[jog222]

Don't move your furniture, it's a waste of money. NJ furnishing don't go with FL homes.

[franapn]

Thank you all so much for your replies. to answer some of your questions, it will cost about 5K to move what i want to bring. i am not bringing everything, my bedroom set was my moms and is beautiful, and the bed from the other bedroom new mattress and box spring. the dining room set, as it is beautiful, and now you have me second thinking my couch which is a sectional and probably wont go in florida.
The location thing gets me, i understand being close to the squares is most desirable, but you can also get there by car fairly quickly to each of them, so how much does that really matter. I am hoping to just go to a lot of open houses in the first month, my house in NJ will be sold so it will be a cash deal which can happen quickly i would think so hopefully by week 6 will have purchased something and then by then end of the 3 month rental i will just move in. that was the thing i wasnt sure if you could rent unfurnished for 3 months, i see some say 1 year minimum and some say nothing. as i always say a bird in the hand.... so if you have no one to rent, an owner may take a 3 month unfurnished, either way i will have to move twice from NJ to storage or rental, and from storage or rental to final desitnation.

[merrymini]

Just do not listen to some of the bad advice. People do everything differently. Buy where you like. There is no perfect place, just make sure you do the math first. It is brutal to move and make the difficult decisions of what to sell and what to keep. I have a house of very fine furniture up north and the furniture they sell here does not compare. Most of it is rooms to go and ashley, mostly junk. However, not everything works here so keep some, sell some. Tough but necessary.

[ficoguy]

Don’t move old furniture multiple times. Rent furnished. It’s cheaper

[sallyg]

You are smart to rent first. Definitely use option B. Also agree with others that the expense of moving all your furnishings then putting in storage might not be worth it. We got rid of everything except our bedroom furniture when we moved. Truth is, it was nice to have a few familiar favorite pieces of furniture here. Keep what you love and buy what you need after you buy your house. Good luck.

[RMarkland]

Suggest you drop by a local consignment store. Most of their items for sale are items Villagers moved from the north and feel they no longer work in our homes/area/lifestyle. If your furniture resembles that in the consignment store it might be wise to sell it up north instead of moving it at 75 cents to a dollar a pound, and then in the next year selling it and getting 50% of the proceeds from a consignment store.

[PJackpot]

Originally Posted by franapn

I am going to be selling my home in NJ. I am going to be moving most of my furniture to TV. I would like to rent for 2-3 months, look around, see which areas i like, where i may work, and then purchase a house. I am trying to figure out if A: I should rent an unfurnished and move my stuff there and then move to the house i purchase. or B move my stuff to storage and rent a furnished house. C: rent 3 houses over 3 months in 3 different areas sumpter, brownwook, and spanish springs and see which i like best. So many options, not sure which is best. What are your thoughts? Thanks so much, i cant wait to get there no more jersey winters.
Fran

Do yourself a favor. Do not bring your furniture. Sell it, and save the expense of moving and/or storing it. We made that mistake only to find it does not fit the Florida setting. If your wife is anything like mine, you’ll find yourself shopping for new furniture, regardless.

[La lamy]

It may be quite hard to find a rental at this point. Lots of them are gone one or 2 years in advance. I would definitely come over without furniture, you don't know if you find the home you want to buy (don't dally, they go fast!), and if you do, it may come furnished as they often do. Good luck with your new journey.

[Johnson072702]

We are doing that now and we chose furnished. And used Mayflower to move and store our furniture. $10/day and I don't need to move my furiture twice.

Also area mid to south to rent unless you think you will buy used. Bring your bike and rent a golf cart and daily pick an area and go look and see.

We chose a house very quickly as we had already been looking at models and knew what we wanted and luckily it was in a great spot!

Good luck and welcome to the Villages! Love it here and it's only been a month.

[KRMACK55]

Originally Posted by franapn

I am going to be selling my home in NJ. I am going to be moving most of my furniture to TV. I would like to rent for 2-3 months, look around, see which areas i like, where i may work, and then purchase a house. I am trying to figure out if A: I should rent an unfurnished and move my stuff there and then move to the house i purchase. or B move my stuff to storage and rent a furnished house. C: rent 3 houses over 3 months in 3 different areas sumpter, brownwook, and spanish springs and see which i like best. So many options, not sure which is best. What are your thoughts? Thanks so much, i cant wait to get there no more jersey winters.
Fran

It’s Sumter and don’t move anything until you’ve found a place. Everything in the villages is 20% more than other areas. If you are moving here for fun then mode anywhere north of highway 44. The closer you are to downtown the better. DONT rent from villages property mgmt! Best deal is private person. Go on next door or FB!!! This is the lowest price season ! You should be all in for $1500-/mo. Good luck

[Ptmckiou]

Where you want to live will depend on if you want an older home that you will need to remodel with paint, upgrade counters or cabinets, change tile colors to current look, etc or buy a new home that already has all those things. We chose to move south of 44 because that’s where the new homes are, and fabulous amenities being put in. The new Sawgrass Market Square will have a nightly music venue like the other squares, along with a championship golf course nearby to be completed by the end of the year. Plus, many lots have views and the thing that sealed the deal, was buying a Veranda home which is a new designer home that has privacy fence in the back yard and ours has a see thru fence on the view side. Plus, beautiful large lots and many old oaks.

Our old furniture would not have looked good in our new home. For one, the kitchen glass tile is Aqua/light teal in color, so that set the tone for the entire house to be in tropical colors. We purchased all new furniture with custom tropical fabrics from Babette’s and some from City Furniture. Lead times 8 weeks to 10 months depending on the piece. Live with your patio furniture awhile until it all arrives. It will be worth it in the end.

Be aware that escrow closings are running at a 60:day close because they are swamped with closings here. So you could be in the rental much longer than anticipated. We bought sight unseen via a zoom call with our realtor because properties were selling within hours of hitting the market. We bought our Livingston within four hours of it hitting the market. Be prepared to move fast to get what you want.

[rmd2]

Originally Posted by franapn

I am going to be selling my home in NJ. I am going to be moving most of my furniture to TV. I would like to rent for 2-3 months, look around, see which areas i like, where i may work, and then purchase a house. I am trying to figure out if A: I should rent an unfurnished and move my stuff there and then move to the house i purchase. or B move my stuff to storage and rent a furnished house. C: rent 3 houses over 3 months in 3 different areas sumpter, brownwook, and spanish springs and see which i like best. So many options, not sure which is best. What are your thoughts? Thanks so much, i cant wait to get there no more jersey winters.
Fran

Fran, you have a great plan. When I moved here I rented in three different areas and learned where I was spending most of my time. I liked the 466 area because it's close to shopping on 466 as well as 441, restaurants, banking, theaters, etc. I did not bring my furniture when I came and rented furnished places (they are all over). I bought a turnkey resale near 466 and have never wanted to be anywhere else but here. I think renting first helped me to find my forever location. I've heard from realtors that many people relocate 3 times in TV but not me. I'm happy where I am.

[JerseyGurl]

Before selling ur NJ home rent inTV for a month in the 3 areas your interested in to help decide where you want to be. Put your NJ home on the market. Purge. Purge. Purge. Have the NJ moving company move and store what you decide to take. Come here and rent furnished for a month. Once you close on your Villages home move your furnishing to your new home. Good luck.

[DebbieHale]

I would:
Sell the furniture - bring your personal items and kitchen items. Most furniture used up north is not a good fit for the modern Florida home. I chose this way and am so glad.

[Billy1]

Lot's of good advice, everyone is different. We brought only things that made us feel at home. I deeply feel that people that aren't ready for the village lifestyle should not move here.