The most important thing for me was just to get here. Once this was accomplished a small new two bed, 2 bath patio villa looked like it would be our choice. There were still several available around Brownwood but we ended up in Country Club Hills instead, just perfect for us. Looked at about ten manufactured homes but bought the second one we looked at. Perfect. No regrets.

Interior space, privacy, affordability, easy access so we wouldn’t have to drive through busy areas all the time, near pool, big lanai, at least 2 car garage. New or good resale less important.

Make a list of "must haves" and a list of "would like to have". When a home hits almost all of your must haves, that is the one for you.

As always, location location, location.

You can look-up threads of "new" vs pre-owned. Some people prefer to have a house that no one has lived in before. Some people prefer to have a pre-owned that has enhancements and mature landscaping, especially if it has little or no bond.

That is a never ending discussion.

Privacy
 

PRIVACY above all. Too many houses in TV have their screened lanais just a few feet from the neighbor's lanai, making it all too easy to hear conversations and loud TVs from your neighbors.

One option to avoid this is houses on cul-de-sacs where the houses are further apart due to pie-shaped lots. Another is houses that back on permanent wildlife areas.

Another consideration is how much is remaining on that pesky bond.

Privacy, quietness & a pool.


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- at the time, an up and coming area-Brownwood
- walkable to a town square- we use to always enjoy walking in
the evening for a cup of coffee or in the morning and having
breakfast out
- a courtyard villa- we have two dogs
- a corner lot
- two car garage
- close walking distance to a neighborhood pool

Thank you so much for all of your responses. Coming down very soon to start our home search. I will remember all the things that you have said.

We came here many times and looked around a LOT before we decided.

1) A couple of years before we bought, we decided we liked the area from 441 south to just south of LSL. We love the maturity of the trees n that area.

2) We wanted to be no more than a 5 or 6 minute golf cart ride to a town square

3) We didn't want another house behind us

4) We wanted a home that was in great shape so I wouldn't have a lot of work to do !

5) We wanted a house to be the right size that would be good for the two of us but we could still accommodate visitors. We didn't want it to be so big that anybody (including my adult kids) would feel that we had room enough for them to move in with us !

We had visited a number of times and had done a lot of research into some of the groups we wanted to join and where they met. So we plotted the meeting locations on one of the Villages maps and created a target area for our home. It's worked out very well to be fairly central to everything we do.

50 Things to Think About Before Buying a Home in The Villages
 

This article is a little more detailed, but well thought out.

50 Things to Think About Before Buying a Home in The Villages
50 Things to Think About Before Buying a Home in The Villages

In case TOTV stars out the site, it is:
world wide web dot insidethebubble dot co forwardslash 50dashthings

Or a search by this title.

Waverunner, that site is, without a doubt, one of the best pieces of writing I have ever read on moving and living in TV. Thanks.

To state the obvious, we had to limit our search to homes within our budget (including the bond, if any). Our other criteria was location, we prefer the Northern section of the Villages (two town squares, mature landscaping, lots of golf available, and no or small bond balances). Our other two criteria were either a pool, or a house with room to add a pool, and a private back yard. We looked at about 35 homes, mostly north of 466. We saw every listing that appeared to fit our criteria, both VLS and MLS? Only one home with a pool was within our budget, but it did not have the privacy we required. Many homes had room for a pool, but very little privacy. Finally we found a home almost equal distance between LSL and SS, it abutted a wildlife preserve in the back yard, had room to add a pool/bird cage, had no bond, and fell within our budget including the cost of adding a bird cage and 12X24 foot pool. We had T&D Pool build our pool to complete our dream home and couldn't be happier.

My advise would be to know exactly what you want, be patient, and don't settle for anything less. We didn't want to have any regrets and find our selfs looking for a different home in a couple of years.

#1 Rear Privacy (our home backs up to a villa wall)
#2 Far, far, far from any of those GIANT electric wires that run through The Villages. I didn't want to see them and I surely did not want them anywhere near my front or back door!
#3 Lots of golf. We are located within a 10 min cart ride to many, many golf courses.
<3 The Villages!

1. Privacy or view lot
2. Golf cart garage
3. Lanai with afternoon shade