Starting to learn about The Villages
 

Hi Everyone.

I am a retiree and am considering moving to The Villages sometime prior 2030.

I am starting to educate myself about the geography and amenities there.

My hobbies are hiking, listening and dancing to live music, and attending theater.

So, I would like to find an area in The Villages that is both close to good hiking and also a town square. When I say 'hiking' I mean walking off pavement; that is, on wood boardwalk, decomposed granite, dirt, etc.

My impression is that a lot of the live music takes place on the town squares. Is that right?

The Sharon Rose Wiechens Preserve seems like the premium place for my hiking needs. I believe that it is in or adjacent to the neighborhood of LaBelle.

The nearest town squares to the Preserve appear to be Brownwood Paddock Square and Sumter Landing, which are about 4.5 and 6 miles from the Preserve respectively.

So, I was thinking that the neighborhood of LaBelle might best fit my needs.

Please educate me regarding any wrong assumptions that I am making .

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Sometime prior to 2030 you need to come on a lifestyle visit or rent for a month or more. This will give you a chance to form your OWN opinion of The Villages.
You can explore and see what would be acceptable to your future lifestyle.
Good Luck!

You need to come here for a good period of time and explore and explore. Lots of stuff here and more to come and what you like today might not be what you want down the road.

Rent for at least a month.

In 2030 you could have Disney as your neighbor. When we were Snowbirds, each year we came down there were drastic changes. In “07” SS was the hopping place, and LSL was empty storefronts. Brownwood is finally starting to fill in with retail. Middleton and Eastport is being built as I type (well voice to text).

Don’t listen to you need to be 5 minutes to your Doctors, unless you need to take up residence in their office. Groceries can take 5-10 minutes to get to, unless you are prefer more upscale organic shopping, then again Krogers does drop at your door. No travel involved.

Squares they are intriguing for the first 6 months, then you are so busy, where do you find the time to stop.

No worries if you don’t love your house, pick and move to different area, is very easy to do here. No attachment to homes, and sometimes just want to move to a different area, house, or neighbors. We bought 10 years before one semi retired. It’s done often here.

By the time you move close to the area you are considering homes will be over 15 years old. New models will emerge, and better options. Just remember what you love this year will change by 2030. You drive more than 10 minutes to shopping, groceries, and gasoline. We have traffic, and some just can’t get past that, not they would drive to that area, but it’s obvious it bothers some who find their village is better than any one else, and the rest shouldn’t exist

What others have said is exactly correct. You simply cannot learn about this place online. You need to come here and see things in person.

There is no place in TV suitable for hiking. There are several greenways within 30 miles that are.

I’ll echo other posters. Spend some time here, and not just a week “lifestyle” stay. Rent for some time—several months if possible, divided up among two or three villages you think might fit your needs. Talk to the neighbors, the people you’re paired up with on the golf course, folks at the squares. Attend a church or two if that is your thing. But get as Much firsthand experience as possible and then make up your own mind.

Agree that time here in The Villages is essential. You could start with a lifestyle visit. In general, the northern villages are more shady (and prettier) because of the mature trees. We love the north. Hiking at Lake Weir is 25 minutes drive for us. The Florida Greenway is 35 minutes. The Greenway is north of TV as is Lake Weir. Both are natural surface.

Many of us full time residents are likely to reply to you with similar thoughts:

. 2030 is so many years away that even residents here can only guess how many miles E-W, N-S, the Villages might be by then. 40 miles across ? 50 ? Four counties rather than the present three ?

. There are so many factors, keep in mind which county your villages is in will make a difference in choices (utility choices for gas, electricity, etc.), cable providers, land line phone companies, not to even get started on the property tax and retail tax structure you will live with depending on which county you choose to live in. Come counties like Sumter, have non profit electric companies. Our utilities, compared to when we lived in a Marion county village, is HUGE, on we have a larger home than we had in Marion county. Difference is for profit utility providers versus non-profit. You may not care at all, other things may be more important, but it all illustrates how impossible it is NOT to spend time here in order to know what you really want.

