It's Getting Real - Just signed with a realtor
 

We've been planning to move to TV for over five years. Our kid is finally graduating high school and going off to college this year. Our plan had been to fix up the house this coming fall and winter, and put the house on the market in the spring of 2023. But with market conditions the way they are, and rising interest rates, we decided to bring a realtor in to have a chat.

Wow. The realtor was super excited about our house. They priced it about $100k over what we thought we'd get for it. And encouraged us not to do the upgrades we were planning. We even told the realtor the soonest we could move out of the house is July (kid needs to finish school) and they said that'd be no problem.

So we signed and will be listing it in a couple weeks! AIEEEEEE!

Of course, house prices in TV are also super high, so I don't know that we'll be able to get more house than we'd planned - and may still struggle to get into a Veranda like we really want. But we're now entering a time of manic cleaning & packing.

If things progress as they seem to be, we could be looking for a house in TV by the end of May!

See you all soon.

homes are selling quickly in TV, but there's always more coming on the market

Best of luck to you but pricing keep going up

New veranda homes are very limited, and sell very quick. If you are looking for a newly constructed home, you will have to deal with a Villages sales agent. But, you will have to be in a position to act quickly. If you don't have cash at the ready, perhaps get pre-approved for a short term bridge loan. You could also look into renting for the short term, and take your time finding what you want. Best of luck!

Houses are moving everywhere. We haven’t listed our home up north yet, and our agent has 3 families just waiting for a 5 bedroom.

In TV you need both a MLS and VLS rep. Rent while you are looking, sometimes you only have a few hours to make a decision

That's exciting. Good luck with your sale, and your purchase.

What part of the country are you exiting, and do you have a preference of areas in TV for your future home here?

We’d like a Veranda which puts us down south. We may need to settle for a Courtyard Villa which opens up the areas quite a bit. But we’ll try to avoid one of the older curved driveway models.

In this market, I don’t think we can be too choosey.

If there is one style of home that has a lot of selection available it's courtyard villas, they seem to be building them everywhere and prices vary from the mid 300's all the way up but there are a lot of them for sale. Patio villas are scarce.

Friends bought a courtyard villa then moved out nine months later. There just wasn't enough parking for his family when they visited.

Best of luck to you!! We just sold our R.I. home and immediately following closing on 4/29 will be making the long ride to TV. We secured a rental in TV for May and June and hopefully that will be sufficient time to be able to purchase a new smaller designer home or CYV. One POD has been packed and gone, and a 2nd smaller was delivered yesterday and packing it will be our project today. We have already arranged the shipping of our car as we are driving down in a rental van because that will be easier with our two cats that also have scheduled Vet checks this week so they will be updated on their shots.

We knew a year ago this was the time we were going to sell and move to TV as I wanted to be retired 1st which happened in September, so we did some updates to our home as well as packed and got rid of junk over the course of a year. I can't even imagine trying to do most of what we did over the course of a year in +/- one month, but I guess if there is a will there is a way.

Again, wish you the best with the sale of your home and move to TV.

Take the gamble now.
We did back in 2019. While you fear rising house prices we faced Foriegn Exchange rate fluctuation - we completed with the home costing us 20% MORE than we had bargained for.... Worse is that had our home been completed 3 months later we would have had the money for the pool as the FX rectified.

Do we regret this? NOPE the reason being is that even thought he FX returned to the original amount (meaning we had an effective 20% loss when we repatriate the money back to our home currency) - the prices have rocketed. Around 40%-50%... Don't get too excited though.... We have to pay Capital Gains tax in US and UK... so for the price rise, the fluctuating FX and taxes we will at best break even... The flip side though - and the point of this posting - if we had waited we could not afford to buy our home today....So whilst we have seen a rollercoaster ride the past 3 years we have a LTO to lok forward to.

Well that would put you south of 44 ….

How exciting for you!!! And asking $100,000 over what you thought is awesome!! We also love the Verandas....bought a Courtyard Villa a year ago, but may eventually upgrade. Good luck :)

Both verandas and CVs are nice. We initially wanted a veranda but bought a CV instead. Prefer the open space we have in our yard. Verandas are typically larger homes squeezed onto a small. That can certainly be a plus for some but not us. Veranda with a view would be the exception.

