[Teed_Off]

Why rely on AI when you can get many and varied opinions from this site?

[SoxOfRed]

Originally Posted by fruitcup

Are the prices for new home lots in the Villages going down in parallel to the market shift with existing homes? Thinking of building and wondering if a resale might be a better way to go financially. On the other hand, is it less expensive to build a new home if the Villages offers lower pricing than existing homes?

I can only speak to our experience but we fully intended to buy a resale home in between (or slightly south of) the sixes. The MLS/VLS list prices seemed a bit higher than new but assumed that was because of location and upgrades. Maybe our requirements, such as a two car + golf car garage put us out of reach of a resale but the difference in prices was tough for us to get past. For considerably less money, even including the bond, we got a new (spec) home in what appears to be a great neighborhood, for considerably less money.

To maybe better to get to the point, at least for us, the spec home we bought was considerably less expense and had everything we wanted plus some stuff we didn't know we needed I would think building a home would be similar but it may be tough to avoid all the upgrades in the design process.

[patfla06]

Originally Posted by asianthree

Our 5th, definitely not our last. I will say once you build a premier, it’s hard to go back to 8’ ceiling and 6’doors.
Unless we build or want to move north, to a preowned, there are very few 4/3.5 with minimum of 3000sf and a pool, is hard to find, without doing major Reno.

I live in a Designer and it has 10 foot ceilings.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by patfla06

I live in a Designer and it has 10 foot ceilings.

Our designer plus our villa both have 10-foot ceilings. My friend built a premier and has to use a step ladder to do something to the front door. I think it's a security lock. But then, she can hardly reach to the bottom of her washing machine without one either. I don't get 12-foot ceilings. The place feels cavernous and echo-y to me.

But we've lived in 3500-square-foot houses and spent summers living on a 38-foot sailboat. I like living small.

[Aces4]

Originally Posted by CFrance

Our designer plus our villa both have 10-foot ceilings. My friend built a premier and has to use a step ladder to do something to the front door. I think it's a security lock. But then, she can hardly reach to the bottom of her washing machine without one either. I don't get 12-foot ceilings. The place feels cavernous and echo-y to me.

But we've lived in 3500-square-foot houses and spent summers living on a 38-foot sailboat. I like living small.

I totally agree with this! We have lived in over 3,000 sq ft, 5 bedroom and 4 bathroom home. No thank you and never again. I think ceilings over 10 ft make a house feel cold and institutional but the good news is we all like different things or we'd all live in the same house. Living small frees up important things for me, like maintenance, heating, cooling and taxes. Our home now has less "stuff" and requires less from us but provides good living.

[dpmers]

Buy a resale with way lower bond

[Marathon Man]

Originally Posted by dpmers

Buy a resale with way lower bond

Could not disagree more. Third home, first new build. Will not go back to buying a used home.

[thelegges]

Originally Posted by patfla06

I live in a Designer and it has 10 foot ceilings.

Our other designers had 10’, however not all ceilings are 10. Designers the lanai or garage are not 10’ ceilings. There will be a slope usually in the kitchen and some bedrooms. Sliders are 6’.

Premiers built today no longer have 12’ walls, but all interior and exterior walls are 10’, along with lanai, and garage walls.
The interior and exterior doors are 8’ along with all sliders. Windows are 6’, allowing more light from windows and sliders. We don’t have any interior echo, and our heat/cool is noticeably less that designer with 1100sf less

The most noticeable difference between a premier built in earlier years and today. No longer customized kitchen cabinets, or interior wall placements. Any electrical, and other basic upgrades must be made aftermarket.

[Nana2Teddy]

Originally Posted by Marathon Man

Could not disagree more. Third home, first new build. Will not go back to buying a used home.

Amen to that! Bought brand new here 2 years ago after selling our 50 y/o SoCal home that needed a ton of work done on it that we didn’t want to deal with at our age. Came here wanting a fresh start in a brand new home with no mortgage. We bought the largest veranda (4/3) with no view except the one we created with our landscaping, and no pool, but we are very happy and financially comfortable.

Also, highly regret our Yamaha gas 2+2 (rear facing) golf cart purchase and will likely be selling it soon. We bought an Atomic Cool Kart for the AC, but will still want an open cart for the cooler months so we’ll be buying a 2-seater eventually after living with just the cool kart for the summer.

[Justputt]

Originally Posted by fruitcup

Are the prices for new home lots in the Villages going down in parallel to the market shift with existing homes? Thinking of building and wondering if a resale might be a better way to go financially. On the other hand, is it less expensive to build a new home if the Villages offers lower pricing than existing homes?

New homes will often be competitive or cheaper than pre-owned, because they won't need a roof, HVAC, etc., and it seems those selling a pre-owned are very proud of them and want top dollar. In a new home, you pick every color, finish, design, etc. We have had some neighbors that build, live there the required 1 year, then flip the house for a nice profit, repeat. If you don't mind moving every year or two, they make good money; one neighbor got 75% above what they paid in a year. However, lot premiums are WAY up from what they were. Our preserve view lot was only a $39k premium, now there are no more preserve lots that I know of and unlikely to be for years. The new area water views were in the $150k range and golf views in the $200k range when the wife and friends did a tour. I thought it was nuts when and the largest Enclave lot was listed for $249k... guess not. Keep in mind the premium isn't the lot value; it's just the premium; Our tax appraisal has the lot at $160k. IMO, if wanted a pre-owned, it would be for the lot/view/location that I couldn't get with a new home without breaking the bank.

[fruitcup]

Thanks so much for all your comments. They were really helpful. Based on what you've provided for information, I think we'll go with a new build in the newest section, though I am definitely worried now about how long it will take to get the type of lot we want. It doesn't sound like the Villages is taking a hit like the rest of the Florida real estate market, but I guess that doesn't matter if we know that the Villages is where we want to be. Our next step is to list our house and then we'll rent in the Villages during the lot selection and build process. Thanks again!

[fruitcup]

Originally Posted by asianthree

Some view lots have had a price tags of over $200,000 we looked at one at $250,000. No worries on the larger lots, with a view, the least amount of names will be over 50. We lost on 15 lots before our name was #1. It was not the lot we wanted, but the house and pool fit.
We also continued to try for 5-6 different lots for the next month even though we knew we would loose $10,000

Wow. That's crazy! I had no idea. Our realtor simply told us to know your top three lots going into the lottery. How long did it take you to get through the first 15 lots that you lost and finally get a #1 spot? I may need to add more time into my planning for when I'm ready to buy my lot for a place to rent during the whole build process. Thanks for any info.

[asianthree]

Originally Posted by fruitcup

Wow. That's crazy! I had no idea. Our realtor simply told us to know your top three lots going into the lottery. How long did it take you to get through the first 15 lots that you lost and finally get a #1 spot? I may need to add more time into my planning for when I'm ready to buy my lot for a place to rent during the whole build process. Thanks for any info.

Every week build lots are released. Your agent will know 24-48 hours prior. Should send you pic of the plots and actual pic of the lot. We actually had drone videos of lots.
If you know what model you are dead set on pic 1-5 or the number that fits your build. Then wait, a good agent will send you your #placement each time.

You also need to make a contingency plan on what you can do without.
We wanted a view no homes behind . Water, dry prairie
3 car garage, stretch 2 car+ golf cart

Not negotiable lot needed to accommodate Warbler(4/2) with 3 baths, 4-6’ stretch to Lanai, front bedroom, and garage. Room 12x 26’ pool

Took 3 weeks before we were# one on 15th lot we put our name on #1 (prior lots #2-56 on the list)
For 4 weeks after deposit we tried for 6-8 more lots, and 2 street of dreams homes.(#2 & #7) Was it stressful a little, but we owned 2 homes in TV, just not what would work for our change in lifestyle. When we got #15 I thought our agent was joking didn’t believe him

We didn’t get 3car garage, and pool just fit, with all stretch’s we wanted. So smaller lot than we hoped.

Yes if we would have gotten a lot after deposit we would have forfeited $10,000 deposit.

Lots for us were $100,000 to $220,000. That was 2021.

We never wavered on the model, or what we needed to stretch, and the pool.

[fruitcup]

Thanks so much for the information. That really helps.