. Most know it is a very large place, yet they are still overcome the first time they realize it will take them 45 min. at least to drive from one side to the other. You will always be near squares with live music nightly, you will always be near hiking areas, bike trails, pools, etc. Also, once here you will find that Florida is such a paradise for hikers you'll want to get out of the "V's" some too. Many many wooden hiking trails along water areas, lots of wildlife to see, can't even begin to adequately describe.

. Finally, if there is any possible way financially, you can come and spend some serious time.... a month would be fantastic, but may not be possible for you... but the best would be to be able to come long enough to just live a "normal" life pattern, where you like to shop, which major highways would you rather be near ? Would you often use the Florida turnpike ? Or would you be visiting south Florida frequently, or going north on I-75 ? There is really no way to listen to others, only YOU can come, rent, see what will mean the most for YOUR life.

Pay attention to the advice people posted here ! There is no way you could come and rent for a week near Spanish Springs, and go home saying THAT's IT, that's where we want to be... by all the major department stores, by the major highway 441 (called Orange Blossom Trail), that's nearest the Atlantic side beaches. It's just way too large to even see all the areas in one week ! Maybe you'd find you like being closer to the west, Gulf, side and the beaches on that side ? Or you'd rather have easy access to the toll way ? I don't know how anyone could ever make those decisions without time to "live their own normal life routine" first. The mind boggling numbers of people who buy, only to sell when they find another area makes more sense for them... keeps the real estate agents doing very well here....LOL ! One tip we found, not wanting to appear to give the opinion one area or one villages is "better" than another, agents will tell you there is no difference. That is not true of course. Like in any area of the country that covers many counties, you have to do your own in person or on line research to get the tax mils, the retail taxes, compare the utilities you will have to use, etc.

Very true will add one more thing. Sales agent are in business to make money and will push in often very subtle ways to buy on a lifestyle visit.

You do not know what you do not know.

Nine years ago, a life style visit of five days was enough. We had a rental car and cart and went to every recreation center from one end to the other. Got a map and looked at everything inside and outside of the villages. A week to ten days may be more appropriate now because this place has grown. Seeing is believing but you can do a lot of prep before you arrive. A great deal of hiking outside the villages too. Good luck.

Preserve Not that Big
 

The preserve is not that big - you can see the entire walkway from the entrance - less than a mile in length. It is pavement and boardwalk. Nice place to walk but I wouldn’t call it a hike.

Hogeye Preserve in Marshview is similar but longer - approximately 3 miles but still not what I would call a hike.

South of 44 has plenty of paved pathways for walking - I can easily do a 10 mile walk from my house - again, not really a hike.

For true hiking, you need to leave TV. The Lake Apopka Loop Trail is 17 miles with a few spurs. Loose gravel, hard pack and some dirt make up the trail as it wanders through woods and along the lake. A decent hike but not much elevation change.

As another poster mentioned, the Florida Greenway has many miles of hiking and camping too.

2030??? wow, that's a long long time away. So much will change by then. Come now, do a lifestyle visit and get your bearings. Who knows what your health will be like then.

I agree. If Lake Weir is 25 minutes for you, then you probably live north of 466A, right? But if they buy a new house south of Florida’s Turnpike, Lake Weir will be more like 50 minutes to an hour, won’t it? They throw around a reference to “six miles” as if that were nothing, but that’s a good 20 minutes by car and twice that by golf cart. The homes south of the Turnpike are nice and new and a good place to make friends, but they really are sort of a different world, rather inconvenient. It may be that they are wanting a hiking place in The Villages because they want to get there by golf cart. But that may not be as romantic as it sounds. I used to drive from 466 and Morse to Aviary Rec Center down near Bradford for a club, and that took 30 minutes by car, and it would have been well over an hour by cart. This is all to say that they have their fantasies, and they read the brochures, but the reality will be different. Good, but different. I bought a great golf cart when I moved here, then realized I wasn’t going to be playing golf, and a cart was too slow and inconvenient and hot in the summer and cold in the winter for my life the way it was shaping up, so I sold it.

For all of our 4 lifestyles, here’s my number call if you want to look, we didn’t look at a house until the fourth visit. What our rep did do was put us in different style houses to get a feel for them.

