advantage to buying older neigborhood

[monroe]

we are looking to buy in the villages and wondered if there are any advantages to buying in older neighborhoods over the new neighborhoods.
I like the mature landscaping of the older areas but am concerned abourt
the difficculty in making new friends.

any feed back is greatly appreciated

[Bill-n-Brillo]

The lot sizes are generally bigger in the established areas, I believe.

An advantage to the new-build areas is that EVERYBODY is new to that section. Thus all are coming in on "common ground". But I don't see the existing neighborhoods to have a real big downside in that respect. Yes, everyone there might have lived there for a while..........but we have yet to meet anyone in TV who isn't welcoming to newcomers (except for that one guy in his car who glared at us while we were going the wrong way around a building in a golf cart - - - but I digress :shocked: ). We're in the midst of buying a 3 year old resale and met a few of the neighbors while we were looking at the place and driving around the neighborhood. You might have to go up and knock on a few doors now and then to meet some folks, but I don't view that as being a show-stopper to meeting someone. Go to them if they don't come to you! :)

Bill

[CTgolfer]

We purchased a pre-owned home. Our neighboorhood opened their arms and hearts and we couldn't be happier. However, I believe friendships are made based on common interests in activities. For example, our immediate neighbors are wonderful, but because we don't have many common interests in activities, we don't necessarily do a lot with them. Wherever you move, you will find friends in the Villages.

[Tbugs]

I moved to The Villages a bit over a year ago and I bought a pre-owned home which was built in 2002. It is situated perfectly on a golf course (no balls land in my yard), has mature landscaping, and all the completed features we wanted in a home. Plus the bond is only around $2,300 as compared to over $20,000 on a new home. That makes a big difference on your yearly property tax bill! There also is no construction going on like in a new neighborhood.

Is it harder to make friends? No, not really. Most neighborhoods have driveway parties once a month. People in The Villages are very welcoming of new neighbors since all of us came from somewhere else. We made most of our new friends at various clubs such as Village Gourmet Club, Baby Boomers, and 2nd Honeymoon Club. These friends introduce you to other couples and before long, you have lots of good friends.

Another advantage to buying a pre-owned home is you can negotiate price with the seller. I would suggest working both with a Villages Realtor as well as an "outside" Realtor as that way you can see homes listed with both. The outside Realtor cannot show Village-listed property and vice-versa.

[k2at]

We bought a pre-owned house and found all of the above comments are factual. The only disadvantage we found to buying in an established community is that cliques are ever present. It is not that the neighbors distance themselves from you, but rather they developed little groups of friends some time ago and they feel comfortable within them. We have been in our village for about a year and a half, and are only just breaking into the various groups.

[downeaster]

We bought a pre-owned house and found all of the above comments are factual. The only disadvantage we found to buying in an established community is that cliques are ever present. It is not that the neighbors distance themselves from you, but rather they developed little groups of friends some time ago and they feel comfortable within them. We have been in our village for about a year and a half, and are only just breaking into the various groups.

That is the action you may have to take at times. Don't be shy. Some of the newest people in our neighborhood are the most active in neighborhood activities because they made themselves available. We have monthly driveway parties and these are a great way to "break into" a new neighborhood.

[jebartle]

and the neighbors are the BEST but I'm just a little prejudice....Actually it is hard to find a Villager that isn't great....Never had a problem getting to know our Village friends....Most of the Villages have a golf group, great way to meet new neighbors and if you don't golf, I'm sure they have their monthly meetings in the local rec. centers...A big advantage to buying in Lake County, NO BOND....

[Snowbirdtobe]

We are in district 1 and love being within walking distance of SS and the supermarket. Mrs Snowbirdtobe wants to get a shopping cart and walk to get groceries.
The neighborhood has an established greeter who came over with cookies and a Yahoo neighborhood group already set up.
We are keeping our place up North so we purchased a turnkey with a cart.

Since the place is 12 years old I didn't object when Mrs Snowbirdtobe had all the flooring and counters replaced. I think that the appliances might be next.

[ijusluvit]

All of the info about the friendliness of folks in all villages is true. Our 2002 neighborhood welcomed us with open arms in 2004. I kinda think making friends in your new place is more up to you than to them.

But if money is also important, be sure you evaluate all the differences between resale and new other than just the obvious; the bond and the maturity of the landscaping.

There are literally dozens of items many homeowners have added to their resales, some very costly. Things like gutters, glass door inserts, extra cabinets, garage screens, tile, hardwood, granite, glassed-in lanais, sound systems, solar lites, pavers, water purifiers, closet makeovers and roman showers, and they all should be factored into your comparisons. (Believe me, this is a short list of upgrades you may find). A resale can be an absolute "find".

And one more thing. Should we worry about buying a ten-year old house which might need roofs and other major makeovers someday ?!

Naaaah.

