Lifestyle Visit in April
 

I'm coming for my first lifestyle visit in April. I've been to the Villages several times while my father lived there before he passed away in 2007. I'm now retired and would like to purchase a place to retire in the Villages. My question, "Where is the best place to purchase that has enclosed backyards for a dog?" Thanks.

Our LSV was April 21 to 27, 2011 and we had the most perfect weather. 90 degrees everyday and not a cloud in the sky. You should have a good month.

For a fenced yard you have some limited options. Courtyard Villas (CYV) are everywhere, that's what I have. They all have fenced yards. Single family homes, you have only a couple of options, Veranda Homes (that's the series name), they're designer homes with a fenced yard. They are scattered about in the new area south of 44. In the established Villages they built about 3 blocks worth in 2016 in Pine Ridge area, that's off Moyer Loop. I just did a search and found none for sale. They built a small amount near Havana Country Club about 15 years ago.

Basically that's your options. The biggest disadvantage to a CYV is the garage, in the established Villages about 95% were built with a 1-1/2 car garage, that's a 12' door. In the new Villages most of the CYVs come with a 2 car garage. The developer learned, but too late for many of us.

If you like what you see strongly suggest renting a house here for a month or two to explore the place and decide where you would want to live.

John_W mention Courtyard Villas and Veranda Designer homes.

There are two more options south of Rt44 that have been recently introduced: Some Cottage homes have fenced-in yards. Also, a very limited number of Patio Villas.

This is good advice and we're glad we rented before we made a decision.

great advice. different parts of The Villages have different nuances, though they're all good. And sure, get a fenced area for your pup. Best wishes, you'll love it here.

Look South beautiful brand new homes there! Enjoy your Visit

We just purchased a Villa home in the Hillsborough area with a fence. We have a husky we are bringing with us. We began looking at homes about a year ago to get a feel for where we wanted to live, home costs, home amenities. My sister in law has lived there for 5 years and we made a visit 4 years ago and knew it's where we wanted to be. We were there for New Years this time and on a whim, I took a look at homes on NY Eve based on some changes we had made in our wants. Found a home that day, made an offer same day, closed two weeks ago. So start looking on the villages home sales and Realtor.com now. Use the map feature so you can see the areas you may like. Wishing the best in your search!

Yep - the CVillas & Verandas series have the fences. Strongly recommend those. We're in Designer series home, wish we had chosen the other. Consider also dog park location. We go the Dudley in Fenney, it's the only one with agility equipment, not that our 8 yr old, overweight maltipoo uses agility equipment but maybe, someday she might get interested. There's Rupert Dog Park in Monarch Grove/Linden area, no agility equipment. And another place called Atlas (?) near the Sharon Weichert Preserve ( beautiful area) but no agility equip there. Be sure to ask your realtor about dog parks. Talk also to a TV sales rep who will likely know more TV details than a non-TV sales person. Ann Duke was our TV rep - energetic, honest & extremely helpful with ALL those questions that come up. Good luck & enjoy! This is a great place!