First visit to The Villages

[TF Hutch]

12/20/11
First visit to The Villages. We arrived at the Waterfront Inn and checked in early afternoon. Wife chose to do laundry and get cleaned up while I went for a walk to the sales office to get the $5 Villages map, failed. I was asked if I wanted to talk to a sales rep, no just wanted too look around, felt like a deer caught in the headlights. Wandered around the busy Lake Sumter Landing market square, stopped at Johnny Rockets for a shake and was amazed by the vibrant feel, colorful golf carts, people generally enjoying themselves, and they all look so damn healthy. After going back to the hotel to pick up my bride we went back to the square for music and Happy Hour, a very delightful time, dinner at the hotel, wander some more, a beautiful day, Adults Disney.

Next day we wanted to take the trolley tour. I met some wonderful employees at the sales office who booked us for the tour. Had some time before the Trolley, I was introduced to a sales person who irritated the hell out of me because he wouldn’t shut up. Kept telling me he wasn’t ever going to try to sell me a house, just the lifestyle.
Took the Trolley tour and got a glimpse of the Villages with a wonderful tour guide who answered everyone’s questions and asked for more, a pleasant experience. Another walk around the square and then we had to depart for family and Christmas.

My impression. What’s not to like? This will require some investigation.

We are currently snowbirds who come and live close to 94 yr old father for 3 months a year. Unfortunately TV is too far away from Dad. The gated community my father lives in is beautifully maintained and always looks terrific, but it has no soul. Just beautiful cookie cutter homes with golf course views. No life, no energy.

I am already sold on the Villages lifestyle, will confirm with a Lifestyle Visit for a week before heading North in April. Current thinking changes hourly, that’s ok because we don’t want to do anything while Dads still with us.

Anyone care to suggest a long-term plan to discover all The Villages has to offer?

[renrod]

12/20/11
First visit to The Villages. We arrived at the Waterfront Inn and checked in early afternoon. Wife chose to do laundry and get cleaned up while I went for a walk to the sales office to get the $5 Villages map, failed. I was asked if I wanted to talk to a sales rep, no just wanted too look around, felt like a deer caught in the headlights. Wandered around the busy Lake Sumter Landing market square, stopped at Johnny Rockets for a shake and was amazed by the vibrant feel, colorful golf carts, people generally enjoying themselves, and they all look so damn healthy. After going back to the hotel to pick up my bride we went back to the square for music and Happy Hour, a very delightful time, dinner at the hotel, wander some more, a beautiful day, Adults Disney.

Next day we wanted to take the trolley tour. I met some wonderful employees at the sales office who booked us for the tour. Had some time before the Trolley, I was introduced to a sales person who irritated the hell out of me because he wouldn’t shut up. Kept telling me he wasn’t ever going to try to sell me a house, just the lifestyle.
Took the Trolley tour and got a glimpse of the Villages with a wonderful tour guide who answered everyone’s questions and asked for more, a pleasant experience. Another walk around the square and then we had to depart for family and Christmas.

My impression. What’s not to like? This will require some investigation.

We are currently snowbirds who come and live close to 94 yr old father for 3 months a year. Unfortunately TV is too far away from Dad. The gated community my father lives in is beautifully maintained and always looks terrific, but it has no soul. Just beautiful cookie cutter homes with golf course views. No life, no energy.

I am already sold on the Villages lifestyle, will confirm with a Lifestyle Visit for a week before heading North in April. Current thinking changes hourly, that’s ok because we don’t want to do anything while Dads still with us.

Anyone care to suggest a long-term plan to discover all The Villages has to offer?
Now that you have seen a bit with your own eyes, a lot of the info here will make sense. KEEP READING, but be careful it gets contagious. Renting a place for a week or month is the best way to get a real good feel. Make sure the rental property has a cart available. Check out www.thevillages4rent.com

[TF Hutch]

Now that you have seen a bit with your own eyes, a lot of the info here will make sense. KEEP READING, but be careful it gets contagious. Renting a place for a week or month is the best way to get a real good feel. Make sure the rental property has a cart available. Check out www.thevillages4rent.com

Current thinking is rent. For a month first, next "the season", then for a year after retirement 2015. Should be built out by then. Don't care about a new house (now). Again, thinking changes daily.

