[paullynnchin]

Hello My husband and I are from Buffalo, NY. My husband will retire next year and we are looking to purchase a home in TV. All the neighborhoods seem great for different reasons. So it can be a hard decision to make. Please share with us the area you live in and why you like it there. Anything you can tell us would be great. Thanks

[ceejay]

Originally Posted by paullynnchin

Hello My husband and I are from Buffalo, NY. My husband will retire next year and we are looking to purchase a home in TV. All the neighborhoods seem great for different reasons. So it can be a hard decision to make. Please share with us the area you live in and why you like it there. Anything you can tell us would be great. Thanks

I'm from Buffalo, as well!

We live in Amelia and couldn't be happier. We have 3 pools within 3 minutes of our home, we are about 5 minutes from Colony Plaza (Publix, Walgreens...), we are a 15-20 minute golf cart ride from Lake Sumter Landing.
We found the floor plan we were looking for (Tuckett Inn) at a great price, in a great location and we have wonderful neighbors. What more could I ask for?

Good luck in your search and I will be anxiously watching for the location of your new home! GO SABRES!!!!!

[tpop1]

Most people will champion their neighborhood as the best when truth be known, they are all good places, nice people, good amenities!

My suggestion is to come for a life style vist to make sure it's the place for you(can't imagine it won't be) then decide:

• What kind of home you want - house or villa; frame or block.
• What kind of lot you want - Golf course or corner, street, another house behind, or wall / greenery in back yard.
• Do you want new home (new neighborhood=everyone new with few prior groupings) or existing home with mature growths and everything upgraded?
• What do you want to be near - One of the squares, Rec. center with pool, away from pickleball courts or near golf??

Once you decide, just pick and buy! Hard to go wrong here.

[Bogie Shooter]

There is another very similiar thread that has 20 posts.
Best Neighborhood

[Russ_Boston]

Originally Posted by ceejay

we are a 15-20 minute golf cart ride from Lake Sumter Landing.

That must be one SLOW cart

[paullynnchin]

Originally Posted by ceejay

I'm from Buffalo, as well!

We live in Amelia and couldn't be happier. We have 3 pools within 3 minutes of our home, we are about 5 minutes from Colony Plaza (Publix, Walgreens...), we are a 15-20 minute golf cart ride from Lake Sumter Landing.
We found the floor plan we were looking for (Tuckett Inn) at a great price, in a great location and we have wonderful neighbors. What more could I ask for?

Good luck in your search and I will be anxiously watching for the location of your new home! GO SABRES!!!!!

Thanks for the reply. It looks like everyone loves where they live and I haven't heard anyone warning about staying away from any areas. However, is there any differences between the neighborhoods regarding property tax rates (now or anticipated) or CDD fees or maintenance fees?

[ijusluvit]

Originally Posted by paullynnchin

Hello My husband and I are from Buffalo, NY. My husband will retire next year and we are looking to purchase a home in TV. All the neighborhoods seem great for different reasons. So it can be a hard decision to make. Please share with us the area you live in and why you like it there. Anything you can tell us would be great. Thanks

As Buffalonians, I can say you will be very welcome here. Don't be discouraged that when you arrive, 726 of the first 1000 new folks will open their eyes real wide and say: 'Snow!'. 273 will giggle and say 'Snow!' That leaves one person, another Buffalonian, who will just give you a big hug.

The neighborhood is less important than the style of house. Villas can be very private, designers very 'fishbowl'. Think of your preferences. We have the ultimate heaven on earth, a villa with a big fenced-in corner yard, on a golf course with the cart path on the far side, the perfect sun orientation, and so private that only the roof of one distant house is visible. Briar Meadow is right next to all necessary shopping, a great neighborhood pool, exercise trail, dog park, and a complete recreation center. All this with no traffic. And this is really big for us - six years of plant growth makes this a lush, luxurious area. I don't want to find fault with the new areas down south, but I didn't want to wait years to live around that great foliage. The knock on the northern areas of The Villages is that they are not right next to the town squares, or 'central' enough. Folks up here think that's overrated and don't mind traveling a few extra minutes to get to a square. From what I hear, ALL villages have the same collection of wonderful, positive people. If your street is in a low traffic area, you will get to meet and interact with them. Some Villages streets and locations make that much more difficult.

Anyway, you are making a great decision to come here. Welcome!

[actor]

I assume you're referring to the fact that these homes frequently back-up to their neighbors, and have other homes on both sides. We close on an Iris next month and plan on using landscaping to mitigate the lack of privacy. I'm hoping that this will give us the privacy we desire.

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by paullynnchin

Please share with us the area you live in and why you like it there. Anything you can tell us would be great. Thanks

I can understand that you want residents to share what they love about their villages. I think that is a great way to find out more information.

We live in Belvedere Village and love it for the following reasons:

The area is very central to many things. The Village is about five years old so there is lots of mature plantings. The golf cart paths south of 466 tend to be a lot wider.

