[TomW]

-We sold our home in Indiana and rented an apartment to finish the last few months of our working life. We hired the best real estate agent we knew and she recommended a stager. We did everything just as they instructed us. The house sold in 24 days for 98% of the asking price. We put the sale entirely in their hands including initial price and counter offers. I don't know if this information is beneficial to others or not.

-Our TV real estate agent (MLS, not VLS in this case) told us the local board anticipates home prices will continue to decline through the first quarter of 2010. They may bottom then. Obviously these are projections and not promises. It is fun looking at houses on the web but probably a little early to do so seriously. Our favorite is actually a FSBO but I don't know if I want to consider a private deal in a new state. Anyway, it is all premature.

-We like to play golf but I keep reading/hearing the strangest stories here on TOTV and from friends in TV of all sorts of untoward goings on - on the executive courses. People practicing on the fairways but not moving or actually playing the hole thus holding up players. Using the courses as fitness trails and dog parks. People playing several balls near the green while other are waiting to make their shot. I don't know if this is common or just that stories of gross behavior on golf courses make good reading and thus get told and retold in different form until it seems like the place is full of inconsiderate nincompoops. It is hard to get a fix on playing the executives but it will be a component of our enjoyment of the TV.

-Is the place really overcrowded with young children and infirm seniors operating high powered golf carts in a manner as to be a significant threat to the safety and tranquility of the remaining residents. Are these isolated incidents or exceedingly common?

[rshoffer]

If you can, I suggest you rent a villa for a month or 2... then you will be answer your own questions.

[billethkid]

isolated incidences. As was suggested stay here for a couple of weeks. Wht you will accomplish is the things you are concerned about will be washed away the first few days. Second, if your home in Indiana is sold and you are retired you will no doubt decide to move sooner than later.

And I would not count on home prices in TV falling the rest of this year and into next. My guess is TV has bottomed out. They are selling, building and closing on over 150 homes a month. And yes that is by TV past standard of performance slow,,,,it used to be 400 ++ per month.
Any developer any where on the planet would love to have TV slow period.
Prices are stabalized. Yes there are some deals out there, always will be.

I think it is a mis nomer for TV to be called a senior retire center....yes that is waht it is....but not what is typical. Come on down and see.

btk

[graciegirl]

I have certainly not run into behavior like you describe on the golf course. I did play golf with a grandfather who brought his too young grandson, but I could have complained and didn't. The Ambassadors carry weapons. (JUST KIDDING) but they are doing a pretty good job. Better not try to wear an uncollared shirt. And I am serious on that one.

You just wait and see how wonderful this place is. YOU won't be able to believe it.

Welcome. I can hardly wait to hear your reactions.

My youngest is a Hoosier and we like her almost as much as her sister the Buckeye. Again...just kidding.

[downeaster]

Tom, you said,

"We like to play golf but I keep reading/hearing the strangest stories here on TOTV and from friends in TV of all sorts of untoward goings on".

I don't know the source of your info but I am happy to inform you in nearly eight years of residence and golf I have never had a really unpleasant situation on the executive courses. One minor situation involved a guy giving his gal partner lessons while playing. We reminded him there was an empty green ahead of them. Another incident involved a foursome ahead of us who took a break from playing to "fish" for balls in a lake. We shouted to them to please move on and they did. Neither case required me/us to get too upset.

[Ooper]

I have never witnessed any of this behavior in the 9 years I have been a resident here. The golf ambassadors keep things moving along and discourages any "illegal" activity.

[texasfal]

I've been playing both executive and championship courses 3-4 times a week for 5 years and I've never encountered such a situation. The ambassadors usually do a good job to keep things moving. come on down and try us out. You'll be glad you did.

[Bryan]

TV is a town of 30000 to 70000 (seasonally adjusted) residents. Are you gonna get some "bad apples"? You betcha! Stick around long enough and you will probably see all the bad behavior that you see anywhere else in America, or the world for that matter. I would suggest that you will see less of it here (proportionally) than you see most anywhere else so don't sweat it - come on down and enjoy!

[Taj44]

I play a lot of golf, and have never encountered the issues you described. They must be isolated incidents. The only thing you'll encounter about the golf that may bug you, is that the ambassadors are just that - they are there to re-fill you sand bottles and hand out water but they do not do anything about the pace of play. Hence the pace of play on both the 18 hole and executive golf courses is on the slow side. During the high season, you can expect to take at least 4 1/2 hours to play a championship course, and 2 hours to play an executive course. Even now in the summer, with less people around, it can be slow, depending on the day. If you look at the "sports" forum, you'll see this addressed in the golf threads in more detail.

[Number 6]

Yes, I think the Ambassadors should enforce the pace of play, but that is not a real issue here. I play fast, but I have never been waiting like courses "back home". I have played at places where a 3 1/2 hour front nine is not uncommon.
I have only had one incident where a guy yelled at me to play faster when the group ahead of us was holding up play. But heck, I didn't have anywhere to go. The Ambassador had words with him. One bad apple.
Enjoy.

[TomW]

Thanks to everyone who took time to comment.

[MikeH]

Like most things you only hear the exceptions. TV is a great place to live. Any place with 70,000+ people will have a few selfish, inconsiderate morons who feel they are exempt from all laws, rules, policies and complain constantly about everything. The rest of us just smile, ignore them and go on our way. Those few are the exception! Don't know about prices of previously owned homes, but price of new homes seem to be slowly going up.

When we sold our old house we rented a furnished patio villa for three months. We quickly were convinced we wanted to live here and kicked ourselves for not making the decision years earlier. This was our 19th move in 44 years and the best decision we ever made. We plan to stay here!

Originally from Southern Indiana

[Grill Meister]

In The Villages (TV) we have ambassadors on the course....I am both an ambassador as well as a starter on our executive courses. On the courses you are familiar with, we would be called rangers or marshalls. Our only objective is to help our players have an enjoyable round of golf. We would like to provide the friendliest golf and country club experience in the world. A major component in an enjoyable round of golf is to have no undue delays or backups. If we observe those problems, we try to determine the cause and take the necessary action to eliminate the cause and put the pace of play back on schedule. This would include eliminating men teaching their wives how to play....playing several balls....hawking balls out of the ponds....and slow play in general. Our ambassadors are trained to take polite and appropriate actions to encourage our golfers to keep the pace of play moving.

TV has 9 championship and 24 executive courses, with 3 more to be opened by Thanksgiving. During the summer months you will have more than adequate opportunity to get on practically any course on any given day. During the winter months, when our seasonal residents (snow birds) are here, you have to plan a little ahead in order to get the course and the time you want to play.

Come on down......I think you will love what you find.