbana, he is a fellow Urbana High School classmate of mine tried to bid on houses in a retirement community only to always be out bid. Then in 2014, this same couple asked us to share a rental in the Villages for several months. As my wife loves to spend months in Florida during Ohio winters, we agreed and had a very good time although I could only spend one week a month doing so because I was not yet retired.

Because my wife wanted to continue this rental thing, I decided to look at homes I would feel comfortable to own to use as a second/vacation home. She was delighted with my idea and we spent the summer of 2014 looking. We visited in the fall to view a specific house which sold as we were traveling to Florida. However, it only took us two days to find and then offer to purchase our current home in Lake Deaton.

In January of 2015, my wife and I traveled to the Villages to furnish our new home. My brother came down not long after to purchase the last new house on our street some 7 houses from us.

Our only regret with the house was to not have a view of the water. However, this last summer I talked my brother into going in halves with me to purchase a very nice condo unit 75 miles away in Hudson that does overlook the gulf and has a boat dock to boot.

P.S The one couple is still living in the Villages and my classmate/couple is now living in Marsh Bend. Who would have thought?

patfla06

01-31-2022, 03:59 PM

My Husband’s company built a Campus in Tampa and moved 4,000
Employees from NYC in the late 90’s.

We lived in Tampa for 17 years with the search for ‘Plan B’ for when
we would retire.

We looked at various places from Ponte Vedra Beach to Sarasota.
We came to T.V. when only Spanish Springs was there, right after they finished Lake Sumter and then, finally, bought in 2013.

T.V. has no competition in our minds. We never saw such energy at any other 55+ communities.

Another plus it is only an hour from where we lived in Tampa.

cswett5234

02-01-2022, 03:55 PM

My Mom and StepDad lived in Belleview, FL (just outside of TV). My wife and I would visit them, we're from Maine. Once when we were there, they took us for a tour of TV, said everyone drives around in golf carts, have shows in the square every night, they sorta made fun of it, but we LOVED IT! The energy, the activities, (hardly no children!), so we said were were going to retire there when we're old enough.

Shortly after that, my folks moved to SpanishSprings....Dad's loves playing bridge with his harum of women, plays pickelball, Mom plays golf, they are having a ball.

Can't wait to move down there! I'm 58yrs old now, will probably move down when I'm 63, work fulltime until I can retire at 67....we just had 14" of snow last week, so trust me, I"m ready!!

Clint from Freeport, ME