[JimPete]

After reading about The Villages phenominal growth rate I got wondering how so many people found out about TV. With us it was on Fox and Friends (it's the only place we have seen it advertised). They run two ads each morning between 6 ad 7 am. We sent for the DVD and watched it but didn't really believe the hype. We did some more research on the internet and decided to schedule a life style visit in conjuction with a trip to Disney World. We figured that if it was a bust at least we could enjoy our visit to Disney. That one visit to TV was all it took. We were hooked, TV junkies.

So I was wondering how you found out about TV. Was it an ad, research on the web, word of mouth or did you just stumble on it while sightseeing?

Jim

[skip0358]

Saw an add on the television years ago and sent for the VCR tape. Told you it was years ago.

[VillagesFlorida]

We found The Villages by accident in 1997. We were driving south on 441, just looking at different areas in the state as possible retirement locations for when the time came. The "time came" a year later when we came back for a real preview. Our house went on the market and sold in 3 hours. The rest is history. It's been almost 14 years of fun ever since!

[Mama C]

our kids kept telling about the place that our daughter in law's grand parents have lived from the beginning of TV ---they have been here close to 30 years!, we scheduled a visit, came back each year on vacation and moved here last November--- no one gets it until they visit!

[Dayzee]

We came to TV to visit friends who had just built a villa in the area off Rio Grande - that was over 17 years ago. Boy, have things changed since then. We were far from retirement age at the time and I remember thinking that our friends were crazy for wanting to live the TV lifestyle. They had sold everything they owned in Michigan, left their family and moved to TV. Everytime we came to visit (over several years) I felt like we were intruding on them - they lived by the calendar - always checking to see what was on the schedule. Once we started renting our own place here I fell in love with everything about TV - I've been trying to convince my husband to buy in TV for the past 10 years. Finally, this past Summer, he agreed so we came down in August, found a place we wanted and closed on it in October. This year we came down from January through April. Once we sell our place in Michigan we will be frogs.

[BarryRX]

I was working as a pharmacist at a Wal-Mart in Port Clinton, Ohio. I was counselling a woman on her medication and she mentioned she would have to transfer her prescriptions to Florida because she was retiring. I told her that I was also thinking of retiring and I asked her where she lived. She said she lived in a great place called The Villages and wrote down the web site on a piece of paper. I went home and checked it out and thought it looked ok. A year later when it came time to retire, my wife and I spent 6 days looking at places in the Orlando area and Mt. Dora area, but didn't find anything we liked. Then I remembered The Villages so we took a ride up. We spent 4 hours touring The Villages and bought the next day!

[gmcneill]

I was competing in the track and field senior games state championships that TV was hosting in December 2004. LSL had just opened, and the buffalo still roamed.

I was a bit young to consider retirement; the thought of TV or any retirement destination never entered my mind.

Subsequent to my 2004 trip, four people where I worked- including 2 from my own office- bought in TV. My office co-workers constant descriptions of their TV life rekindled my memories of TV.

Being six years closer to retirement, we did a LSV in the fall of 2010. In March 2011 we started house-hunting. We closed on our new home in St James last August.

Last Wednesday, I retired from my 33 yr, 46 day career as a municipal government employee here in South Florida.

[Bill-n-Brillo]

Years ago, back in the '80s, my parents used to spend their winters in central FL. Sandy and I used to pass through TV on occasion when we'd drive down to see them. Retirement was not on our minds at the time..............but we always remembered TV.

Bill

[teachnmo]

My husband's cousin lived here. So we visited the first time and loved it. We made four more visits during different times of the year including July. When it was decided I was turning in my retirement papers, we came down and bought a house.
Two of my three kids love it here. The other one can't understand why we would chose to leave our grandkids. I hate cold and winters. I travel to Missouri about three times a year and see the grandkids...including a month in June to see all of the kids sports. They are ready for me to go back home after that time. LOL

[jimbo2012]

Been snowbirding for 5 years in Fl at another spot south of here. I sail model sail boats there and a few guys said they also sail at this huge place called TV, that was my first introduction.

This past season we were getting tired of our current place not being active enough for us.

Our neighbor said they were going to visit friends who just moved into their new home here. My wife asked them to bring back any info on the place.
They gave us a good info from their visit.

Then we watched a bunch of videos, in a few days made an appointment with 2 brokers took a tour of a lot of homes with them (both residents). At that point we were 90% sure we liked it.

Shortly after went back two other days on our own before returning, talked to people, looked all over the place.

Found this forum for more info, big help.

We're planning on picking a lot out soon as new sections are released.


.

[thistrucksforyou]

We took all of our grandkids to Disney on the year of there 5th birthday....On our way home to Indiana I was dragging my feet and took 441 to enjoy Florida a little more...We decided we were hungry and I was looking for some place different...We turned left to Augustines and we ate outside with our granddaughter and we asked the server ( whats up with all these golf carts?) She told us this was a retirement community and that was the major mode of transportation....Now I own a place in TV"s...

[PugLover]

I came to visit a good friend who retired with her husband at TV in April 2010. Loved it, came home, told my husband and of course he thought I was crazy. Brought him down on a LSV 7 months later. After 3 day at TV, husband told the realator to show us some lots, and the rest was history. We closed on our Iris at the Vilage of St James in August 2011 and look forward to visiting every 3 months.

[asianthree]

TV used to advertise in golf mags found the ads about 8 years ago. took few visits and then bought

[Golfer in Sanibel]

We have an ex-daughter-in-law whose grandparents were one of the original residents of TV. When my son visited, years ago, he told me "Dad, you have to check this place out. It's perfect for you." Two years ago we spent a few weeks in January in Florida. We had a friend visiting here and she invited us up for a day. She and her boyfriend gave us a day long tour and we had dinner at Katiebelles. We were enticed just enough to rent a villa the following January. We fell in love. Nine months later we put money down on a lot and started construction this last January. We could not be more excited. Wintering back in Ohio with mostly nothing to do has done nothing but increase our excitement index. We will not make our permanent move until the Ohio home is sold. We are getting lots of showings and much interest. People say they love the home and it's priced right. We are just waiting for someone to pull the trigger so we can live out our dream.

[George Bieniaszek]

We did what probably a large percentage of people do, came down to TV to visit friends that already live here. My friends knew people that bought a place here and came down for a visit. On a rainy day, decided to go out and take a look at some open houses. Bought a CYV in Springdale to see if they liked it. Decided that this was the place to be, sold the CYV and built a Designer in 2005.

We would take a vacation in February every year to go on a cruise, Daytona 500, Disney, etc etc etc. and stop over to visit our friends. After a couple of visits, we decided to do the Lifestyles Preview in 2007 and spend more than just a quick 1 day visit. We knew this was the place but we were still working fulltime. We still came down every February to vacation and visit friends and in July 2009 I retired. My wife retired in January 2010. February vacation was coming, did our usual Florida activities, met with a salesperson to look at CYV's. Bought in Pennecamp in February, closed in March 2010, came down with a trailer full of furniture in May and have been loving it eversince.

We are still part-timers spending 6-7 months here and 5 months in Connecticut. Fixing our home in CT to get it ready to sell and make The Villages our perminant residence soon.