[bobk544]

Hello, we are planning a visit to the Villages in February to scope out homes, but it looks like there may not be anything left that's affordable with the way homes are Active one day and Pending the next day with multiple bids, so as a backup plan, can you please tell us where you would move to in Florida if you had to pick up and move again for whatever reason? Many many thank yous!

[Two Bills]

Go to sales office and say you want to buy a home.
Believe me, sales staff will find and sell you one.

[Pairadocs]

Probably should not reply unless I have useful information, but, been through this myself and since we live here, have made visits to many places just out of curiosity and to take a day trip, try a new restaurant on the way, etc. Really have not found anything compelling. We love the beach, and found Margarita Ville VERY nice.... our problem is even with some faults, TV's still works best for golfers. If not for that, we'd probably go to MV near Daytona, but just too spoiled by NOT having to load clubs in the car, use fuel and mileage to drive to a public course or a country club, etc. etc. MV provides a shuttle bus to take residents back and forth to the Atlantic beach, but not to local golf courses. The development itself does not have golf courses, they do have a "town square" model, entertainment, and IF you like the style ( and I DO !!!) the home plans are great. Have neighbors who have sold home here and moved to MV and are VERY happy they did so, but... they are not golfers. We can't go back to that having to driver car to a course, load and unload onto a rented cart, etc. Otherwise, have personal friends, also devout golfers from our old home town, who moved to Top of the World in Ocala. They have never had any regrets and we visit often, have played there, many advantages to Ocala... a great place to live. We also might (if we had to move) consider a university town...as nice as it is here, a university town offers a bit more in general, but we ranked our priorities as #1 Golf, #2 reasonable drive to beaches, and #3 be able to cruise often without added expense of air fare, hotels, cabs, etc. Seen some nice areas for retirement in the Winter Haven area... but probably true in each area of Fl. I can tell you the prices everywhere, as you probably well know, are HIGH ! Good luck in your decision.... make a list and rank your must haves is all I can say. Footnote, we had THREE neighbors move in the last 10 days... one was a health issue to moving to be near adult children, another just wanted to stay here but in a condo like place so they can travel often without any responsibilities of a traditional home, and the other couple found a home on a golf course they wanted. But... none of the homes were ever actually advertised ! All three were actually listed by The Villages properties and SOLD before they were ever listed on the website ! One is directly across from us, never an open house, never anyone came with an agent, it was listed and then a sign "pending" was put in the window two days later ! ! So, it must be very difficult .. they do seem to have a lot of new homes for sale in some of the very newest villages.. have you seen those ?

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by Two Bills

Go to sales office and say you want to buy a home.
Believe me, sales staff will find and sell you one.

Absolutely!!

If your broker knows what you are looking for............they are the first to know when homes are released. There are plenty of homes completed, TV is just not releasing 100% of them.

[GrumpyOldMan]

They sell about 400 homes per month and build the same number. So, the one you wanted may be gone, but another will be coming along soon - really soon, like next month.

If you really like The Villages and want to move here, you will find a home. Just understand, if you find one don't take your time deciding, it will be sold out from under you.

[Art cov]

No place quite like the villages! The lifestyle is everything. If Florida is your plan, then Siesta Key beach to me is about as good as it gets. Of course the closer to the water the more$$$

[Tripngirl]

Originally Posted by Pairadocs

Probably should not reply unless I have useful information, but, been through this myself and since we live here, have made visits to many places just out of curiosity and to take a day trip, try a new restaurant on the way, etc. Really have not found anything compelling. We love the beach, and found Margarita Ville VERY nice.... our problem is even with some faults, TV's still works best for golfers. If not for that, we'd probably go to MV near Daytona, but just too spoiled by NOT having to load clubs in the car, use fuel and mileage to drive to a public course or a country club, etc. etc. MV provides a shuttle bus to take residents back and forth to the Atlantic beach, but not to local golf courses. The development itself does not have golf courses, they do have a "town square" model, entertainment, and IF you like the style ( and I DO !!!) the home plans are great. Have neighbors who have sold home here and moved to MV and are VERY happy they did so, but... they are not golfers. We can't go back to that having to driver car to a course, load and unload onto a rented cart, etc. Otherwise, have personal friends, also devout golfers from our old home town, who moved to Top of the World in Ocala. They have never had any regrets and we visit often, have played there, many advantages to Ocala... a great place to live. We also might (if we had to move) consider a university town...as nice as it is here, a university town offers a bit more in general, but we ranked our priorities as #1 Golf, #2 reasonable drive to beaches, and #3 be able to cruise often without added expense of air fare, hotels, cabs, etc. Seen some nice areas for retirement in the Winter Haven area... but probably true in each area of Fl. I can tell you the prices everywhere, as you probably well know, are HIGH ! Good luck in your decision.... make a list and rank your must haves is all I can say. Footnote, we had THREE neighbors move in the last 10 days... one was a health issue to moving to be near adult children, another just wanted to stay here but in a condo like place so they can travel often without any responsibilities of a traditional home, and the other couple found a home on a golf course they wanted. But... none of the homes were ever actually advertised ! All three were actually listed by The Villages properties and SOLD before they were ever listed on the website ! One is directly across from us, never an open house, never anyone came with an agent, it was listed and then a sign "pending" was put in the window two days later ! ! So, it must be very difficult .. they do seem to have a lot of new homes for sale in some of the very newest villages.. have you seen those ?

The experiences of your neighbors are all so true. As for buying a home here now you can't be loyal to just one Realtor or The Villages sales peop!e......with the market so actve and several offers on one property it is frustrating. Our experience was frustrating in that often the home would show up on the listings,we'd find out it is prending. It was by chance that we found a property in McClure...spoke to a Village sales person about a home that had a sign, got told that was gone and he asked what/where we were looking ...said he'd call us as he thought he had a listing coming on in two or three days...he called, we ran and we put an offer in. We avoided a bidding war and now we have a place come August. For years we have come to The Villages and never thought this would be the experience when we went to buy.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by bobk544

Hello, we are planning a visit to the Villages in February to scope out homes, but it looks like there may not be anything left that's affordable with the way homes are Active one day and Pending the next day with multiple bids, so as a backup plan, can you please tell us where you would move to in Florida if you had to pick up and move again for whatever reason? Many many thank yous!

Depends on a few things:

What do you consider to be "affordable?"

What is your minimum criteria? How many bedrooms, does it need to be new construction with no landscaping, OR old construction with mature landscaping, or something inbetween?

How many square feet is the LEAST you would accept?

[Babubhat]

YouTube has videos of the various 55 plus community in the area. Look at a few to see if anything else appeals to you

[bobk544]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

Depends on a few things:

What do you consider to be "affordable?" 300 to 500

What is your minimum criteria?

How many bedrooms, 3

does it need to be new construction with no landscaping, OK

OR old construction with mature landscaping, OK

or something inbetween? NOT NEAR A BUSY STREET

How many square feet is the LEAST you would accept?

2000

Thanks everyone for the very helpful information and yes, those youtube videos are also very informative, been watching all of the 55plus videos and am relieved to see there are some other 55+ communities out there that look very good, so we're not so much in panic mode anymore, thanks again everyone!

[UpNorth]

No shortage of home inventory in The Villages. As long as you can get used to the sound of the turnpike

[bandsdavis]

My personal opinion, do not just look in the new section of the Villages. Look into resales north of Rt 44. To me, and this is just my opinion, that's the "real" Villages.

[Loriana]

Spend a week walking through the new yet-to-be released Villages homes and find a couple homes you like and tell the most experienced Villages realtor you can find which houses you would be interested in purchasing. The new houses are released Mon thru Fri at noon and the best new houses sell before they hit the Villages website at 4PM. If you know which new homes you like you can get a jump on everyone else who hasn’t even seen the house. You will check every day with this very available realtor to get the daily released houses at about noon. Be prepared to put a hold for the house of $3,000 on your credit card. If you are first in line you will have 7 days to make the 10% down payment and 30 to 60 days to close. We were there one week and got the daily releases from our realtor each day. Houses are not released on the weekends. Mondays are big days for house releases. We had two new homes picked out ( visit them at night to hear traffic noises etc). On the 7th day we found a newer preowned house (bought it the day it was released) in McClure so we didn’t buy a new house but you get the idea. We will close in August. Happy hunting.

[SIRE1]

If you really like The Villages area, but can't find a place here, you might look at 3 nearby communities. The 2 that are quite close to The Villages are Stonecrest and Spruce Creek South. They are just north of The Villages off 441 near the Walmart store. The third is Del Webb Spruce Creek which is a little farther up 441 near the Camping World store. Many people from these 3 communities come to The Villages for entertainment and have friends who live here. And there are a couple of the other Del Webb communities in Ocala which are another alternative to Top of the World (I don't recall the names of those communities, but a google search could list). The comment I keep hearing, and I believe it to be true, is that you actually get more house for your money in these other Communities. But then, as The Villages marketing brochures say, "in The Villages you are not buying just a house, but a lifestyle" and unfortunately that lifestyle does come as some cost.

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by bobk544

Hello, we are planning a visit to the Villages in February to scope out homes, but it looks like there may not be anything left that's affordable with the way homes are Active one day and Pending the next day with multiple bids, so as a backup plan, can you please tell us where you would move to in Florida if you had to pick up and move again for whatever reason? Many many thank yous!

Where I can from. Look at resales, IMO usually get more for you’re money anyway, but some have to buy new and the pay for it.