Thinking of Retiring to The Villages
 

Hello,

We have heard so much positive talk about The Villages that we want to come and take a look. We are from New York, fairly young, I am 43, my husband is 54. Hoping to retire in one year. We will be taking a cruise out of Tampa on January 27th and would like to spend some time, a week more or less, in The Villages prior to the cruise. We have so many questions and would like to meet Villagers and get the scoop. Feel free to PM us with any information if you want it confidential :)

- Are there any negatives to The Villages? All we have seen are glowing reviews.
- What is the best way to find a place to stay for one week?
- What are the best parts of The Villages, that are on the lower end of prices?
- Can a mixed race couple (Latina wife) expect discrimination?
- Do you have to be 55 to buy? Can you buy and rent for one year until age 55?


thank you

My advise would be to set up a lifestyle visit. This way you can all of your questions answered. There is really no pressure by the realtors by doing this. There is a % of people under 55 who buy. Some live here full time and some rent. It depends on what is best for you

I'm a newbie here but may be able to answer some questions.

We came for our first LSV Labor Day weekend.....just to look. Well we were signing a contract within hours.

As far as age, it's a 80/20 ratio. 20% being under 55. My partner was 53 at thine of contract.

As far as discrimination. I haven't seen that. Our new friends are a young mixed couple, early/mid 40s. We just love them to death. We're bringing in the New Year with them as well as our other neighbors. I just love our neighborhood! So far we've only been down for a couple visits but come Christmas night we are there to stay....well most of the time.

We bought in Charlotte and the home we bought is not the higher end but its just so perfect! That's one thing they have a great home for every budget

I would also suggest a life style visit. We did ours in mid October and came away with all positive feelings. We wanted to make sure we were thinking clearly before we made an investment for the future. We are 3 years away from retirement. This week we began the process of buying.

It's a wonderful program that allows you to scoot around in a golf cart, go to any activity you may have an interest, and truly gives you a feeling of living in The Villages. Many of your questions can be answered by the great folks on this forum. But, you need to visit and fully understand the concept. You can read a lot about The Villages, but can't truly feel The Villages until you go to the community enviornment.

We are both under the 55 mark (but not by much) and we are purchasing a preowned in Orange Blossom Gardens for vacation and investment. 2 years we will be retiring there. We did our LSV in September and loved it.

Thank you for your replies and PM's. All have been helpful and positive!! Unless someone suggests something better I think we will do the Lifestyle Visit. It looks to be $150 a day not $100, is there a trick / coupon /referral to get it for $100?

Is it ok to talk about the Morse IRS lawsuit here? If so, what are the possible ramifications?

Please keep the replies coming. :)

The rate may be seasonal. In October we paid $125.00 per night. For that amount you get free movie coupons, discounts at a couple stores, free golf, and the ferry ride. Plus, the use of the golf cart, beautiful housing, and all the facilities.

I'm not touching the IRS issue with a 10 foot pole, but look forward to the replies!

I believe the price is seasonal. Please be aware internet is not available in the homes that provide lifestyle visits so plan accordingly.

The Lifestyle rates are seasonal, $150, $125 and $100 depending on the time of the year. Usually they're booked about three months in advance, so January 27th would probably be hard to fit in. Call the '800' number, I would say they are probably booking March at this time. You could stay at a motel, the Waterfront Inn is about $130 a day and it's a short walk to Lake Sumter Landing. There is also a Hampton Inn on CR466 which is a couple of miles north. The bulk of the motels are near Spanish Springs Square, which would be OK if you're looking for a resale but very far from new construction.

Irs
 

Search old threads regarding the IRS issue. Lots out there.

but
 

but with a hotel stay, you don't get a golf cart, golf, pools, etc.

I bought at 53 years of age and my wife bought at 51. We have friends that live here that are 54 and 41 and other friends in their early 50's. I don't think from my experience you will encounter discrimination but there are +100,000 people here so I certainly can't speak for everyone. Send me a PM when the time gets closer for your trip and my wife and I would love to meet you for dinner, drinks or show you around

Sent you a PM. If you don't know how that works, just look at the upper right edge of the screen. It will have a three line area with the first saying Welcome LittleLatina. Below that is an underlined Private Messages. Click there and you can see them.

This forum is owned by a private individual or individuals and is not connected to The Villages, the developer etc.

You can talk about the IRS lawsuit if you wish but it isn't against Morse and he has paid all of his income tax. The IRS is investigating whether municipal bonds in a CDD form of government can be tax free. The investigation is entering it's sixth year, with no completion. I think the lawyers will keep it going a long time.


