[JZawacki]

With the supervision of our Villages realty agent, we got estimates before closing for the garage floor, and we purchased our washer/dryer before closing last year. Both went in the day after closing. Just remember you have to stay off the newly installed garage floor for several days so that will delay furniture delivery ( which we did on purpose because we knew there would be lots of boxes in the garage). Welcome to the Villages—we love it.

[NotGolfer]

I echo what others have said and my answer if "NO"!! I doubt you could do those things where you're moving from neither.
What we did in our experience was.....we bought our house but didn't move down for six months. We came for a week and did our basic purchases half way through that. Had the items delivered while we were here or on hold til we contacted the vendors after we'd moved. We had our L.R. items, the bed in the master etc. While your expectations are valid in your mind---you don't want all that done before-hand. Be patient and things will work out ultimately. Anyway, it seems you're putting the cart before the horse.

[Marmaduke]

For what it's worth, we've built and moved several times and learned a like of tricks along the way.
We have always stayed at a hotel for 7 days after closing, as the Village Tinker has already suggested.

Here's why:
We pre-book several after-market services to continue happening immediately "after we close." The after-market service providers understand that it's dependant on a successful closing.

Builders paint is absolutely awful.
It takes 3-4 days to paint our size home, with 2 costs on ceilings/walls, crown, trim, baseboards and closets included.

We've NEVER regretted doing that, dispite the builder saying that you may negate nail pop warrenty. It never did, as we had the paint.
We assure that we use quality paint, 2 coats by a well know licensed and insured painter before the furniture gets placed.

Folks sometimes skip that idea because it's quite expensive, but boy, oh boy, it's worth every cent!

Remember to have the water softener loop installed by the builder, if you want one. It's more expensive as an afterthought.

It's a time to clean well before moving in. "Builders clean" is NOT clean. There's lots of construction dust, etc that the evenings after the painters are gone afford the time.
We used the building months, when we were held up in a rental somewhere to line things up, interview and get the best insurance carriers for home and auto, so everything's in place for the days and weeks after closing.
Very methodical, but never ever RUSHED. Slow and steady wins the race.
Enjoy the rest stops along the way and welcome to The Villages!

[sallyg]

Originally Posted by villagetinker

Delay your move by a week, stay at a local hotel, and get the stuff you absolutely need for your house. NOTE: VERY IMPORTANT!! Make sure your new house shows up on Google Maps, etc., or you may have a lot of trouble getting your stuff delivered. Make sure your cell phone number is on all delivery instructions and be prepared to provide directions to lost delivery drivers, been there done that. Next will be getting your furniture in your house and arranged. If you are not staying there, you can stop when you are tired, and go to the hotel, rest, and get back into it the next morning. We did an initial move (U-Haul) with enough furniture to 'live' in the house for a few days as we beat the furniture delivery. The washer and dryer were ordered up North, and they literally could not find the NEW zip code for delivery, even the associated store in the villages could not find the new zip code.
As noted above, get in the house, RELAX, then and only then start to look into modifications. While lots of people love solar tube lights, these do not work well on cloudy days or at night, unless you get the ones with auxiliary lights installed ($$$). We found it much more cost effective to just have an additional light installed in place of a solar tube light.
The only item we did before moving in and after closing was to coat the garage floor. It is a real pain to do this after the garage is filled (storage is very limited in these houses).
Hope this helps, and welcome to TV.

Waze will be more apt to show new construction than Google maps.

