Coming for a Visit
 

I know this is like beating a dead horse, and yes, I have read tons of info on the Villages. I will be coming down next week for a quick visit and then working a lifestyle visit in June.

There is no better feedback than having a ride along with a Villages Owner.

I know this may seem out of the ordinary, but would anyone be willing to show me around? Give me the full monty of the place. Especially the best places to buy.

We can meet in a public place and I will show you my license and credentials. I will even buy you lunch or dinner anywhere you want to go. Information that many of you have is invaluable and worth every penny for dinner/lunch. You can even bring your spouse or friend.

Sorry, if this is out of line for this forum, not my intention.

Jim

:popcorn::popcorn:

This is an excellent idea. Far better than driving around with agents who make a buck by selling.

We have been here almost 4 years now. We would be happy to give you a rundown on our take on the Villages. Show you some maps and point out highlights. We live in St Cats. so a southerners take on the place. We rarely go the northern part - only when we need something at BJs.

If you go out with 20 people you will get 20+ answers about the best place to buy, this is a very personal decision, and in my humble opinion no one can tell you what is 'the best place' to buy as they are NOT you. You would probably be better off scheduling the bus ride to the various areas and see what appeals to you. If you do this then you can do some investigation on your own and follow up during your lifestyle visit.

Nothing wrong with 20 opinions, but that's what they are. The bus ride is interesting, and a good idea. Spend a night at a square, listen to music and chit-chat your neighbors there works pretty well too.

Bolded and underlined so you know what I'm asking about:

You want someone to show you around - where, exactly? The Villages is over 60 square MILES of properties, medical, and retail. Are you looking exclusively for new construction, or is pre-owned a consideration? If it's new construction only, then you narrow down the location significantly.

If pre-owned is an option, you'd want to narrow it down even further, since most of The Villages is built and occupied already.

Go on Realtor.com or Redfin or Zillow.

Pick out 6-8 pre-owned homes, approximately in your price range, scattered throughout The Villages, north to south. You only want homes represented by MLS Brokers.

Go on the "The Villages Word of Mouth" Facebook Group and post a message about what you want to do.

You'll have 50 Brokers bugging you, to let them drive you around. MLS Brokers don't have a horse in the race ... they don't care where in The Villages you buy and most of them know the territory.

If you end up opting to buy "New", you'll be well prepared to deal with what you'll go through with a representative of the Developer's sales operation when the time comes.

If you haven't noticed yet, this Forum is full of highly opinionated people, who aren't afraid to present their opinions, like they were handed down from a mountaintop, on a stone tablet ... me included in that charaterization..

You will get biased opinions from one person. So do this yourself.

If you are looking in the southern ( new) are, be aware....the bonds are extremely high, the taxes are for Sumter Cty and the City of Wildwood, you are so far removed from EVERYTHING. If you look at the Daily Sun on a daily basis, you will see there are a LOT of houses in the newer section for sale already. You must ask yourself....WHY? There has GOT to be a reason. Think about it

One of the Village Youtubers may be interested in showing you around. They will jump.on the chance to get 50 thousand plus views.

That said the OP def would need a long list of tour hosts.
Not a bad tour up 441 or 301 seeing Leesburg or Wildwood. I guess it is reality because the southern most end is a long drive to BJ's and about what, 20 roundabouts away? Never counted them. Would be interesting number to know. A tour on the furthest tip of T V won't take very long.

2018 we discovered T V. Came a handfull of times and rented golf carts. Had a blast. Drove all over T V. People were so friendly. Good thing as we got lost many times. Had help using the app but people were the best. Took Trolley tour. Course back then they were still working toward Fenney.

Once I got a realtor they pushed the new areas. I figured out I needed a second realtor for pre owned areas (unless the new sales realtor is a willing to show pre-owned).

Different strokes for different folks. Decide what you WANT and NEED. I bought in DeLuna but decided I needed what it couldn't offer via golf cart.

