[Talk Host]

My wife and I really thought Charleston, SC was going to be our place. We liked it until our third November visit and we had to scrape frost off of the car windshield. We also looked at several other communities including one one Keowee Lake, called Keowee Key. It was nice, but so rural that once you left the gate, you were nowhere. We talked about Arizona and Texas, but The Villages caught our eye and here we are.

[ouma1938]

We have lived on Lake Keowee for 12 years. Not in Keowee Key but another subdivision nearby. We do love the lake but can't wait to sell our home and move down to TV. And our son and daughter have decided to move to Central Florida as well. They both live here and are not old enough for TV yet, but are going to move down and buy homes between Orlando and TV and settle in. We are thrilled as we are a very close family and still having them near us will be wonderful. So if you know anyone who wants a home on beautiful Lake Keowee send them on to me. Then I can become a true Villager!

[F16 1UB]

We looked in Springhill FL. Our builder in KY has a home there and suggested the area. It was nice but no way compares to TV. Then there were sink hole issues also in Springhill.

Steve

[diskman]

ouma1938 my son owns 2 brand new homes in Ocala, and 2 in Orlando which he is selling. check out his web site
stealmyhomes.com
or send me a private message with your phone info and i will have him call you. :bigthumbsup: :bigthumbsup:
diskman
larry

[beady]

;D We have considered:

1) Asheville, NC (to cold in winter)

2) Charleston, SC ( to humid in summer, and cold in winter)

3) South Florida, ( not enough change of seasons)

Soon we will be Villagers with all the amenities and have just the right mix of season changes . Can't wait.

[ouma1938]

Hi Diskman, I've sent you a private message about your sons properties.
Barbara

[SteveFromNY]

Oddly, I didn't really look anywhere else.
Strange as it sounds, it's like fate led us to TV.
We continued to run into people who moved there (over the course of several years), or had visited there, or knew someone there, and then I passed it as I took 301 to bypass traffic on the turnpike on a trip back from Disney one year (saw the signs but didn't stop or even slow down, but just felt another of the coincidental peices fall in place). All that, and I continued to watch the website and saw the price of the houses continue to skyrocket (I remember seeing the Designer homes in the low to mid $100's and the Patio Villas in the $70K range). We got the video, and I studied the models and floor plans. Then we decided to visit, fell in love with the place, and bought one on Memorial Day weekend of 2005. I figured the worst thing that would happen to me if I grew to hate it there was I'd sell it one day - not much of a down-side in my opinion.
I won't be a resident until next year as I still need to work, but the days are counting down rapidly! I will be visiting again in November for a week, and then next summer be ready to make my move (if my house in NY ever sells)

[villages07]

We thought a little about the Carolinas, but, like Florida climate and lack of state income tax better. Did a central FL whirlwind tour in Feb 06...starting in greater Tampa area (Lakeland, Land o Lakes, etc), then drove over to Kissimmee and checked out Solivita (which was nice, but area was a bit congested, and long lead time to build and many investor owners), then drove to Leesburg to check out Pringle development, finally travelling up 441 to Villages. Did the 'sucker bus' tour late in the afternoon, then saw the vendors and music and said we gotta come back. Rented in July 06 to see the summer conditions and bought on July 7th of that year. Like previous poster, my web research and talking to friends kept turning up the Villages...everybody (on the east coast) over 50 knows someone who lives here.

[gingersmom]

We looked in Hot Springs Village, Ark. Nothing to do there at night. Lots of ourdoor stuff during the day. Not even a movie theater or library. Then we look at Savannah Lakes in SC. Beautiful Hills, wonderful 2000 acre lake. Nothing to do in the evening. The two times we visited and went to the only 2 restuarants in the complex, everyone was drunk or getting there because there was nothing else to do. Moved to TV in 2003.

[diskman]

villagers07
curious have you found the summer bearable, coming from Maryland you know about humidity we are former new yorkers now living in California where we only have maybe 10 days a year humidity. my wife thinks i am nuts but, i am in love with the villages
Larry

[mejahu]

Villages07 Could you compare TV and Pringle? Upside vs. downside. We've received advertising from both over the years. The latest I saw Pringle seemed very expensive. Thanks for any input.

[swrinfla]

Oshunluva:
To answer your weather-related question - yes, there can be "frost on the pumpkin" in January and/or February, but it's unlikely you'll ever have to scrape it off! My recollection is that we had three-four days last winter when the temperature dropped to 27-28 degrees. All for perhaps a couple of hours, after which it went back on up to 60-70 or maybe even more! It was fun watching the Orlando weather forecasters yammer about "bring in the pets, bring in the plants, check your outside water faucets" for a predicted low just barely below freezing, when "up north" they don't usually get so agitated until they're predicting closer to zero! :joke:

[villages07]

diskman larry.... summers here in TV are very bearable, if you are used to deep South or East Coast; longtimers tell me this is one of the hottest summers they can recall...lots of days with 95-97 degrees. I had always thought the temps stayed at 92-94, with little variation. Even with that, I'm out and about at all times of the day...play tennis (on soft clay courts) from 1130-130 and it's quite tolerable (now that I am used to it). It doesn't feel as nasty as the heat and humidity in the DC area....most days, the humidity goes below 50%, the clouds increase, and a breeze stirs by 11:30; The other great thing about this area is code GREEN air quality every day...in DC, during the summer, it was at least code Yellow (if not Orange) for most of the summer. Mornings and evenings here are gorgeous. And, once we get past Sept, the air stays very dry til May. So, all in all, I've adapted to the climate very well. Might be a little tougher going from a California climate to central Florida, but, with all the other plusses of the Villages it'll be well worth it. Bring the wife and check it out!!!

[villages07]

mejahu .... In my mind, no comparison between The Villages and Pringle 55+ communities. Pringle does build a nice looking house, will build to suit. What I didn't like (in Feb 06) was what appeared to be an almost 2 year lead time to build, and they wanted a lot of money and draws along the way. Just seemed too risky. Their communities are pretty and they do have amenities, but nowhere near the scale of the Villages. Some people feel the Villages is too big and opt for smaller 55+ communities. At that time, Pringle was not doing CDD type government with the separate construction bond (like we have here), so, the infrastructure costs were built into the price of the house. Seemed to me that home prices at Pringle and here were pretty comparable...but lifestyle and amenity differences are huge. Although it's a well worn and tired phrase, at The Villages you're buying the lifestyle more than the house (and the houses are pretty nice too). I didn't get that same sense of lifestyle in the one Pringle community we visited.

[Villages Kahuna]

...stay where we were, or move into a senior community, in north suburban Chicago. Nah! Why do that and continue to put up with frigid winters, dirty snow and increasing traffic.

Then there was Tucson. We liked it there, but in the end we decided we weren't "desert people". There's also the blockage of every road south of Tucson by the feds trying to catch northbound illegal immigrants (they try, but aren't very successful) and the water problem. That and it gets doggone cold in January and February in the desert.

We only visited TV once, for the five-day lifestyle experience program. When we came the second time we were serious about buying a house. We worked hard for four days looking at new and pre-owned homes with a superb Villages sales rep. We bought a new Lantana in Mallory Square in June, 2006 and moved down in October.