We're Finally Here, Renting and House Hunting

[Polar Bear]

We moved into a rental and are seriously house hunting. I won't feel like we're frogs yet until we find our permanent place. But it's exciting to be here anyway!! :^)

Hunting for our new home is also exciting, but lots of work and sometimes frustrating. We're getting pretty good at searching and visiting and working with the TV folks (and the MLS folks too...but don't tell the TV folks...LOL!), but we'd still welcome any advice you'd like to send our way.

By the way...did I say it's exciting to be here!?! :^)

[HDriders]

Welcome!! Good luck and hope you find your 'dream' home !!

[graciegirl]

Welcome Mr. and Mrs. Polar Bear.

Stop by our house if you find the tme.

Send a P.M.

Gracie, Sweetie and Helene.

[Blessed2BNTV]

It is so darn hard to get the smile off of our face once you move to TV.

Congrats and hope you find your forever home soon.

[Jhooman]

Welcome!

[Schaumburger]

We moved into a rental and are seriously house hunting. I won't feel like we're frogs yet until we find our permanent place. But it's exciting to be here anyway!! :^)

Hunting for our new home is also exciting, but lots of work and sometimes frustrating. We're getting pretty good at searching and visiting and working with the TV folks (and the MLS folks too...but don't tell the TV folks...LOL!), but we'd still welcome any advice you'd like to send our way.

By the way...did I say it's exciting to be here!?! :^)

Polar Bear, Happy house hunting and may you find the house of your dreams soon! :wave:

[gomoho]

My best advice - take you time. Welcome.

[mickey100]

Welcome! Enjoy yourselves, and as gomoho said, take your time and I'll add, - do your research.

[rockyisle]

Take your time finding just the right house. We rented for 6 months, went to every open house that made sense in our price range and finally found 3 houses we loved. Two were from TV and one was MLS. Guess which one we bought? MLS because they were willing to entertain an offer. Are we happy? Absolutely. Don't forget to look at FSBO's as well. You'll save even more $$$'s on realtor commissions if you find the right one.

[queasy27]

Welcome, Polar Bear! It's great to have such a nice new neighbor. :angel:

You don't need any advice from me, but I am curious how the house search is going, and what the frustrations are. Are you looking as pre-owned or new? Have you missed out on any houses you wanted because someone overbid you? How does the market seem from a buyer's perspective?

[pcogg1]

We moved into a rental and are seriously house hunting. I won't feel like we're frogs yet until we find our permanent place. But it's exciting to be here anyway!! :^)

Hunting for our new home is also exciting, but lots of work and sometimes frustrating. We're getting pretty good at searching and visiting and working with the TV folks (and the MLS folks too...but don't tell the TV folks...LOL!), but we'd still welcome any advice you'd like to send our way.

By the way...did I say it's exciting to be here!?! :^)

Home for Sale 1817 Delwood Way in the Villages of Pennecamp. Location is great, corner lot, backs up to privacy fence and completely a landscapers Dream Yard. It's finished and all it needs is someone to enjoy. Open house today from 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM. Take St. Charles to Pennecamp, turn on Pennecamp, take your 2nd Ashwood Drive and it's one block down. Hope to see you.

[asianthree]

take your time the right house will be there

[Jim 9922]

Taking your time is the way to do it, there are lots of homes to choose from. My advice; buy a garage with a nice house attached. There is never enough space for all the toys and tools.

[Polar Bear]

Welcome, Polar Bear! It's great to have such a nice new neighbor. :angel:

You don't need any advice from me, but I am curious how the house search is going, and what the frustrations are. Are you looking as pre-owned or new? Have you missed out on any houses you wanted because someone overbid you? How does the market seem from a buyer's perspective?

In general, the market appears very active. It's exciting to think that (IMHO) this is a pretty good time to be buying. Frustrating at times of course, which we fully expected. One or both of us is out there every day...reviewing what's available, setting itineraries, making calls, driving around for what sometimes seems like endless periods. It gets very tiring at times. And it feels like we can't really start "living" in TV until we make a purchase.

Probably one of the biggest challenges so far is to fight the temptation to exceed our budget! :^) (There's always one more feature that we feel like we must have.) And then there's the urge to just kind of ignore the bond cost...because...of course...it's not actually a part of the cost of the house...LOL!

We're looking at both new and pre-owned. One home we liked was snapped up before we had a chance, but so far no heart-breakers. Could very well happen though.