We were dead set on a CYV, until the 3rd visit, the dogs barking, and hearing clear conversations from houses farther down, changed our minds by day 2. We also thought living by the polo grounds was a great place and changed our mind on that.

Fourth visit was the first time we looked at homes, he took us to 4 preowned in different areas, and one new village almost built, and new village just starting. Then again we aren’t the type of people to let others help us make up our minds.

Don't forget to educate yourself on the cost of the Bond payments for many newly developed areas. In older areas the Bond on the home may be paid off. However you may be looking at a new roof for an older home that your insurance company may not like. Lots to learn.

All of these long winded advice posts!!!
Sometimes I wonder if some of you have nothing better to do than craft these up for TOTV!
Just come down here for a Lifestyle Experience and/or rent for at least a month ...that will tell you everything you need to know.
Simple ....to the point....and done.
Have a great day!

Related FYI - newer homes built to current wind mitigation standards will have lower insurance rates.

RRead up on www.thevillages101.com
 

Lifestyle visits are highly recommended. Be sure to visit the web site www.thevillages101.com, mostly for new renters but lots of geography info as well.

Preview
 

The Villages lifestyle is all about driving a golf cart to most things you do hopefully in 15-20 minutes. So above hwy 44 or around hwy 466a or 466. Hiking is mentioned more down south without much in stores, golf, restaurants but there a trail on 44 by brownwood. I lived by Sharon Rose Wiechens Preserve see this pic that is all there is short walk

[IMG]https://www.**************.com/2017/02/09/sunrise-sharon-rose-wiechens-preserve-villages-3/[/IMG]

I am a retiree and am considering moving to The Villages sometime prior 2030.
My hobbies are hiking, listening and dancing to live music, and attending theater.
close to good hiking and also a town square. When I say 'hiking' I mean walking off pavement; that is, on wood boardwalk, decomposed granite, dirt, etc.


The Sharon Rose Wiechens Preserve seems like the premium place for my hiking needs.

Best you can do is to do Lifestyle visit or rent a home here. Unless you are planning to buy soon, I would not pay to much attention (other than basic knowledge) to recommendations when your target date is around 2030. A lot is going to change from now until then

The longer you can do a stay here, the more benefit you will get. It will allow you to REALLY explore first hand what you are looking for and the rest of The Villages.

I've seen so many who post here, who also over-think and plan. As so many others stated....why not take time to come and visit?? When you plan too much, you might be disappointed or frustrated. You're looking at 7-8 yrs from now?? A LOT can happen in that time and what you've planned will be twarted.

No hiking opportunities, houses will cost close to a million dollars by 2030, so property tax will be through the roof. If you are on Medicare, the Villages Health does not take it, you have to go outside the villages to find care. Friendliest hometown? Not so much; people can file complaints about your property anonymously and you never understand why someone was bothered by whatever it was. The Villages Properties will sell you property that is out of compliance, but you are expected to spend money to bring it back into compliance. People are rude, entitled, and believe they are privileged. You are charged for water or electricity you didn't use and there is nothing you can do.

Yes you need to rent for at keast a year before buying. If we had done that, I don't think we would have bought and moved here.

If it takes you more than 3-5 years to move here, any information you requested will be Obsolete. Growth is near outta control

There’s no way to assess the “vibe” of various areas without being in it. Nobody can be YOU in making these decisions.

Spend a few vacation weeks here. VH4R Home Rentals in The Villages Florida The Villages Rentals

Disregard the above post.
A million $, not!

Between now and your planned retirement, you've got plenty of time to come for a lifestyle visit but also a "tour on your own" visit. As I'm sure you are aware, there are many nice rental properties you can stay in. Renting a home here for your vacation is a great way to experience actually living here -- all the fun stuff to do, but the practical stuff as well--grocery shopping, traffic, navigating traffic circles, getting lost in your golf cart and so on. We visited at least three times before deciding that getting vacation/retirement home was what we wanted. And the first home we chose, once we lived in it for a vacation, was actually not the home we really wanted! So use the time you have pre-retirement as other posters have said to get your own feel for this place. And I think your gonna like what you find :)

With lot premium some houses new and preowned are already at a million and up. If you were sited for a compliance issue, you went against deed restrictions, that you signed at closing. Unless you lived as a hermit prior to TV there has always been rude, entitled, and privileged people.

