For those of you already happily living in THE VILLAGES

[senior citizen]

..........

[John_W]

For those of you already happily living in THE VILLAGES FLORIDA, where was one or two of your other choices?

How did you decide....finally???? How did you eliminate the contenders...

I grew up on the west coast of Florida. St. Petersburg from 1959 at the age of 9 until 1977 and then Pensacola from 1977 to 1982. So for me, the Gulf coast of Florida was my primary choice. When my parents retired in 1984 they moved to Spring Hill, that's about 60 miles north of St. Pete. It's where Weeki Wachee Springs is located, the place with the mermaid show. It's not far from here, if you were to go south on I-75 and exit west on Route 50 you could be there in a little over an hour. I had visited them many times over the years, so I was quite familiar with the homes and the community and the golf courses.

The exact community was Timber Pines (http://www.timberpines.com/) My parents were one of the first homeowners and it was built out about 2000 and has just under 3500 homes. It's a completely walled and gated community with 3 golf courses and golf carts on the streets. However, there is no commerce within the community you can go by cart, everything is outside but is very close on Hwy 19. Since Timber Pines is built out we were looking at resales. Just like the communities outside TV, homes were much cheaper than here. However, after comparing the activities here versus Timber Pines, we made The Villages our choice.

[senior citizen]

.........

[njbchbum]

we live in jersey and have vacation homes in maine and the villages - it is the best of all worlds! we are inundated with tourists all summer since we live just a mile from the beach - traffic, restaurant lines, traffic, crowded stores, traffic and rude people from new york who have no idea how to drive nor care how they drive because they are in a rental car since they take subways when in ny! it's everything that old orchard beach and the rest of the rt 1 corridor is in maine!

in maine we live at the base of the mountain ranges in the lakes region - popular for boating, fishing, hiking, hunting and skiing - none of which we do but which we enjoy watching others do! our little town has less than 1,000 residents between columbus day and memorial day, a popular ski slope, no police force, and the truant officer retired years ago and was not replaced! town office is run by one and a half ladies all year 'round! we're fortunate that the next town over is a county seat and has a hospital, movie theatre and 2 grocery stores. we're about 60 mins from portland and 90 mins from kennebunkport. it is the only place i want to be in the fall - even if the tourists have left my jersey shore town!

and then there is the villages - where i only want to be in the winter. have spent too many winters with the cold, snow and ice; and have outgrown that at my age!

but when it comes to retirement - as long as my husband is alive we will stick with what we have. should i outlive him, it will be a one way trip to someplace close to wilmington, north carolina or hilton head, south carolina - great spots for seasonal changes and little to no snow. seasonal tourists i have learned to cope with and how to avoid.

i thoroughly get the wonderful family reunions in the big houses along sandy beaches - my folks owned an oceanfront cottage on the jersey shore. we always reunited after labor day when it was no longer rented to tourists! ;) where would i go in maine - probably close to gorham, windham, sanford so i would have easy access to those rt 1 beach towns and rural living with modern conveniences.

[senior citizen]

.............

[kittygilchrist]

My other choice was an RV big enough to get past (boxer) Emma while she was lying in the floor and a soundproof cabinet to store the cat while I drove.

:)

[jebartle]

but not a good one, even thou we lived on a beautiful Donald Ross golf course in a sleepy little community of Morganton.....My husband's patients would not have let him retire...Next choice, Florida, kids live in Orlando, so a NO-BRAINER, and who wouldn't love The Villages....We could not be happier!

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Never thought about any place else. Certainly not the coast of Maine. It snows there! You have good weather for about six weeks a year and the ocean is too cold to swim in even in the middle of August.
If I could afford it, I would love to go north to maybe Lake Winnepesaukee or Cape Cod for about five or six weeks a year. But those places are so crowded for the few weeks of summer when the weather is decent.

[l2ridehd]

I researched over 100 retirement communities. Mostly on the internet. None in Maine. Taxes not conducive to retirement. I narrowed it done to about a dozen with plans to visit all of them. The Villages was number 7 and I never did go to number 8. I grew up in NH very close to the ME border so am very familiar with all the places mentioned. Have been to all of them many times. Use to ski at Sugarloaf and Sunday River, and Portland is a great small city to visit. Beaches, Old Orchard, Freeport, and many others places. My close second was St James Plantation right on the NC, SC border. And was number one until I got to The Villages.