Probably the single biggest challenge is simply weighing the pros and cons of each home and coming to agreement whether it's a real, viable option. Some might disagree, but on limited budget like ours, I don't think that "perfect" house is out there. But don't think I'm being negative. There are plenty of wonderful houses that may not be perfect, but that won't stop us from making one of them the perfect home. :^)

[Dreamer61]

Congratulations! We can't wait to join you! Happy house hunting!

[2rts2tv]

We moved into a rental and are seriously house hunting. I won't feel like we're frogs yet until we find our permanent place. But it's exciting to be here anyway!! :^)

Hunting for our new home is also exciting, but lots of work and sometimes frustrating. We're getting pretty good at searching and visiting and working with the TV folks (and the MLS folks too...but don't tell the TV folks...LOL!), but we'd still welcome any advice you'd like to send our way.

By the way...did I say it's exciting to be here!?! :^)

Polar Bear: Please keep us updated on all the details of your house hunting progress. I'm still learning a lot from everyone's experiences and it's helping us get a little more clarity on how we should proceed moving to TV! Good Luck in your house hunting!

[olgreeneyes]

I think I would start by narrowing it down to what model home you would like. On our LSV we were in a courtyard villa and loved it, especially since we have dogs. That meant we had to compromise on garage space, which we are ok with. We also knew we wanted mostly grass, not the large patios in the newer homes, so that meant resale.
Location would be the next thing to consider, do you want mature trees and landscaping? Want to be close to shopping?
Take your time, enjoy the hunting. Each home you look at will probably have something that you like, so just try to think of what's the most important to you.
Good luck and welcome.!

[kittygilchrist]

Welcome, Polar Bear! As a fellow dog owner, I looked at first at CYV's. It is a huge challenge if your pets have been used to a fence not to have one. I'm also on a street which when built out will have no easy access to public domain.
I know we are both committed to responsible dog owning, so perhaps walking your dog near the intended house would be a test to try.

After a year of shopping preowned, I was stunned by the most spectacular view I've seen in The Villages and bought the lot immediately..no regrets...even tho walking the dog when it's not too hot and not raining isn't easy.

[elizabeth52]

Congratulations! I am envious. We are in the final stages of preparing our home to put on the market so that we too can make the move. I have am very interested in hearing how your search continues and what you learn along the way, so please continue to post as you go through this
exciting experience. We also plan to come down and rent while we search for our perfect home. While doing my research, I am always looking at rentals and have found many rentals will not take a large dog, so I guess that is going to be another hurdle for us to cross. Good luck in your new adventure!

[Parker]

I'm not sure the 'perfect' home really exists. I know folks who, in their attempt to find it, built one from scratch, only to discover they wish they'd done this or that differently. Look for location first, then for the right 'feel'. You'll know it when you see it. Good luck and welcome!

[Schaumburger]

Polar Bear: Please keep us updated on all the details of your house hunting progress. I'm still learning a lot from everyone's experiences and it's helping us get a little more clarity on how we should proceed moving to TV! Good Luck in your house hunting!

I also love hearing about other people's house hunting adventures in TV as those posts are a learning experience for me. Let us know how things are going for you Polar Bear.

[ssmith]

Oh so happy for you....we Wannabe's live Vicariously through others....so if you can share your adventures!!!!:pepper2:

CONGRATS!!!

[Polar Bear]

Well, the next big step has been taken. We have a contract on a house. :pepper2: What a journey. And it's not over yet...keep your fingers crossed for us. We actually made an offer on a different house earlier and lost the house to another "bidder". It's all turned out for the better so far though. We like the house that we have a contract on even better. So now it's all the paperwork, insurance, etc., etc. to get to the finish line.

It's funny, the house we're buying is one of the first ones we looked at. We liked it even then, but we had no idea how it compared to everything else that's out there, so for weeks we've been house-hunting literally from sunup to sundown...and often after that. After we went back and looked at it a second time, we saw a lot we had missed because we were such newbies the first time. And we didn't fully appreciate the location either until we'd been here for a while. It's great!

House hunting is fun and exciting, but at times very trying and tiring. We had no time at all just to live here and do all the things we plan to do. The day after we went to contract, all of a sudden it seemed like we were lost...nothing to do...in a good way of course!! We still don't feel like we're totally home yet so we can fully jump into all those things, but at least finally we can see the finish line.