[Schaumburger]

Now that you have seen a bit with your own eyes, a lot of the info here will make sense. KEEP READING, but be careful it gets contagious. Renting a place for a week or month is the best way to get a real good feel. Make sure the rental property has a cart available. Check out www.thevillages4rent.com

I agree with renrod. Rent a few times if you can -- maybe try renting in different areas of The Villages -- Lake County, Marion County and Sumter County. TV is a large place, so you will have a lot of rentals to choose from. To get rental info, try www.thevillages4rent.com, www.****.com and www.thevillagesdailysun.com, classified ad section, furnished homes for rent. Best of luck to you in your search. :wave:

[Bill-n-Brillo]

Current thinking is rent. For a month first, next "the season", then for a year after retirement 2015. Should be built out by then. Don't care about a new house (now). Again, thinking changes daily.

Don't fret, TF. The only substantiated build-out date I've seen documented says '2018'. See top of p.3 in the following:

http://www.districtgov.org/images/IRSupdates/20110421%20Statement%20of%20Facts.pdf

This document dates back a number of months so there might be something else that's more current..............but I haven't seen anything.

I'd have to think that at the current rate of construction, there'd HAVE to be more land acquisition in the offing if 2018 is indeed a legitimate date. But that's just my opinion! :D

Bill :)

[angiefox10]

Keep this "blog" going! I'm enjoying your first impressions of The Villages. I remember mine and it took my breath away.

I can't wait to read more!

[graciegirl]

Keep this "blog" going! I'm enjoying your first impressions of The Villages. I remember mine and it took my breath away.

I can't wait to read more!

Me too Angie. It just makes me smile and so warms my heart to hear someone's first impressions. It is SO much fun when people see the scope and beauty of this place and try to put it into words...And everyone thinks...where's the fly in the ointment?????...

To all of you that I have grown to care about, my fellow villages and soon to be villagers....Please be very good today...It is only just a few more hours 'til Santa comes.

The windows and doors are all open...warm and sunny and a "beautiful day in The Villages."

Love and good wishes and your best Christmas ever.
from Grace, Henry and Helene and the kitties.

[thelegges]

Second visit we bought due to the great people and everything TV has to offer. Now looking for second house because we didn't think the garage size was a problem, but now we are here its a problem. Just hate to leave our great neighbors.

[TF Hutch]

Thank you all for your kind and generous thoughts and encouragement. I feel honored to have you all take the time to help out a newbie stranger.

Due Dilligance begins. First stop the internet. TOTV has been the first stop.
Need to get an idea of where else to check. The Villages.com is a no brainer of course, but what other sites can help me determine what I need to know?
I would like to be well informed before going on the Lifestyle Visit, ideally as informed as the sales staff, that way I won't feel like a deer in the headlights. I miss so much if I get information overload.

Any other thoughts for "Due Dilligence"? I was an airline pilot in a previous life and prefer to have every contingency thought out before leaving the ground. (What if ...) Suprises are then easily managed.

Wish this iPad had a spell checker,
A Happy Holiday to all, best wishes for the new Year.

[angiefox10]

Take the trolley ride!

Get in a car with a sales rep, they will be happy to show you around and show you the highlights.

Then....

Get in a golf cart and get lost! We did and it was fun! We saw and learned so much! Check out all the nooks and crannies and talk to the people! The Village people LOVE to talk about their town!

[Oren L Miller]

There are much cheaper houses in Florida. The problem is that this lifestyle isn't available anywhere else at any price. There are 2000 clubs and it is growning. There will be a recreation center not far from any house you buy or rent. There will be pools within blocks of your home heated for you in the winter. You buy a house new or used and you automatically become members at 10 country clubs. We spent a week down there a week ago and was having dinner with folks and then being invited to their homes the same night. I can't promise you that you will meet Gracie and Henry, Dan and Bonnie, Mike and Trix, or Bill and Sandy but you will make friends quickly. You will have entertainment in the two townsquares that is FREE everynight. You will have free golfing. Yes free but two dollars if you use your own cart. We are realizing our dream and moving there in 66 days. Look up Angie and I (Oren) and we would love to meet your for drinks or just just show you around the friendliest villages in the USA.