There is no issue I have heard from anyone I know about interracial marriage here in The Villages, but I imagine some people are prejudiced against it.I personally haven't heard anyone saying things like that.. We are mostly white and I think the average age is about 62. The area is very conservative.


Call the sales office and ask them how much the nightly rate is for a lifestyle visit. Or you can stay at one of the area hotels.


Just log on the TheVillages.com and you can contact the sales office and get a packet or call and get information.


Come down and see what a wonderful place it is...........but.


WE are the lightning strike capital of the U.S. Eight homes have burnt to the ground in the last seven years as a result of lightning strikes.


The developer charges a separate fee for the infrastructure; the roads, club houses, golf courses, and underground wiring, plumbing etc. which are all in place when you move in. It is called the bond. In homes where most of us came from those charges were included in the price. It is a separate charge here.


We are in the middle of the sinkhole area in central Florida and catastrophic sink hole insurance coverage is no longer available on resale homes.


A new home can only use a conventional mortgage, and they will not accept any contingency offers on new homes or accept anything But the asking price for new homes. Resales are available with VA and FHA etc and you can make offers of less than asking, just like anywhere else.


Still in all, I find it to be the fairest place of all and the most amazing place I have ever lived.


Come down and see for yourself.

That's correct, but the OP said he wanted to visit late January when he made his Florida trip. As I said in my earlier post, I don't think you would be able to book a LSV until March or maybe even April. Call the '800' number and you'll know for sure.

1. The only negative is, when the snowbirds arrive as some people seem to not like that some restaurants may be too crowded at certain times. I personally don't mind it one bit, as I am from NY originally, and I am use to congestion, if there is any down here. I haven't noticed it yet, but I am a newbie myself, (4 months).
2. I would do a LSV when the rates are $100. Possibly in the summer, but you need to get going as your spouses retirement is only a year away.
3. The historic side of TV, but if you have to look around as there may be houses in other areas, that may be, just as economical to buy. It varies, as you can buy a home for 75K up to 1,000,000. There is no bad area in TV. Go to The Villages - Florida's Friendliest Retirement Hometown - New Home Sales, Home Resales, Build Your Dream Home, Brownwood Paddock Square and you can look at homes, (new and pre-owned).
4. I doubt you will experience discrimination, as almost everyone is just happy to be living in paradise. You will run into someone, who is grumpy, but that's everywhere you go. :smiley:
5. TV allows for 20% of the total population, (110,000) for people who are under 55. I would ask an agent assigned with your LSV, to tell you where you stand, on that age issue. I haven't heard of anyone having a problem in that regard.

Best wishes for your impending trip. You love living in TV, as everyone else does. Traveling around in a golf cart, and seeing how beautiful TV is maintained, is something you have to see and believe. No amount of words can do it justice. IMHO

You would have to do a search for the latest IRS standing. You would do better, to search thru Google, as TOTV search engine, leaves a lot to be desired. :(

I personally think, we will old or dead before this issue comes to a resolution, as it will dragged thru the courts for many years. I wouldn't delay my happiness because of it, and even when finished, it might have little effect on the residents. IMHO

I don't lose any sleep over it and that's the bottom line for me.. :smiley:

Come on down as it has been in the low 80's for the past week and a half, as opposed to freezing one's butt off, in NY. My cousin told me they had snow a couple of days ago. I don't miss it, one bit.

I'll bet you a drink, that you will love it here!

The responses, both PMs and replies here have been wonderfully infectious. We are getting Village fever already, shedding our grumpy NY attitudes.

Want to confirm an important issue. Our daughter will be 19 next year, she will be be in college for the next four years. I assume all parts of The Villages will allow her to live with us for either three or 12 months per year?

Please keep the comments and PM's coming. The negative issues seem minor, once you accept it cost a little more than nearby areas of Florida. No one mentioned Hurricane or tsunami concerns. What are the elevations, is it better to be higher? :)

The rules, as we understand them anyway, state that "under 18" are only allowed 30 days a year, 19 and above are ok to be in TV full time in any of the villages. I have been told that there are 2 or 3 areas that are "zoned" for familys.

I would not worry about you daughter if she is that close to 19...but more about where she will find friends and things to do, when she is out of school. As for the ethnic issue yes I have had two different people make :cus: comments.. But two out of how many thousands of wonderful people in TV is less than any other area..come for a visit. It's the only way you will know for sure..then maybe rent off season for a month or two and really find out what it's like

All of the LSV's are sold out, too bad. The Villages staff are very nice on the phone. The areas that allow under 18 yo to live are not technically in The Villages and can not use the facilities. Not a big deal but good to know. We will look for a weekly rental, time share etc, or just stay in a hotel/motel and come back for the LSV at another time. At least we will get a good feel of the place and meet some people.