Now we just have to wait on closing and deal with all the stuff that we should never have put into storage in the first place! :eek: But we'll manage.

Anyway, if you're going through the same things we have, just hang in there. Be patient and keep looking and working at it. It will pay off! :wave:

[gomoho]

So Polar Bear I'm sure we are all wondering what Village did you buy in and what model???

[Polar Bear]

A Bougenvillia (sp?) with Florida room in Mallory Square. We're very pleased. :^)

[graciegirl]

A Bougenvillia (sp?) with Florida room in Mallory Square. We're very pleased. :^)

Good for you. Excellent choices. We are all waiting until the ink dries to welcome you HOME.

[kittygilchrist]

welcome to TV!

[chief5686]

Could someone tell me why The Villages makes it so hard for a Disabled Vet to use there VA loan to buy a home there. We were told that we can not buy a new home with a VA loan because the builder will not deal with the VA due to how long it takes.
Put a bid on a per-owened home Sunday and even though our offer was better was told because we were using the VA for financing the seller took the lesser offer. Was also told that since the VA has the seller pay for certain closing cost when I do close on a home I will have to reimburse the seller with cash for these closing items.
Gee was wrong there? We can lose life and limbs for you but you dont want us to buy a home.
This was told to me by one of The Villagers Realtors.
Please help me get into the Villages with a VA loan?

[graciegirl]

Could someone tell me why The Villages makes it so hard for a Disabled Vet to use there VA loan to buy a home there. We were told that we can not buy a new home with a VA loan because the builder will not deal with the VA due to how long it takes.
Put a bid on a per-owened home Sunday and even though our offer was better was told because we were using the VA for financing the seller took the lesser offer. Was also told that since the VA has the seller pay for certain closing cost when I do close on a home I will have to reimburse the seller with cash for these closing items.
Gee was wrong there? We can lose life and limbs for you but you dont want us to buy a home.
This was told to me by one of The Villagers Realtors.
Please help me get into the Villages with a VA loan?


You answered your own question. No one disrespects you or devalues you or doesn't applaud your service. It is simply business. You are dealing with individuals. You may have broader choices and better luck if you go with a conventional loan.

[Duvalboomer]

I'm not sure the 'perfect' home really exists. I know folks who, in their attempt to find it, built one from scratch, only to discover they wish they'd done this or that differently. Look for location first, then for the right 'feel'. You'll know it when you see it. Good luck and welcome!

The "perfect" home does exist but the bad news is we bought it;)

[CaptJohn]

Could someone tell me why The Villages makes it so hard for a Disabled Vet to use there VA loan to buy a home there. We were told that we can not buy a new home with a VA loan because the builder will not deal with the VA due to how long it takes.
Put a bid on a per-owened home Sunday and even though our offer was better was told because we were using the VA for financing the seller took the lesser offer. Was also told that since the VA has the seller pay for certain closing cost when I do close on a home I will have to reimburse the seller with cash for these closing items.
Gee was wrong there? We can lose life and limbs for you but you dont want us to buy a home.
This was told to me by one of The Villagers Realtors.
Please help me get into the Villages with a VA loan?

:welcome: to the TOTV forum!

You're blaming the wrong people. The problem is the VA.
I was a real estate broker for 40 years and specialized in VA/FHA foreclosures and that has always been a common thread everywhere to buying/selling houses unless they were specifically built to preapproved VA specs. In the VA's quest to look out after your interests, they, being typical government, shoot themselves and you in the foot (pardon the expression). They force sellers to pay certain costs and won't let you pay them as in a NORMAL transaction, thereby raising the cost to sell and lowering the net proceeds to the seller. It is a hassle dealing with them and the Villages is used to quick turn overs. I'm sure if the VA wasn't such a problem, the Villages would love to sell more houses to veterans using the VA loan.

On preowned, you can raise the offering price to compensate for the lower net proceeds to seller but the house may not appraise for that if it's too much. It used to be (and I emphasize that), you could waive some of the requirements and that would be OK with the VA, but again, you lose time in that process and in real estate, time is of the essence. It would also help if the VA was more efficient. (It took my uncle who served in WWII 50 years to get his disability acknowledged). I'm not sure that a waiver is still OK these days of overkill. Good luck in your searching. I would look for a very, very VA savvy real estate agent. PS. They're hard to find.