Introduction... George & Vicky (considering retirement to The Villages)
 

Hi! I'm George and my wife, Vicky, and I will be doing a 2nd lifestyle visit in July, with plans (if I can take the heat) to move to The Villages around the end of the year. We will be coming down from Delaware.

We just wanted to say hi.

-George

:welcome:

:gc:

Love the Villages. Always sad to go and very happy when returning.

Well ‘hi’ back! We’ve been here for about a month and we love it! We’re going around to all the Villages and looking at them while we’re waiting for our house to sell.

Make sure you go to sales office and buy a map that shows where all the different Villages are - and welcome to Florida’s Friendliest Hometown!

We did something similar 13 years ago, except in just one visit, found an ideal location and moved in after about 5 months, had to wait for my wife to retire. First summer was interesting but I found out quickly to avoid working in the direct sunlight.

We will wish you success in finding a great location and be sure to check out resales as well as new.

Exciting times and best of luck. The Villages is a massive place, don’t limit yourself to new construction and the General lifestyle visit location.

Welcome
 

Congrats and welcome new neighbor. Florida has so much to offer. Enjoy the process and the people:$:

There are the analytical types and the "other" types for making a home purchase decision. Not sure which type you are, but if you take lots of time to decide, then rent for several months and wait for the perfect home to come up for sale. but be sure to take the following into account:

home model type, many types, sizes and custom builds. .
lot position on road for traffic, views (interior vs exterior)
lot position relative to sun and time of day
lot size in case you want to add something (pool comes to mind)
house location relative to highway noise.
house location relative to shopping by golf cart

interior storage versus garage storage.
type of hot water heater
screened in or glassed in lanai
TV/internet service provider options for area
cell phone coverage

the little things other than the shape/interior of the actual house

good luck

Not a simple decision which is why we rented first but in hindsight would have done some things differently

Hi, we are looking to hopefully make the move in a few months as well. We are in Kennett Square; probably not too far from you.

Hi, We did the lifestyle in July also cause I HATE heat. Everything air conditioned and there is so much to do we sold in Mass and moved. It is almost 7 years

One piece of advice I'll give you: Be aware that online forums such as this one, Facebook etc. tend to attract bitter, snarky, unhappy people. If you see answers to your questions like, "Don't move here", or "Why don't you just look it up on Google", these are people who thrive on anger. The vast majority of Villagers are happy, enthusiastic people who consider The Villages to be Paradise. I haven't read the comments generated by your post, so they all may be positive. I'm simply urging you to not draw negative opinions about The Villages from snarky, unhappy people. Float around in the pool and mention you are new- people will embrace you and tell you about the place- it's called, "Pool School". Welcome!

Same here - Did back-to-back lifestyle visits in July and August of 2022 - super hot and humid - but spent afternoons either at home or events at indoor rec centers with plenty of AC - by early evening, got back outside, and the air flow through the golf cart made the temps “bearable”. I’m not a “hot weather” person, but those visits proved I could enjoy the Florida summers in comfort. Bought in November 2022, and closed a month later - best decision of life.

Unfortunately, what you posted is true. There seems to be a major disconnect between the happy, content people you meet everyday in The Villages, and some of the nasty, snarky people that post on social media. Some of those “naysayers” aren’t even Villages residents.