Consider renting first, unless you have spent considerable time here already. Lots to choose from and many variables to consider based on your interests and needs. The place is growing by the day. Good luck.

We have a Veranda for sale in Marsh Bend. PM me if you're insterested.

DO NOT limit your search to a new home. Look at the preowned homes too. Especially if you don't like long drives to shop or want to play golf. My two cents...

I was in the same position looking for a new Veranda and they were mostly out of my price range and few to choose. I then set my sights on the Winslow Courtyard Villa because it had many of the same features of the Veranda and there are many to choose from so I was able to actually get the flooring and cabinet colors I wanted.

FYI make sure you check the height of the garage in a courtyard villa. Some people say you can't get certain SUV's or trucks inside them.

Suggestion
 

[QUOTE=Lottoguy;2080080]FYI make sure you check the height of the garage in a courtyard villa. Some people say you can't get certain SUV's or trucks inside them.



Something you may want to consider also; using the HECM to purchase your new home. Using a 50/50 formula, if you buy a home for say $500,000, you only need to put down $250,000 and the Mortgage company (me) puts up the remaining $250,000. The good thing about this is #1, you never have to make a mortgage payment, and you buy twice the home you thought you could afford!!...It's a beautiful thing. Not to mention, let's say you were gonnna pay all cash...now, you can put the "other" $250,000 back in your bank!!

Email me if you'd like more info....bhancock@comcast.net

This a slick solicitation for a high commission notoriously high cost product and a financial disaster waiting to happen. Don't do it under any circumstances. What if you want or need to move or spend significant time elsewhere?

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[QUOTE=bhancock;2080091]what marabout town said=:BigApplause::BigApplause::BigApplause:
bhancock, go peddle your reverse mortgages somewhere else.

You could also look into renting for the short term, and do your due dillegence
 

Most of what you will encounter is a lot of smoke and mirrors which you can read up before you go on the talk of the villages wed site. What you have written about the villas is transparent

We have a 2 1/2 year old Hudson Veranda almost ready to sell. Expanded 3 car garage, enclosed lanai, professional landscaped corner lot with many extras.

He sure keeps busy selling his products that he keeps saying he is not selling.

Yes. And he uses the acronym HECM in lieu of calling a reverse mortgage a reverse mortgage as the term "reverse mortgage" has a negative connotation to most of us based on its spotty history and ongoing sales practices.

Perhaps HECM literally stands for Haven't Equity Can't Move!

Reverse Mortgage Scams — FBI

Seniors face foreclosure in retirement after failed reverse mortgage

Thank you, Skip Smith.
 

Looks like, once again, The Villages YouTube pioneer, Skip Smith, has paved the way to yet another new The Villages neighbor. NatureBoy, you are going to love it!

I have a nice villa for rent that will be open May 1st through Aug. 31st. (Great area, St James) You should consider a month or 2 of renting while you search for the home and area you want buy. (3302687899)

Given the market conditions, we need cash in hand before getting serious about potential offers in TV..

Sounds great but out of our price range.

If all goes according to our rough schedule, we expect to close on the sale at the end of May or beginning of June. So we are still a couple months from having cash in hand to make offers in TV.

We're not old enough! :a040:

(It's interesting. I've already received a few PMs from realtors and other business people in TV. I'm not faulting them for hustling to make a buck.)

Schedule of new sections opening?
 

Thanks for all the replies and well wishes.
(And I'm not grumpy about the solicitations for business. People gotta put food on the table.)

One thing I am interested in is finding a schedule of when the new construction sections are guesstimated to open. I'd hate to buy something in May when a new section opens in July. (And, yes, I know I can get a nicer house with landscaping done, etc. by buying used. And we may do that. But I want to be informed and have my options open (what few there are).)

There is no printed schedule...

Watch GoldWingNut's videos. He's usually dead on accurate with his predictions about what, where and when things are happening...

We’ve been watching his videos for years. I’ll have to rewatch some recent ones. I was hoping someone has a website or Google map with regions & dates.