[eweissenbach]

Just got the monthly Vmail from TV, and they are offering a free golf cart to new home purchasers in August and September. Apparently sales are a bit slower than anticipated.

[George Bieniaszek]

Prices of real estate is becoming over inflated. Nice for us that already own. Maybe The Villages should knock the of their existing new homes by $9,995 and forget the golf cart to stimulate sales.

[nitehawk]

maybe the word about the condition of the golf courses is getting around

[ROCKETMAN]

Remember the villages own the golf c art store so that $10,000 cart cost them $6,000 at the most. A friend of mine was a builder up in new york and claims those patio villas they sell $170,000 cost $80,000 at the most so giving away $6,000 not that b ig a deal. Have no idea what profit they make on $500,000 houses.

[NottaVillager]

I'm betting based on the amount of carts that Villages Golf Carts sells here their cost is even lower than 6k. I would also bet that the "free" cart is the absolute base model with no frills.

[janmcn]

Originally Posted by George Bieniaszek

Prices of real estate is becoming over inflated. Nice for us that already own. Maybe The Villages should knock the of their existing new homes by $9,995 and forget the golf cart to stimulate sales.

Look at the new homes for sale and you'll see some that are being discounted $30,000, $40,000, up to $60,000, and they're still not selling. Perhaps throwing in a $10,000 golf cart will move this inventory.

[buggyone]

According to the Villages Properties insert in todays paper, there have been 3,010 new homes sold in the past 12 months. I would not call that slow.

[jalopy54]

Originally Posted by janmcn

Look at the new homes for sale and you'll see some that are being discounted $30,000, $40,000, up to $60,000, and they're still not selling. Perhaps throwing in a $10,000 golf cart will move this inventory.

I understand sales may be down a bit. But, the average is still @ 450 homes a month, not bad!

[seashorecaroline]

This is not the first time the Villages have added incentives for sales. In 2007 my friend purchased a designer in Hadley and received a free golf cart along with $20,000 credit to purchase furniture from Showcase Direct and Southern Lifestyles.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by eweissenbach

Just got the monthly Vmail from TV, and they are offering a free golf cart to new home purchasers in August and September. Apparently sales are a bit slower than anticipated.

Print the link, Ed.

You guys bought yet?

[kellyjam]

The choice is either a free golf cart up to $8,000 or a discount on your house price of $8,000. This is only available on a NON discounted house. So I would think you are better off buying one of the many houses that are being discounted by $15,000. or more and buying your own golf cart.

[Jayhawk]

The Villages Vmail - August 2014 - Home

Offer valid August 1 - September 30, 2014, or first 200 certificates, whichever comes first.
New home or villa purchase only.
Cannot be combined with other offers, and homes with existing discounts do not apply

[LeeM]

Thanks for the link!

[jnieman]

We received $7,000 worth of furniture to purchase our house in 2008. We could either take the furniture or get a discount on the home. Is it possible that this incentive is to help close out the last few homes in neighborhoods that are almost sold out? Possibly homes that are less appealing? Seems like a great incentive to me.

[dotti105]

They did overbuild and there are hundreds of empty homes, blocks and blocks in Collier, Hillsboro and south. It is sort of spooky driving through miles of empty homes.

I really think they shot themselves in the foot when they built out all inventory. The sales numbers are certainly off. They previously created a feeling of urgency with sales, which now does not exist.

More concerning to us is the fact that they are reducing the sales price on homes. We could buy a comparable home for much less than we paid. Don't get me wrong, we love our home and feel very fortunate to have been able to design our own. But it is hard to watch the value decrease.

Hopefully they have a good winter and sales activity will increase as well as prices.

We have so much tied up in this home, as we paid cash, it would have been better off in
the S & P 500 for another year. And we would have gotten a free golf cart!

I'm really not all that negative....I just wish we had some equity at this point!