[geofitz13]

I've been doing a lot of research on which of the Villages would be a good fit for us. One of the things we find attractive about TV is being able to get involved in a neighborhood. But are there villages that turn into ghost towns after snowbird season? I'd hate to find that for a good part of the year, we could be alone in an area because it is primarily rentals to snowbirds. Any thoughts?

[villagetinker]

You are correct, we live in Pinellas, and most of the people are year round, and this does make a difference. My very informal observation is that villas appear to have a higher rate of rentals and snow birds. I do not know if there is a database of rentals, etc., but with any luck you will get info to your question here. I think there are a couple of homes for sale in the area (exact location is Pinellas Island).
Hope this helps.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by villagetinker

You are correct, we live in Pinellas, and most of the people are year round, and this does make a difference. My very informal observation is that villas appear to have a higher rate of rentals and snow birds. I do not know if there is a database of rentals, etc., but with any luck you will get info to your question here. I think there are a couple of homes for sale in the area (exact location is Pinellas Island).
Hope this helps.

I agree with Mr. Tinker................I would say well over 50% (in our area) stay year-round. When the Snow's come back, it's great to re-gen the relationship(s).

[HoosierPa]

We live in a Villa Neighborhood next to Brownwood and I would guess 2/3 of the Owners live here full time. We love it.

[graciegirl]

In the first couple of years in a designer neighborhood the homes may be sparsely occupied because the owners may have purchased them before they retired.

[Toymeister]

You can look up the neighbors in the tax rolls and check ownership; the address where the owners live is posted. If the address is not the property address or if it is in a different state this gives you an idea that the owners are seasonal or rental property owners. This is not an absolute check as they can have the mail forwarded but it gives you an excellent 'flavor' of the area.

All of the taxing authorities website (one for each county) are linked from V-H-4-R dot com (remove dashes) go to verify home ownership on the left.

Sumter county's web site has satellite views of the neighborhoods and its fairly easy to use.

Once you see which homes are seasonal you can size them up visually in person. Although it is not scientific and there is not a 1:1 correlation the seasonal homes have a certain 'look'. That is not intended as derogatory but it is true if you don't live in a home most of the year you can't maintain certain landscaping or to a particular level. Usually the landscapers do not maintain the property with the same TLC an owner would. I may ruffle some feathers with that statement and I am sure someone will comment, check it for yourself and report back.

My wife and I play a game as we walk new areas to 'spot the rental'. Although I can't tell you how many I don't recognize those that we agree are seasonal or rental we are correct over 70% of the time. There is also a way to find if the home is a rental, again it's not 100% but it does make our game more interesting.

I maybe alone on this one but I think a certain degree of seasonal/rentals is good for the neighborhood: less traffic, quieter.

[John_W]

We live in a CYV community that is six years old (Tamarind Grove), our street has 13 villas and 10 are occupied right now. We have masonry villas but when my neighbor on the living room side is at home, I don't blast my surround sound quite as loud as I do now. They're gone and I like it that way. I've stood outside and I can't hear my surround sound when it's turned up, these masonry villas are solid pour, not even CBS (concrete block), they use forms and pour solid walls, btw my last electric bill was $78.