Livin' on a prayer - just funnin'
 

Our house sold a week ago in Oregon for over $50K asking.....called our rep in TV and asked what the chances of buying there with a week or so notice and she said pretty good (I do trust this person and got preapproved by the bank).....we decided to head across country no home bought yet but hopeful this will all work out. Looking forward to being part of The Villages and the next great adventure!

Settlements are typically a month out from acceptance of an offer... So...

They are selling roughly 100 homes per week.

Renting is a good way to start.

Download The Villages App to watch what comes available. You do have to act fast if something you like comes on the market.

Safe journey and good luck!

Congrats and welcome. Keep looking and move fast if you see something you like. Not sure your price range or house size you want but there are a number of Villas in Chitty Chatty. Good luck.

I would rent for at least a month to determine location you want and to make sure this is the place for you

we were in the same boat as OP. just like kids, flying blind into a new adventure, we had no specific plans, just whatever we could fit in the car & $$ to buy. we used beth pope, she was wonderful in all her help, & only had to rent for 12 days before the villa was ready to move in. GOOD LUCK on your move & ENJOY the greatest adventure of a lifetime! you'll wonder why you waited so long, :coolsmiley:

Be prepared to wait 30 days... The issue for us was not financing or the property, it was the closers themselves. As someone mentioned earlier, the closing roughly 100 homes a week. We needed to try and move our close up a week and that was the only thing that kept us from being able to do it.

Best wishes!

I would suggest not being in a hurry to buy a home. Rent for a season, drive around, join groups, play golf, talk to people who have lived here a while. You'll learn something from everyone you meet.

There's no reason to be in a hurry. If you do buy a home in a hurry, don't be surprised if you end up wishing you would've looked around more.

Shop around
 

After you get over here shop around because there are many places outside the Villages!! The Villages are just a Landmark like, “turn left at the old oak tree”. Good Luck

Congrats & don’t rush into anything. Market is tight, yes, but both new & preowned are available. Beth & Todd Pope will do a good job for you but need to know what you like/need. Some areas are built on swamp & all that come with it, some areas have a lot of electrical wires or near highways. Do your due diligence. There are many threads on this subject.

Welcome & enjoy the journey!

The reason is prices go up up up

My neighbors did the same thing. They bought the first house they saw in August on line in The Villages. They took their time and looked around for a home they really wanted (which was right outside The Villages). A nice 40k profit in 6 months. The Village home closes this week to new buyers. Interesting market.

We sold our house in Oregon in May, with similar circumstances. We immediately started doing zoom calls with the realtor and as we were in route, we signed a contract for purchase. Realtor took care of everything virtually. Best thing we ever did. Love our new house and has a fabulous view of a lake and fenced yard (Veranda in village of Hawkins). Enjoy your trip, I know you are excited!

Our settlement date for a contract on new construction signed in mid-January was 5 weeks out and they just changed it to 6 weeks. You have almost zero choice in what the closing date is for new construction as the villages title company, Peninsula, chooses it for you. On a resale, you may have more ability to influence the date, but I know from the sale of another property up north this week that both title searches and appraisals are taking longer then in the past due to volume.

While you are right about there being many homes for sale outside The Villages—and for much less money—the owners there don’t have access to many of the activities that make The Villages worth the money. For example, playing musical instruments is a hobby of mine. I’ve been able to join a number of weekly jams available only to Villagers. I’m having a wonderful time with that. I have a friend who loves contract bridge and Mahjong. She plays at top games and sometimes twice a day. She has a choice of maybe a hundred clubs here. Figure out of you want to be in Florida merely to escape the winters or if you want a life filled with fun activities and new friends.

NOT a good idea, especially if you play golf. Outside the Villages residents CANNOT use any of the executive courses EVER and price to pay championship is higher. Can’t use any of the amenities either, like the rec centers or pools.

Hopefully, she showed you how close you were to the turnpike on that call. Welcome!

You might try the LifeStyle plan through The Villages for a couple of weeks while your looking, if any are available. I know they do have some people scheduled that have to back out which might open one for you. OR RENT. This place is too big to just come down and buy. You will find some areas are more age oriented meaning you might end up in an area where there are not many neighbors around your age which can be an issue. You might really be into something like Softball, yet the house you jumped at is 40 minutes from the ball fields. We rented a villa for 5 months and felt comfortable enough after 3 months to buy in the area that we felt met our needs. Close enough to a town square can be an issue. If you like visiting the entertainment at the Squares yet, it is a 40 minute golf cart ride, that will eventually bother you, especially on cold evenings. It makes the ride home a long one. My suggestion is RENT, check out what you like doing the best at TV and go from there. They say the average is now up to 4 times people move in The Villages. Don’t make this mistake by jumping in and buying cost you one of those 4 moves. But, no matter what, just know you have picked the best place to move to. This place is awesome.