However I really have to ask this. If you only plan to be in Maine for those two week family reunions, you can rent the best place on the beach or on Sebago lake for two weeks for less then the property taxes on a place to own. So why buy?

New England is a great place, in the summer. Winters are tough. My personal choice is NH, family, low taxes, and native knowledge.

[jimbo2012]

Get an RV, move around when you don't like the conditions here, or broaden your horizons

[senior citizen]

..........

[graciegirl]

I think, after reading these posts and many of yours Senior, that you should give some consideration to snowbirding: Part time in Maine and part time here.

We vacationed for many years in Florida but NEVER thought of it as a place to live until we visited here and immediately fell in love. Sometimes I get annoyed at some of the shenanigans I see during the high season but I do love living among my age peers, give twenty or thirty years...

I love the way all things are so well maintained and well run. I love the opportunities to join a myriad of groups of like minded folks. I have so loved learning so much in the field of art and playing golf for pennies.

If you are considering Florida...this is the place. Maine sounds close to your children and similar to the way of life you are used to and very beautiful too.

[Cedwards38]

We were a little intrigued by Arizona, but couldn't find anything to compare to this!

[Ohiogirl]

Very interesting to me to see all our friends' and other acquaintances' retirement choices - all over the place, different strokes etc.

One set of friends sold everything and bought a liveaboard boat - in reading their block and emailing, they are very happy, having the time of their lives. We would be miserable, same with RV'ing.

We are currently snowbirding, although Florida residents, and loving it. Others get really tired of the back and forth - so far, we find it refreshing to have the change in scene, different types of activities for the season. Also getting to see friends. We may do it longer than some because we have children halfway back. Makes a nice break in the drive and we get to see them more often, since we come back a couple of times.

I know 2 other couples who live in Florida in winter and Wisconsin cottages in summer, one on a lake, other in the woods. One likes it, one hates it (her husband loves it). It's nice when you both agree on what you want to do.

Some people just don't like those long drives back and forth, which I get, especially as we age.

Some people do lots of traveling in summer, to avoid the heat, but the older we get, we find we like to travel less frequently. But - we've already done a lot of traveling, so it's not novel to us and maybe not as appealing anymore. We find we are now really glad to get home, whether it be Florida or Ohio.

We'd rather have 2 smaller places that we can afford instead of one big place. That's us, might not be you. We are also getting into home exchanging a couple of times a year - easier when you have 2 places and can do non-simultaneous exchanges.

Another great option, if you don't have a "home" city you like that much, is to buy a mountain place within a day's drive from The Villages, or 2 easy days, if you're not that into driving.

If we didn't love Columbus, and have lots of friends here, and could afford it, I think I'd look into a summer home in Asheville, NC or Blowing Rock, NC (which I haven't yet been to). Going to look into home exchanging there once our 16 yr old min. poodle is in doggy heaven.

Met a woman golfing who was from Maine - they go back for about 3 mos - 2 mos. renting a furnished apt. in Augusta, I think, where they are from, and 5 weeks of timeshares - same resort, but have to switch places once or twice. Much cheaper, she said, than buying a summer place. Sounded like a good solution to me if you go back to a summer resort area, or want to.

Another friend bought an inexpensive house near downtown Lake Charlevoix, MI, since prices were depressed in MI last summer when they bought. Taxes not high away from lakeshore. She has lots of siblings who have summer places in the area. Loves being there in summer.

[Madelaine Amee]

I think, after reading these posts and many of yours Senior, that you should give some consideration to snowbirding: Part time in Maine and part time here.

We vacationed for many years in Florida but NEVER thought of it as a place to live until we visited here and immediately fell in love. Sometimes I get annoyed at some of the shenanigans I see during the high season but I do love living among my age peers, give twenty or thirty years...

I love the way all things are so well maintained and well run. I love the opportunities to join a myriad of groups of like minded folks. I have so loved learning so much in the field of art and playing golf for pennies.

If you are considering Florida...this is the place. Maine sounds close to your children and similar to the way of life you are used to and very beautiful too.


Got to agree with you Gracie - no longer want to travel back and forth, and I no longer want to leave my home here in TV. We have relocated (per the company) several times in our life and I just want to have one home with all my "stuff" around me. We fly back several times a year to visit our children and their children, but this is definitely home now. We have also talked about what we would do when one of us has to depart this world, and we both feel that unless health is an issue, this is the place to live in ones old age. When we dine out, we notice people coming into restaurants who are infirm and there is no way these people could get around like they do here if they were to move back north. There really is no place like The Villages.

