How do we know what village is right for us?
 

We are selling our house right now and plan to move to TV. After selling, we will move to Lady Lake area and live in our trailer while we find a home. Problem is that we have no idea which village would be the best for us. How do we start our search? I have read "north of some road" or "south of something" but how do we learn about the areas before we start the real search. WE don't want to live in the trailer too long.

TV is bisected East/West by Hwy 466

North of 466 has been built out for around 5 years or so. Only resales available.

South of 466 has both new and resales - close to 466 are only resales and further south are new and resales.

Spanish Springs Town Square is North of 466; while Lake Sumter Landing Town Square is South (and adjacent) to 466. The yet to be built third Town Square, Brownwood, will be at the (probably) far south end of TV.

See TV area maps at this site: http://www.virginiatrace.com/ Look at the Map titled "The Villages" for an overview of the area




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Here's the way I would do it. First, sign up for the Trolly Tour (free) of TV and look around, listen to their speil. That will give you some ideas. Then decide on your requirements (ranch, premier home, corner lot, golf course lot, water lot, 2 BR, 3 BR, 2 car garage, etc.) When you have a good idea what you wnat and how much you can afford, get two - YES, TWO - real estate agents. One will work for TV and will show you only properties listed with TV, The other will be independent (ReMax, Century 21, or whatever you prefer) who will show you all the other properties not listed with TV. Meantime you are looking at TV and deciding where to live (which village) based on intangibles only you can imagine (maturity of landscaping, closeness to a church or a town square, attitude of neighbors, etc). You will eventually find one you want, make an offer, and hopefully become a true Villager. I would say under a month is a reasonable time to do all this but three months may not be unreasonable either, depending on how "picky" you are.

We did the same thing you are going to do. We stayed at Southern Oaks RV Park in Summerfield where the rates are a little better. However, Recreation Plantation is closer and more convenient. We probably would have saved enough in gas money to pay the higher rates of Recreation Plantation.

It only took us 3 days to find the house we wanted through a TV agent. We had an appointment with an outside Realtor, but never kept it. The point is that when you see the perfect house, you will know it. Whether it is 3 days or 3 months of looking.

Our experience buying a new house was that everyone else on the street is new to The Villages also. Very easy to meet your neighbors and since you are all new you have a lot in common already.

All of the information above is correct. It won't take you long to get the hang of it, especially if you take the Trolly Tour first.

And if you ask any villager "Which village is the best?" They will almost certainly answer with the village THEY live in.

BUT Me, Kathie, F16, Johnny M, Donna, Coconuts, Handieman, and many others will tell you it is Hadley. Which it is.

You are doing it the right way, living in your trailer and looking in all the Village areas. You have to consider many things when you buy, #1 location, location, location. What I mean by that is what do you and your wife like to do? Do you want a large, small or no bond to pay? If you like living in the middle of TV then you should look at PoloRidge, Summerhill,Glenbrook,Bonnybrook,Ashland to name a few. Living in the middle is great because it takes the same amount of time to get to either square for the all the dancing. These areas are close to the softball fields, polo field and a goodmix of pools, family and adult. Lots of great restaurants and of course the new Wal-Mart and you have an Ace hardware store close by. Another item to factor in is where do your friends live and why do they like living where they are? The bond is also a consideration, can be from 0 to $12,000.00 depending on where you live. I hope taht I have not confused you but lots of things to consider.

Mhorsman makes a good point about living in the middle - but remember the middle today will not be the middle when TV is completed. In an article in The Sun a few months back, it stated that Largo is the geographic center of TV. And really, none of the villages are too far away from one of the squires.

I would add two additional suggestions.

1. Talk to the folks at TV Golf Cars or another cart dealer close to where your trailer is about doing a couple of daily rentals. The absolute best way to see TV is by golf cart.

2. Be sure to talk to people on the squares, in the Country Club restaurants, etc. Villagers are (usually) happy to share their experiences with you.

Good luck and welcome,

Kate

When I have new guests come visit I go with them on the trolley tour and it has changed.
The trolley no longer takes you to Spanish Springs or the Historic side. They want to show the new areas and homes.
I am not saying that is bad, but it does not give you a good idea of TV as a whole.
Take the tour and also check out the other areas that it does not cover.
We wanted a block/stucco Spanish style CYV close to both squares and found what we wanted at Rio Grande.
5 minutes to Spanish Springs and 7 or 8 to Sumter by golf cart.
If you are looking for more pools and golf courses then look to south of 466.
If you are looking for being close to shopping and Spanish Springs, look North of 466.
Bring GPS...it will really help locate open houses.

Do the trolleys still have residents narrating the tour, or is it pre-recorded? Just curious, it's been several years since we went on one, and back then there weren't so many tours, it was by appointment I think.

I'm glad you said this because when we took the tour a couple of months back we were disappointed in it. I was expecting to see a lot more based upon posts I had read. It would be hard to get an impression of TV - one way or the other - based upon what we saw on the tour.

On a positive note....the tour guide was a delightful lady...and the A/C on the trolley made it a nice respite from the heat. :coolsmiley:

They have real live people that live in TV doing the tour.
One thing that we have always liked was the fact that no sales people are on the trolley and no one is trying to sell anything. The trolley just shows what the Villages has and all the styles of homes.
You do not have to make an appointment, just go to the sales area at Sumter landing and sign in for the free tour.
:coolsmiley::welcome:

One note of correction - the bond on homes could be higher than the 12K mentioned.

Good point Russ. For premiere homes in Pennecamp the bond is nearly $50,000.

If the sound of train whistles annoy you, stay away from areas near Rte. 301 (the western part of TV). You can do a search on TOTV to get more info about this. Good luck!