The Most Important Things
 

When you were looking to buy a home in The Villages, what two or three things were the most important to you? Things like new roof, appliances, etc. There are so many choices, was it hard for you to make a decision?

We have 2 dogs and a classic car so we already knew we wanted a courtyard villa and a 2 car garage. We also knew we wanted to be in the Lake Sumter Landing area so that narrowed it down for us.

We have always been very conscious of resale value for either us or if our children have to sell the house, so for us it was LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION. We found the perfect house on a championship golf course between Sumter Landing and Spanish Springs. You can do almost anything to the interior, but you cannot do much if you don't have the location.

We walked in, looked out the back and said "this is it" and purchased on the spot.

We moved here in 2005. It was location and the back yard view. The Villages person who evaluates real estate value paid us a visit a month or so ago and said the view out the back added worth. It is unobstructed by houses. She checked out every room and is married to one of our law firm's lawyers. So, I was careful what I talked to her about.

Good neighbors can make or break a home I have found. And we got very lucky.

Number 1: How much do I want (or have) to spend. Number 2: location. Number 3: The house itself——do I want to buy new or resale. Once you come up with these three answers then you can look at models or resale’s. Example: I want to only spend between 200,000 and 225,000. I/we play lots of golf so we want to locate close to where several courses are only a 20 minute more or less golf cart ride. We have decided on a resale. Finally, get a realtor or Village Sales person and give him/her your purchasing parameters and start looking at property. “If you don’t know where you are going, it’s difficult to get there” anomyous

I am very concerned about noise. You can have noise from the street, golf carts, and pool equipment. I am surprised how many houses have a master bedroom window located within 15 feet of the next door neighbor's pool equipment or air conditioner.

I remember the large number of complaints Talk Host had about his wife getting enough sleep because of all the noise from the trains up in the far northwest corner of the Villages. They were close to the train tracks.

Talk Host was the owner and/or Administrator of Talk of the Villages when I signed up for this Forum in July of 2007. He had talked about it to the Villages Computer Club back then and got some of us to join. The Villages Computer Club

Check out the Villages Computer Club. They give a lot of information about using computers in the Villages.

The Villages Computer Club

Noise was a deal breaker for us but unfortunately until you live in the home for a while you may not notice it. We could hear the next door A/C unit, we could get used to that hum but then a pool pump and filter was installed next to the A/C and that set up a resonance in our walls. Tried several fixes without success. Best cure for this problem is space between the homes but good luck finding that!....;)

Dont buy on a through road.
Dont buy with a golf cours view if you like to sleep late.
Dont expect a 'water view' to last to long.
If you have no sense of humor, driving in TV could drive you nuts!

1. Corner lot with fence for our dog. 2. Open concept in floor plan. 3. Quiet area. Found all 3 and bought new in Fenney! Inside laundry with washer and dryer sealed the deal!!!

What the home backed up to was our number one focus, we wanted privacy. Everything else we could work around.

The Most Important Things
 

#1. Couldnt be more than 3 miles or less than 2.5 miles from Starbucks. Really. (We are 2.95!)
#2. Affordability because we wanted no mortgage after selling our home up north
#3. See #1





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My user name should be EdF(formerly from)NJ and glad to be gone. [emoji3]

1. Type/style of house, and new or resale, we wanted new.
2. Orientation of house, our requirement was a South facing lanai.
3. We got very lucky, and were able to buy a lot and build, so after the first 2 items were satisfied, we were able to pick all the interior stuff.

Additional things to consider IF you have to opportunity to pick or change items:
1. Get higher quality carpets, and IMHO, keep carpets in bedrooms for noise control.
2. Double check restrictions to the rear or side of your lanai if you think you might want privacy plants.
3. If looking at resale, hire a building inspector to look over the house for any major problems, roof leaks or replacement, house settling, age of major systems and equipment, etc.

Plus a lot of the items previously mentioned.

Fenced yard, quiet street, good neighbors, and open floor
plan. Bought in Fenny.

1. Courtyard for my pups.
2. Updated kitchen and bath (I am not fond of living through renovations)
3. No grass! No carpet! Easy to maintain.