[MandoMan]

Originally Posted by villagetinker

Delay your move by a week, stay at a local hotel, and get the stuff you absolutely need for your house. NOTE: VERY IMPORTANT!! Make sure your new house shows up on Google Maps, etc., or you may have a lot of trouble getting your stuff delivered. Make sure your cell phone number is on all delivery instructions and be prepared to provide directions to lost delivery drivers, been there done that. Next will be getting your furniture in your house and arranged. If you are not staying there, you can stop when you are tired, and go to the hotel, rest, and get back into it the next morning. We did an initial move (U-Haul) with enough furniture to 'live' in the house for a few days as we beat the furniture delivery. The washer and dryer were ordered up North, and they literally could not find the NEW zip code for delivery, even the associated store in the villages could not find the new zip code.
As noted above, get in the house, RELAX, then and only then start to look into modifications. While lots of people love solar tube lights, these do not work well on cloudy days or at night, unless you get the ones with auxiliary lights installed ($$$). We found it much more cost effective to just have an additional light installed in place of a solar tube light.
The only item we did before moving in and after closing was to coat the garage floor. It is a real pain to do this after the garage is filled (storage is very limited in these houses).
Hope this helps, and welcome to TV.

I had four solar tubes installed in my previous home in The Villages—one in each bathroom and two in the very dark living room where I couldn’t read in the day without a light, and I loved them. A year ago I moved to a 1200 sq ft courtyard villa. It has enough light 8n the living room to read in the day without turning on lights, but not in the master bedroom. However, installed solar tubes cost about $800 each. My biggest electric bill has been $130, of which maybe $15 is lights, at most. While it might be nice to have more light in the bathrooms (which have no windows) or in the bedroom (though the SolarTubes guy says putting tubes in a bedroom is too much light for most people), really, it’s not cost effective. Given that I don’t often have the bathroom lights on and might still have them on when using the bathroom, I doubt that the solar tubes would save me a dollar a year in electricity.

[RRGuyNJ]

Originally Posted by asianthree

NO, you can’t do anything until developers have money in their account and all is signed.

First house closed 17 hours later than scheduled.

Second house 11a close. Close didn’t go off as they expected close finally finished at 1605.

WOW! 17 hrs delay for a closing! Tragic!!
The last house we sold in NJ was delayed 9 months! Trouble is we trusted the lawyer and agent that everything looked good, So we went ahead and bought our current home in NC and had to carry both for all that time.

[Lancer]

We closed on our home on October 12 and didn’t move in until November 2nd. We moved from Lakeland so was only an hour away. Got the garage floor coated, washer and dryer installed and everything else. The idea of staying in a local hotel for a week is a great idea. You don’t own the home until you close.

[SusanStCatherine]

I agree with not moving in for at least the first week. If you see defects during your closing walkthrough, tell them you want them fixed before you sign - it's the last time you'll have any real power to get things fixed. They want you to sign and moved in ASAP. If you can, come in and check on the build as it progresses and report anything wrong. Best time to have things fixed is before closing. If you can't be here, hire Don Wiley (Goldwingnut) to take photos and video of the construction and have him report defects to you.

Hire an inspection for the day after closing to check for defects, especially cosmetic ones that must be reported in the first week. With the list submitted, warranty should come in and fix everything properly. If they don't, it's possible you can get your lodging covered for that time.

[SusanStCatherine]

You can book garage floor coating, but beware you may void your garage floor warranty. My neighbors needed their entire garage concerete floor jackhammered up and redone by warranty after closing. So if they had put a coating on, they would need to pay to have it redone.

[SusanStCatherine]

Get quotes and line up your insurances. State Farm has sinkhole coverage, but requires an inspection. The inspection can be done before closing and you can have your salesperson let them in.

[SusanStCatherine]

Contact your gas and electric providers and set up start date and accounts for auto-pay. Also internet and cable TV.

[SusanStCatherine]

Schedule your orientation for HVAC and the sprinkler system to occur just after closing. Contact those subs directly. If not, you may have to wait.

[SusanStCatherine]

You can order your washer and dryer for delivery and installation. Sonny's Discount Appliances in Altamonte Springs can deliver and set up. If you get a gas dryer, the safest and usually least expensive is to have your gas utility provider connect it.

[SusanStCatherine]

Most changes to landscaping require ARC approval. Don't know if you can get that before closing.

[SusanStCatherine]

You may want to wait on water filter and/or softener. The water is safe and many go without treating it. A filter on your icemaker may be enough.