Rental
 

Prior to closing on our home, we rented (weekly) from M Rentals, Larry Mazza. Great place, nice home, South of 466a. m-rentals@comcast.net

Consider this. Plan a trip, to coincide with Cinco De Mayo, (May 5, 2014).

People in the squares, will be celebrating on this day. :smiley:

LLW, I have done both the LSV and short term (one week) rentals of private homes in The Villages. Short term rentals in The Villages are easy to get after the snowbird season ends in approx. early April if you go on thevillages4rent.com or ****.com.

As other posters have mentioned, if you cannot get an LSV in January, the Waterfront Inn is right at Lake Sumter Landing. The Waterfront Inn is very nice, and you can rent a golf cart while staying at The Waterfront Inn. I believe golf cart rentals are high in demand during snowbird season, so if you want a golf cart in January, you may want to start looking now. If you go on the on line edition of The Villages Daily Sun newspaper, the classified ad section will have listings for businesses that rent golf carts.

Good luck, and I hope you get to see The Villages in the not too distant future. It is a beautiful place.

On TOTV you will get a lot of different opinions on this subject. For factual information go here and form you own opinion.Village Community Development Districts

BTW the Village Community Development Districts site has a lot of information.

I would highly recommend that you come at both high and low season to have a real feel of the place. January at Sumter Landing is a completely different animal than Spanish Springs in July. Please spend time in as many "sections" as possible. They do do all have a different vibe. We are both under 50 and have lived in TV for two years. We rented the first year to get a better idea of where we wanted to buy. It also allowed us to happen upon and unbelieveable deal! Please be patient

We rented for a couple of months at a time for three years, checked it out, found and made good friends here during the process and ended up buying a great place that was suitable to where we wanted to be. It does pay to be patient and our Villages sales person was great....no pressure...patient....and was extremely helpful as we closed on our Villages home when we back up north. It's the place to be.

The waterfront inn is $1230 for the week without any of the perks, golf cart etc. We have not looked at any private weekly rentals in The Village yet, will look now. If anyone knows of any private rentals for non smokers for 1/18-1/25, please let us know. Any modest accommodations will do :)

One alternative is to stay with friends in Tampa, but that seems to be over an hour drive.

Will also check some time shares on the RCI and Interval sites, maybe will get lucky. Worst case we will just spend a couple days at Waterfront. As suggested we will definitely visit several times, both on and off season.

The responses from TOTV has been terrific! Really lovely people here.

Check out this website The Villages 4 Rent, Rentals in The Villages

LLW - there are other accommodations in the villages besides the waterfront inn. near spanish springs town square you will find the mariott town suites - about $125/day and offers continental breakfast, kitchen facilities, golf cart accessibility and a convenient walk into the town square. then there is the holiday in express for about $110/day and offering a full breakfast buffet daily, golf cart accessibility and a convenient walk where you can see a recreation center. and last there is the comfort inn for about $120/day - offerind a full breakfast buffet daily and newspaper.

those accommodations are located on hgwy 441/27 or near the original town square, lots of shopping and the originally developed and expanded areas of the villages. the neighborhoods there generally have larger lot sizes and more mature landscaping. the very original historic neighborhoods are populated by many manufactured homes and some newer site built houses. the expanded neighborhoods also enjoy the larger lots and mature landscaping but are populated by more site built homes. the area also houses some great townhomes and the most lovely private village of hickory hill hammock!

the villages trolley tour that leaves from lake sumter sales center will make sure y ou see the newer areas under development - but it falls short of showing the already established neighborhoods. you will likely nee both a villages sales rep and an mls real estate salesperson to view the latter homes for sale as neither sells the other's properties.

hope you find a place to stay for your trip!

Having just taken our 1st trip, if I could only give you 2 pieces of advise, I would say:

1. Take the Trolly. It's about an hour long ride. It's narrated by a Villager. It was the best way to learn quite a bit in a very short period of time. It also allows you to look around while someone else is driving.

2. Stay somewhere you can rent a golf cart. One of our favorite things we did was just drive around in our golf cart exploring. (Get a map for $5, not the free one….you will get lost :loco: ). We literally didn't use our car once while we were there.

I know you'll love it. For the record we stayed a Town Suites by Marriott in SS.