Deb - kinda sounds like us. We bought a Begonia in Pennecamp last year and within a month will be moving to St. James to our new Lily. Just a little bit more room and a little larger lot. Hopefully, not a lot more maintenance. Our Begonia is going to be listed with the realtors after we move.

Boy you guys sure put a lot of thought into your decisions. We hadn't planned on buying when we came for a visit with friends. We kind of liked what we saw and contacted a realtor to see what was available. We bought a Whispering Pine in 3 days. My wife basically wanted 2 things. The first was a closed kitchen because there are times when she lets housekeeping go in the kitchen :oops: Another thing that she wanted was to be close to water. We're 2 houses from a retention pond so I guess that qualifies as water. Not a requirement but the model that we purchased had a den which makes a great computer room with one wall for bookcases. Also this house was in our price range but we hadn't sold our house yet in NJ. However, our house in NJ sold for more than we figured (this was 2005 - a different housing market) so we could have purchased a more expensive house. However, what with improvements we have been very happy with our purchase. As it turns out if you're a golfer this is a great location just being 3 minutes in a golf cart from Cane Garden and with all those exec. courses within easy driving distance.

To top it all off when we returned to NJ in Feb. after the purchase we found 18" of snow. :cus:

Read somewhere that many people in TV move three times. First time they purchase either a Villa or Ranch, then move on to a Designer when they feel comfortable becoming a Frog. They may make the last move to a house overlooking the golf course or lake. Any of you living in a Premier homes near Lake Miona? If you had downsized to those homes, you must have been living in a castle before.:icon_wink:

We stayed in a Stoneybrook CYV our first lifestyle visit. We loved the floor plan and square footage was perfect. We are downsizing from 3000 sf and have to get rid of stuff...alot of stuff. When we came down in July we looked at many preowned designer models but kept coming back to CYVs because we liked the privacy they offer. We ended up with an Arlington on a corner site. Perfect size, although my hubby would have liked a larger garage...gotta get rid of even more stuff. But it was the outdoor space we both loved. We are finding that the more stuff we get rid of the better we feel! We let the kids have whatever they wanted...they took mostly pictures, family videos. Our memories are in our heads, hearts and pictures...our other stuff is going to charity. And now we get to come to our new place in TV and start all over again making new memories (and new furniture). Instead of being an old married couple we feel like we are on a new adventure. Life was always good...but it is even better now! :)

After doing a few previews and looking at a lot of models we decided on a Bridgeport. There are three of us in the house and the extra half bath is a nice feature. Love the kitchen with it's desk area, just wish the laundry room was a little bigger. We really do not like the jack and jill bathroom with the other two bedrooms but we have learned to live with it.

Interesting point about the bathrooms. I hadn't noticed. I can see pros and cons with depending on how the bedrooms are being used. Thanks for the information!

We like the Bridgeport and the Holly in the designer homes. We picked the "Holly" because of the large walk in closets, (Good place for my sewing machine) large kitchen with island. I would prefer to have the bathtub and shower in the main bathroom but it's not possible with this home plan. can't have it all :-). The bathtub will have to go in the guest bathroom.
We are still waiting for the realtor to call and tell us he's found a lot that will fit our designer home with extended lanai, 2 ft. stretch and golf cart garage.

We haven't sold our home here in NH yet but we're looking forward to living in TV .

Lots to think about
 

Well, I know I'm looking at a designer home because we reserved our lot over in Sanibel in a designer neighborhood. The models we really liked were the Zinnia, with a second master suite (we plan on having lots of company) the Holly, with the great kitchen, and the Elm with the guest bathroom opening onto the lanai (great for parties.) But, on the other hand, do I really want to be cooking in the kitchen a lot (Holly)? Do we want the company to be too cozy so that they wear out their welcome (Zinnia)? and if I buy the Elm for parties, I'll need the formal dining room which the Elm doesn't have. Back to square one. Seriously though, how often do you use your formal dining area? So much to think about while I'm waiting for my house to sell.:icon_wink:

How to Pick
 

Look at your needs and desires.

One or two cars? Golf ****.

Size, Bedrooms. How much company?

Back to back with other homes, cul de sac, pond or golf view.

Location, Location etc

Availability.

Lanai open or enclosed, Usability.