[another Linda]

Since the place is 12 years old I didn't object when Mrs Snowbirdtobe had all the flooring and counters replaced. I think that the appliances might be next.
Could you have a word with my husband please? Our place is about 15 yrs and he keeps groaning when I start another project. Just picked out the stuff for our new master bath today! I keep hearing him sob.

Seriously, I love our place, including neighbors and location.

[Tom Hannon]

The lot sizes are generally bigger in the established areas, I believe.

You might have to go up and knock on a few doors now and then to meet some folks, but I don't view that as being a show-stopper to meeting someone. Go to them if they don't come to you! :)

Bill

I had the same intention as Bill suggested. But when we returned to the house we eventually purchased for a second look, many of the neighbors met us in the driveway and introduced themselves. Although we loved the house, there were other we intended to look at again, but because of the neighbors niceness the search was over and we signed on the bottom line.

[Xavier]

The prices on the new homes are very inviting compared to similar homes that are preowned. You may want to keep in mind that the closing costs on a new home may include utility connection charges, an impact fee and possibly other charges that you wouldn't have with a preowned. Our closing costs on our preowned home were between $3,000 and $4,000. We've talked with people who bought new and have the same style home with a similar location and their closing costs were about $10,000 higher. Your best bet would be to ask for specifics from the salesperson. Of course they'd rather sell you a NEW house. At one point we were told that we could furnish a new designer home for $12,000. What a joke. Our preowned came with everything we needed and a lot more than we would have purchased if we were building from scratch.

No matter what the decision is - you're going to love it here.

[Snowbirdtobe]

Could you have a word with my husband please? Our place is about 15 yrs and he keeps groaning when I start another project. Just picked out the stuff for our new master bath today! I keep hearing him sob.

Seriously, I love our place, including neighbors and location.

I never said I didn't cry. :cry::cry:

[mgm4444]

I would like to see itemized bills that the previous owner had to pay for home bills. Utilities/taxes/amenity, etc. Is this provided when going to buy pre-owned? Also, not clear on sales reps. The Villages Sales reps can't sell you a pre-owned, only new? Not sure why some posters say to use both The Villages and MLS or other if you're going to buy pre-owned. Buyers pay for the home inspection? - thanks in advance !

[mgm4444]

the best sales rep/agent to use for pre-owned would be????

[Xavier]

I would like to see itemized bills that the previous owner had to pay for home bills. Utilities/taxes/amenity, etc. Is this provided when going to buy pre-owned? Also, not clear on sales reps. The Villages Sales reps can't sell you a pre-owned, only new? Not sure why some posters say to use both The Villages and MLS or other if you're going to buy pre-owned. Buyers pay for the home inspection? - thanks in advance !

The Village agents can also list and sell preowned. That's who we went through. There is some feeling that The Village agents would prefer to lead you to new homes. It would seem logical that they might have a monetary incentive to do just that. We found that our agent was extremely helpful and professional. If a preowned hasn't been listed by The Villages Sales Office, they can't show it. That's where MLS comes in. As you drive around The Villages you will also see plenty of the "For Sale by Owner" signs.

I can't remember if they had average utility numbers before we bought. They should have the tax numbers though. We have found that the taxes and utilities are pretty reasonable compared to what we paid up north.

You'll see plenty of the preowned homes and be able to take video tours at The Villages Website. That's where we found ours.

Xavier

[logdog]

The prices on the new homes are very inviting compared to similar homes that are preowned. You may want to keep in mind that the closing costs on a new home may include utility connection charges, an impact fee and possibly other charges that you wouldn't have with a preowned. Our closing costs on our preowned home were between $3,000 and $4,000. We've talked with people who bought new and have the same style home with a similar location and their closing costs were about $10,000 higher.

We bought a new home. Our closing costs were zero. All we had to pay was pro-rated taxes and assessments. There were about $9,000 in closing costs but they were all paid by the seller (The Villages).

[Xavier]

We bought a new home. Our closing costs were zero. All we had to pay was pro-rated taxes and assessments. There were about $9,000 in closing costs but they were all paid by the seller (The Villages).

So you paid the advertised price - period?

[Carla B]

I agree with logdog. In 2008 we paid zero closing costs on a new home. Nevertheless, on a preowned house, if upgrades have been done that you like and the bond is low, it could be a much better deal. Upgrades add $$$ very quickly to the price of a new home.

On a preowned house the absolute "must have" for us would be double-paned windows.

[chuckinca]

You can probably get double paned windows installed for around $4000 (just a guess based on $7500 we paid 4 yrs ago in Norcal for 18 windows)


.

[logdog]

So you paid the advertised price - period?

There's no negotiating on new construction in The Villages. We did, however, save about $12,000 by buying a neighborhood closeout. On resales, you can negotiate selling price and closing costs. New homes, pay The Villages price and no closing costs.