How did you choose your village?
 

I have been trying to schedule a LV for almost a year but a combination of elderly parents and adult children and COVID have derailed my plans. So I have been scouring the internet for everything I can learn about TV. One thing I remain curious about is how to determine where to live. Some say live in the established areas because there is so much more to do and some recommend the newer areas because there will be more people my age (I'm 57 and single). Any thoughts, suggestions or smart ass comments are welcome.

First we chose the home/home model/view then we saw how it measured against our lifestyle. That is pretty vague but pretty much how it goes. Do you want to be near a square, shopping outside the bubble, perhaps you have friends in a certain area? How much are you willing to compromise one value over another?

We looked south of 466A for used homes and then drove south of 44 to Fenney in it's infancy and just knew this was the place for us. Have been here over 3 years now and have absolutely no regrets, great people, great atmosphere. All of the villages are great, just depends on what you are looking for.

We were in a hurry as our house sold faster than we anticipated.

We knew we wanted to be in an established area not to far from shopping on 27/441 and kind of in the middle between two squares.

Last June rented for a month to get to know the area and lifestyle and had a pretty good idea as to what we wanted.

Wound up in Bonita which is more or less the middle of the Villages.

We wanted another new home and chose the area where they were building. At that point all view lots were gone. (In seven hours).

We loved Hadley and the people there and we like Bridgeport at Laurel Valley and the people here.

It is hard to make a mistake.

I think it is fun, when you are new, to have all new folks around you too. Did it twice here in The Villages.

We love where we live. Close to doctors, shopping, everything.

Your question as to what area to buy is impossible to answer objectively, since obviously ALL the areas of The Villages are obviously desirable. Otherwise there would be no houses being bought in that area and the last time I checked, homes were being bought in every village.

Where you choose to buy is predicated on a lot of personal factors. It may be proximity to shopping, proximity to entertainment, proximity to other friends who may already live in TV, proximity to recreation activities, the desire to be in the "middle of everything", or the desire to be away from the "middle of everything" and have a little peace & quiet, the desire for a particular house style, the desire to be on the cutting edge of the growth, or the desire to avoid all of that growth and mayhem at all cost. And the problem usually is that you don't really know what you REALLY want until you get a chance to experience The Villages first hand. So therefore, I always have recommended to consider renting for several months before making that buying decision. That way, you will get a chance to know what is important to you and it will improve your chances for getting that "dream" place you really want. By listening to all the other people here on TOTV, you will only find out what they felt was important to them. And I guarantee their answers are going to be all over the map (literally and figuratively).

We decided to go new...we had totally remodeled our primary residence and our second home during the previous 3 years....we were not looking to go through that again. First thing that we did was to look at the floor plans that were available...and decided on the model that we wanted. The only square still building new near by at the time was Brownwood....we didn't think that it was that necessary to be close to a square, as they are all easy to get to by car for us. We were the 1st to move into our cul de sac....there's a lot to be said about everybody being new on the street and looking to connect with neighbors. One thing to avoid is backing up to a highly traveled street.

Our Village choose us. It had the Pre-owned home that fit our criteria list and was in our price range. We had a general location in mind (north of 466, or slightly south of 466), but did not target a specific Village. We are very happy with how things worked out.

And with all the investigating everyone does rumor has it people will move once or twice after they get here.

We have found that living in The Village of Chatham Acres is beautiful but a bit of a trip to Spanish Springs.

When the horse that came with the house saw me coming towards her she galloped away at Triple Crown Contender Speed!

:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

We preferred a new home and at that time the village of Sabal Chase just south of Lake Sumter Landing was being developed. While we like the new model CYV the area south of 44 it is too desolate for us in regard to shopping and all the construction and dirt is unsightly.

We wanted to be 3 miles +- a couple tenths from Starbucks. Our agent thought we were kidding. We weren't. We ended up at 2.98 (or 2.99 if we include the front door) in Amelia. Close enough. :D

That sounds like us.

Although not necessarily because of Starbucks, we want to be south of 466 and within a few miles of Lake Sumter Landing.

We wanted a new masonry CYV, and at the time Tamarind Grove was the newest area, that was in 2011. As it turns out, we are 4 miles (20 minutes by cart) to Brownwood, 3-1/2 miles to LSL (15 minutes by cart) 3-1/2 miles to Colony Plaza (15 minutes) and 1-1/2 miles to Trainwinds Villages. I can reach in my golf cart with my clubs 8 different championship golf courses (all 27 hole layouts) in 25 minutes or less and 17 executive golf courses in 15 minutes or less. As a golfer, I couldn't ask for better.

Google Maps Satellite View Tamarind Grove & St. James