How did you find it?

[JimPete]

After reading about The Villages phenominal growth rate I got wondering how so many people found out about TV. With us it was on Fox and Friends (it's the only place we have seen it advertised). They run two ads each morning between 6 ad 7 am. We sent for the DVD and watched it but didn't really believe the hype. We did some more research on the internet and decided to schedule a life style visit in conjuction with a trip to Disney World. We figured that if it was a bust at least we could enjoy our visit to Disney. That one visit to TV was all it took. We were hooked, TV junkies.

So I was wondering how you found out about TV. Was it an ad, research on the web, word of mouth or did you just stumble on it while sightseeing?

Jim

[skip0358]

Saw an add on the television years ago and sent for the VCR tape. Told you it was years ago.

[VillagesFlorida]

We found The Villages by accident in 1997. We were driving south on 441, just looking at different areas in the state as possible retirement locations for when the time came. The "time came" a year later when we came back for a real preview. Our house went on the market and sold in 3 hours. The rest is history. It's been almost 14 years of fun ever since!

[Mama C]

our kids kept telling about the place that our daughter in law's grand parents have lived from the beginning of TV ---they have been here close to 30 years!, we scheduled a visit, came back each year on vacation and moved here last November--- no one gets it until they visit!

[Dayzee]

We came to TV to visit friends who had just built a villa in the area off Rio Grande - that was over 17 years ago. Boy, have things changed since then. We were far from retirement age at the time and I remember thinking that our friends were crazy for wanting to live the TV lifestyle. They had sold everything they owned in Michigan, left their family and moved to TV. Everytime we came to visit (over several years) I felt like we were intruding on them - they lived by the calendar - always checking to see what was on the schedule. Once we started renting our own place here I fell in love with everything about TV - I've been trying to convince my husband to buy in TV for the past 10 years. Finally, this past Summer, he agreed so we came down in August, found a place we wanted and closed on it in October. This year we came down from January through April. Once we sell our place in Michigan we will be frogs.

[BarryRX]

I was working as a pharmacist at a Wal-Mart in Port Clinton, Ohio. I was counselling a woman on her medication and she mentioned she would have to transfer her prescriptions to Florida because she was retiring. I told her that I was also thinking of retiring and I asked her where she lived. She said she lived in a great place called The Villages and wrote down the web site on a piece of paper. I went home and checked it out and thought it looked ok. A year later when it came time to retire, my wife and I spent 6 days looking at places in the Orlando area and Mt. Dora area, but didn't find anything we liked. Then I remembered The Villages so we took a ride up. We spent 4 hours touring The Villages and bought the next day!

[gmcneill]

I was competing in the track and field senior games state championships that TV was hosting in December 2004. LSL had just opened, and the buffalo still roamed.

I was a bit young to consider retirement; the thought of TV or any retirement destination never entered my mind.

Subsequent to my 2004 trip, four people where I worked- including 2 from my own office- bought in TV. My office co-workers constant descriptions of their TV life rekindled my memories of TV.

Being six years closer to retirement, we did a LSV in the fall of 2010. In March 2011 we started house-hunting. We closed on our new home in St James last August.

Last Wednesday, I retired from my 33 yr, 46 day career as a municipal government employee here in South Florida.

[Bill-n-Brillo]

Years ago, back in the '80s, my parents used to spend their winters in central FL. Sandy and I used to pass through TV on occasion when we'd drive down to see them. Retirement was not on our minds at the time..............but we always remembered TV.

Bill :)

[teachnmo]

My husband's cousin lived here. So we visited the first time and loved it. We made four more visits during different times of the year including July. When it was decided I was turning in my retirement papers, we came down and bought a house.
Two of my three kids love it here. The other one can't understand why we would chose to leave our grandkids. I hate cold and winters. I travel to Missouri about three times a year and see the grandkids...including a month in June to see all of the kids sports. They are ready for me to go back home after that time. LOL

[jimbo2012]

Been snowbirding for 5 years in Fl at another spot south of here. I sail model sail boats there and a few guys said they also sail at this huge place called TV, that was my first introduction.

This past season we were getting tired of our current place not being active enough for us.

Our neighbor said they were going to visit friends who just moved into their new home here. My wife asked them to bring back any info on the place.
They gave us a good info from their visit.

Then we watched a bunch of videos, in a few days made an appointment with 2 brokers took a tour of a lot of homes with them (both residents). At that point we were 90% sure we liked it.

