Hello

[Ham_and_Cheese]

New to the forum - thinking about the Villages in the coming years

[margaretmattson]

Hello and Welcome!

[dewilson58]

Welcome

Good info on this site..............but there are 2% trolls as well.

Read with your eyes wide open.

:gc:

[Whitley]

New to the forum - thinking about the Villages in the coming years

Your favorite lunch? Hamn n Cheese?

[Michael 61]

Welcome, and ask lots of questions, you will learn a lot, and the vast majority here are kind and patient with new people - as I have, just avoid the few disgruntle users here.

[Ecuadog]

Welcome.

[asianthree]

Try to ignore those who tell you google is your friend. The search engine can be useful and useless for many things.

One can read as many old post as possible, and get info, good and bad. Depending on how far out your are, you may be looking for a new house in the Middleton/Eastpoint area. When you choose to visit many of us have rentals or know of someone that does. Take a week to see if you like the vibe here, then plan on coming for a month or so.

There are excellent opportunities to buy a home now and rent it for multiple years to offset costs.

If someone says they sent PM it’s a private message they only want you to respond to.

Do your homework, on costs of running a home here, for some it’s cheaper than where they came from. For others not so much

[jebartle]

You've come to a wealth of info in TOTV, sift thru info, some good, some not so good. Welcome to paradise.

[GizmoWhiskers]

New to the forum - thinking about the Villages in the coming years
Welcome!

I started "thinking" about The Villages 5 years ago. Wondered how I would ever get here from where I was. As fate had it, I got here much faster than I thought I would and have been here for 3 yrs.

One thing about The Villages that is rare, in my opinion relevant to living in a planned community, is that The Villages makes it easy to adapt to living the life and living the dream here (not that relocating doesn't have its challenges separate from being here of course). There is information and customer service assistance like no other within The Villages (TV) network.

It is like a "well greased machine" to easily move here if you use T V resources and networks. The people for the most part are friendly and helpful.

Lots of info on this site. Yes, lots of trolls too but forget about them.

Enjoy the journey!!

[mikeycereal]

For me all it took was a visit and my sibling who moved here the year before took me around on the golf cart to Brownwood. I enjoyed it so much that I bought a house and moved here 6 months later. Still enjoying it over a year later.

[thevillagernie]

New to the forum - thinking about the Villages in the coming years
good place to be active, if you want to set in a rocker,don't move here.....

[JanaR]

Watch the YouTube videos about the Villages. I do one called Discover The Villages With Jana Raber. And there’s lots more!

[sallyg]

Nice to think about. Rent before you buy. The place is so huge you need time to explore, get an idea of what is available, and what is important to you. Best of luck.

[Worldseries27]

new to the forum - thinking about the villages in the coming years
welcome aboard

[ThirdOfFive]

New to the forum - thinking about the Villages in the coming years
Welcome to the forum!

For my wife and I coming to TV (three years ago and counting) was the precise right move at the precise right time. Of course, living in Siberia South (AKA Minnesota) had a lot to do with our decision...

To echo at least one other poster--rent for a time before buying. This place is HUGE (larger in area than San Francisco) so give yourself plenty of time to check things out and make up your mind if you plan on buying. The "Lifestyle" program is good but it is for only a week and you'll barely scratch the surface in that amount of time. Renting for several months would give you a better picture.

Anyway, use this forum to get questions answered. Most of the folks here are good people with a lot of knowledge about TV and will be glad to give you their perspective on things.

[bowlingal]

you will need much more than a week to experience the whole package. Expect to stay a month to really feel it and learn your way around. No joke!! it's really, really big

[ridge]

We moved here this past April and love it. We researched and visited active retirement communities from Florida to Lake Norman North Carolina. The Villages is the best by far. We bought a resale this past April. It's better here than we imagined. Neighbors have been very helpful and friendly.

[Robnlaura]

Try to ignore those who tell you google is your friend. The search engine can be useful and useless for many things.

One can read as many old post as possible, and get info, good and bad. Depending on how far out your are, you may be looking for a new house in the Middleton/Eastpoint area. When you choose to visit many of us have rentals or know of someone that does. Take a week to see if you like the vibe here, then plan on coming for a month or so.

There are excellent opportunities to buy a home now and rent it for multiple years to offset costs.

If someone says they sent PM it’s a private message they only want you to respond to.

Do your homework, on costs of running a home here, for some it’s cheaper than where they came from. For others not so much

Trolls are always an issue !! But our biggest concern is the huge amount of short and long term rentals. Yes short term we do have a property shortage but that can change very quickly.. and then you have a flood of homes on the market as the airbnb market collapses as it’s already doing in some areas..

[Robnlaura]

Do your own diligence but I fear the short term market Airbnb Revenue Collapse Sparks Housing Market Crash Fears (https://www.newsweek.com/airbnb-revenue-collapse-housing-market-crash-fears-1809543?amp=1)

[Regorp]

New to the forum - thinking about the Villages in the coming years

This is an amazing place to retire to if you want to feel young. Our only regret-we did not come earlier, thanks to COVID. And no more snow and ice to shovel. Don't wait!!

