Villa advice needed
 

Coming soon and want to purchase a 3BR Courtyard Villa retiring FT Sept. and moving to TV. Heard CV for single person not best choice as neighborhoods mostly snowbirds and empty so less community feel and not as safe. Any thoughts if this is true?

If it was me, I would only buy a courtyard villa if it was my second home. If your going to live her year around then buy a house. That's my two cents. 12 Buying Tips For THE VILLAGES in FLORIDA - YouTube

Any special reason(s) you want a courtyard villa? Do you want new or pre-owned? Any certain part of the villages best for you?

I am doing pre owned near LSL. I want villa for the privacy walls I am a big outdoor person and sit, read, eat everything outside so the privacy with villa guaranteed. Plus rented my whole life apt so this is first home so dont want anything big since care all new to me

thanks for your thoughts. I will be first time home owner so wanted smaller place with little to no yard care and big outside person so like privacy walls. But like I said concerned about neighborhood being empty. I will be in areas close to LSL

I agree with you, get a home with a wall and then what does it matter if there are neighbors. You will meet people who will become your friends. Plus, buying within easy access to LSL will probably suit you very well, lots happening in that central location. You might think of privately contacting a great single lady here called chachacha, she is heavily involved with singles and will be able to steer you in the right direction. chachacha can be found on the list of members on the menu at the top of the TOTV lead page. Good luck and enjoy your well earned retirement :icon_wink:

Our villa neighborhood is about forty percent full time. Never felt the security issue regarding occupancy and we’ve been here five years. I too prefer the CYV, for privacy and ease of maintenance. Good luck.

Keep checking courtyard villas in Pennecamp, Altamont Villas. Lots of full-timers and very active neighborhood. Nice mix of singles and couples.

thanks Madelaine. I am social and plan on joining clubs, ultra beginner line dance, pickleball, go to pool etc and sure I will meet people and make new friends. My concern for the villas was not so much being friends with neighbors but concern was for the safety of having others around. Security wise

Despite what you might read online and in the local papers, TV is very secure. I spend several weeks at a time here on my own and never worry about anything. TV has a neighborhood watch group that drives past the house several times a day and night. If you leave for a few days you can tell them and they will pay extra attention to your property. It's all good !

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Many full time residents in my neighborhood so never a shortage of nice, friendly neighbors for me. The location is great - close to shopping, restaurants and Lake Sumter. Good luck in your search!

The Verandas are larger than the CYV’s, have a fenced yard for privacy. Not near LSL if you are walking, 20 minutes by Auto, Golf Cart won’t be available VOSO is connected.


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I know the area you are talking about. You will love it there. Very secure neighborhood and friendly people. If you plan on purchasing a golf cart, send me a private message, and I will hook you up with a sales rep. She is not like a used car salesman, she is honest and will treat you fairly. I would recommend keeping your cell phone # in the area code you come from. Cuts down on the amount of robo-calls from Florida. I have some other hints for you if you PM me.

Villas
 

RESPONSE Hi and we will try to help you here? OK the Villa has been fine for us, but then we do not plan to stay much longer. Most villas have, or many have, the small garage. Not good. Also, villas near Sumter Area etc., are priced higher, will be hard to sell due to price compared to those in the southern hemisphere of the Villages, they are much less, so we got the short end here.
Not to confuse you but that is something to think about. We see houses now in Bridgeport for 550 K, 700 K, it serms they were over 900K and up, three years ago. Lots of places for sale and for rent. We are shopping, so to speak. Will lose some real money here, so it seems.
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I'm single. Have spent many months here by myself in three different villages. Never had a worry about security risks & I've lived in big bad cities, including Oakland, CA. Now in a CV, but also lived in both a patio villa and a house. Good luck!

I respectfully disagree with you about ANYTHING being hard to sell here.

This is your opinion and I totally disagree. Several of the CYVs in our neighborhood were sold this year due to death or serious illness...nobody lost money. The houses sold quickly and for a nice profit and we are close to LSL. Unless you can pull property records and prove your statements it is just conjecture.

We live in a courtyard villa with one and a half garage. Bigger homes and bigger garages just collect more stuff you really don’t need. We lOVE the privacy and our neighborhood (mission Hills) is ALWAYS VERY ACTIVE. Don’t worry, be happy.

I can’t imagine who would have told you this. Not my experience.

Where I live is 20 minutes by auto to Brownwood. Takes 40 - 45 minutes by cart. Not exactly close.

Thank you all for your feedback I appreciate your time and info. Think I will stick with plan to get 3 BR CV near LSL as even though neighborhoods not full year round safety does not seem to be a problem. Now I just have to hope one comes on the market I have seen very few listings in this area for a three bedroom.