Shortly after went back two other days on our own before returning, talked to people, looked all over the place.

Found this forum for more info, big help.

We're planning on picking a lot out soon as new sections are released.


.

[thistrucksforyou]

We took all of our grandkids to Disney on the year of there 5th birthday....On our way home to Indiana I was dragging my feet and took 441 to enjoy Florida a little more...We decided we were hungry and I was looking for some place different...We turned left to Augustines and we ate outside with our granddaughter and we asked the server ( whats up with all these golf carts?) She told us this was a retirement community and that was the major mode of transportation....Now I own a place in TV"s...

[PugLover]

I came to visit a good friend who retired with her husband at TV in April 2010. Loved it, came home, told my husband and of course he thought I was crazy. Brought him down on a LSV 7 months later. After 3 day at TV, husband told the realator to show us some lots, and the rest was history. We closed on our Iris at the Vilage of St James in August 2011 and look forward to visiting every 3 months.

[asianthree]

TV used to advertise in golf mags found the ads about 8 years ago. took few visits and then bought

[Golfer in Sanibel]

We have an ex-daughter-in-law whose grandparents were one of the original residents of TV. When my son visited, years ago, he told me "Dad, you have to check this place out. It's perfect for you." Two years ago we spent a few weeks in January in Florida. We had a friend visiting here and she invited us up for a day. She and her boyfriend gave us a day long tour and we had dinner at Katiebelles. We were enticed just enough to rent a villa the following January. We fell in love. Nine months later we put money down on a lot and started construction this last January. We could not be more excited. Wintering back in Ohio with mostly nothing to do has done nothing but increase our excitement index. We will not make our permanent move until the Ohio home is sold. We are getting lots of showings and much interest. People say they love the home and it's priced right. We are just waiting for someone to pull the trigger so we can live out our dream.

[George Bieniaszek]

We did what probably a large percentage of people do, came down to TV to visit friends that already live here. My friends knew people that bought a place here and came down for a visit. On a rainy day, decided to go out and take a look at some open houses. Bought a CYV in Springdale to see if they liked it. Decided that this was the place to be, sold the CYV and built a Designer in 2005.

We would take a vacation in February every year to go on a cruise, Daytona 500, Disney, etc etc etc. and stop over to visit our friends. After a couple of visits, we decided to do the Lifestyles Preview in 2007 and spend more than just a quick 1 day visit. We knew this was the place but we were still working fulltime. We still came down every February to vacation and visit friends and in July 2009 I retired. My wife retired in January 2010. February vacation was coming, did our usual Florida activities, met with a salesperson to look at CYV's. Bought in Pennecamp in February, closed in March 2010, came down with a trailer full of furniture in May and have been loving it eversince.

We are still part-timers spending 6-7 months here and 5 months in Connecticut. Fixing our home in CT to get it ready to sell and make The Villages our perminant residence soon.

[Schaumburger]

Two years ago I went with my friend (who moved to Florida 7 yrs. ago) and her sister (who was then contemplating a move to Florida). My friend's sister wanted to look at homes in TV, so I tagged along on this house hunting expedition and fell in love with TV. My friend's sister bought a home in TV in 2010, and she moved to TV full time last year. So it is all her fault that I am a TV wannabee. :). See you all on June 8 when I am back to rent for 8 days! :pepper2: Wish I was a Frog right now!

[LittleDog]

I had heard about TV since around 1995 but had lived in the same house in NJ for 32 years but had never visited TV. In 2005 we were attending a convention in Sarasota and had a few days before the convention started. We had friends who had moved here 6 or 7 years earlier when her parents died and left her the house. We looked at TV and thought it was a "neat" place. We were both retired so that was not an issue. We contacted a realtor here to take us around and show us some houses. One house that we particularly liked was on the historic side. It had a nice landscaped lot and was immaculate inside. We stopped 3 times to look at this place. On the 3rd visit I found that the house didn't have an oven. In any case we continued looking and found a house (who knows where we were) that we liked so in 3 days we bought the house. We hadn't planned on doing that prior to our visit. When we returned to NJ we found 16" of snow on the ground so that was a good sign. After we bought the house our son, who was living in Boston at the time said that he had gotten a job teaching at USF and would be moving to St. Pete. Another good sign.

