[RobertWR]

We had visited my wife's family for several years who lived in The Villages. We looked around at other retirement communities similar to TV and none really compared in our evaluation. Our goal was to have a home here this year, 2019. We had planned a trip in April to search and I cancelled due to work commitments. We found two houses we wanted to look at and came to look at both without planning to come in June, our realtor threw a third house in which was the one we bought.
We feel very fortunate the way things worked out. Could not be happier. Snow birds for now, looking forward to the future when we are full time.

[bern916]

My husband's parents have lived in TV since 2012. We had visited multiple times and knew we would one day have a home down there. I was constantly watching Zillow and other sites and found a home for sale in Polo Ridge that seemed perfect … it was turnkey, came with a golf cart and the bond was paid. I reached out to a realtor agent friend of my mother-in-law and asked her to check on it for us. It already had an offer. <<sigh>> A week later we were in Toronto for a short weekend trip to see the Cleveland Indians play the Toronto Blue Jays, and I texted the agent to check on that same listing again - to see if there were any updates. It was going to be back on the market! Yippee!! The home needed a roof and the previous buyer didn't want to wait for one to be put on. We put our offer in (that included a new roof) while we were still in Toronto … just seeing it in pictures … and it was accepted. We closed on the loan up here in Ohio about 6 weeks later and scheduled a trip to TV two weeks later. I can't even begin to tell you what walking into our home for the first time felt like …. what an AMAZING feeling!!!

[PennBF]

No Luck. just hard work. Lived 3 hours south of Villages. Had 3 Hurricane's on beach and wanted to move. Came to Villages on a drive, liked it..Spent two years looking at Real Estate on Internet and rented for 2 months one year and 1 month another and found the location we wanted. Watched for a home in that area and one came on market and we made an offer. It was accepted and we purchased. Have been here between 12 and 13 years and could not be happier. As they say, LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATIOIN. We continue to believe we have one of the best locations in The Villages and could not imagine ever moving. It is a sizable investment and only research and being patient will result in a solid decision.

[ladyarwen3]

We have been on 3 different shopping trips to FL ... starting in Naples and working our way up the coast. I was reluctant to move to TV because of the small lot sizes but when you realize the lifestyle, there are no comparisons anywhere else we have looked. Lakewood Ranch, Naples, Sarasota, Fort Myers, Cape Coral ... just didnt have anything for us to do! So we made an appointment with a MLS agent on our way north last spring and we did a new home tour with TV agent... I had found several homes on Zillow that I liked. THe MLS was NOT my favorite realtor and we didnt find what we wanted. I kept searching Zillow and I downloaded all of the floor plans in a .pdf i found using Google. I knew what I wanted and I knew what I didnt when it came to floor plans.
In May we booked a 2 week stay in TV; i made appointments with a Villages agent AND an MLS. Both were very lovely people, but after a lot of consideration we decided we liked the older neighborhoods north of 466. The MLS agent had many more homes to show us. We found the one we liked; homeowners had health issues and were no longer living in the home, and while it needs some serious updating it was in great shape.
Our agent Doug Lange managed to get us a terrific deal at almost 10K below asking. We also had a terrific home inspector Called Integrity First.
We need to do a lot of work-new flooring, new appliances, new countertops and sinks everywhere. Almost every room needs painting, but we enjoy doing the work ourselves when we can. The homeowners replaced the roof as a condition of sale, and made most of the more expensive repairs. They also gave us a generous flooring allowance. Overall my home was purchased for $20K less than my budget. I have great neighbors; I am close to church and hospital and shopping. My home is outdated, but sound and give me time! It is getting updated one room at a time!