[2BNTV]

It has been said by many people, "TV has to be seen to be believed".

IMHO - TV build out date keeps moving up. When I first saw TV, the build out date was 2010. As Bill has said, 2018 and possibly later.

Thanks for posting as I also like to hear people's impressions of TV, (aka paradise).

Try the nuts and bolts section for very good info. Keep on posting. :)

[njbchbum]

since you are using the internet, you should take a look at this website:
http://www.lylesellsfla.com/

there is oodles if info about the villages and there is the listing of all properties NOT sold by villages sales staff - but thru outside sales agents - properties that the villages agents cannot sell.

am not affiliated with lyle - just love his site!

[angiefox10]

Great link!

[eweissenbach]

Thank you all for your kind and generous thoughts and encouragement. I feel honored to have you all take the time to help out a newbie stranger.

Due Dilligance begins. First stop the internet. TOTV has been the first stop.
Need to get an idea of where else to check. The Villages.com is a no brainer of course, but what other sites can help me determine what I need to know?
I would like to be well informed before going on the Lifestyle Visit, ideally as informed as the sales staff, that way I won't feel like a deer in the headlights. I miss so much if I get information overload.

Any other thoughts for "Due Dilligence"? I was an airline pilot in a previous life and prefer to have every contingency thought out before leaving the ground. (What if ...) Suprises are then easily managed.

Wish this iPad had a spell checker,
A Happy Holiday to all, best wishes for the new Year.

since you are using the internet, you should take a look at this website:
http://www.lylesellsfla.com/

there is oodles if info about the villages and there is the listing of all properties NOT sold by villages sales staff - but thru outside sales agents - properties that the villages agents cannot sell.

am not affiliated with lyle - just love his site!

Lyle is our outside the villages Realtor and he is very thorough. Here is another website that has LOTS of info. http://www.virginiatrace.com/

[njbchbum]

Lyle is our outside the villages Realtor and he is very thorough. Here is another website that has LOTS of info. http://www.virginiatrace.com/

ed - that virginia trace link is a great one for info - wish i had thought to include it!

[Posh 08]

Try this one too.
http://www.poa4us.org/bulletins_files/bulletin201109.pdf

[CaptJohn]

Lyle is our outside the villages Realtor and he is very thorough. Here is another website that has LOTS of info. http://www.virginiatrace.com/

Great site. One of the best overall covering more info. Thanks. :coolsmiley:

[CarGuys]

Ruth and I would never had bought without the skills and comfort level relationship we had with our sales rep.

In fact his name is Phil McQuire and he deserve a Shameless Plug.

I get the feeling you are wound up tight as a rubber band like I am. It's a in the fast lane multi tasking micro managed Yankee Thing.

My friends here work very hard to get me to relax and slow down and smell the Roses.

This is not a New/Used Car pressure place. It is a well oiled machine and you have to learn how to accept it and go with the flow.

If you spend a week here with no pressure you will come away with a yea or ney feeling. If its a YEA! Then the real fun begins!

Right Gang!

[Posh 08]

Get a new rep if you can. Ron Delk was no pressure what so ever.

[allus70]

Heard a few different answers to his question; when, in fact will TV be built out? Am curious because we would like to buy new and am not sure when that opportunity will end.

[Schaumburger]

Heard a few different answers to his question; when, in fact will TV be built out? Am curious because we would like to buy new and am not sure when that opportunity will end.

allus70, There have been different years posted on TOTV as to the year of the buildout -- I believe the years posted on TOTV range from 2015 to 2018. I wonder if the TV sales office or sales reps. give out an official year for the buildout.

[angiefox10]

When we came down years ago, we were told the build out would be complete in 2012. They were building so fast that we thought they would stop building before we retired in 2008. Well.... needless to say, we weren't able to retire in 2008 and so in 2012, the build out is 2014? 2018? *shrug* There is still a lot of land to be bought.

