Best method to shop for new home when staying with Florida fsmily
 

Is there a suggested method to shop for a new home when staying with family in Florida on a visit? Do you need to contact a realtor or is it possible to gain entrance to visit the Villages sales office? Or can one gain access to just drive around to get an overall first impression?

You can contact a Realtor, contact a Villages salesperson, walk into any Villages sales office, or simply drive around. Nothing different here than most anywhere.

There is one difference in that The Villages Real Estate office is not part of the MLS realtor's network, so they can only show you listings with the Villages. To see other listings you'll need an outside realtor. On the other hand, if you're just trying to get a sense of the place, grab a Daily Sun newspaper...there are tons of open houses every day and you can just drive to the ones that interest you. As for access...the Villages really isn't a gated community. At every gate is a red button and if the gate is unmanned, just press the button and bingo you're in. Good luck. It will seem a bit overwhelming with choices but all are good and something will strike you as right. It really is a great place to live.

Pick up a Daily Sun and go to open houses. Both new and resales. Visit Rec centers near the open houses. Visit a town center. Make a list of what you must have, would like to have, and how much you can spend. It will all come together.

You can come and go freely. The Villages has gates, and a photo will be taken of your license plate, but access is not restricted. When we were shopping, we felt welcome at the rec centers and squares, even though we were not yet residents.

We rented a home here for a month, and visited other communities. The Villages was vibrant, and felt like home.

Online
 

I shop online. When I find a house I want to see, I call that salesperson, and have always bought the house. The pictures online are so beautiful now, and I just map out an area and only check houses in that area.

Fortunately, many new retirees are technically savvy. Zillow is the best way to expedite your new home search. Good luck!

If you plan to live in TV full time, you might want to see it in different seasons too. You are smart to check in here for help, I did the same and so far I’ve gotten great advice (most of the time). Also if you follow TOTV for awhile you get to see what the local concerns and solutions are. You also get a sense of the kind of people you might meet.

Remember though, that ZILLOW will not show houses that are listed by The Villages sales group. To see those houses, go to The Villages web site (THEVILLAGESdotCOM) and click on OUR HOMES. You can see both new and resales, plus you can search by Village, Style, or Model.

Finally, in most, if not all, neighborhoods there will NOT be a "For Sale" sign easily seen so it is difficult to look for homes by just driving around. The best is to drive around to find an area of The Villages that you might like, and then use Zillow, TheVillages, or the Daily Sun to find houses in that area.

If its brand new house, get in touch with a Villages sales person, if its a resale give Sally Love a shout

Be prepared to be overwhelmed. First try to get the sales stuff sent to you before you come here. This is a very large area. It was built from the top (northeast to the bottom, south. It is newer as you go south with some exceptions. Our Village is in the middle and it is only eight years old.

Study the three general types of homes. Ranchesand Patio Villas are the smallest and least expensive after the modular homes that are only found in the parts north east of 441/27. Designers represents the predominant type and size of home people choose here. They are from about 1600 sq. ft to close to 2500 sq ft. Premiers are usually from around 2200 sq ft to sometimes close to 5000 sq. ft.

The price range of all homes here is from around 100K to more than a million dollars, but they all have the same amenity fee of about $150 dollars a month.

We thought at first that it would be easier to leave a Courtyard Villa that is fenced in and has a small yard because we were snow birds when we were looking for a first home. We were sure that is what we wanted. We had looked at many on line, New and used.

We bought a new designer, a Camilla, in Hadley and enjoyed it for four years and then had built the home we live in now full time.

Take your time. Find reasons to return and rent if possible. If you make a mistake and want a different home size or view, homes here are easy to sell.

I do not and have never sold real estate. Get a Villages Sales rep and a MLS realtor and have Frank D'Angelo on speed dial.

I am EXTREMELY BIASED toward living here.

The first time we were here, we were driving through after spotting a sign on I-75. We stopped into the sales office at Sumter Landing and met one of the sales persons. She took us on a tour and gave us lots of information. No pressure or sales talk. Just a nice tour. I recommend doing this. You might want to call for an appointment.

Sally Love cannot show you re-sales that are The Villages listings, she can only show you MLS re-sales. I would suggest getting in touch with Beth Pope 352-552-1511, she and her husband Todd and daughter Kelly are all Villages Sales Professionals and they can show you new and re-sale Villages real estate homes.

Omigosh. Please don't take TOTV as indicative of The Villages residents. Remember it is a social media forum, and people take advantage of their anonymity to speak more forcefully than they would in a face-to-face situation. Myself included.

TV really is a friendly place, and people you meet are for the most part going to be enjoyable and neighborly.

Velvet makes a point: come to visit in different seasons, summer especially. Summer is very hot and humid. Most get used to it; some don't. My favorite times are winter and spring or fall: winter because the cooler weather really suits my Pennsylvania/Michigan bones, and spring and fall because it is calm and quiet.

As Gracie mentioned above, get the sales packet in the mail with video and look it over. Here'a link to the request page.

Request a Free Video Tour of The Villages(R) Homes & Lifestyle