Home Watch
 

Hi Folks,

I'm seriously considering purchasing a property in the Villages (love the life style & convenience)

Like so many snow birds, I'm hoping to escape some of the Canadian winter for a month or two each year. I'm up here on the Atlantic Sea coast (Nova Scotia)..I live across the street from the ocean (gorgeous in summer) but:2excited: some of those nor'easters can blow in here pretty hard especially in winter.

Of course one huge consideration is who would be keeping an eye on things or dealing with tenants in my absence (should it be rented periodically).

I would prefer NOT to use the property management companies in the Village. Their contract prohibits you from using your property in Jan, Feb, Mar ...so that sort of defeats my purpose!

I'm sure there are people who live in the Villages who do this on the side.
One name I picked up from the forum was Vilas Henkle (rave reviews). Anyone know that person or how I can get in touch with them & anyone else who does this.

Another name came up "Redwitch"...they offer a home watch service.
Any information would be helpful.

Cheers & thanks so much

Mary

You can send a private message to Redwitch from this site.

Personally if I were only coming for a few months I would find an awesome rental and let the owner worry about it the rest of the year.

Yep, you are right, but its nice to know its there, & I or my family members can use it more often if we wish...maybe some day I'll want to be there for the full 6mos the USA allows...

I could thaw my bones out elsewhere in Florida, but the villages beckon ...like a huge magnet! Amenities, convenience = no car required.

Still on the fence about taking the plunge, need to have all the "backup" in place first. So I'm reading all I can on these forums.

Cheers
Mary

******** is a person, not a group or a company and she is a Jill of all trades. She lovingly and perfectly came by to see our kitties were fine this last week when we were off campus.

She watches homes and does almost anything you need done.

Send her a P.M. on here to ********. She has a lovely regular name and I will let her tell you what it is.

Apparently there is a reason for the disappearance of her screen name. Maybe we need to get her to pay for an advertisement.

Her name is something like um......scarlet...AND keeper of a broom or coven at halloween...rhymes with female dog.

Admin...is this alright? I don't wanna get kicked out for smart aleckness.

She made contact with me ALREADY & you are right...her list is long indeed! Good grief she's a one person conglomerate. I'll definitely be looking her up. Her reputation is her best calling card. Those property management companies of the Villages have some serious competition! At least she doesn't prohibit you from using your own property any time of year.


Thanks a lot
Mary

Welcome Mary. I was born in Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia. There are quite a few people in TV from Nova Scotia, they even have their own club! There is also a club called "Loonies and Toonies" for Canadians and the membership now is around 500!

Our summer home is now in Ontario. But for 182 wonderful days every winter, we get to live in our TV home. WE LOVE TV! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to PM me.

A fellow Canuck

you can use thevillages4rent to rent your home and hire a homewatch person to take care of it

Redwitch has been caring for our new home in TV for several months. She does everything necessary and more. I couldn't ask for better and wholeheartedly recommend her service. I bought some chairs on TOTV and she kindly picked them up and delivered them to my house. She pulled weeds. She pruned a bush. She adjusted my irrigation system. And on and on. Gotta love my Redwitch. If she gets to know and trust you, you will also love to know how she got her name.

:welcome: to the TOTV forum, Mary. I've always wanted to visit Halifax. Cheers.

Tax implications for Canadians who do business (rent a home) in the USA.

Mary-Mary, Welcome to TOTV. I was in your country (Montreal) two weeks ago for a very lovely visit. This is the place to go to get information about moving to and living in The Villages. :welcome:

not for everyone
 

Some of us are "nesters" and just need our own place to decorate, personalize and accumulate stuff in. Renting would not work for me, or some of my friends, but would be fine for others. I could do it for maybe a month in Florida, and that is not enough time to develop friendships, or really get involved in some of the activities here.

We are buying a condo in Columbus for summer months for the same reason. Lots of people have said to just rent a furnished apt. (not so easy anyway in Columbus) or just rent in an Extended Stay facility with a kitchenette. I would last about a week at one of those.

I think it is a lot easier to arrange for maintenance and homewatch services here in Florida than the other way around.

I think you just have to know yourself.

I totally agree, I'm a nester also. We visited TV, looked around, and bought a house. Renting may be OK for some. But I need a sense of community, I need to know my neighbours, and each year when I come to TV, I need to know I'm sleeping in my own king-size bed that no-one else has used!

Everyone seem to think their own Village and location is the best. IMHO, you can't make a wrong decision.

Fellow Canadian from Alberta
 

Please contact me re any questions you have about The Villages, as we have owned our property since 2003 and we also rent our property - 352-450-9293