Suggestions for a first visit

[lisad]

Hi folks! First time poster here. My husband and I will be visiting TV in late February for the first time. Our initial visit is to explore the area and decide if this where we would like retire in a few years. A little info about us:
I'm 57, husband turns 60 in April. We were both born/raised in RI and moved to NC almost 3 years ago. We are not certain when we'll retire but it may be anywhere from 5-9 years away. We are also both open to moving down earlier and to continue working since we're both in the heathcare field (I'm a nurse practitioner and he's an RN). We've heard lots of wonderful things about TV and have made arrangements for a Lifetime Preview Plan visit. What I'd like to know is if anyone has any specific suggestions or recommendation for us as to what is a "must see", "must do" while we are there to get a really good feel for the area. Luckily, I have a co-worker whose parents live there and have graciously offered to show us around. Lastly, are there many heathcare facilities nearby that we can also check out during our stay in terms of career opportunities?I thank everyone in advance for your suggestions!
Lisa

[tjwarzel]

We are closing on our home at the end of January. We started our journey 3 years ago. My suggestion would be to just relax and have fun. Drive around, visit the town squares, enjoy eating out and going to the pool. Most importantly, talk to as many people as possible. If you have time go to model homes and visit any opened preowned homes. It will give you a good idea of prices. I hope ypu have a good time on your visit.

[Pturner]

Hi folks! First time poster here. My husband and I will be visiting TV in late February for the first time. Our initial visit is to explore the area and decide if this where we would like retire in a few years. A little info about us:
I'm 57, husband turns 60 in April. We were both born/raised in RI and moved to NC almost 3 years ago. We are not certain when we'll retire but it may be anywhere from 5-9 years away. We are also both open to moving down earlier and to continue working since we're both in the heathcare field (I'm a nurse practitioner and he's an RN). We've heard lots of wonderful things about TV and have made arrangements for a Lifetime Preview Plan visit. What I'd like to know is if anyone has any specific suggestions or recommendation for us as to what is a "must see", "must do" while we are there to get a really good feel for the area. Luckily, I have a co-worker whose parents live there and have graciously offered to show us around. Lastly, are there many heathcare facilities nearby that we can also check out during our stay in terms of career opportunities?I thank everyone in advance for your suggestions!
Lisa

:wave: Lisa,

Welcome to TOTV! There's a great possiblity that you will fall in love instantly with this place, so here's a link that should please you.
http://www.thevillages.com/lifestyle/images/medicalMap/TVRMC%20Campus.pdf. Yes, yes, plenty of medical facilities here.


What to do:

A golf cart and two bicycles will come with your Lifestyle package. You can go everywhere in TV via golf cart and it's so much fun to do, so take some time to explore via golf cart. (Fair warning. The one they give you is slow. Most personal carts here go 20 m.p.h., so you might not want to go everywhere by cart yet. :) )
The free trolley tour that begins at the Lake Sumter Landing Sales Office provides a good overview of the place.
Pick up the weekly Recreation News so you'll see all the activities and entertainment going on during the week you are here. You can get it at the Sales office or any of the rec. centers. It's free.
Visit a couple of the regional rec. centers and a neighborhood rec. center, so you'll see what's offered and how beautiful they are.
Definitely visit each town square during free evening entertainment (5-9 p.m. nightly).
Swim in neighborhoold or regional pool if the weather is nice. (They are all heated.)
Strike up a conversation whereever you go. You'd be amazed how friendly everyone is here.
You might want to buy the $5 map (available at the Sales office) to help orient you.
Drink the Kool-aid!
Have a great time and please keep us posted about your trip. If you have more questions, just ask us. The TOTV community and TV community are awesome.

Pturner
p.s., where are you staying on your Lifestyle Preview?

[lisad]

Thanks for your responses! Great suggestions. Not certain of the exact location of where we will be staying but we're checking into the sales office at Sumter Landing and will be in a 2 BR villa. We're looking forward to our stay and excited to see as much as possible.

[PinkNana]

We "visited" for almost six years before we were finally able to retire/sell our house in GA this May. We loved it so much after the first visit we came down for long weekends as often as we could. Talking to people at the town squares was the thing we liked best on these visits. Never met anyone who didn't love it here. Now that we are permanent I love it even more!

[Tbugs]

One of the posts said to buy a $5 map at the Sales Office. If you are a AAA member, go to the AAA office at Lake Sumter Landing and pick up a Villages map FREE as well as surrounding area maps.

Definitely, do use a golf cart while you are here in The Villages INSTEAD of a car. You will "get lost" a few times, but Villagers will stop and give directions and more than likely, will actually lead you to the area you want to go.

If you do go outside The Villages for a day, I suggest Homasassa Springs State Park about 1 hour away. Yes, you will have to drive your car there. Great place to view manatees!!

I tell everyone that a re-sale home is a better deal than a new home. You can negotiate price for a re-sale while the new homes are fixed price. The re-sales will have a much lower bond or no bond at all. This saves a lot of money. You will be in an established neighborhood with mature landscaping and no construction going on around you.

Your sales agent from The Villages Realty will try and talk you into buying a lot in the new area and say you can build on it at your leisure. Personally, I would not do that.

I would also insist on a CBS (concrete,block,stucco) home over a frame home because of the chance of hurricane winds - as well as better insulated for heat and cooling factors.

[champion6]

Here's a link to a map of additional medical plazas in TV. There are many opportunities for employment.
http://www.thevillages.com/lifestyle/wellnessMap.asp

Here's a link to the site for the hospitals in TV and Leesburg. Career Opportunities is on the menu on the right.
http://www.tvrh.org/

[Bill-n-Brillo]

lisad -

Make sure you bring your checkbook. You just might fall in love so deeply with TV that you'll need it!!! :)

Bill

[lisad]

Again, thanks for all the kind and informative responses! We'll be down in 8 weeks and I'll post an overview of our experience!

[Russ_Boston]

Lisa,

One thing I did was call TVRH and ask for a pre-interview. They have an extensive recruiting program and your husband will meet with a nurse recruiter. They gave me a tour, told me about ratios, departments, procedures. They gave me a benefits booklet etc. They knew that I was going to be down there for a couple of years but they were very nice.

I imagine that at the same time you could discuss NP opportunities?

I think this would be a good couple of hours for you to spend.

If you are interested just PM me and I'll provide the nurse recruiter e-mail.

[Army Guy]

Best advise? Do not try to do everything or you will be totally overwhelmed! Just relax and go with the mood!

Army Guy