Permanent or Part Time
 

I too am on the 2-3 year plan.

I see many people buying houses now - some new, some resale. I would like to get some opinions to see if those that are buying now (or recently) plan to live in TV permanetly as soon as the house is built or sale closed, or if you plan to have this house and be a "snow bird".

That is what my struggle is - not sure I'm willing to give up my home "up north" yet.

Karen

Buying in TV
 

Hi Karen,
It all depends on your finances, comfort level, etc...We couldnt afford to keep our home up North and personally just saying what I feel....I dont think I would be comfortable owning up North and here, I'd worry about the house in the different states......

Why don't you wait and see how you feel after you close--if you can keep your house up north, that is.

We intended to be snowbirds when we arrived here in Feb of 2012. Summers in MI and 8 months down here. More and more, we don't want to leave here. We've just rally settled in. We will put our place in MI up for sale this summer.

Your feelings can change. It's nice if you can keep two places for a bit before making a decision.

I see you lived in Pittsburgh - that is where I am (well in the suburbs). This is where my family is too
Karen

I still have to research to see how to add more info to my signature

We moved here recently. We are here fulltime and the family is still in Western PA. It was 75 here today and 37 in PA. It was an easy decision.

Yes, we were born and raised there, Point Breeze, Edgewood, Churchill, and that will always be home to me. Nobody understands how hard it is to leave that city. We had to leave for a Westinghouse transfer. Part of our plan when we sell the condo in MI is to rent the apartment we had on the Allegheny River across from downtown for a month each summer. It is in a complex that has a lot of corporate rentals available for 3 days to 6 months, and they are dog friendly.

What suburb are you in? We still have family and friends there too.

klc1923 - we bought here knowing that we will never be permanent residents and that it is okay to be a snowbird! with that in mind, we arrange to have our properties watched by trusted professionals. here in the villages there are very good property managers and home watch businesses who can relieve you of much worry when you are not here. they provide periodic reports to you and are quick to notify you of a problem - if not resolve it for you before you even find out there was a problem. their services provide peace of mind at a reasonable expense.

We purchased a newly built Designer Home in TV and close tomorrow. Our initial intention is to retain our Massachusetts home for summer use, we live near the ocean and have easy access to some glorious beaches. That will satisfy our beach desire. During Fall and Winter our plan is to live in the new TV home with an ultimate goal of hopefully living year round in FL.

We have made arrangements with Empty Nest to monitor our TV home and have a reliable neighbor watch our Massachusetts home. Also installed a natural gas fired generator and security systems monitors interior temperature so we will have some peace of mind if Massachusetts home suffers winter power outages.

So time will tell how this all works out.

if you can afford two homes and sleep at night then go for it we took money out of our income every month for two years that would equal to what the house would cost in tv....when we were comfortable with that we bought...and if you need to rent to pay all the bills you need to rethink, after all things change and its not worth sitting up every nite hoping you are rented

I purchased and built here, thinking I would "winter for 6 or 7 months" and head back to the Chgo area for summer. I find I have no real desire to be a homeowner up north after my first winter here enjoying all the wonderful amenities TV has to offer. So I plan now to list my home in Chicago, travel a bit thru the summer months and "come home" to The Villages. Some will never think of this as their home, some will spend half their time here and half somewhere else, and some less than that! But in the grand scheme of things, each will make the decision which suits them best! There is no right or wrong and you will at some point decide what is right for you:spoken:

Assume you can afford to keep both homes.
If you have someone to take care of your Northern home than I could see keeping it for a year or two. If you have to hire someone to keep it up then I would lean toward selling. You would also have to hire someone to maintain your TV home while you are gone but I think that would be easier to do in TV than where you live.
I can see buying in TV, moving and then selling your house as an easier way to go than selling and then buying in TV.

We are in Robinson - out by the airport

Karen

We are also seasonal residents. Although I understand it's lovely in TV in the summer with no crowds, we prefer to spend summers where it is cooler and we can catch up with old friends.

As Bchbum said, it's good to have properties watched by professionals. We have Homewatch companies in both locations that we trust, and utilities are negligible in an unoccupied home. When the time comes, your heart will tell you what decision to make.

Ditto!

Bill :)

We just closed in March on a Designer in Gilchrist expecting to do the same thing as you. Where in Mass are you? Only additional problem we have is we have a 300 foot curved drive so winters are really a problem... Our plan is to be snowbirds for the next few years to get the feel of it and have a great Home Watch person for our home in TV.

once I get closer I will be opening a thread "any recommendations for a Home watch company in TV"

Who do you use for homewatch in TV. We will stay on the Chesapeake Bay for 6 months a year. We will need someone starting the middle of May.

There are many good companies that do home watch. I think they all charge around $40 per month for a weekly visit. They check security, take in mail, run the dishwasher, flush toilets, and they email us if there are any problems, e.g., lawn not being watered enough, ants inside the house, etc. Our company occasionally drives our golf cart around the block. If we leave in a rush and forget to turn on fans or unplug appliances, they will make sure everything on their checklist has been done.

We personally have used Village Watchdogs since 2007, 352-430-3618. We like the fact that there is more than one family involved.

This may be a good thread to keep going for all us 'Snowbirds" Although we are not frowned on by the FROGS since we all own, we do have a unique set of circumstances. Lets stay in touch and who knows when we get there in Jan (we arrive on the 3rd) we could have our own get-together!!.. FYI we use the Villlage Sitter and are very pleased. Will provide information if interested.

Yes, Seasonal Residents do have some unique situations. Let's stay in touch!

Most of us FROGS were very recently snowbirds and many of us found that leaving here to go there became harder all of the time.

You will know if and when you will change...if at all.

As you can read on this forum, there are many who seem so terribly unhappy here. I am guessing they are staying because of a spouse loving it or because to move back just seems so overwhelming.

I hate to see their unhappiness, so think and think again.

We are in a similar situation. We are sure that we want to get out of the cold in the winter. At this time we are not intending to relocate permanently to FL for several reasons. But we could change our minds in the future.

I am almost positive that we will not buy a second home in another state. Many reasons.

We will rent during winter season for a few years and see what happens.

Personally, I would not buy a home (much less a second home) unless I was really sure about my decision. I definitely would not buy because of speculation about future home prices. Price speculation would be way down on my list of motivations.

I actually have been frowned on by a frog, mainly in a very crowded exercise class I attend. Someone told me, "When you snowbirds get out, we actually have a nice, quiet summer around here." The attitude on her part was that we were clogging up their lives. I guess she forgot abut the part that we're property owners who pay taxes and amentity fees all year but don't "clog" up her classes in the summer.

I just ignored it. Someone on here said, You can't fix stupid. I think sometimes you can't fix rude, either.

Part time for 2 more yrs and then snowbirds until we decide to move there full time.