Buying in the Villages,please advise
 

Hi,
We are planning on purchasing a home this spring or summer. The villages will be our fulltime residence and are looking forward to it. We are buying a pre-owned looking at 3brs. Problem is we are not sure which village to buy in as we want our neighbors to also be fulltime residents. We are moving from Osceola Co. Fl which is in the tourist area of Disney and have had it with short term rentals ect. Any advice on what areas to concentrate on?
Our price range is up to low 200's. Thanks and hope to see you in the Villages soon. Julie57 and husband.

This is just based on my experiences meeting people, but I see a lot of people in the new areas such as Hemingway, etc. that are part time residents - they bought now because prices are low for new homes here in The Villages, but are unable to sell their homes up north, or are still working, so they live here only part of the time. Obviously not everyone is part time, but I have met many that are.

I would guess that some of the neighborhoods which have been established within the past 5 years or so would have a larger number of full time residents. If you're looking south of Route 466, Mallory, Winifred, Sunset Point, Liberty Park, Lynnehaven, Ashland, to name a few. Some of the older sections north of Route 466 tend to have older residents, although newer retirees are moving in every day. So depending on your age, you may want to consider that as well. I personally prefer south of Route 466 because the golf cart paths are wider, and the facilities are newer. Good luck with your search!

Homes
 

Julie,
I sent you a private message.

Take a look at santo domingo village. Its close to the square and a lot of shopping and places to eat. Its sort of one of the older villages. There are some for sale signs on several houses near me. Check here and see whats available.

Recently I met a nice person, who felt she had made a mistake three years ago by buying in an older village north of 466 where the residents were already "settled". She related that she'd hosted a party at which 50 neighbors showed up and had a good time but she never heard from one of them again! Maybe putting up with a new, transient, neighborhood for a few years is better than being excluded entirely as a newcomer.

"being excluded entirely as a newcomer"? I really find that a bit excessive. We bought in one of the older neighborhoods north of 466 with lots of permanent residents. Do they have their own lives? Of course. But that is no different than most places outside of TV. I have found my neighbors, in fact everyone in TV, to be open and welcoming. We are not here full time yet, but when we are I expect to make my own life too. Some of my activities will be with my neighbors, old and new, and some will be with others throughout TV. That is the beauty of this place.

I agree with another Linda 100%. We purchased in an older neighborhood(Polo Ridge) and have found all our neighbors to be extremely friendly and outgoing. Wasn't here a week before I was asked to join a Billiards group and a golf group. Better neighbors than I had in North Carolina and I lived at the same address there for 30 years. Only been here one year.

Where to buy?
 

Hi there,

You question makes me think a bit of one of the criteria we had when college shopping for my daughter. She wanted a school in the South to have the opportunity to see and meet people from a different part of the country. Of course that meant she could not get home for weekends. Even if there are a lot of clubs etc, you want there to be people to enjoy them with.

I'm not sure that you can decide on a village - you almost need a neighborhood within a village. I think it is good that you are planning to look late Spring or Summer. We tried to hit the schools we thought might be locally focused by visiting on the weekend in the spring. It was a real eye opener.

Good luck - and I think you can meet a great group of neighbors anywhere in TV.

Kate

PS - living on the Conn shore for 20 years - I know what it is like after the tourists go home.

Julie,
I"m in the business of real estate and I have found that many villas are purchased by snowbirds. Now that is not true in all cases. Those areas of home, designer type will find a larger percentage of fulltime residents. Hope this helps.

Thank you to everyone
 

Thank you so much for all of your replies and advice. We will have fun looking and deciding upon the right home, we plan on this being our last home purchase, but, you never know. I look forward to meeting the folks in the Villages and hope to make many life long friends. Julie57

Julie:

I understand what you're asking and why. We moved here 3 years ago when there was really no choice of which Village to buy in...you GRABBED what they told you was available because if you didn't...someone else would in the next 15 minutes!!! You're lucky that you have a choice of where to buy and what to buy. I would like to say that we are in the the village of Liberty Park and we couldn't be happier with our neighbors. They are all the greatest bunch of people we've ever had the pleasure of knowing. I feel like we're all a real "family"...and we've only known them for 3 years!!! How lucky are we????? My only advice to you is to buy the MOST house you can for the money this time around. Otherwise...you'll be moving up in a year!! I golfed with a lady last week who has lived here 4 years and just bought their 3rd house!!! OUCH !! I agree with someone else who posted here...you need to stay south of 466. People are "younger more active" retirees (for the most part) and tend to be more fulltime. Send me a Private Msg. if you have any more questions.

Patches, I hereby invite you to visit us north of 466. You might be very surprised. We aren't dead, and we have a large mix of ages. Personally I'm 62 and still able stand upright (as well as ride a bike, play tennis and golf, dance, etc.) Now one of my neighbors does happen to be somewhere over 70, but let me tell you, she can outdo me! For anyone moving to TV, I would urge you not to buy or limit your friends based on chronological age. If you do, you will be missing some of the joy to be found here.

