[Villagesgal]

Consider a resale, much better value for your money and you can buy golf course home for less than new home with home right behind yours. Don't buy a too small home. We bought 3 bed designer on golf course 19 years ago and still love our home. You will know the right house when you see it, also have a non villages real estate agent also show you non villages listings. Good luck. You will love living here.

[kbogli]

When we started our home search last year we had no idea where to start or where in Florida we even wanted to live. We spent alot of time on 55places it has listings and info from most 55+ communities all over Florida. We looked at 100s of homes reading discriptions and looking at pictures of homes and communities. All so very different from our home/community in Nebraska. We made a couple trips to just spend time and drive around communities in our target area. Pay attention to HOA fees and what they include, also taxes. Make a list of what you want in a home and community.
We loved the look of the Villages, but in the end chose a community just outside of the Villages. We had a non-Villages real estate agent who really went the extra mile to find us what we wanted. Good Luck in your search its a big area to cover!

[Burke711]

Think about if you want your home to back up to another house or a street. Privacy

Sidewalks and golf cart paths can be noisy and people walking dogs will use your yard for their business.

One of your neighbors may have an impressive, loud motorcycle that he (or she) likes to start up and share the noise it makes with the neighborhood. Very considerate

[larcha]

Neighborhoods cycle. The older "mature" neighborhoods see younger owners move in as the residents change over time. Where you live should be where you enjoy living. Nothing is forever.

[TCRSO]

The quick response is "what everyone else who replied said". We started by making a list of everything that we wanted knowing we would have to compromise. The surprise was that the more we looked we began to diverge or what was important. For example we both were adamant that we wanted to be on the water or on a golf course. But, I ultimately believed that proximity to a town square outweighed golf course or water frontage. After much more house hunting we began to agree on where, size and price. Still looking and we may change our opinions. The point is that it is a process. Enjoy the search.

[Brwne]

Originally Posted by eabrusco

My husband and I are thinking of buying in TV but we are so confused as to where to buy! Any suggestions about location of home when you decide to buy? Thanks

We visited my wife's cousin for a week last April and I was sold! Originally, we thought we wouldn't move down full time for another 5 years so buying "south of the Turnpike" seemed a good idea. Made a list of features and identified the "drop dead" ones that MUST be present. Spent the summer studying homes, floor plans and getting "pre Approved" at Citizen's First. Came down last August for a week, survived the heat and humidity, and looked at all the homes "I thought" were right - they weren't. Andrew Mitchell, our Villages RE agent, then showed us a couple of homes he thought might work, based on our comments, and we walked into the second one - a Designer in McClure - and my wife said "this is it, let's buy it". We closed on it three weeks later and, after getting it set up for rental, decided to move here full time April, 2020. We're all new owners in the neighborhood and creating new friendships - we couldn't be more excited!

[OhioBuckeye]

Originally Posted by eabrusco

My husband and I are thinking of buying in TV but we are so confused as to where to buy! Any suggestions about location of home when you decide to buy? Thanks

You can’t go wrong to buy anywhere in TV, it just depends how much you want to spend. If you buy on a golf course, water or a wilderness area you’ll pay a lot more for a home even if it’s Villa, just don’t let a realtor talk you into anything you’ll regret because once you buy it it’ll be your problem to resell if you decide to, So buy what you can afford. Realtors are right about one thing though, a percentage of people will sell & buy 3 times. We told our realtor we absolutely would not buy 3 times we bought 2 times unless you count when we moved out of TV, which I’m kinda regretting it. Good Luck, you’ll love it there!

[l2ridehd]

It's a process and it takes time. And the best advice was to rent first. Maybe 3 different locations and home types. Spend at least a month in each. Maybe different seasons. After you have done that you will know the type of home you want and where you want it. There are always homes for sale everywhere. So waiting for a few months while you get a complete education is worth a lot. Rent in the winter, rent in the summer and one of the spring or fall months. Try more north, new area and someplace in the middle.

It works and is worth doing.

[Craig Vernon]

The great thing about this site is so many others are helped by a single persons post. As someone who is in the same boat as so many other future Villagers I have read much of the same advice before but it is all valuable stuff. The move to TV will be a Big one and we all want to try to get as much right as possible on the first try. Good Luck to the poster and to us all. Thanks for all the wisdom and experienced responses!

[LiverpoolWalrus]

If you have to have brand new, you’re limited to the south side and a few rebuilds in the historic district east of Spanish Springs. If you want proximity to the Town Squares and active rec centers, look north (east) of the Florida Turnpike. I just moved here last week. Didn’t feel it necessary to rent first so we’ll see how it goes. Good luck in your search.

[John_W]

You didn't tell us about your lifestyle. Are you going to be golfing mostly at the championship courses? Would living near a regional Rec Center with pickleball courts and many other activities interest you? Would you be using your golf cart for a majority of your travel within TV (The Villages). Would you want a home built within the past 10 years? Do you prefer Brownwood and Lake Sumter Squares over Spanish Springs.

If the answer is yes to all of these, look for a home in the Village of Duval and then expand outward from there one village north, south, east or west and you would fit within those parameters.