[B-flat]

Originally Posted by eweissenbach

My understanding is that TV will not sell new homes with any contingencies. You would have to put down earnest money on a contract and if you changed your mind the earnest money would be forfeited.

We did a resale home and the one we really wanted was one that was unfortunately sold before we could even make an offer. The realtor did say that within 72 hours of my arrival I could put a dp on it. When I arrived if it wasn’t a home I wanted they would allow me to pick another home. Not sure what would have really happened because that CYV went pending before we entered that 72 hour window.

[jblum315]

When I was looking I paid more attention to floor plans than pictures. Pictures can be deceiving. Good house photographers can make a room look twice its size.

[EPutnam1863]

Before we go to look at a house, we always use Google Earth. It does an amazing job in viewing the house from the air, from the street, etc. We once fell in love with a house online and Google-earthed it only to discover it was next door to a hospital parking lot.

Another time the listing said the house had deeded access to the lake, so we Googled-earthed to the lake and discovered it was a mile away, and there was no parking lot!

Good Earth is free but it does take some time in learning how to manipulate it to your viewing angles. You can even move the images further away to see what the entire block is like, etc. Practice with your own house.

[EPutnam1863]

One more thing....have realtor or someone draw the floor plan for you. You may discover the closest toilet is pretty far away from the garage.

[Airis2thick]

we bought over the internet. our agent,
Matt O'neil, sent us pictures and then
did a facechat walk through. we were already
familiar with Village home designs and the
Fenney area. No regrets.

[NotGolfer]

Some folks may have success. Our story---we nearly put an offer (were on the phone with a realtor and about to sign and fax) but pulled back at the last minute. We were coming down anyway so decided to wait to look at the place in person. SOOOOO glad we did as while it looked great in photos...not so much when we actually saw it.

[Kirsten Lee]

Yes, we purchased with just pictures in 2013. My dad and his wife rented in TV the high season in 2008. I visited twice that winter. In December of 2008 they brought an Amarillo model (now called a Sun-kissed). The whole family came down in November of 2009. My husband really loved it so did my 11, 14, and 17 year old kids. I came down the coldest weeks of the winter in 2010 and 2011, plus Christmas 2011. Visited December 2012 and looked at new models homes with my husband. I really did not want a house like my dads but I liked that model the best. In January of 2013, visited with my daughter (who was now 20). We were looking at houses and having my husband look at them online. We realized he did not need to see the house to buy it. A house would be sold before we could see it the next day. Went home and looked at houses on the website almost daily. We had a village sales person looking for us, too. In late April, our house came on the market. We purchased it. We thought of the house as a place holder house. We would rent it out for the busy months and live in it for a year once we moved down full-time. After a year we planned to sell and move to a newer (younger crowd) neighborhood. BUT we love our Neighbors and no longer plan to move. They have welcomed us with open arms. They are fantastic. Out house is in Summerhill and we like how close it is to 466.

If you know the floor plan you want (which you can see drawings of on the website), and on a pre-owned you can have an inspection contingency. You can buy without actually "seeing it."

[Barefoot]

We purchased in 2007 from an internet listing. No disappointments. We backed on a golf course which we wanted.
We outgrew the CYV and moved to a larger home in 2010.
We bought in the same Village because we love our location (mid Village).

[queasy27]

I've done this three times when moving back from overseas or between states for jobs, in TX, CO, and here. I had a friend in TV who did quick looksees for me on my top three choices and reported back, but the other moves were photos only. The places were all under 20 years old and I was mostly concerned about cleanliness and that the inspections didn't reveal any major problems. Was pleased each time.

The motivating factor was to have a place waiting for me when I arrived in the new locations; I REALLY did not want to lease a temporary apartment, get settled in, and then have to move again when I found a house. It helped that my requirements were "comfortable and within my budget" rather than "dream."

[Laker14]

I don't think I could do it. Before I plunked down the kind of money it would take to buy a house, I'd want to see it, touch it, poke in the corners, and look around at all of the things that may have been carefully omitted from the photographs, (as mentioned, high tension lines too near would disappoint me), and certain things that simply can't be put into pictures like ambient noise, and smell.

[TOMCAT]

Originally Posted by Laker14

I don't think I could do it. Before I plunked down the kind of money it would take to buy a house, I'd want to see it, touch it, poke in the corners, and look around at all of the things that may have been carefully omitted from the photographs, (as mentioned, high tension lines too near would disappoint me), and certain things that simply can't be put into pictures like ambient noise, and smell.

Yes that is how my husband feels. I just see many nice houses on the internet and feel we are losing out. My husband says there will be plenty for us to see when we get down there. Hopefully soon from Long Island.

[VillageIdiots]

Originally Posted by TOMCAT

Yes that is how my husband feels. I just see many nice houses on the internet and feel we are losing out. My husband says there will be plenty for us to see when we get down there. Hopefully soon from Long Island.

The only thing you could possibly miss out on are better prices. There was a price increase last month, at least on all the new homes still for sale near me, and an agent shared with my wife yesterday that there will be another hike in September. The homes themselves are a plenty. They are building 2 new golf courses over around DeSoto and McClure and we can already see that there will be some villas and homes going in soon that will have nice golf and water views if that's what you are looking for. Lots of homes in Fenney with water views but 0 have golf views as the courses that are in Fenney are isolated with no home sites.

[UpNorth]

I would not rely on photos exclusively. The job of the person taking the photos is to make your house look as good as possible. For interiors, they like to use a lot of flash lighting to make the house seem "bright" when in actuality it could be quite dark (especially if the walls are painted in a dark color). Wide angle lenses make the rooms seem more spacious. And anything objectionable will not be shown in the exterior photos. We looked at a beautiful house years ago that would have been great except for the huge antenna in the back yard, that was never shown in any of the photos.

It might be a good idea to look at a Google Earth or Google Street View of the house before you send your money off.

[jebartle]

Originally Posted by Chatbrat

Besides the house you need a look @ the neighborhood and traffic patterns, also how close are the nearest houses: i.e.: kissing lanais--also the demographics IMHO are the further north an older community (people wise) further south younger (people wise)

My wife's nephew inherited a patio villa in Hialeah Villa's-he's 55 and he commented " wow this place is full of really old people"--he rents it 7months a year

Those really old people are fun-loving huggable friends, give them a try, we are all heading that way, if we're lucky enough to spend the rest of our retirement in pardise!

[OBRight]

Hi,
We just closed Tuesday on one we did that exact thing on. Saw the house on-line and liked the look of it from the pictures. Contacted the sales agent from the Villages we had been working with and made an offer with a contingency giving us 7 days to come down and view it in person. Couldn't be happier!