Will they buy it and continue to build?

Your guess is as good as mine. But I'm saying... YES!

[eweissenbach]

Heard a few different answers to his question; when, in fact will TV be built out? Am curious because we would like to buy new and am not sure when that opportunity will end.

When we came down years ago, we were told the build out would be complete in 2012. They were building so fast that we thought they would stop building before we retired in 2008. Well.... needless to say, we weren't able to retire in 2008 and so in 2012, the build out is 2014? 2018? *shrug* There is still a lot of land to be bought.

Will they buy it and continue to build?

Your guess is as good as mine. But I'm saying... YES!

The buildout will depend, in part, on how many new homes are sold in the next few years. When they were projecting 2012 they were selling homes at a much faster rate than they have for the last 3 or 4 years. If the pace picks up again it may be 2015, if it continues at the current pace, maybe 2018. No one can know for sure how home sales will go over the near future.

[Bill-n-Brillo]

The party line from most of the sales agents we've talked with (at open houses, etc.) starts off with something like, "From what I've been told......". My gut feel is that the sales folks are told what to pass on to people....by intent. Whether the info they have is 100% thorough and factual can be debated. But it keeps the sales people out of hot water if they're simply passing along what they've been told by their management.

2018 is the ONLY build-out date I've ever seen documented in any legitimate form to-date. From a recent thread:

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/showpost.php?p=432294&postcount=5

Bill :)

[janmcn]

Thank you all for your kind and generous thoughts and encouragement. I feel honored to have you all take the time to help out a newbie stranger.

Due Dilligance begins. First stop the internet. TOTV has been the first stop.
Need to get an idea of where else to check. The Villages.com is a no brainer of course, but what other sites can help me determine what I need to know?
I would like to be well informed before going on the Lifestyle Visit, ideally as informed as the sales staff, that way I won't feel like a deer in the headlights. I miss so much if I get information overload.

Any other thoughts for "Due Dilligence"? I was an airline pilot in a previous life and prefer to have every contingency thought out before leaving the ground. (What if ...) Suprises are then easily managed.

Wish this iPad had a spell checker,
A Happy Holiday to all, best wishes for the new Year.
Two excellent articles in yesterday's St Pete Times for you to read as part of your research. The first one on the front page entitled "Who rates with PSC?", deals with the crippled Crystal River nuclear plant 50 miles due west of The Villages. The other one on front page of second section is titled "Sinkholes rob them of security".

[graciegirl]

Two excellent articles in yesterday's St Pete Times for you to read as part of your research. The first one on the front page entitled "Who rates with PSC?", deals with the crippled Crystal River nuclear plant 50 miles due west of The Villages. The other one on front page of second section is titled "Sinkholes rob them of security".

I am not sure that I understand this post, janmcn.

[TF Hutch]

Are there any pilots here? Are there flight schools in the area? I would like to fly over The Villiages and surrounding area as part of my due diiligence.

I have used Google maps satilite view. Now would like to see with a pilot/guide.

[graciegirl]

You can take a virtual flight ...in any number of ways. You can go to Sumterpa.com and type in the name Gary Morse, I think his wife is Renee, and look at their home in the google earth format...and kind of browse around like that by dragging your cursor.

[ricthemic]

I am not sure that I understand this post, janmcn.

I think her key/telling word was "excellent" regarding the article.
Jan, fyi: many nuke plants built years ago are experiencing similar issues. I moved to TV from an area that has two nukes also with your "excellent newspaper articles" and millions of people living with in fifty miles also paying for repairs.
So I too don't understand your post offering questionable advice to a potential village resident. Why? Because two years ago we had friends both east and west coast of FL so we looked everywhere. Lets see, So Fl east coast... 2 BR 2Bath condo $35K, please tell me how a new camry can cost more than a condo? West coast... Sun City, as they say in jersy, "fogetaboutit". Thank God we knew one person in TV.