I have to add this to Senior - you have been on this website for sometime now and you are continually undecided about moving here. Don't even consider it until you really love it here, and more importantly, not until you BOTH love it here!

[Yorio]

Before The Villages, we thought of moving to Pinehurst, NC. And since it is 6 hours from Northern Virginia, we thought it would be nice to have two places and less cold in winter than DC. With 6 courses to play golf as a member and 2 more courses if we pay premium, this we thought was better than being a member of one country club. Also, the idea of being able to play No. 2 as member was intriguing. They also have 24 tennis courts, croquet, lawn bowl and a huge lake with a beach sounded all good until we found out about The Villages. Our friend who introduced us to The Villages thought about Sea Pines Plantation in North Myrtle Beach before they found out about TV.

[fb32162]

We visited retirement communities near Atlanta GA, Hilton Head, Nashville TN, Jacksonville and Tampa FL and places near the Villages. I had a list of pros and cons for each place. The only "con" on the Villages list was the price of the homes were higher here. Each place we visited had positives, and a few amenities, but many felt like an "old persons" community. Here in The Villages we were attracted to how so many people we met had a real zest for life. We happily traded a bigger home for the villages "lifestyle" two years ago. We love our life here. One thing we didn't expect was how "young" we feel living here. At 65, when not in The Villages, people see our grey hair and wrinkles and treat us like we are old. Here, age simply doesn't matter.

[senior citizen]

.......

[Bay Kid]

I love the Northern Neck of Virginia/Chesapeake Bay for 6-7 months a year. TV for the rest of the year! Both are great for golf. Check out Golf Kilmarnock, VA - Indian Creek Yacht & Country Club - Northern Neck Virginia (http://www.icycc.com) for golf, indoor/outdoor tennis, yacht club and an excellent restaurant! 11-12,000 people per county and close enough to cities.
I am sounding like a salesman....
I guess I am just one lucky guy!

[manaboutown]

One of the books I read about moving to a retirement community was written by a Florida real estate broker who had been in the business several years. His recommendation based on the experiences of his many clients was to snowbird for a few years. He found that his happiest and most satisfied clients did this. Now this may not be practical for everyone but it is what he recommends rather than selling off everything, severing all ties to one's hometown and moving to Florida - or anywhere else for that matter.

Several native and long term central Florida residents I have known over the years had mountain cabins in North Carolina, motorhomes or other getaway means and removed themselves from the heat of the long central Florida summer when possible.

Back in 1965 one of my aunt's had a stroke in her late 40's. Her husband, who'd had a heart attack a couple years before her stroke, thought the Florida climate might help them so they bought a house in Winter Haven. They kept their home in Towson, MD for a few years but eventually sold it and resided in Florida thereafter. She and he ended up living into their late 80's! I personally believe the Florida climate played a huge role in their longevity. They were able to get outdoors, walk and enjoy life year round without being cooped up. Their only problem as they saw it was medical care. They went up to Johns Hopkins a few times a year to see their long time physicians.

As an aside, maintaining a strong social/support network is very important as one ages. As I see it The Villages provides an ideal environment to accomplish that.

[Yorio]

Ever since I stopped skiing, I don't like snow anymore especially when you have to shovel out of your own home. Definitely Northern neck of Virginia is beautiful but we haven't forgotten about our friends up north. If for a week or so, we can stay at our friends place. More than likely, we'll rent a place. Snowbirds are good for a while but for me owning two homes are like having an albatross across my neck. I am so relieved that I don't have to worry about pipes freezing in winter, etc. I love the small village of Cooperstown, NY, not for the Baseball Hall of Fame but for the little town atmosphere but for snow..... Re Pinehurst, the village is very quaint and nice with a small park built by the same fellow who built Central Park, NY. However, in winter the town is dead and people congregate by the various hotel bars nearby. That's like having City Fire place only for entertainment.

[jojo]

I have no desire to maintain two homes. Love The Villages in the summer. Usually a nice breeze in the evening. Can walk on the executive courses. The squares have been busy. I think more people were here this summer. Can travel to lots of different places for the money spent on two homes.