466A area is twelve years old. They are still building it out. It will be many, many years before the southern tip has the type of shopping that is on 466A and north on 466 and 401. You can shop in Leesburg and Clermont but... I'd rather have golf cart excursions to the store via pretty mvp's.

If you are not a shopper, then a trip up 301 and 441 to B j's will do it for you. I moved further north from DeLuna for ease of shopping via golf cart and to care for my parents who live up near Lake Sumter Landing.

Enjoy exploring, enjoy the process and good luck finding your perfect house.

NO WAY — that’s what a realtor is for, and many live in TV.

That FB group is loaded with crap. Why a FB group? it's best to not. such a ridiculous idea. All FB is loaded with crap

Rent for a month and include a cart. I didn’t with my first house and I regret it.

Grand Tour
 

Part of the LifeStyle preview is an agent that will do just that, except you can rely on their information.
They will not pressure you
They have enough prospects that they will provide information and you can decide for yourself. We came down in 2012 for our LV and every year after (looking at homes) until we purchased in 2021. Call sales and set it up. You will be happy you did.

Important things:
* Price you are willing to pay for a house. Huge range in prices here.
* What medical insurance do you have?
* How close do you want to be to doctors and shopping.

Those are my big 3.

Good luck in your journey.

FYI - there are six different Facebook groups called Villages word-of-mouth.

So would you mind sharing your thoughts about Facebook (FB)?

Honest answer from "Southerner"
 

Haha....a sincere response!
Yes, you should explore all the way from Spanish Springs up North, down south of the FL turnpike. Covers 4 counties!

Visit The Villages 101 - The Villages 101 for good links to other deeper resources.

Honest answer from "Southerner"
 

Haha....a sincere response!
Yes, you should explore all the way from Spanish Springs up North, down south of the FL turnpike. Covers 4 counties!

Visit The Villages 101 - The Villages 101 for good links to other deeper resources.

TV is pretty vast, and your average Villager isn't going to know much more than the places they frequent. IMO, get hooked up with an agent (TV salesperson and non-TV real estate agent) and tell them you want to look at both new builds and resales. Be aware of insurance issues with older homes, and not just the roof and HVAC, but some older homes were built under a different building code, which I have heard can create insurance issues. Note that a TV salesperson is not generally a license real estate agent and can't show you MLS properties, and only TV salespeople can show you new builds in TV.

Ride Along Question
 

Hi

I sent you a PM regarding your request.

Saludos !!! 😎

The trolley tour is only down south now. Leaves from Brownwood and heads down to the newest areas. We see it often when out and about down here.

Anyone who has any knowledge, experience & understanding of FaceBook, knows exactly why that was my recommendation.

That's where all the Brokers who aren't busy, are hanging around, looking for potential clients.

No there isn't. There's exactly ONE. With 53,000 members.

I counted 8

True, only one of those 8 has 53k members. But the others have decent numbers too. 5k, 27k, & so on.

Follow Up
 

Thank you all for your responses. Just a handful of more questions I need to find answers. All comments are welcome.

I currently live in Maryland and will be retiring after 42+ years working in DC and the military. I play lots of golf, so this will play a major part of my decision. I am single (widower) and my current home is much too big but it is nice and quiet in the development. I wold like to have my Villages home be in a bit more quiet area, if there is an area.

I am sure that if I decide to buy into the Villages I will be much smarter in 5 years than I am now. So I am trying to cut that time down a bit. I am going into this a bit blind and, like most of you, it will be a life changer for me. At my age (63) I want (or would like) to make one move and not more if for some reason I do not like my new home. I know its a big spread, but someone asked how much house I am looking for... So around $500K -$1.5M

I understand that I will get a myriad of answers and those are ok with me. I can weed out the points that do not matter and focus on the points that carry a bit more weight.

Bonds: Are the bonds included in the house cost? I know they are listed as separate, but if a bond is paid off, will the house cost more due to the payoff? If there is a bond, would I be better off paying it? Can I include it in the mortgage to pay off?

I think I may rent first as an option if I don't find something next week or in June. Many folks recommend this approach.

With the Lifestyle visit, how long can I stay? What does it cost? Is it a house?

I apologize for the long-winded response. So if it puts you to sleep, you can thank me later for the nice nap.

Jim

Love to drive
 

I’m a retired architect living near the Brownwood Hotel who would be happy to drive you around. I have nothing to sell but a lot of knowledge to share.
ala2025@aol.com

I am trying to reply but the response will not go through

You should read today's NewsBreak about the temperatures in the Atlantic being now as high as normally in June. That HEATED WATER produces the strong hurricanes. That is important if you intend on living here year-around. Florida is virtually an island and the made the weather great 15 years ago. Now the weather is not great in the summer and getting worse. Florida home insurance is the highest in the nation. The bad parts about life here are hard to see and most residents here do NOT want to admit to things about the bad parts.

I've been hearing this for years. 4th home, yes down south, very reasonable bond, last house up north was more. Taxes are reasonable. For the near 14 yrs we've been here, the developer has lowered prices on neighborhoods they want to finish and move on. Our three homes all near Lake Sumter were bought at reduced prices. We are not removed from everything, it's all in the eyes of the beholder. We like new and prefer not to remodel older homes, to each their own.

Speaking of "Beating a Dead Horse"...

Based on my two years of owning in the Villages, I believe that it's possible that the opposite might be true!

Good luck in your search though. Definitely take the trolley tour though to start out.

The other 7 have different variations of the name.

The one with 53,000 members is likely to yield better results for the OP.

IMO, every buyer should come to Florida in September. Experience the wicked humidity and the stress of watching hurricanes form in the Gulf of Mexico. The persistent afternoon rain, the lightening and homes catching fire, the sweat running down your forehead, swimming pools that often no comfort because the water is warm, staying cooped up because you need AC, and the bugs. If you survive until the end of the month, Florida is right for you!

BTW: Florida is a peninsula not a virtual island. But yes, the summers seem to get WORSE as each year passes. When I first moved to this state in the eighties, the weather was not much of a concern. It was sunny and calm most of the year.

It is interesting that people do not want to talk about the bad parts of living in the Villages. Some even get angry when you do! Every place has its pros and cons. The Villages is no different. Yet, some become extremely offended when you point this out. I have never seen such reaction except in the Villages. Those who notice call it the Stepford Syndrome.

I would love to see you find a house in the north with a larger bond than one in the south. When you do, let us all know! We will stand corrected.

The developer lowered prices after the 2008 market crash. Homes EVERYWHERE in the USA lost value. It was not a Villages only scenario.

Is it different in Dabney? Are buyers simply not interested in that area? Or, is something bigger looming? Could it be real estate is softening and prices will continue to fall? We must wait and see.

Reality Visit
 

There is only 1 way to get a real feel of the Villages. Rent a golf car for a day. Plan on spending about 8 hours traveling on the ground thru the Villages. You can use the golf car app. for the Villages for directions. Start at the top, Spanish Springs and work your way south thru all the areas. Get a coffee and donut in the morning, stop somewhere for lunch, stop somewhere for dinner, attend a square for some music and a few drinks. You will get to see and know more about the areas.You can see where the shopping, golf courses, restaurants are in relation to areas.
DUE DILIGENCE IS PRICELESS!

[

Thank you all for the comments and replies. They are well accepted.

I just signed up for a lifestyle visit for the first part of June. They said I will be staying in the southern area of the Villages. I assume thats where the area of the new developments are located.

Thanks all..

BTW, I tried to reply with other comments but the forum never posted them. I will try again...

I would be happy to give you information, 18 years here, it’s a great place to retire
 

I would be happy to talk to you, I have lived here since 2005 & love it here, a great place to retire. I am from NC, where are you coming from? Mary ☘️