It is a sellers market in TV and surrounding areas. Good luck. And I agree with many who have posted replies - rent first and do your do diligence.

Call Kathy Workman, Next Home Love Real Estate 352-482-8250. She has lived in FL for many years and lives in The Villages now. Very knowledgeable of homes in and out of The Villages. Give her a call before you choose a Realtor. She is very good and won't rush you into anything.

As an MLS realtor I’m Happy to help if your associate doesn’t work out 🤞🤞

I would recommend renting for at least 6 months because it is easy to get caught up in the "golly, gee whiz The Villages is wonderful" mentality. Also, interest rates may (?) go back down after the trucking and other supply issues go away. And economies and real estate values are cyclic, there could be a correction. Take your time and study the situation.

Villages are like a landmark
 

Why are you on this site?

Wisdom is more precious than pearls.
 

Before you buy do your due diligence. Go through the talk of the villages website and you will find transparency from people that are saying about living there, you would be negatively surprised and don't get taken by the smoke and mirrors remarks.

Yes, take your time and look around. Also you can check out several ideas from YouTube.
You're gonna love it here.
:clap2::clap2::welcome:

Thanks for the advice!
 

Appreciate all the advice and kind words.....we have looked all over the country for our final community and decided after visiting that TV will be the place. What village, we do not know and spend hours per day watching all the youtube vids from all the regulars.

We are not expecting Nirvana or Vahalla and our journey will be an evolution over the next few years....and...we are moving from Oregon near Portland so we already know wherever we choose will be a step up! Looking forward to it!

Enjoy your new adventure!
 

You should spend a little time deciding on what amenities you want to live close to before you decide on a village to find a home in. Lots of varieties of homes, but be wary of the brand new homes and villages. You have to start everything from scratch and the stores, restaurants, city centers (3), golfing, Country Clubs, swimming pools (adult only, or family), who might come to visit. The Newest areas will take a lot more time to build out a neighborhood and many may only be seasonal owners and gone most of the year. Hwy 441 has the most stores and chain restaurants you would like, Wildwood areas have easy access to I75 and the FL Turnpike (easy to Orlando, Disney, etc) We purchased a "pre-owned" home just S of Lake Sumter Center - close to the center of TV. Also, Lake Sumter has the ONLY movie theater open in our area, the other 2 have been closed here. :welcome: If you enjoy ticketed performance shows, there are 2 major performance centers but N of Hwy 466 and closer to Hwy 441. We had a fantastic Villages Realtor, we gave her our desires in pre-owned, furnished, decorated, colorful walls and in a few hours we walked into the house of our dream - perfect and we are still in it 14 years later. We were here on a one week stay and went out on our 3rd day to check houses. We did not plan to buy a FL house on the 1st week of our 1 mo vacation. My step-son owns a home he rents out. He will be down here for some time in April, but I believe his 2 bedroom furnished home would be for rent from May on. Maybe you would like to rent a set up house to check out all TV has to offer before buying. Most do not keep their furniture from Up North and decorate for more casual living - LOTS of great hardly used furniture stores to buy from too. You can always grab a storage unit to store your things down here and just take a little time to decide on a more permanent home. Feel free to Personal Message us if you have questions. Welcome!

once the dust settles, you'll love living in the bubble

Renting first is very wise.
 

Our agent told us many folks move THREE TIMES in the Villages! That's major expense each time. Very wise to rent and explore patiently. Then, move-in...just once.

We too spent a lot of time (years in fact) reviewing forums like TOTV, watching YouTube videos etc. We did the lifestyle, rented for a month, poured over maps of rec centers, golf courses, squares ,and discussed the pros and cons of different areas. We are well aware of the north vs south (of 44) debate. All the while housing prices and now interest rates are rising. There is something great about all the areas of The Villages. Finally decided to just take the plunge. Bought a new spec home last week and closing in mid Match. So excited. I decided stop the analysis paralysis. Took Nike’s advice to ‘just do it’. Bottom line: Definitely do some research to get familiar with TV, decide what’s important to you and then go for it. Good Luck!

I agree about renting. However, no way they are going to find a rental until at least April, maybe May.
However, your take on interest rates is wrong. In a year they will at least 1% higher, and I am guessing worse than that. Inflation has taken hold. Believe me, I am a supply chain manager, and every day is a new price increase - raw materials, labor, and transporation are all going up, and not slowing down. This is what happens when you increase the money supply by 40% in 18 months and keep sending people money for free.

We Dis It!
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIZUJZ8pPTM

Closing is on Marth 28th! Our new designer home! Amazing how this all worked out!
Looking forward to meeting The Village People! :)

:) Congratulations on your new CYV. :coolsmiley: