[tippyclubb]

Its highly possibly we will be purchasing a Cabot Cove or Patio Villa within the next 10 days. I have been watching the prices of new and used home dramatically increase so feel this is the time to buy. There is also talk of a build out in 2015 and if this happens I suspect the prices will continue to rise further and become to expensive for us.

If we do buy now we will not retire for 15 months so the house will be sitting unfurnished and vacant. Most likely we will not be making any trips back to Florida until we do retire.

Can someone share some of the things we should be concerned about with a house sitting vacant for so long.

This is a huge decision for us, and I'm feeling nervous about the house being vacant for so long. Other than that I'm feeling VERY excited and can't wait to begin the LSV next Saturday.

[Jayhawk]

Originally Posted by tippyclubb

Its highly possibly we will be purchasing a Cabot Cove or Patio Villa within the next 10 days. I have been watching the prices of new and used home dramatically increase so feel this is the time to buy. There is also talk of a build out in 2015 and if this happens I suspect the prices will continue to rise further and become to expensive for us.

If we do buy now we will not retire for 15 months so the house will be sitting unfurnished and vacant. Most likely we will not be making any trips back to Florida until we do retire.

Can someone share some of the things we should be concerned about with a house sitting vacant for so long.

This is a huge decision for us, and I'm feeling nervous about the house being vacant for so long. Other than that I'm feeling VERY excited and can't wait to begin the LSV next Saturday.

We are kind of in the same situation. We bought on our LSV in April and didn't return until a few weeks ago. We are back home now (wish we were still there).

We found two entities that take care of pretty much everything for us. Steller handles lawn care, mowing, weeding, extermination, etc. Empty Nest handles the rest (weekly inspections, running water and appliances, providing a report to us, etc.). Both are reasonably priced and have never disappointed us.

Good luck in your decisions.

[coconutmama]

If you buy new, you'll have a 5 year warranty on a lot of the important items such as the HVAC. You can, and should, hire a home watch person, which is very reasonable. They'll come in to check your home for leaks, run the water if you want, let you know how your lawn is doing, etc.

But do try to come down a few times a year to enjoy your future home & meet your neighbors! You should exchange your info with them too, so they can notify you if a problem arises.

A pre-owned certified home, also has warranties on some items for a year, I believe. Ask your realtor. They are very knowledgeable.

Good luck & let us know how you make out!

[geri317]

Make sure you hire a landscaper to cut your grass and treat weeds. We live in a new courtyard villa and some of our neighbors bought, then left. Their yards are a disaster and the full timers are reporting these places to Community Standards to get them cleaned up.

[tippyclubb]

Originally Posted by geri317

Make sure you hire a landscaper to cut your grass and treat weeds. We live in a new courtyard villa and some of our neighbors bought, then left. Their yards are a disaster and the full timers are reporting these places to Community Standards to get them cleaned up.

I was so busy thinking about the things that could wrong on the inside I never thought about the grass until Jay mentioned it. Yes, we will be hiring someone to take care of the lawn. We would never be that inconsiderate to the neighbors. Hopefully for you something will be done now they have been reported.

[maddie101]

We are closing oct 7 th but not moving until 2015. We have rented out our home for the two year period so it won't sit empty. You will have to have utilities on and still pay other fees that really add up on an empty home. These expenses could be more than the price increase. It might be better to by when you are ready to move if you don't want to rent out your home. We wanted a specific lot and a new home, so we needed to proceed. We were told the build out was around the corner, but it appears more land has been purchased.

[herbaru]

You need to talk to an insurance company about your plans. Call AAA as they insure many around TV.

[tippyclubb]

Originally Posted by maddie101

We are closing oct 7 th but not moving until 2015. We have rented out our home for the two year period so it won't sit empty. You will have to have utilities on and still pay other fees that really add up on an empty home. These expenses could be more than the price increase. It might be better to by when you are ready to move if you don't want to rent out your home. We wanted a specific lot and a new home, so we needed to proceed. We were told the build out was around the corner, but it appears more land has been purchased.

We are figuring around 7 grand a year for upkeep on the home but wont know for sure until we sit down with the sales people. I was also told a few days ago by the sales office the build out is expected to happen in 2015. Its because of the potential build out and watching the prices rise we feel its time to buy now.

How do you know more land has been purchased? If this is true perhaps we would not feel such a urgency to buy now.

As for renting it out I was told unfurnished homes are very hard to rent. However, I suppose we have nothing to lose by trying , and this is definitely something we will consider.

[maddie101]

Originally Posted by tippyclubb

We are figuring around 7 grand a year for upkeep on the home but wont know for sure until we sit down with the sales people. I was also told a few days ago by the sales office the build out is expected to happen in 2015. Its because of the potential build out and watching the prices rise we feel its time to buy now.

How do you know more land has been purchased? If this is true perhaps we would not feel such a urgency to buy now.

As for renting it out I was told unfurnished homes are very hard to rent. However, I suppose we have nothing to lose by trying , and this is definitely something we will consider.

There are several threads on the 600 acres purchased. We rented our home quickly on villages4rent.com even prior to completion.....unfurnished.

[asianthree]

Originally Posted by tippyclubb

We are figuring around 7 grand a year for upkeep on the home but wont know for sure until we sit down with the sales people. I was also told a few days ago by the sales office the build out is expected to happen in 2015. Its because of the potential build out and watching the prices rise we feel its time to buy now.

How do you know more land has been purchased? If this is true perhaps we would not feel such a urgency to buy now.

As for renting it out I was told unfurnished homes are very hard to rent. However, I suppose we have nothing to lose by trying , and this is definitely something we will consider.

Our yearly with taxes and bond is from $11,000 to $13,000 for everything on less than 1200 sq ft...7,000 is a little low

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by tippyclubb

Its highly possibly we will be purchasing a Cabot Cove or Patio Villa within the next 10 days. I have been watching the prices of new and used home dramatically increase so feel this is the time to buy. There is also talk of a build out in 2015 and if this happens I suspect the prices will continue to rise further and become to expensive for us.

If we do buy now we will not retire for 15 months so the house will be sitting unfurnished and vacant. Most likely we will not be making any trips back to Florida until we do retire.

Can someone share some of the things we should be concerned about with a house sitting vacant for so long.

This is a huge decision for us, and I'm feeling nervous about the house being vacant for so long. Other than that I'm feeling VERY excited and can't wait to begin the LSV next Saturday.

Oh I do understand your worries. We bought a home six years ago on a lifestyle visit. We don't do impulsive things, we probably bought it because no one from the builders sales staff tried to talk us into buying anything and we could NOT believe how this place was run and kept thinking, WHAT'S THE CATCH? It was so beautiful and so vibrant and so full of seniors with sparkles in their eyes, holding hands, dancing to the music and of course for us golfers, the golf, golf, golf, golf.

We bought a spec home as six years ago, it was like it is now, only spec homes were offered. They were built a street at a time and no one had moved into any homes near ours.

We contracted to have the grass cut and bushes trimmed and found a list on this forum as to what setting to leave the air conditioner and what to do when you left your home for several months, such as open all closet doors, set the air at 83, turn off the water in the garage, put lights on a timer, and some other things, someone will link you to that list.

It seemed like a safe place and we didn't have anything in the house so we came back really more frequently than we thought and in the first year did snowbird for three months as my husbands job could be managed by the internet and telephone with a couple flights north a month.

We quickly met the neighbors who had bought when we did and some were year rounders and some were snowbirds and some were snowflakes. When we made those connections, some of these nice people volunteered to keep an eye on our property and we handed over our key to them.

Some contracted with home watchers and paid them a monthly fee to flush the toilets and check things out and drive their golf cart if they had one.

Nothing bad happened to our homes and all was well.