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Best way to rent home for a month to check out area.

I would like to buy a small place and need to learn before making a decision. I have a 5 yo minigoldendoodle who weighs 26lbs She is a registered Therapy Dog (comforts shut-ins etc.). Very well trained. I am a widow and would love any suggestions for how best to get this dream on a roll. Thanks

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Originally Posted by JustRita (Post 1915744)

Would strongly suggest renting for a month or more before deciding that you want to move here and also where you want to go.

We did it for a month and in hindsight would have been been better to do it for longer.

If you have a realtor they can help you with a rental I recommend Beth Pope as a excellent realtor 352-552-1511

Consider location of dog park to your new home. You meet a lot of great people there, they're helpful in all matters of living in TV & the dogs have a great time running. Consider a Courtyard Villa or Veranda model for ease of letting your dog outside for relief & not losing her. We have a designer home & a dog & now strongly wish we had the fenced yard benefit in a C Villa or Veranda. Agree with other poster - rent for 3- 4 months (allow one month for mortgage processing & closing) to find the best place for you. Good luck & welcome to a great place to live.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustRita (Post 1915744)

Try this website...I've had great success with it. There is a map of the different villages there too and should help you determine where you would like to be. Maybe different areas..but as others have said take your time 3/4 months to sort it out and see what works. Good luck!
www.thevillagershomes4rent.com

We are selling our home because we want something bigger. Our neighborhood could be great for you. We have a number of widows and widowers. They all do a driveway gathering every evening. They are so supportive of one another. Some couples join in as well. You’d be welcome to meet the group. Message me if interested.

I did a vacation rental thru the Villages - for a little over a month. I was able to get a rental with all tile floors. I brought my dog with me - had to put down a deposit - but it was totally returned! It gave me a chance to look around before the purchase.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisinva (Post 1915866)

A dog park is a good point. I’ve been taking my dogs to a nearly-hidden dog park just off Belle Meade, not far from the Mulberry Recreation Center. If you have a golf cart, you can park there. If you have a car, then park at the mail boxes on Belle Meade or the driveway right next to them, then walk into the woods surrounding a big fenced electrical station. You won’t see the dog park from Belle Meade. There is no sign. The woods is Oaks and cedars with a couple sand roads big enough for golf carts. It’s a great place to walk and meet people and dogs. It’s perfectly safe, and it’s cool and shady. I call it “Squirrel World” because the dogs love chasing the squirrels, though they never catch one. In the center of the woods is an electrical station. Yesterday I saw two bald eagles perched on tall electric poles. At the north end of the forest are two fenced off-leash dog runs, one for dogs the size of yours or smaller and one for big dogs. It has a brand new beautiful pavilion with benches to give us shade. It’s opening today!

I live a ten minute drive by car from this dog park. You might enjoy a place closer to it. There are several other dog parks, too. My dogs crave running for a couple miles a day. They are trained and good off-leash.

I have a home for rent and it's not far from a dog park. I don't have a problem having therapy dogs. Please see link.Homes 4 Rent - Edit Listings - 481 Anchorage Rd

Lots of good advice given. Agree that renting first is an excellent idea. Many of the new homes have fenced yards. It has been great for us with our dog. Check out the newer patio villas in the southern villages. Enjoy.

Courtyard villa. Would not live in any style but a CYV! Even if I didn’t have a dog! They have 2 & 3 bedroom models. The privacy is nice. But the small “neighborhood “ makes for a real neighborhood feel. Only drawback for some is small garage/driveway. Not a drawback for me. My dogs have always loved being off leash in their own yard and I love it too. Let me know if you have questions.

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Originally Posted by John_W (Post 1915955)

I would suggest a CYV (courtyard villa) because for one, they have a privacy fenced backyard and are excellent for dog owners. In the established Villages fences are not allowed to be installed except on CYV, which come with a fence. You didn't give us a budget, so it's hard really focus on an area or a home.

Go to the link for this website, there are 1500 rentals in The Villages (TV) listed, about a 1/3 of those are CYVs, I've set the link to that page. So look for ones that will accept dogs and the length of rental they require.

Villagers Homes 4 Rent

As far as buying, generally the further south you go, with route 42 as the northern most boundary of TV, the further south the prices will go up because the homes are newer.

To give you an idea of the prices, here is a CYV for sale right now, it's a 3BR 2BA, it was probably built around 2007. It's in the Village of Tall Trees, which is very central in the established Villages. They're asking $329K.

For a dog owner, it has no carpet, granite countertops, the lanai has been enclosed and has it own separate A/C unit, plantation shutters on the windows and it has low maintenance landscaping in the front. Cost of living in TV is very low, the amenity fee is only about $155 a month and includes a lot of activities.

This location in Tall Trees you're within a couple of hundred yards of Walgreens, Bob Evans Restaurant, and Southern Trace Shopping Center and what we call, bank row. It's very convenient and you can drive a golf cart to most of these places and leave your car in the garage.

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Another nice feature of this home is that Tall Trees area is quite close to one of the best dog parks, Doggy Doo Run Run, which is a mile down CR 101 from the intersection of Belvedere and 466. This is a pay park--either by the visit or by the month. It has many acres, a lot of shade, a little swimming pool, and a bathtub at waist height where you can wash your dog off. They also board dogs.

Instead of picking up after your dog, they have flags on wires that you stick into the ground. The groundskeeper picks up.

So in Tall Trees or the Belvedere area, you are very close to this dog park.