Five minutes by golf cart to the Library, Walmart, Bealls, Bonefish Grill, Publix, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Ace Hardware, Crispers, Beef O'Brady, and tons more establishments.

Twelve minutes by golf cart to Lake Sumter Landing.

Ten minutes (by car) to the private dog park, Doggie Doo Run Run.

Fabulous neighbours, but that can be said about every Village!

[Yoda]

Originally Posted by paullynnchin

Hello My husband and I are from Buffalo, NY. My husband will retire next year and we are looking to purchase a home in TV. All the neighborhoods seem great for different reasons. So it can be a hard decision to make. Please share with us the area you live in and why you like it there. Anything you can tell us would be great. Thanks

This is just my opinion based on analysis of my own experience. We are new here.

Forget the name of a village, they are all great. Location to the squares is a point of reference. Be within 10 to 15 min. golf cart ride to your favorite Town square.

Buy a house that may be a "leftover." One of the last sold. You can save a few bucks and you will be moving into a semi-established neighborhood.

In this case, most of your new neighbors will have been there a year or so. Close friendships will not have evolved yet. Your neighbors will be more savvy than you are and may (most likely) have a structure in place for neighborhood activities. Being new, just like you they are very outgoing and will be very welcoming. They will be much like you, new.

Through no design of our own, this is what we fell into. After analysis, I think that the above has contributed to our wonderful situation. If I had known to look for these things, and why, I would have. We have wonderful neighbors, an active life, a wonderful home in a great location. I love my life.

I just thought I'd share our experience.

Best of luck.

Yoda

[babynurse]

Hello! We are from Watertown NY - your snowtown neighbors! We are closing on a home in TV March 1st in TV. I can only share our experiences with you. We have been visiting TV for a few years, as my brother owns a home there. This year we really wanted to experience life in TV, so we rented a CYV for 3 weeks. The weather was cold for much of that time, which I think worked in our advantage. We went to open houses every day, and explored TV by car, golf cart and foot. We had a great time, and with every trip we learned what we did and did not want. By the 3rd week, we were ready. My brother hooked us up with his realtor, and we gave him our list. The realtors were great to work with, and before we came home we had a house. Our home and neighboorhood is very different than my brothers, but it is "us". There are so many beautiful house styles, and each neighborhood is different. My long-winded advice is to spend some time looking for the place that feels like home to you! Hope to meet you soon!

[graciegirl]

If you choose a new neighborhood like we did, then everyone is new to each other and very interested in starting friendships. If you choose an older neighborhood, people are very interested in welcoming you and starting friendships.

Being really close to the squares is nice if you want to go there every night and dance. But.....the cart ride to the square is fun too, with the warm breeze blowing through the palm trees and people out riding too, passing you in their colorful golf carts and waving at you.

All of the neighborhoods have a mix of homes, villas, cottages, designers, ranches...except for the all Premier neighborhoods like Bridgeport, Bridgeport on Lake Sumter, Lake Miona and others. They are really nice, but not so much different from any other neighborhood really. All of the neighborhoods are really nice and well kept. I happen to love the deed restrictions on the south side of 466. (Wait. I need to hide.) But there are those who enjoy having no restrictions on landscaping or lawn ornamentation.

I found that the new houses were no more expensive than those that have been lived in. The resales had a lot more additions, but I am picky and like to make my own additions.

There is a perfect place for you. Welcome

[Mallory]

You may want to touch base with the folks from the Buffalo/Western New York Club. The have a meeting this Saturday, a potluck on March 20, and a poker run on April 17. Call Carol at 352-751-0603 for details.

Also, if you need a fix while here, McCall's Tavern in Spanish Springs serves Beef on 'Weck.

[ripwho]

paul/lynn - I just moved from Buffalo area (Hamburg!!) last month... my biggest debate was 'buy resale or buy new'... ended up with a new home in Amelia - tie breaker was the fact I'd have all new-bies on my block... pricing was right at time although I believe prices are up now due to recovery (hopefully!) and the fact the place is covered with more folks in town 'visiting' - bob (ps - havent found a place similar to BarBills in E.Aurora for wings/weck!)

[rustyp]

Most people I know love their neighborhood. Frequently if buying pre owned people end up where they first landed. Most of the replys are very positive as they should be however I will go out on a limb and publish my what to beware of where you buy list:
1. How close is the sewage or reclaimed waterplant (smell)?
2. How old are your neighbors - are you in your 50's and neighbors in their 80's?
3. Do you have privacy from the neighbor looking at you and in your house?
4. Are you next to a pickleball court (noise)?
5. Are you on a tee on a golf course (noise)?
6. Are you next to a family pool (noise)?
7. Are you in the obvious line of fire on a golf course (damage)?
8. Are you buying a water view - the levels change dramatically
9. How far are you from the town square/s by golf cart - if you like entertainment of that sort you won't go often if more than 10 minutes away.
10. Is your house on a main street - can you get out of your street / neighborhood without constantly waiting for traffic
11. Are you under high electric line - some of them do make a buzzing noise.

OK - not being negative at all, we love it here. Come on down.