Hi Kitty: You are making a great move coming to The Villages. We purchased 9 years ago. At first we thought we were interested in a designer home and we viewed several in our quest for a home. Our realtor asked us if we would consider a courtyard villa but we did not know what they were like so he brought us to one. That was all it took. We looked at several villas and bought that same day. We purchased a large villa (1685 sq ft) on a large corner piece of property in a villa section that has 85 homes. NO GRASS in the whole villa development. It was the best move we could make. Our neighbors are wonderful and we do lots of things together. We have a monthly calendar for just our villa section showing dates for Shuffleboard, Bocce, Outdoor movie nights, our monthly social, ladies lunch, Bunco nights and game nights in different homes monthly and many more activities throughout the year. The privacy is the biggest plus. We have a hot tub out back under a pergola and really enjoy going in that day and night without having to be "peered at" by neighbors. The houses back to back thing was just not our style. Yes we have some snow birds. Typically mid November to April all 85 houses are full but between mid April and November about 30% of our Snowbirds go home. Several rent during the off time and we get to meet new people. To us Villa Sections grow tighter knit friendships than outside the villas. I will ALWAYS live in a Villa! Hope that helps.

sorry i am not familiar with end unit vs corner can you give more details?

Sorry not familiar with the difference in End villa vs corner villa can you provide more explanation. Just fear wont have much choice as on timeline and so rare a 3 BR CV comes on market in LSL area and not interested in renting first. Have visited enough know the LSL area is where I want

jgg7933 thanks for info what model villa do you have seems most I have seen are 1397 Bonita models I would like alittle bigger. Maybe you are outside LSL area? Yes cant wait to get to TV full time.

I can give you the name of our sales person (one of the best) who will do all the searching for you and let you know when comes on the market. It's a husband and wife team.

Any thoughts on a patio villa in Village of Piedmont Waverly Villas? Area, neighborhood etc? Thanks.

An end unit has two gates, very difficult to get. We managed to add a golf cart garage on ours.

As I read what you are looking for in a CYV. I would suggest you look for a corner lot with the lanai facing the east or north east. We had a corner lot with our CYV when we first moved here. More room and more privacy. And more room for our small dog. Just a thought.

We live in a villa neighborhood in DeSoto and majority of neighborhood is full time. Very secure feeling here with great neighbors.

Back when we were looking we wanted a 3 bedroom block built with a 2 car garage on a corner lot near LSL. When we finally saw one listed we put an offer on it sight unseen and never regretted it.

Wizard of Oz you mentioned a corner lot. I have not considered corner lots as I figured there be more yard maintenance in the bigger lot. Did you have grass or stone in the front and what did you have in the back grass, stone or concrete patio? If you had a lawn service do you mind sharing the cost monthly? I Am okay with stone in the front but love being outside so I don’t think a stone backyard will really work as you can’t really walk on it or anything. I would think concrete extended patio would be the least amount of maintenance and able to walk and be on it but I think that’s quite expensive to put in . Any thoughts on types of yard and cost of villa yard would be appreciated

I am a Realtor and also manage 100+ properties as rentals and SnowBirds and there is no relate to type of house and Occupancy. I do find that the Newer sections have more SnowBirds, I guess do to being a New purchase and not ready to be FT here.

We just moved into DeSoto. My recommendation would be to get a good realtor and developer sales agent. They can do the legwork and may have ideas you have not thought about. We decided to go south because of the cost compared to the places around LSL. If connectivity happens as planned then in a few years values should go up significantly. At least I hope. You will want a golf cart so a one car garage won’t work. Best of luck from a new resident.

Stayed in a courtyard villa during our 2007 lifestyle preview and loved it...but we later realized you never see your neighbors, even if all the homes are occupied! We ended up buying in 2012 in the historic section and we see our neighbors often. Most of them are FT and we absolutely love it here!

Marrieds are unfriendly to village singles no matter the neighborhoods. This is not true of all married people but is true of the majority. I attended neighborhood socials for a while but when I asked if I could sit at a table with couples I was often told "these are saved"....went from table to table at least six times. CVs are great, I think, because of the privacy (walls) and the lack of maintaining a grass lawn, though you can still go outdoors. You will have singles in your neighborhood, of course, and they may be folks with things in common with you (or they may not, in which case, most of your friends will probably be made in places such as special interest clubs). The "singles scene" in TV is often - not always- about finding a sex partner. There is also a "happy hour scene" in which groups of friends (most often either same sex or else groups of married couples) go to the dozens if not over one hundred happy hours in various bars around town. If a sex partner and happy hours are your main interests, you will have no problems. If not, it will take effort but you will find folks like yourself. For instance, there is a very active veterans scene here, with a strong charitable side, i.e., honor flights and helping disabled veterans. That's just one example. You will find a way to make friends with common interests. But...people are so "specialized" as they grow older and learn what they like …. only a small percent of people will have common interests with you and odds are against more than one or two of them being in your neighborhood.

I am single f and live in a CV. I have found the smaller closer community that a CV has is perfect for meeting and making friends. I highly recommend the nice mix of privacy in your backyard with the openness of a small group. Come to our area in Villa Valdosta!

Our villas are about 95% lived in year round. Once you meet your neighbors, you start to look out for each other. Villa people are unique. You will feel safe from day one. No regrets here. Phillip's Villas family member.