We bought in Caroline at Lake Sumter on a cul de sac, Have two cars and a golf ****. Lanai was only 9 feet wide ( Had to enlarge to 15 feet to be comfortable). Love the location, neighbors, and house. We moved from a 3600 square foot colonial with a full walk up attic and basement. Now have 2000 sq ft without attic and basement. We have adjusted and downsized.

Me, I didn't care that much. My only requirement was a laundry room big enough for a couple of litter boxes for my beloved cats. (seriously :))

I was ready to buy whatever my wife fell in love with because she wasn't "in love" with The Villages and I was. So, I didn't care what we moved into, as long as we did.

Her critieria; Front entrance into a hallway and not into the living room, open floor plan, no "kissing lanai" and his and hers closets in the master. So, we bought a lovely Camillia on a corner lot with no neighbor behind, and I spent more than I planned (naturally:))

I wouldn't change a thing.

Easy for me to choose
 

But I think our CYV Bonita is my 14th house. Have gotten pretty good at narrowing things down. First consideration is budget, then # of bedrooms, then laundry inside or in garage. Size of garage to us not a huge consideration, since we knew we would only be moving (eventually) with 1 car. That it also accommodates 2 golf carts was a nice surprise as we never thought about that initially. I have had maybe 4 houses either down south or in California that did not have basements, and knew I could adjust to less "stuff." As others have stated, that's very freeing.

In our price range, and because we wanted 3 bedrooms, choices at the time (2006) were a small designer on a "kissing lanai" lot, a ranch (now cottage), or CYV villas. The 1400 plus sf of our model seems bigger than other homes of similar size we looked at elsewhere. Doesn't feel like an apartment because of windows on all sides. Customizing the closets was a tremendous help also. We also love the privacy. Wish the lanai was bigger and may add a birdcage.

Wish there were plans with the stove/range facing the living area, but still haven't come across those, at least in our price range.

We are really happy with our choice for us. We have a dog and small grandchildren also, and our grandkids are still multiplying. Can't tell you how much we enjoy the private courtyard, especially because the long patio side, where we grill and entertain, is on the east, or shady side in the afternoon/evening.

Five years ago we selected a Stoneybrook/Annamaria. We
like the privacy. We have a large bedroom window and wake up looking out at our private lawn and garden. Rarely close the blinds. I too like coming into an entry and not directly into the living room. Also, we have two little dogs and only considered courtyard villas.

This is an interesting thread to me.

I posted a thread about convincing my wife that TV is a good place for us.
One of the main sticking points, other than leaving our previous life behind, leaving family and moving from Texas where she was born, is she is a avid gardener. We live on an acre now and all of it is gardened by her. I mow, not going to miss that!
When we visited my parents there and sit out in the lania she comments on how there is not enough area for her to garden.
That being said, which areas and plans offer the most gardening opportunity?
This will be a major plus to our discussions.
We also have a large dog that loves outdoors so some kind of yard would be nice.
What should I look at?
I know this is a little off of the discussion but it really pertains to my situation.
Thanks
EB

Corner CYV sounds perfect for her
 

There are different sizes and setups of corner lots in CYV neighborhoods, so don't think you've seen them when you've only looked at 1 or 2 corner CYVs. No restrictions on what you can plant in your private backyard, and it's easy to enjoy it all - in your pajamas, if you want!

I like to garden, and thought I would like a corner lot, but now that I'm retired and living there (so far as an 8 month snowbird), I found out that my smaller lot (still bigger than some) is plenty for me to handle, but probably once it's established could do it. Just not enough room for my citrus orchard! (But you can grow Meyer lemons in pots, and possibly Persian limes - I'll keep you posted on that one).

We spent part of last winter digging around our walls/fence/lanai, so perhaps I'm just a little burned out. I will still be tweaking things, however (moving things around, trying different plants in different places, finding room for some new favorites, etc).

We live on 3/4 acres now up north and the lot we bought in The Villages is larger then that in the Designer lots (so I'm told) . Also on another thread someone told about how they had a very large birdcage, with a spot at the end for their dogs to do their "business." That's our plan for our dogs. On another note, as we were looking for "pre-owned" homes at one time we saw several that had the birdcage over grass for their dogs with a doggie door. Just things to consider if one of the villas doesn't appeal to her. :)