New or pre-owned?
 

My wife and I hope to be able to move to The Villages this year. We are open to advice on whether to buy a new home or a pre-owned. Are older homes about as easy to sell as newer ones? What model seems to sell the best?

I'm asking these questions because of my experience in real estate sales. One never knows what may happen that could cause one to move and have to sell a house. When we bought the house we now live in we both said that it would be our final home, but it goes on the market next month (I blame The Villages for that).

1st Visit to TV
 

My husband and I are spending the winter in TV and have been here for about 3 weeks. We've been looking at both pre-owned and new homes. The way we made our determination was to select approximately where we wanted to live. New homes are only available in the southern most Villages (Bonita, Hemmingway, Hadley, etc)... many beautiful new homes to see. Pre-owned homes are throughout TV. Many of the pre-owned already have upgrades, so that may also be an advantage. Good luck in your search!

New or Preowned
 

Another consideration would be the Bond. In a pre-owned home the bond is either partially paid or could even be already paid by the previous owner.

Bond
 

That's a good point, about the bond. I sell real estate in Georgia and have never heard of that before. Is that everywhere in Florida or just in retirement communities?

Tough Choice
 

You definitely need to do your homework here. Pre-owned has many distinct advantages such as upgrades, landscaping, reduced or no bonds. We had a list of pre-owned homes that we looked at. Had 1 particularly in mind but felt they were asking too much so we looked at new homes and went with a new home. However the 1 particular pre-owned home we liked dropped it's price 2 weeks later by 10% and sold immediately. We didn't even think of making an offer that low. You don't know, especially in todays economics, until you try. There was NO bond either and only needed cosmetic (paint) work inside. But we love our new home and have great neighbors. I don't believe anywhere in TV you'll have bad neighbors. However before we become full time we need to sell our northern home. Maybe this spring. NO we WILL sell this spring.

Good Luck on Your Search

F16

new or pre-owned
 

wow what an exciting time for you!! it's so much fun picking out a house but there is alot to consider!! With the market right now you can get a new home cheaper than a resale. However there are the pros and cons of course. New is really nice. No one lived there obviously. Pre-owned can be upgraded as others stated and the bond may be paid off or lower. You can get good deals now on pre-owns because there are so many for sale. You may not want to remodel a resale though. you may want a move in home. some even come with furniture. If you don't mind moving again, i guess you could just buy. But if you want this to be your Last Move really take your time. Look around you. Check how close you are to neighbors!! do you want your lanai to face others or do you want to face a street? Check location to sumter square. Bonita, St charles, st james are getting away now from it. How close do you want to be to square? will you go to square in golf cart alot? so many things to take into consideration. Take your time is the best advice i can give you and enjoy the process!! What type of house are you looking for? Study floor plan. do you want large home? if so Gardania and Lantana most popular but a bit more pricey. Ranch homes Amarillo seems to be popular. Narrow down first your location, your priorities in home, and price range. Start there and Good luck.

some questions
 

I was wondering the sme thing ~~~ new or pre-owned? I also wanted to ask about the rules there at The Villages. Are there special rules for paint colors of front doors and shutters? Are you allowed to plant anything you like or are there lots of restrictions?
Do any homes have wood floors? Fireplaces?

What are BONDS? :undecided:

Thanks for any help.

I agree with novelchick, pick a location first. We chose an area where we wanted to live. Because of that choice, we had to buy a resale, but we are very happy with our choice and would not change a thing if we had it to do over.

For me, it's a no-brainer..........You can have a new home and all warranties that come with it for less than a pre-owned home with some upgrades with no warranty. There's a lot of new-home inventory in The Villages and prices are dropping. I also believe further home construction will be halted until they can sell more of the existing inventory.

Beg to Differ...
 

There is a HUGE new area of home construction about to launch on lower Odell in Hemmingway....

:agree: We too have a home for sale and are including a warranty for the buyer. And yes we purchased it.

'splain please.......
 

Will someone please explain to me why the TV Developers keep building more new homes - with such a large inventory of new homes, already built, for sale ? Just curious :ohdear: :shrug:

Just because they have a large inventory doesn't mean that they are not selling any of them. Sales are down but not dead.

Maybe we have to define large inventory. To you is one thing, to the developer it is another. With the number of folks here looking.....I bet the developer has a good handle on the percent of potential buyers. Any way they are not finishing out 300-400 a month as in the recent past.