[Papa_lecki]

Do your own diligence but I fear the short term market Airbnb Revenue Collapse Sparks Housing Market Crash Fears (https://www.newsweek.com/airbnb-revenue-collapse-housing-market-crash-fears-1809543?amp=1)

Air BNB market will soften in many markets, due to 2 primary reasons.
1) work form home is becoming less favorable, so the 25 to 35 year olds who travelled from city to city to work in Air BNBs are returning home and in the office
2) summer vacation travel is softening, due to inflation and high airline prices.

These 2 reasons are less likely to impact us in TV. We still will have:
1) children/grandkids who rent AirBnb’s,
2) weekly visitors trying to feel out TV for the long term and
3) friends coming to visit us.
4) snowbirds who are renting.

[rockyhyder]

New to the forum - thinking about the Villages in the coming years

Welcome! We moved here in 2019 and love it here. We traveled the country in an RV for 18 months after retirement and checked out lots of retirement communities on our way before deciding this was the place for us. We rented a Villa for six months, purchased while we were renting and used the remaining rental term to do some updating before moving into our home. Renting is a great idea because of the sheer size of this place. You Tube is also a wealth of information just make sure to follow the people who actually live here like The Villages Newcomers and there are at least 3-4 more. TV is not for everyone but most people know if they like the lifestyle here fairly quickly. Lastly, we were surprised at the number of negative comments on some of these forums but after living here four years we’ve learned these folks are a small minority and we just ignore them. Most don’t even live here. Good luck on your journey!

[asianthree]

Trolls are always an issue !! But our biggest concern is the huge amount of short and long term rentals. Yes short term we do have a property shortage but that can change very quickly.. and then you have a flood of homes on the market as the airbnb market collapses as it’s already doing in some areas..

Average responses for a rental for us was 45-65. that hasn’t changed since 2010. Not worried about the rental market in TV, even the inexperienced can rent a house here.

[maistocars]

Welcome and enjoy the site - best one you'll find. Try to stay away from NextDoor forum.

[richdell]

New to the forum - thinking about the Villages in the coming years

Welcome aboard.
:welcome:

[Triker]

Welcome…… word of advice……
do your own research and then more research and then more research before you decide.

[huge-pigeons]

TV is rather large, but if you are looking for a brand new home, it’s rather small. TV aren’t building new homes in every village, but in only small new areas that they are developing. If you want new, you will be south of hwy 44, and either in the newer section called Newell or maybe the new area called Eastport.

[Worldseries27]

your favorite lunch? Hamn n cheese?
only asking because eventually you will be grilled by unsolicited posters

[PugMom]

We moved here this past April and love it. We researched and visited active retirement communities from Florida to Lake Norman North Carolina. The Villages is the best by far. We bought a resale this past April. It's better here than we imagined. Neighbors have been very helpful and friendly.

such a warm, positive post!! :beer3:

[dewilson58]

only asking because eventually you will be grilled by unsolicited posters

Darn, I was going to ask how many he/she eats in a month.

:icon_hungry:

[Remembergoldenrule]

New to the forum - thinking about the Villages in the coming years

I would definitely spend some vacation time here before making final decision. Rent in different areas so you can choice right place for your needs. Also, rent different size homes, so you know what size you really want. Maybe you can avoid moving three times as most villagers do. If considering below 44, I would look at resales in Richmond or wait for new section across from Richmond to open.

Don’t think it is Utopia. No place is. There are negative things and people here just like everywhere All in your attitude Happiness comes from within.

Have a great day!

[Nell57]

Welcome and enjoy the site - best one you'll find. Try to stay away from NextDoor forum.

Not sure why you say that. NextDoor is great…especially when I’m looking for contractors for various projects.
People on that site are also very helpful

[Nell57]

I moved here in ‘09. I love it even more today than yesterday.
There are 2000 interest groups and clubs. Whatever you did in your past…whatever you’ve always wanted to do..it’s here. The Villages is nobody’s home town, no one has lifelong friends, very few have family members here. So if you follow your interests and smile at your neighbors you will make friends.
But like any society we do have a minority group.
Be aware of the GOM. Grumpy old Men. They appear on this site regularly. Ignore them and keep on scrolling.
You’ll pass them on golf carts….just smile and wave.
In The Villages you’ll be as happy as you decide you want to be.
14 years later…I’m still beaming.

[Marsha11]

I'm not a fan of citizens of the Villages, which are more important to be here with rentals. Gee I always thought your not encouraged to rent homeS hmmmmm

[GizmoWhiskers]

good place to be active, if you want to set in a rocker,don't move here.....
Funny thing is in T V you will find an amazing amount of cushy chairs and couches in some of the squares to just sit and people watch. I was amazed at how T V goes out of their way to make sure you can just plain sit around (even aside from the rec centers). All the places to sit was one of the things I found so inviting in T V.

With over 2500 plus clubs in T V even an anti-social person can start a "Leave Me Alone Club", everyone in the club agrees not to bother anyone else in the club.