Have you investigated your water and electricity issues, sounds odd, but depends on where you live.

I recommend renting for a year. So many of the things I thought I would enjoy are not the things I do enjoy here. I found different things to enjoy, of course. My regrets: I enjoy travel and Orlando airport to North Villages is quite a slog not to mention expensive (or a slow or crowded shuttle). I liked "art film" but they closed the North Villages theater, and it will never re-open. I thought I would enjoy the squares, but I found them hot, weatherwise, most of the year, and I can hear good recorded music. I like volunteer work but the main volunteer luncheon for the group I like is in the far south villages. - - So, rent for a year, find the special things you like. Commuting here is unpleasant due to very slow speed limits, avoiding problem drivers and lots of traffic circles. I don't like 15 minute drives, let along the common 30 minute drives in these conditions.

watch the jerry and linda video on youtube

By 2030, The Villages thumbprint will change tremendously! That’s a lifetime away for retired folks, who may or may not still be here. I agree! Check this place out as soon as you can. Even for a week at a time.. do it frequently before you plan the move.

Keep an eye on new construction near Eastport. If you get in there early and don't like it, you will be able to easily sell and make a profit.

The current wind mitigation standards include homes that were built from 3/01/2002 to the present. New roofs on older homes are required by insurance companies because roofs deteriorate over time. Knowing this, most resales have newly replaced roofs. No one wants to see their home sit on the market because a buyer cannot get insurance.

You have to pay realtor commission and closing costs when you sell your home. Those fees can add up. An easy sell is up for debate. Most homes on the market today are sitting and are not selling at the higher prices demanded by the post-Covid craze. Companies are demanding workers return to the office, interest rates are high, people are choosing to rent because it is cheaper than buying, inflation is high, and there is an overabundance of short term rentals. If you purchase a home with the intent of flipping it quickly, you may find it is not as easy as it once was.

The best hiking is down South and living near Wiechens would give you access to a nice boardwalk as well as Hogeye (wonderful 2.5 mile path) as well as at least 4 more very nice hiking areas in the newer areas. Okahumpka Recreation Center has a beautiful 1/2 mile trail and soon the boardwalk will be open. Although I live on the North end, I belong to the birding groups and often am down South. The VIllages also just built a new "soft" walking trail at Lake Miona that is 2/3 of a mile one way. I heard they are building a new town square down South but don't know when it will open. Brownwood Square is closest to Wiechens and the area you are looking at and Lake Sumter is not that far away. And yes, they have music 7 nights a week.There are a number of neighborhoods that might fit your needs including La Belle. There are other things to consider also. An example; we are dog people. We would never consider living near one of the ponds or a large natural area. Unfortunately, there have, on occasion, been dogs killed by alligators. We also have other wildlife. Another thing to consider is will you want to drive your car or do you want to use a golf cart? I go to a number of the recreation centers/hiking trails and because I live up North, I drive my car. Just about everything is accessible by golf cart if you don't mind the extra time it takes. So I agree, spending some time here is the best way to move forward. I will say, there is no perfect place but I really enjoy living in The Villages. With over 2000 clubs (including hiking clubs), there are a lot of things to explore. Clubs are listed in an insert on the Thursday paper.

Hope you can afford it by 2030, Florida is probably the most wanted state to move to, hope there’s some land left. If I were you I would buy some property in TV now & even if you don’t decide now to build you’ll make money on it if TV let you buy it now or let you buy land without building now. I take it you’re not old enough now!

For a house with more than 1156 square feet? By 2030? Yep close to a million. If you doubt me hang around until then and try to buy a house with1600+ sf with a golf cart garage, stucco.... mark my words. Oh yes, the bond payment, the fire assessment...dint forget that.

If that happens, people will evacuate Florida just like those in California, New York, Chicago, etc are doing now. And, who wants tented homeless areas?