[Rainger99]

I have been here about two years and my wife is talking about moving. When we got here, we both agreed that we didn't want to back up to a lanai so we back up to a wall. Now, she is talking about getting a house with a view.

The Villages website refers to Home Golf Front Site, Golf View Site, Water Front Site, Water View Site, View Site, and Preserve Site.

Can anyone explain the differences between a Golf Front Site and a Golf View Site and a Water Front Site and a Water View Site and a regular View Site? Why isn't there a preserve view site?

Any pros or cons for these various sites?

I have seen complaints from people that live on golf courses - noise and golf balls in their back yards. Do people with view sites think that it is worth the premium price?

[retiredguy123]

Yes, they are definitely worth it.

[Altavia]

Love our sunset view lot.

They seem to appreciate more at resale than without so the additional investment is probably better than money in the bank.

[SummerDays]

Recently purchased, not living there yet. Seemed like the front vs view difference comes down to whether there is a road or similar between your home and the view, or not. No cars or similar between you and the course is a "front" home.

I've always liked to see out a ways no matter where I've lived, so I chose a golf front location, but only time will tell if there is a golf front negative I didn't consider. Looking forward to finding out when I get there.

[mrf0151]

First home here in TV had homes clustered close together. We moved to a lot with water and open space behind the house, Buena Vista and 466. It is wonderful. This was several years ago so the lot premium was only $30K. Lot premium pricing now days is way out there along with the crazy bond prices.

[Rainger99]

Originally Posted by mrf0151

First home here in TV had homes clustered close together. We moved to a lot with water and open space behind the house, Buena Vista and 466. It is wonderful.

These are not the answers I was looking for!!!!

[Normal]

Originally Posted by Rainger99

I have seen complaints from people that live on golf courses - noise and golf balls in their back yards. Do people with view sites think that it is worth the premium price?

We went all in on a Water View/Front site. We have zero regrets. Just make sure your rear view faces East or NorthEast. It makes the lanai much more enjoyable.

[Stu from NYC]

If you have the money to pay for the view go for it.

[Boomer]

In TV, we bought a designer that backed up to courtyard villas, so we got the villa’s backyard wall……

The house was my favorite model at the time — and it was a professionally done turnkey in the LSL section. It checked a lot of boxes, including having the most windows I could find — lots of natural light.

What sold me though was when I walked in the front door and saw that wall out the back. The wall gave us privacy, but we could also have the two-car garage and the interior space of a designer.

When you sell, that wall you now have could be a selling point. It was for me. I did not want to see someone else’s backyard or lanai or people back there. (We landscaped and used pavers to create our own (sort of) view, backed by that wall.)

But we have never been full time and never will be. Ohio is home.

All that being said though, in addition to lots of windows, I do love a good, long view.

But don’t forget that if you do not own that view, and/or the expanse of ground you are seeing beyond, you have no say in what could eventually happen to it.

Golf course lots? Depends. How close is it to the path? How vulnerable to broken windows? How much do you have to hear? Golf course lots are lovely, but some locations on the course might get old, fast.

Preserves? For me? What critters are crawling around in there?

Vacant property behind you that you do not own? NEVER! (No matter what that sales rep tells you.)

Have fun shopping. Go to lots of open houses. Take your time.

Boomer

PS: Had we decided to live in TV full-time, the only thing that could make me give up the wall behind our house would be a pool.

[vintageogauge]

A water or golf view is just that, you can see water or part of a golf course however it could be several hundred yards away as there are several like that for sale right now. Front means you pretty much have water or a golf course in your back yard. We lived on a golf course for 13 years and will never do that again as you have no privacy to speak of and it's noisy. We now have a water front lot and really like it, very peaceful and quite also lots of nature to see. Some will say there are too many bugs, snakes, etc., and in the 6 plus years we have been on water we don't find that to be true. 15 years or so ago they used to advertise peak-a-boo lots meaning if you looked between 2 houses you could see a small section of a golf course but you still had lanais facing yours. Don't hear that term anymore for some reason. Good luck in your search.

[Toymeister]

View sites have a visual of ________ (golf, water, etc). The quality of the view varies and can, over time be blocked by the frontage owners landscape. View lots can also have a view by looking over a road. Frontage owners can be confident that the view of the _______ (golf, water, etc.) Will always be there and no automotive traffic.

Some lots can be both, we have golf frontage and water view.


IMHO lots that front some type of action generating activity are the most valuable, human being the most prized. For example golf fronts can back up to a path while others view the fairway. Conversely, a preserve view of trees isn't terribly interesting compared to a water view with waterfowl.

Now are GF lots worth 'it', it being $350,000. Well it's hard to say, I can say it's beautiful view and I enjoy people watching.

[retiredguy123]

When you sell your house, if you have a nice view site, it will sell immediately. If you are on a noisy road, it may take forever. If you have a large, expensive house on an interior lot, it will be more difficult to sell than a smaller, cheaper house on an interior lot. When they were building Premier houses, the ones on interior lots were difficult to resell. And, whatever you do, unless you buy a 2 bedroom house, get a 2.5 car garage.

[tophcfa]

Difficult question to answer, the value is in the eye of the beholder. We paid roughly $20K for the wildlife preserve with beautiful sunsets in our back yard and feel it’s totally worth it. However, the view is only part of the value we paid for, the privacy is priceless.

[asianthree]

Golf or water or preserve front, your lot backs to that course, or water.

Partial view you will have an obstructed view, with what can be a peek a boo view of the water or course.

You also need to find out how far the neighbor can add on to pretty much obstruct your view completely, unless you walk to the end of your lot for a view. We almost bought a home that the back of the house faced the neighbors side of their home. Had a beautiful view of the golf course without being directly on it. Our rep pointed out that if neighbors choose to add on the view from the lanai would be gone. One year later they did add on, glad we didn’t buy.

View site can have a road behind the house, but have full view of pond or course.I would back up to a road before a partial view. Road slows down and no worry of neighbors, that partial view can go away at any time

[Pondboy]

So we live on a golf course….we chose the lot and it’s right off the tee box, so we don’t have issues with golf balls. A few houses down, yes. Location is key. We don’t mind the golfers, some are noisy others are not. With the pace of play, they don’t stay long either way. The scenery is ever changing and it’s interesting to people watch. But I’ve seen some houses on golf courses that back up to undesirable things like restrooms, generators and pump houses.

As far as ponds, there is no guarantee that they will have water in them. So keep that in mind. Some ponds are well behaved and others are prone to algae blooms. Most drain from the street so you will on occasion have to deal with trash that gets washed into them. You’ll also have an alligator as well as other wild life. If you have a small dog, don’t take it for walks at the waters edge.

For both locations, you will see service personnel (think mowers) in your back yard. The golf course people are out and about at 6 AM mowing. I’m usually up by then so it’s not an issue for me. If you’re a light (and late) sleeper, you might have problems.

I’d recommend exploring the area of your potential new home by utilizing google earth or even google maps.

Do I think that the (higher) lot price was worth it? You bet! Think I’d go crazy without a view or some space, but that’s just me. View lots are always in demand.

Best of luck.