[darbyduff]

Realtor just called...Yesterday's showing resulted in an offer coming in. Az2fla and all others....Maybe my prayers have all been answered!!!

Offer should be tonight or tomorrow and then we have 45 days to pack, buy home in village (who,what,where yeks) Help!!! Been praying, burying and saying for sooooo long and now???? What comes next is overwhelming. I will be reading and printing all of the pertenant information from this sight but give me some good hints. Which Village..New??(too much money??) Pre-owned?? Where?? Fly down again to pick it out??? HELP!!!!!!!!!!
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[kar guy]

NOW YOU KNOW HOW THE WIFE AND I FELT WHEN OUR REALTOR TOLD US HE GOT AN OFFER . NOW ONCE YOU ACCEPT, LIKE WE DID, THEN THINGS REALLY GET UNREAL. LOTS OF LUCK TO BOTH OF US.... THE KAR GUY

[darbyduff]

Hey Kar guy! Thanks for your words of encouragement! You just walked the walk we are about to take...Any advice?

[kar guy]

THE EMOTIONS JUST OVERWHELM YOU. I WAS OFFERED LESS THAN I WANTED. NOT A LOT LESS BUT STILL I WAS UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THE OFFER. AFTER INITIALLY DECLINING THE OFFER VERBALLY TO MY AGENT I SAT AND THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT I WAS GOING TO DO. I MADE A PHONE CALL TO MY 81 YEAR OLD DAD. HE LAUGHTED AND MY PREDICIMENT AND SAID: "GREG, GET ON WITH YOUR LIFE, TAKE THE OFFER BECAUSE IT IS ONLY MONEY. YOU CAN ALWAYS GET THAT BACK BUT YOU MAY NEVER GET A CHANCE TO GO TO FLORIDA AND DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO." AFTER THAT CONVERSATION I IMMEDIATELY CALLED MY AGENT AND ACCEPTED THE OFFER. LOOKING BACK I GUESS AGE DOES HAVE ITS WISDOM. THANKS DAD FOR THE HELP. TAKE CARE.... THE KAR GUY

[golfnut]

Great advice Dad!

[Avista]

Which Village? Both north of 466 and south of 466 have advantages.
The north has more mature landscaping. Also, it is shorter to reach 441/27. North is closer to the hospital.

South of 466 has much nicer golf cart trails. (Ones north are very narrow). South seems to have more pools. Am I right or wrong about this? South of 446 is generally newer.I think the south has more open spaces. South has mostly roundabouts and not as many stop lights. Also south seems to have wider streets. South will be closer to Brownwood when it opens.

Hope that helps a little.

[rballruss]

Everything Avista says is good advice. I live just about as far north as you can get (near Nancy Lopez) but we love this area. Of course, I think everybody loves their area (unless they live next to the train tracks). Where ever you decide to settle, you will love it. When I travel to Havana Country Club to play golf, I wish I were a little more centrally located. It's 10.5 miles via golf cart one way. When Brownwood is completed, it will probably be closer to 15-20 miles one way.

Don't count out pre-owned. You can find some great homes at great prices if you look.

[Villages Kahuna]

You have an offer. Great!

You don't know what it is yet? Don't get all upset if it's a whole lot less than you were expecting or hoping for.

Be a little concerned if it is conditional...like the buyer has to sell his house before you sell yours. Keep the negotiations going on price and try to get rid of all the conditions. "Buy" the removal of conditions with a lower price if you have to. From all that I can gather from personal experience as well as friends and neighbors here in TV...the resale market out there is simply awful. There is way too much inventory for the number of buyers. To that you add the recent development that even creditworthy buyers are having a tough time getting mortgage loans.

From all that I can gather, resale prices are down 15-20% from what asking prices were a year ago, more in some cases and some markets. If your offer is in that range, don't be alarmed or offended. You have an offer. Keep the negotiations going as long as you can to try to get the most that you can for your house. But don't let the "live one" get away. You might be waiting a long, long time before another one comes along.

The advice of another poster..."get on with your life; it's only money" is on the mark as far as I'm concerned. I almost turned down an offer that was maybe 1% lower than I wanted for our house on the Chicago North Shore. Had I rejected the offer, we still might own that house and have too few lookers and no offers. I can assure you we would not be enjoying the lifestyle in TV if we were sitting on an expensive, empty house up north. My wife and I can't imagine the stress that not being able to sell our house up north would have had on us after we moved here. The "lost 1%" is long forgotten and we are ecstatic with our new home and the lifestyle in The Villages. I thank my lucky stars that I wasn't stubborn and stupid (as I've been known to be) and turned that offer down.

Good luck.

[villager99]

to answer avista's question about neighborhood pools. yes, there are more neighborhood pools south of 466.
the developer does seem to do things better with experience.

[Happy Villager]

I just heard from a neighbor that TV has extended for another month special offerings on new homes. Not really sure of what they are offering but I heard it is something like up to $20,000 on certain homes in an area that they are completing. The money can be used toward closing, the bond or the price of the home. I guess what I'm saying is "talk" to a sales rep and get the facts on new homes. I would also investigate the preowned because there are some really excellent buys and I heard they go for less than the listed price. There are quite a few preowned homes South of 466 which makes them fairly new since they were built in 2004 to current year.
These homes are centrally located and near Sumter Landing. My last suggestion is to really know what price range you can afford. You don't want to be house poor and overextend yourself. Remember you might want to do upgrades or make changes weather you purchase a new or preowned home. You will want to have the funds to maybe enclose your lanai or have your driveway painted or paved. Most of all you want to be able to enjoy your new lifestyle! Hope all goes smoothly for you. I remember how excited we were when we came on the preview visit and purchased our home. We are still excited to be living here. Hope you come soon.

[Becky]

An offer! That's great! Life's a'changing now! And very fast! Congrats!

Becky :#1:

[darbyduff]

Oh my guys!!!! All of what your saying we will digest!! Esp. "It's only money".

We met the potential buyer last night by accident. We came home early and the realtor and buyer wanted us to stay and talk. 3 hours and a glass of wine later ....... The buyer was so invested and emotional about our home. Her and her husband had been looking for months and she said that the minute she walked into the house she realized she was home. Then she became very emotional.... The realtor said she wants our house "no matter what" but that was last night.. In the light of day.....Who knows. Our house is a bit over priced for the area but we can't come down too much if we don't want to be house poor in TV like someone here mentioned. Oh well, If it's meant to be, it will be.

Keep the suggestions coming in!!!! I have the map in hand and we're checking all suggestions. What was the name of the Villages that are close to the train again? ??? And Jan, what Villages did you say had no rec. centers and pools?

I think one of our concerns is downsizing. We're looking at 3 bdrm ranches (we'd love a Designer but they went up so much in price since March and I'm afraid we'd be too tied up in the home) but even they are pretty small. Then we thought about 2bd + den which is a little less expensive.... but oh so small. How about some first hand stories about how you handled the adjustment.

I love trees and mature landscaping but I really like being closer to Lake Sumpter Landing (I think???)

[bamafan]

Congratulations. My wife and I have been praying that you would soon have the good news that we got back in May. Like others said your life is fixing to change for the better. Get ready it is a great ride. The next steps will be fun. You are closing one chapter in your book and fixing to write another.

[Frangyomory]

We chose to live South of 466. I think it is really nicer and Tall Trees is the second smallest Village so we have gotten to know many of our neighbors. Whatever you decide, best of luck. :bigthumbsup:

[lin]

:bigthumbsup: :bigthumbsup: :bigthumbsup:We are happy for you!
We're a few weeks down the road from you...We will close on our sale the 13th and be in TV on the first of Sept.
Our home that just sold was large(3 floors+basement)on 2 acres attached garage plus a huge pole barn that held all our toys.Here's how we prepared to down size..We sold EVERYTHING! Boats, cars, trailers, 4 wheelers, all winter clothes and entire contents of home except for the sofa & loveseat as they are light Florida colors! The people that bought our home loved the furniture and wanted it all so that was a plus. Really the furniture was way to large for TV and up north style. So we don't even need a moving van!!
Yes it was hard, and yes we lost money, but we're going to start fresh. And we are sooooo excited ! I never want to do stairs again!!!

We have rented a villa for three months while we find and purchase our new home.We are going small...not over 1300sq ft. I want to play...not clean. Thinking that maybe a preowned Austin will be just our style. Also think we want to be in Sumter county. But we are like you...unsure til we really get looking.

We need to meet and have a toast! Lets make a date.....Bob & Lin