[John_W]

Are there any pilots here? Are there flight schools in the area? I would like to fly over The Villiages and surrounding area as part of my due diiligence.


From my house in Tamarind Grove to Lake Square Mall in Leesburg is 18 miles going east on Hwy 466A and then south on Hwy 441. A couple of miles before the mall is a good size airfield, it's Leesburg Municipal Airport. It has several big hangers and even a control tower. http://www.leesburgflorida.gov/airport/

[TF Hutch]

Well it took a while, just completed first Lifestyle Visit. WOW! Love the place! We were assigned to a wonderful Villages sales represetative who met us once and suggested a few things to do that coincided with our intrest, water sports. Smiled when I told him we were overwhelmed and suggested we do another Life Style Visit this comming winter when the crowds are here and see what are feelings are after that. If we still love it, then rent for a few times to get the lay of the land. Talk about no pressure. We did ask him to show us a few houses and within 4 showings we now have an idea of what we like. While showing us around, many folks waved and said hello to Justin, seemed to me he knows everyone in the Villages.

Spent the rest of the week getting lost exploring the Villages in a Golf Cart. Rented a car for the last two days and now I have a basic understanding of how to get around. Lookiing forward to our next visit this winter. Still have some trepidation about traffic and long lines.
So much to learn.

Thank you all for your wisdom and sharing your knowledge here on TOTV, I am going to need it...

[graciegirl]

Well it took a while, just completed first Lifestyle Visit. WOW! Love the place! We were assigned to a wonderful Villages sales represetative who met us once and suggested a few things to do that coincided with our intrest, water sports. Smiled when I told him we were overwhelmed and suggested we do another Life Style Visit this comming winter when the crowds are here and see what are feelings are after that. If we still love it, then rent for a few times to get the lay of the land. Talk about no pressure. We did ask him to show us a few houses and within 4 showings we now have an idea of what we like. While showing us around, many folks waved and said hello to Justin, seemed to me he knows everyone in the Villages.

Spent the rest of the week getting lost exploring the Villages in a Golf Cart. Rented a car for the last two days and now I have a basic understanding of how to get around. Lookiing forward to our next visit this winter. Still have some trepidation about traffic and long lines.
So much to learn.

Thank you all for your wisdom and sharing your knowledge here on TOTV, I am going to need it...

Oh TF, I remember some of your first posts. You, just like me, were very sceptical of all this hype from us. I am SO glad for you to see that we are really lovin' it here and it is worth our love.

Welcome and many happy returns.

[Cynbod]

I am glad to hear how much you enjoyed your visit. It is a great place. We have been snowbirds since we purchased our home in December 2010. That is about to change as I will be retiring on 11/21. I will cook my traditional Thanksgiving here in NYC and have already books flights for the next day. I will spend my first full winter in TV and I too am wondering about crowds and traffic. I hope you enjoy your winter Lifestyle visit.

[Schaumburger]

Well it took a while, just completed first Lifestyle Visit. WOW! Love the place! We were assigned to a wonderful Villages sales represetative who met us once and suggested a few things to do that coincided with our intrest, water sports. Smiled when I told him we were overwhelmed and suggested we do another Life Style Visit this comming winter when the crowds are here and see what are feelings are after that. If we still love it, then rent for a few times to get the lay of the land. Talk about no pressure. We did ask him to show us a few houses and within 4 showings we now have an idea of what we like. While showing us around, many folks waved and said hello to Justin, seemed to me he knows everyone in the Villages.

Spent the rest of the week getting lost exploring the Villages in a Golf Cart. Rented a car for the last two days and now I have a basic understanding of how to get around. Lookiing forward to our next visit this winter. Still have some trepidation about traffic and long lines.
So much to learn.

Thank you all for your wisdom and sharing your knowledge here on TOTV, I am going to need it...

TF, Glad you enjoyed your first LSV so much. I think you are smart to come back in the winter for a second LsV so you can see what the busy season is like if you have concerns about crowds and long lines. :wave:

[hotrodgirl]

TF-thank you so very much for posting back and allowing us to share in your vision! I hope you truly find a place within the TV family. And hurry back!