[adamcurtis]

My wife and I have visited The Villages and love all there is to do! We hope to purchase a home and live here full-time. I need some help from the community to make some decisions. Here are our concerns when considering a location. Is it better to be close to a square or further away (are they noisy)? What other amenities are there besides golfing (we are not avid golfers, although we enjoy mini golf on occasion haha)? Is there anything you would recommend to first time Village home-owners?

We are appreciative for your comments in advance!

[Stu from NYC]

We spent a month here renting a house before buying.

Turned out during our rental we wanted to be in middle and purchased a home between Lake Sumter and Brownwood.

We also do not golf but have joined a bunch of clubs to keep us busy.

From your post would suggest you rent for a month or two and decide what you like and do not like.

[villagetinker]

I agree with above, what works for us may not work for you. Also, there are some differences between the various sections of TV, Historic, north of 466, between 466 and 44, and south of 44. You need to look at these areas an see what suits your desires. We found an area between 466a and 44 to be ideal for us. At the time this was the southern border, it is now north of the center of The Villages. If you do not want construction noise and dirt you may want to stay north of 44, but there are some areas that are almost complete. If you desire to use your golf cart as primary transportation look very carefully at current amenities, shopping, etc., as some locations may have a much longer travel time, the same goes for health considerations (doctors, hospitals, etc.).
Hope this helps.

[Bill14564]

Agree with the above, between squares is best to make it equally convenient to visit either.

Other amenities: Pools, Recreation Centers, Activities. Check the list of activities in the weekly Recreation publication and the list of clubs off districtgov.org -> Departments -> Recreation -> Resident Lifestyle Clubs & Contacts.

Definitely spend time in the different areas before you buy. We wanted something newer yet still established so we bought near 466A. Others might want brand new and will purchase below 44. The landscaping is different above and below 44 - make sure to look at that when you come for a visit.

[Koapaka]

I also agree renting a few months is the best way to figure out where you want to end up with a forever home, but advise you to check rental rates for "snowbird" season and select months NOT in that time frame if at all possible. The same rental that will cost you $1,700 per month May thru Oct can cost you $4K+ per month with a minimum number of months commitment (normally 3 months during snowbird season) which would be a nice chunk of change difference to pay towards that new house! WELCOME to the best place on earth to enjoy living!

[Stu from NYC]

We were planning on purchasing a golf cart but decided to wait awhile before buying it.

Found that many of the places we were going to were not golf cart accessible and since we do not play golf became a two car no golf cart family.

Also as this place has grown can take a very long time to get places via golf cart. In other words pack lunch.

[Papa_lecki]

We rented a bunch of times - a week at a time. We rented near each of the 3 squares, close, not close. We quickly decided where we wanted to look and where we didn’t want to look.
We ended up in a location that fits us.
What fits us, may not fit you.

[Blessed2BNTV]

Totally agree with renting first. It will give you time to decide where and what type of home to purchase.

Our first home purchase was a second home while we were both working.

Thought we found our forever home on purchase number 2. Hubby then wanted house with pool.

We finally found our forever home on the third try!

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

I'm a little confused by your post, OP. In the first sentence you say you love "all there is to do!" and at the end you want to know if there's anything else to do besides play golf.

What kinds of things "besides play golf" do you want to know about, since there's obviously a lot "to do" that you already know about?

[tvbound]

Originally Posted by Koapaka

I also agree renting a few months is the best way to figure out where you want to end up with a forever home, but advise you to check rental rates for "snowbird" season and select months NOT in that time frame if at all possible. The same rental that will cost you $1,700 per month May thru Oct can cost you $4K+ per month with a minimum number of months commitment (normally 3 months during snowbird season) which would be a nice chunk of change difference to pay towards that new house! WELCOME to the best place on earth to enjoy living!

I totally agree with renting first. While there is definitely a large cost difference between 'high winter' season and summer, we've rented during both periods to ensure that we could not only live with the crowds - but also with the 'heat index' (temp and humidity) of July & August. Ironically, even though we've lived in a smaller community forever now and TV during high season is pretty nuts, I think the latter (heat), will be harder for me to personally adjust. Being able to play February golf, in shorts no less, is like heaven though.

[Bogie Shooter]

Start by looking at ALL the pages on this site.
Village Community Development Districts

[DAVES]

Originally Posted by adamcurtis

My wife and I have visited The Villages and love all there is to do! We hope to purchase a home and live here full-time. I need some help from the community to make some decisions. Here are our concerns when considering a location. Is it better to be close to a square or further away (are they noisy)? What other amenities are there besides golfing (we are not avid golfers, although we enjoy mini golf on occasion haha)? Is there anything you would recommend to first time Village home-owners?
We are appreciative for your comments in advance!

The replies-people are guessing what is important to you. What they are saying is what is important to them.

Golf carts. We use ours for basic local transportation. For food shopping, to the rec centers. Wife to beauty parlor, to doctor.

Noisy? I don't think I would want to live next to one of the places where they have outdoor live entertainment.

Storage, is a problem. We have a two car garage a stretched home so there is space beyond the length of a typical car plus we have a golf cart garage.

My suggestion. Make a list of what is important to you. Have your wife also make a list.
See what you agree on and what you don't. Likely there will be some surprises.

Cost is an obvious factor.

[Garywt]

We never rented but visited friends. We knew we only wanted new so that is all we looked at. Did not really matter where we were as we bought mostly to be able to drive the golf carts, we have 2. We rarely drive the car when there as we only go to places we can get to by cart. For us it is all about the miles…

[thevillages2013]

Originally Posted by adamcurtis

My wife and I have visited The Villages and love all there is to do! We hope to purchase a home and live here full-time. I need some help from the community to make some decisions. Here are our concerns when considering a location. Is it better to be close to a square or further away (are they noisy)? What other amenities are there besides golfing (we are not avid golfers, although we enjoy mini golf on occasion haha)? Is there anything you would recommend to first time Village home-owners?

We are appreciative for your comments in advance!

Beware the turnpike noise and pickle ball court noise. Drives people insane here

[La lamy]

I agree renting and checking the place out is best. The squares have music every night from 5 to 9 pm. Depending on wind you may hear it from pretty far, but I don't mind it, and it does stop right at my sleep time! Good luck finding your home in this active retirement heaven where you can pretty much do anything you want! If a club of your favorite activity doesn't exist, you can start it.