:agree: Linda,

I also am North of 466 , Way North, and I have a ton of life left in me, ask anyone that knows me! LOL

Hey, Nonie! I know you do girl! Your lanai will always be the home of the belly dancers. But we never did get our "no spandex" bikers group together. Sigh.

I agree wholeheartedly.
Although we just bought in Hemingway we also looked North.
For many years we lived in an apartment building in NY which was similar to a village.
We we thirtysomething and some of our best friends ranged in age from twenty through eighty, and believe me you never lacked for a good time.

shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!:o:

TOUCHE' What a really STUPID thing for me to say. I don't know what I was thinking. I know better...really I do!! As a matter of fact, our neighbor's daughter and her boyfriend just bought a mobile home in Orange Blossom Hills (fulltime residents)and they're not even in their 50s !!! They absolutely LOVE it here...

I'm soooo sorry for writing something soooo stupid!! We hope to sell (aka: "give away" in today's sad market) our Amarillo ranch home (w/Fl Rm) soon...complete with all it's furnishings and professional decorating and I would hope that prospective buyers/newcomers would not limit themselves from looking at what we're selling for ANY reason !!

THANKS for calling me on this one.

We bought 4 months ago south of 466. The reason was we wanted a new home rather than a re-sale. We have found not matter what age most are lively and active

Very well said
 

VERY WELL SAID!! I commend you ! as we too are hopeing to move to The Villages next month (May). It's people like you that keep "me" motivated as I am 63 and getting tired of being a "couch potato" here in Tenn..... Maybe you can teach my wife to dance....:evil6:

EVerywhere you go the people are so welcoming and genuine. I sometimes feel just like a little kid again, so carefree and happy. I would urge you to buy on my street in Hadley, but they are all taken. Look in Bonita and Hemingway, new people are moving in there every day! The older villages are just as beautiful, with taller trees and folks who are just waiting to welcome you. You can't really choose the wrong place. I will be gone this summer or I would tell you to drop by!

I hope you will be as happy as we are....and I see no reason why you won't!!

Thanks Chattanooga! I think you'll find that TV is full of people like me who just want to get out and do things. As far as dancing, you'll find plenty of those kinds too. Some are great dancers and some feel like they are, and everyone has a good time. To me TV is a happy place whatever you choose to do.

We will be back for a week at the end of May, so I'll look for you at one of the squares!

I know what you are going through with decision
 

I am new to TOTV's but bought the first lot south of 466 some 5 years ago. I went through the decision process and was even told by a villages sales rep. that "you would probably find building a new home more to your liking, the average age and interests would be more like your own". Well, now that I have been here for sometime I can tell you that was certainly NOT true. I recently had some "younger" friends (48) from my old home town retire and move to El Santiago which they LOVE. I now have decided that the remark from the sales rep. was purely to push lot purchase. I am VERY happy with my location, Bonnybrook, it seems perfect. I rented for several months twice to try to get a feel for what I wanted, and made the decision to wait until they opened the then "new area to come" past 466. This may anger people on this forum but I do have three very good friends who all live in different villa areas and are disappointed (but certainly NOT UNHAPPY), that so many of their neighbors are only part time residents. One has a villa near the high school and is really disappointed that so many residents are one time renters who never really get to know neighbors well.

Please ! The reason WE are here is the "lifestyle" and the people "no matter where they live" are the same throughout the Villages - everyone is friendly and helpful! No matter which Village you chose there will be snowbirds; however at The Villages WE live our life to the fullest and you will be SO busy you won't even notice!!

Question please? We are still deciding on size, location, new or used house.
I have read many post here discussing that many people move two or three times with in TV. Is this why there are so many two BR patio villas for sale? Also wondering why there are so many houses for sale that are less than four years old in new areas. Are these people also moving to bigger houses too?
Thank you your answers may help us from having to move more than once.

Since we have been here some 9 months we have met maybe 6 or 8 couples who have bought a villa with the intention of living in TV part time and when they can sell their other house they then intend to maybe sell the villa and buy a Ranch or Designer house.

As for house resales what a 3 of our neighbors did was buy and move here. Once here they saw new construction and liked a particular lot so they bought again and sold the first house.

I am sure there are many other reasons but these are two that we have seen.

Moving to the Villages
 

[QUOTE=Patches;196248]Julie:

Hi, my husband and I are coming in May to buy a designer (we think) and we enjoy this blog - we have learned so much. Thanks to everyone who posts here for their honest opinions. I was very surprised to hear how much in demand things were 3 years ago. We have been watching since last September & the prices don't seem to change much compared to other parts of Florida. Even the golf communities close to TV are advertising great deals. Thanks again. Judy