What I did find out once we made our move was that we were in a rut in NJ and this move invigorated both of us. Don't regret it for an instance. :a040:

John

[jebartle]

BUT moving here was a chore....1st trip stayed in a rental in Belleview, rental was so new that they were delivering furniture DURING our stay, we were less than thrilled, 2nd trip stayed in CYV in Springdale area, owner gave the "ole boy" a golf cart driving lesson:loco::loco:, but being the stubborn Taurus that I am, I looked on line and found villas around square, there was a bidding war, we said "forget it" (condos that should sell for no more than $300,000 were selling in excess of $600,000), went on line, found the little yellow house and the rest is history....We LOVE LOVE LOVE the Villages

[batman911]

Suprised no one has mentioned The Golf Channel. There were lots of add during the golf tournaments several years back.

[Bill & Carolyn]

LOL, we 'found out' about TV when we were looking at potential retirement communities in this area of Florida back in 2006. Originally TV was not on our radar and I had not even heard of it.

My wife and I stayed a couple of days after our cruise out of Orlando ended. We had a list of 6-7 communities spread out from south of Orlando to the Crystal River area. We didn't find anything both she and I liked (her major concern was the lack of women in evidence at most places) and were heading back to Orlando from Ocala to catch a flight home. She said, "Let's try to see the 'The Villages' place a co-worker mentioned. It took us 45 mins to find Spanish Springs, but, as soon as we drove into the square, My wife looked at me and said, "This is it. I LOVE IT."

The rest, as they say, is history. We visited two more times and bought a home in Pennecamp last March, where we will become full time residents in November when I retire.

[peaches]

Came here from visiting DisneyWorld in order to check on a friend's mom. She moved here shortly after it opened (the historic side) and suggested we look at "the other side." We drove into Spanish Springs with our mouths hanging open. We came back for a Lifestyle visit and saw where Sumter was in the process of being built. A few more visits (and sick of the Michigan snow) and we bought a Courtyard Villa. We have now lived here four years and find ourselves more active than ever.

[skyking]

My wife and I had seen the ads for The Villages on television and I told her that I would never want to live there - in a "retirement community". Then I volunteered for a healthcare accreditation survey for a surgery center in "Lady Lake" Florida (wherever that was??) and ended up staying at a hotel just outside The Villages. I changed my mind when I saw what was here. (Could have been the cheap two for one drinks.) We came for a LSV a couple of months later and we both swore that we would not buy anything right away - just look. We signed the purchase agreement before we left for home (probably the drinks again).

[jpharmat]

My parents had rented in The Villages for years during the winter months... way before Nancy Lopez was built. Mother would never move here.. Long story short, mother died, WE (father, husband and myself) bought a house here in LSL, father died and the house became our (husband and I) property.

BTW it is always advertised on the Golf Channel.

[PJOHNS2654]

:smiley:Saw an Ad in a golf magazine in the early nineties. Chi Chi was saying come play my favorite hole (Hacienda Course). Sent for the video and did life style tour when I retired in 96. There were a coule of restaurants at the square in S.S. and a huge tent where the square is now. Entertainment and libations under the tent.

After tour went to local R.V. park for a couple of weeks, (stayed the next four months. and returned for six months a year for the next 15.) In late nineties saw some nice looking Condos that had been built behind S.S. Thought I would like to live there. When TV reduced the price on them in 2008 bought one and love it here.

[uujudy]

HoneyBoy saw the ad on the Golf Channel & asked me to type in the website so he could check it out. I typed the website wrong, so a whole page of suggested sites popped up. I clicked on the first link & wound up at The Villages 4 Rent dot com. I told him I don't know anything about this place, except they have a lot of golf courses & we could rent a 3 bedroom house with a golf cart for the month of December in a place called Lynnhaven for $1800. He said 'Book it!" and the rest is history. :024:

[John_W]

I had lived in Florida since age nine from 1959 until 1989. I then had moved to Baltimore for a job but when I retired I wanted to move back. I grew up in St. Petersburg but that is too crowded now, I had loved my six years in Pensacola and probably would of moved there if it had not been for that 30 minute infomercial I saw on the Golf channel in 2003.

[CaptJohn]

I saw the 60 Minutes show a couple of years ago about the custom golf carts at TV and said "I've got to see this place! Looks like a lot of fun and people must have great attitudes to be having that much fun. The old people aren't old!"
Once I found this forum I realized how much more there was thanks to everyone who posts here.
Before then I had not heard of the place and I grew up (sorta) in Pensacola. :laugh: