What made you choose the village you live in?
 

There are so many CHOICES! What influenced your decision on where to buy/build?

Alanna

What do you want to be close to (or far away from)? How important is it to be close to one of the squares (or not), grocery stores, restaurants, a rec center, and so on.

If you're buying a resale home, we based part of our decision on the age of the house we wanted to have. That alone will point you to certain areas. Also with resales: Do you want natural gas service or not? Some will have it, some won't.

Bill :)

We chose Hadley because we heard that Graciegirl was in Hadley. Once we bought though we must have scared her away since she sold and moved to another Village!

Seriously, we didn't really care what village we were in or where it was located. We just wanted to find a home that would satisfy our likes and preferences and today we're 100% satisfied except for not having a golf cart garage.

We started looking all the way up in Chatham, worked our way down and wound up purchasing all the way in the south-east corner of TV. At the time that was as far away from where we started, Chatham as we could possibly go.

Are the villages different? I mean, do they have a theme or something?

No, all villages basically the same, just think of them as "large neighborhoods". South of 466 most every village has a pool with horseshoes, boccee (?) shuffle board.
When we where looking we wanted something out of concrete, and to down-size from what we had. So we looked primarily at villas. Also like the privacy of actually having yard area with a fence since fences are not allowed in TV.
We bought a CYV and LOVE IT! Yes, it took some getting use to the smaller size but you are so busy in TV that a bed, small kitchen and bath is really all you need! All of our firends own homes and wish they had bought a CYV.

Army Guy

Thanks! Good to know. We are just discovering The Villages. What's a CYV?

It is a great place! CYV = Court Yard Villa

Army Guy

Thanks! We have been hearing a lot about it from some friend of ours who are moving there! In fact, that's ALL they talk about!

Don, Go on :The Villages - Florida's Friendliest Retirement Hometown - New Home Sales, Home Resales, Build Your Dream Home and look at both the new homes and preowned homes and you can see photos of what manufactured hoems, courtyard villas, patio villas, ranch homes, designer homes and premier homes look like. Large price range from less than $100K to $800K+

Well, I'll bet I can guess who that is!! It wouldn't be the most excited person to be building at TV EVER, could it? :cool smiley: I hope I get a chance to meet her someday. Her excitement is surely contagious and I just love being around people who have such positive energy!

Ed and Beth Sterling. Do you know them? They are moving down next week! It's all they talk about! They told us to come on this site and thevillages.com.

I've been looking at the "pre-owned" homes and the new homes on thevillages.com. Nice homes, but many of the homes in Florida are a lot less expensive with more options. I'm not sure I get it. I don't mean to be rude. I'm just trying to figure this out.

I assumed you were talking about this person, but I think her name is Kathy. How big is Queensbury, anyway?

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...-update-48693/

I lived in a manufactured doublewide on the east side of 441 for about 5 years. Then one morning, while reading my newspaper, I noticed a patio villa in the classified section. I wasn't looking for a house but it caught my attention. I had never seen the inside of one and was curious. But I didn't want to bother the occupants just because I was courious. Well, I thought, I'll just call and ask some questions. I ended up on the phone with the owner for about a half hour.

The owner was so friendly that I couldn't resist going to look at it. It was less than a year old and in a great location behind the Villages High school. This was before the Villages library was built and before Walmart.

So here's what happened: After about 10 minutes looking at the house, I gave the owner a deposit. There was no realtor involved. I bought the house and have been living in it since 2005.

:)

One of the great selling features of TV (at least for me as a wannabee) is the huge variety of clubs, social activities and volunteer opportunties that are available. Also from what I have heard, TV for the most part is a safe area (also important to me as a single female). I walked through the squares at LSL and SS at 9:00 pm and later last year several times and never felt unsafe, although I always keep aware of my surroundings. I'm sure TV residents will post more feedback.

We are bout 65 square miles with a population of about 35,000 people. It's beautiful here.

No I don't know Kathy (Happinow). I know of her and her husband. They own CSA Coin and Jewelery on Glen Street. I've never met them but have heard of them.

My friends are moving to The Villages next month to a village they call Brownwood or something. They had a house built there. I don't remember but the model was the name of a flower.

That's what my friends are saying.

That's a great story. So, you didn't care which village it was in. It was the right place at the right time!

Sometimes folks assume you are more familiar with The Villages (TV) than you may be. If you are comparing TV to other retirement communities, you may be right about home prices. One thing you have to consider at TV is it is larger than any other. When you factor in the two, soon to be three, town squares with free nightly music and dancing, plus the shops, restaurants, bowling alleys, movie houses, professional services, doctors, banks and much more can be reached in your golf cart, well no other place compares. Being a Community Development District (CDD) there are some additional expenses you don't have in a regular city or town, but we learned all about that several years ago and it is all doable on our modest budget.

Add to that the unbelievable number of social clubs and activity groups, you won't find another place like TV. It is all about staying active and enjoy as many of our remaining years as the Lord will grant us. No other place has 10 championship (27-hole) golf courses and over 30 executive (par-3) courses to choose from. The person in the lowest priced manufactured home has the same privileges and access as the person with a million-dollar home.

It is a lifestyle change, not just another retirement community. A chance to do the things we all wish we could have done when we were younger. For example, my DW (darling wife) always wanted to be a chorus line dancer (when she was younger). Once we get moved, she'll have a chance to make that dream come true.

THAT, new friend, is why 80,000+ folks call TV home, and another 30,000 of us "gonnabees, wannabees" want to join them!

As many have stated on this forum, it is "lower paradise" (implying it is the greatest place this side of heaven)!! Is it perfect, maybe not, but neither am I and once some friends told us about TV and we saw it in person in 2005, we stopped looking at any other location. It is the place for us - - hands down!!

Hope this helped a little.:) Also, I'm one of those, like Ed and Beth, you can't shut up about TV. I'm been accused of being an undercover marketing representative for them!! The best advertising is word of mouth, and after 7 visits, we are "big mouths" about TV!!!!:MOJE_whot::MOJE_whot:

HEY. . WAIT, I forgot to mention the Broadway caliber shows at the Savannah Center, their own hospital, TV station, radio station and newspaper.

OH HECK. . .then there is the solfball complex and polo grounds! Whew, let me catch my breath. The new assisted living complex and Hospice facility just means that when I can't golf any more she can take me to the assisted living facility in our golf cart!! :coolsmiley:

I'M THROUGH! MY LIPS ARE SEALED (for now)! :icon_wink: :clap2:

Our friends tell us we just need to come down and see it to believe it! You sound like them. Hard to believe anything that "perfect".

Thanks! It's nice to hear this from someone other then just one couple!

We wanted new to get exactly what we want and to be in a newer area and chose The Village of Fernandina.
They found us a staggered lot large enough for a pool and a 3 car garage that we wanted.

You do have to see it in person. When you drive all throughout TV and see a place as well maintained and as beautiful as Disneyworld, you just have to admire the unbelievable vision that Mr. Schwartz had 40 years ago when it all started as a trailer park. Their social activities were only on Saturday, and that was under a tent! An look at it now! Truly remarkable.

Give it a try. Also, as you are learning, this forum is an invaluable source for making friends and gathering information that would take you years to find out on your own!

Just dumb luck brought us to LaZamora
 

We had considered the condos (no maintenance) that surround Spanish Springs but as luck would have it, I noticed a home for sale online and the rest they say "Is History"......Love love love our neighbors and the beautiful trees...

When I made my first trip to The Villages in July 2000, they were building CYV's in Santiago. Two months later the sales person I had met called and said they had one lot left and were offering one million dollars in incentives, either 5% in upgrades to your house or 5% in furniture from Southern Lifestyles. I took the upgrades, but some of my neighbors were able to furnish their entire homes with this deal.

This was back in the day when everyone got to design their own home, from patio villas to premiers. Also back in the day when everyone visiting The Villages got picked up at the airport in a big white limousine with a fully stocked bar and two free nights in the villas at Spanish Springs.

This was when Harold Schwartz was still alive, and he and his son, Gary Morse were extremely customer service oriented.

That area just above 466, off Morse Blvd, is pretty. We are thinking courtyard villa, because we are bringing a yorkie, and like the fenced backyard. I like villages off Morse, because my favorite golf courses are along there, i.e. Hacienda, Tierra del Sol, Mallory and Havana. I understand it is easier to get to the new course Bonifay off Morse, than Buena Vista. Haven't been down in a year, so I'm going on what a friend told me.

Being social creatures, and loving to dance, I'm thinking we don't want to be too far from a town square. A 30 minute plus cart ride at 9PM doesn't exactly excite me.

We once rented near Lopez course, and that is a long ride from Spanish Springs in a golf cart. Would never venture to Lake Sumter from that far North.

Chose Hemingway. Wanted to be near family in Hadley without being "in their pocket."

Chose Laurel Valley because it and Pennecamp were the only places available to build the Seabrook model we liked.

I really like it here because we are convenient to many places and especially LSL living off 466. I still love Havana Trail and Hadley.

Hi everyone!

This is our first foray into TOTV! We've been reading TOTV for a couple of months now and have enjoyed the many conversations. We first visited TV in July 2011 as part of a short "tour" of 55-plus communities. (We honestly thought we wouldn't like TV because of its size. We were wrong.)

We returned in November for a 4-day Lifestyle Preview visit and completely fell in love with the surroundings, sense of community, and friendly people.

Now we're figuring out how to accomplish the next step: buying in TV! We are leaning toward buying a lot and building, although if we find that "perfect" house we might go that route.

A new unit has opened up in Fernadina. We would like to see those properties, plus the Sanibel and Charlotte villages, in person. We are planning to come down for another week, and would appreciate any suggestions, ideas, thoughts, experiences, etc., from the collective wisdom of TOTV.

bought where building new was going on
 

but would have considered resale also; however, at the time (2006) the Florida buyer boom was almost at its height. Resales were quite a bit more expensive than new. Had to get on the waiting list for a 3 BR CYV, took about 2 weeks, then 4 hours to take it or leave it. Know people who only had 2 hours.

Those wannabes or mightbes are correct in that homes are more expensive here than other parts of Fla., and some places don't have a bond (infrastructure cost is built into the home price, like most places up North).

But - and this is a big BUT - you aren't nickel and dimed to death to join activities and golf - unless you play a lot of championship courses. The current amenity fee is about $139 - for almost everyone (OK, a few from the historic side may be grandfathered in), no matter the value of your home.

Can't tell you how many people I've met who moved here from other parts of Florida, many from other retirement communities, who have told me they could not afford to do all of the things where they used to live that they do here. Or have the expansive choices.

For instance, if you golf, belong to an art league and want to go to zumba classes, you might have to pay country club fees, an art assoc. fee, and a gym fee plus class charges. Plus you'd probably have to drive to some of these thru heavy traffic in season. Plus homeowner insurance is cheaper than on the coast, and probably auto insurance too (but I'm not sure). For sure, we spend less on gas for our car and minimal wear and tear because we drive our golf carts most of the time. And - when we get older and really don't want to drive much in traffic, we will still be driving our golf carts here (I know, I know, but let's not go there right now).

PanG, Welcome to TOTV! Read and post questions and you will learn so much about moving to and living in The Villages from the wise people who post here. :welcome:

We based our decision on the following:

We wanted a pre-owned house because we think you get more for your money that way. We wanted something built in the last five years because we didn't want to have to worry about replacing roofs or furnaces or air conditioners. We wanted to live mid-town with easy acces to both Town Centers.

We wanted to be minutes away from the following by Golf Cart:

Library
Publix
Fresh Market
Urgent Care
Vet
WalMart
Bealls
Perkins
Crispers
MacDonalds Golden Arches
Bob Evans
Olive Garden
Bonefish Grill
Red Lobster
and many other restaurants and stores

We wanted to be within 10 minutes of the dog park called Doggie Doo Run Run, because we take our dogs there for an off-leash run every day.

So we live in Belvedere Village, just south of CR 466 and The Villages Charters School. We are very close to Southern Trace, Buffalo Ridge, etc.
For us it is the perfect location. As a matter of fact we sold our CYV in Belvedere Village and bought a Designer in Belvedere. That is how much we like it!

It's not only a home you are purchasing in TV, it's a lifestyle. There aren't any other retirement communities like TV so it is very hard to compare this lifestyle to others.

That is perfect, thank you and exactly the kind of answer I'm looking for. Hmmm.....since I have now turned into a "crazy dog lady", perhaps we too need to be near Doggie Doo Run Run!

We have decided that we are going to dump our 3 kids and make a day trip to TV next month on the 16th to lay our eyes on it. I simply canNOT wait until October! We'll take a trolley tour and maybe make a reservation for a LSV for a few days before we take possession of our rental on the 1st of October.

Hanging out on these boards is probably not good for me. I'm ready to sell the two properties we own here and buy something at TV sight unseen!! Someone needs to tell me, "Hey, slow down girl"!!!

I really appreciate everyone's input and hope you'll keep it coming. I'm very interested to know how people decided on the homes/locations they are in when there are just so many choices.

On to more dreaming....... :MOJE_whot:

Your all wrong, my Villages is best. :a040:

I think that if you look around you, and see what it takes to maintain this place and look how it is kept and the flowers changed out every six weeks, and the remarkable HEAVY folding chairs in all of the rec centers and the design and furnishings of all of the rec centers, and the dozens of beautiful clean sparkling pools with painted every year common areas and beautiful shade coverings to the shuffleboard courts and the picnic areas at the neighborhood rec centers, and the pools for family and the pools for adults over thirty, and the pristine CLEANLINESS, no trash along the roadside or trash anywhere in the neighborhoods and the immediate response given by the warranty department, and the beautiful downtown areas, and the music available at the squares nightly and at the church on the square and at the Savannah center and the stages with curtains at all of the regional rec centers and the mail drops with air conditioning so our prescriptions don't get hot, and the EMS running all of the time to the folks who have fallen or become ill and the big hospital and the attempts to improve health care by the invited USF and the gorgeous landscaping, expensive landscaping right now everywhere getting new pine straw and the..

I think they are still plenty "customer service oriented". Thank you Harold's descendents. I would like to hug all of you. The apple never falls too far from the tree.:bigbow:

We bought the turnkey CYV that we rented
 

as it was centrally located and will about center from all 3 town squares. We can get to SS and LSL by golf cart. I take the car north of 466 on the Buena Vista end as I haven't yet learned the tunnel connection through Laurel Manor. But I do go to Southern Trace by golf cart through Belvedere. The only other reason I use the car is if I have to cross 441. Except of course, if I don't leave enough time!

We are in Poinciana and because we bought a turnkey that was fully furnished with everything I needed and liked, it was a no brainer, even though we had no intention of buying when we rented! Must have drunk the Kool-Aid as soon as we landed. I'm sure you will love TV as much as we do. They seem to have thought of everything to make retirement a permanent vacation.


LW888

High Five....oh yes!
 

Give me 5 for that one! You said it all, Gracie. :highfive:

Re: The Villages being more expensive than other parts of FL is not totally true.
We thought so at first too. Then we priced it out.

Selling our 3,213sf home with 3.5 baths, 3 car garage in Baldwin Park, Orlando and purchasing 3,200sf, 3 bath, 3 car garage with 2' bumpout, pool, cage and summer kitchen for the same $$ in TV.

Now to me thats a deal.

We bought our first CYV sight unseen! And we never regretted it for a second. We wanted a newish Villa south of CR 466 and backing on a golf course. So when one came up, we grabbed it for $20,000 less than list price. My husband came home from work (in Canada), and I told him "We just bought a Villa in TV." You go girl!

we really didn't choose the village we live in .our representative showed us so many lots & so many houses in 2 days that we had no idea where we were .we found a lot that backed up to a horse farm with lots of old oaks and fell in love with the idea of no houses behind us! haven't regretted a thing!

What made me choose the village I live in? My neighbors promised me a rose garden:a040: