I think you would get a more accurate answer if you named some villages that you were interested in, and asked people in those villages.

Property Management
 

I am not sure “opinions” are what you need. If I were you, I would call property management at The Villages and maybe Realty Executives to get an MLS company’s perspective. Ask how many villas vs designer, veranda homes they rent out. They may even be willing to share which villages they don’t have a lot of business in. Good luck.

lol. This is true. I live in a designer home. It's not only yapping dogs it's people talking outside the house. It sounds like they are in the room next to you. There is little to no privacy in the villages but it wasn't really designed for that anyway.

I stayed in two villas before buying a designer home. To me, the main differences between them is the number of bedrooms, the size and type of the yard, and the size of the garage.

Villas are two bedroom, designer homes are 3+

You can buy villas that have no grass at all, but have landscape rock.

Villas typically have a one car garage where designer homes have a two car garage, with some having an extended space for a golf cart. They also tend to have smaller driveways.

For me it's utilitarian. I wanted a two car garage and three bedrooms. I still work (remotely) and wanted to have an office plus a spare bedroom in case people came to visit (which they will).

The Villa I stayed in was in Pennecamp. It was very nice and if it wasn't for the garage and the number of bedrooms I would definitely consider buying one.

FYI....................there are Villas with three bedrooms.
Yes, Villa garages are generally smaller, but there are fully size doubles available.

We will be year round residents moving from Sarasota area,

Welcome to the North.
Much colder up here.

:wave:

Everything here is hearsay. Just like I said, the hearsay is that the smaller homes south of 44 seem to have the higher quantity of rentals. People buy them and wait out the year to sell them and meanwhile rent them out.

So True
 

Absolutely correct. Sometimes there are zero problems, sometimes there are many. Some are very short term some are not.

We built a designer home. The main reason is we knew space, especially storage, was going to be an issue. The designers are larger, and by building you can stretch the home. I would recommend maximum stretches in at least the garage with a roofline that maximizes above garage storage, which you can use safely with solar fans, etc. to keep it cool enough to use. Our 3rd bedroom is really office/storage. I'd also stretch the liana by at least 4'. Lastly, there were articles I think in TOTV about certain style homes (I believe the walled communities) that "own" the interior roads, as opposed to the city, and are responsible for maintaining them at THEIR expense. I seem to remember a stink in CCD8 about it and the creation of a fund to eventually have to pay for replacement/repairs, which some homeowners went nuts about. While designers do have a modestly larger lot, ours in only 0.15 acres. LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION, avoid high traffic, noise, light pollution areas. Eastport may be the new hub, but with schools, ball games, school bands outside practice, the family village(s), they'll be more traffic young and old and all that goes with it. Peaceful evenings on your liana may not be so peaceful.

By definition, this post is hearsay.

:girlneener:

we are living in a courtyard villa - best advise to you is: residents in The Villages are people who just locate from other areas: people are people - no matter where they live - some are considerate others not. hopefully you will move next to some considered neighbors no matter what your choice. also your friendly neighbors can relocate at anytime and you don't know who is moving in. its a gamble.

[QUOTE=StamperTV25;2423065]We are getting close to purchasing in TV....the worry I have is I would like a neighborhood with more year round residents. I don't know if most Patio Villa neighborhoods have year round residents vs. Designer homes? My thought is that Designer Homes would offer more year round residents.....but I thought I would ask current residents for their opinions. We are looking at both for different reasons.....but would prefer more year round residents vs. seasonal residents. Thanks in advance for any feedback.[Just my personal opinion, but I owned a patio villa. I felt claustrophobic as there were few windows and no view. I sold it and bought a designer home on the golf course and couldn't be happier. I thought about a courtyard villa but couldn't afford it and have since decided that they are not all that conducive to seeing neighbors.

Oh! I did not know that.

Correct, but I think the third bedroom eliminates the lanai?

Rent through the summer months so you get a feel for the heat and humidity if you will be a year around resident.