A big thank you
 

...

You will know as soon as you get here.

You may want to go to the others first, since many (most?) people that come here buy and stay.

A friend of mine lived for about 2 years at the Del Webb community in Lakewood Ranch. We visited a few times. It is a gated community with very nice homes. Everyone was friendly. They are building all around the community. You are not close to the gulf but you are close to the Outlets! You really can not compare it to TV.

I am in the same situation as ya’ll are. I made a 10 day visit back in July to the Villages. It is an amazing place with so many activities to chose from - being summer I had no problem getting on the executive courses. Only hindrance was the summer afternoon rain storms. I have visited 2 del Webb communities - in Georgia and Texas. I did find myself comparing the communities to TV and there is no comparison. Similar activities but fewer to chose from and on a lot smaller scale. Must say it was pretty motivating seeing so many people out and about being active in the Villages. As another poster said you will see when you get here. My decision has not been made - haven’t yet visited TV during the busy season in the winter. Enjoy your visits around Florida.

There are many 55+ communities in Fl.
Visit as many as you can. That"s what we did. It made our decision easier.

The first time I came to the Villages I walked around with my jaw on the floor. The scope and size of the place is just unbelievable. Everybody was out and about doing activities. The number of golf carts in the town squares were incredible. It is a place you just have to come and see.

We toured a lot of other retirement places in Florida, unfortunately not either of the ones you mentioned. We did visit a Del Webb near Jacksonville. I would say when we were looking you could get more home for your dollar in the Villages compared to Del Webb. Del Webb was nice but it was obviously a lot smaller. And in some of the places we visited it just felt dead to me.

The Villages is not for everyone but I think if your retiring to Florida you have to check it out. Finally, we kept comparing everything to The Villages and no 55+ place compared in our opinion. Best of luck in your search and make sure you talk to people as you are out and about when you visit here, everyone is happy to help and give you their opinion.

We went to some open houses in Stonecrest about the third or fourth year we wintered in The Villages. The houses were nice and less expensive, and the lots were larger than in TV. A real estate salesman caught up to us and we were able to ask a few questions. We noticed the golf courses were not busy and no one was using the swimming pool on a nice day. Further, there were very few out in golf carts, walking, running, cycling, etc. Compared to The Villages, the environment seemed dead. The real kicker for us was when the salesman emphasized the proximity of the Villages and how you could actually get there by golf cart. We laughed about that when we left - well hell, if the sales pitch is how easy it is to get to The Villages, seems like we should simply buy in The Villages. BTW we know some people who have a place in Lakewood Ranch and when they visited The Villages they talked seriously about selling and moving here.

"The real kicker for us was when the salesman emphasized the proximity of the Villages and how you could actually get there by golf cart." That is pretty funny!

We will be checking out similar locations in April so please post your thoughts when you get back home! THANKS! :MOJE_whot:

Another thing to check out is how easy it will be to sell in the unlikely event that you make the wrong decision and decide that the community you choose is not for you.

We bought in TV having never visited it (nor any other place) and not knowing anyone here. I had spent about 2 years in Brooklyn on line checking out places. TV hooked me for a number of reasons.

1. I liked the fact that homes turn over quickly so that we could easily and quickly resell if we didn't like it.

2. I liked the fact that when one of us predeceases the other, there would be plenty of activities for me as a widow or plenty of women lining up to help hubby reconcile his checkbook if I went first. (A little tongue-in-cheek but I really did think about this.)

3. I liked the fact that we are close enough to Disney that distant family may want to visit yet not so close that we would be innundated with company.

4. I liked the fact that there was such a strong online community in TOTV that empowered me -- I can't begin to rate how important it has been to us for information and referrals. Most communities don't have such a strong and vibrant online presence, as far as I can tell. Not to mention all the "friends" I have made even though we may not have yet met.

5. Although at first glance, I was dismayed at how close the houses are to each other, I am thrilled now that when sitting on our lanai we have all the privacy that we want yet when we go out the front door we don't feel isolated. At our age, I think this has become increasingly important and doubt I would ever move to a place with lots of acreage. Especially in the event of medical emergencies, etc

On the other side of the coin, we still yearn for the dining choices we left behind but I don't think there are too many places that offer us what we have here as well as the culinary choices. (I continue to scratch my head at the number of fast-food chains here in TV -- should people our age really be eating that way?) . But you do adjust. We still don't have a "favorite" restaurant. But there are places where we have favorite items. NE clam chowder from Red Lobster, Fried Calamari from Giovanni's, Chicken Katsu from VKI Japanese Steakhouse, Burgers from Culver's, etc etc.

BK -- An excellent post!

Everyone should read what you've written.

You might want to look at the Ocala area.

Aw, thank you Midnight. I appreciate it.

I also agree. . . .great post, excellent insights. :ho: