[mike1946]

Try over on the Historic side - you can get more sq ft for your $$ and The Villages is the only place in the USA where a manufactured home goes up in price - there is also no bonds or impact fees like in Sumpter 'cos it's all in Lake County. You will get no thru traffic and lovely old live oaks and mature landscaping plus 1 cc. 2 pools, 1 rec with pool 1 rec without, softball field, bocce, horseshoes, petanque, tennis 2 executives + 1 championship, gas station and convenience store, decent mexican restaurant, great dog park, and fitness walking trail and lakeside grill picnic area, archery range... it's a quiet little mini villages that no one buying in the south knows about and the golf cart bridge connects you to SS in 5 minutes plus our secret golf cart gate to stores on the east side of 441 e.g. Lowes, Bealls, Aldi and many more .... It's my slice of heaven.

[mike1946]

oh forgot our own golf cart acessable Post Office !!

[Girlcopper]

Originally Posted by dewilson58

Prices in TV have not and will not drop...............now having said that, sh^t happens.

I can't imagine, waiting will save you money.

Obviously there is a material shortage and this is creating upward pressures, but even with the supply chain catches up, I doubt prices will drop in TV.

Good Luck.

Yep, true. Either spend and buy or forget it. Prices will not drop unless youre waiting for a full fixer up to go up for sale. Even then, what a headache to take on since you might not know what youre doing. Only you can make the decision to spend or not

[Yvonnebang]

All very interesting and wise comments. That's what I like about this forum. Actually I am sitting on the other side- getting ready to relist my parent's house any day now. It's at Briar Meadow near Nancy Lopez Country Club. Has a big lap pool, birdcage, lani, 3br/2.5 bth, 2,478 sq feet, quiet cul de sac. Wish me luck, hoping for a quick sale!

[J1ceasar]

They have dropped but just not as much as other parts of Florida. Florida itself goes up and down in cycles

[J1ceasar]

The average days on market where I am if you list correctly is 5 days and five offers

[NotGolfer]

I'm not much of a "numbers person" but do watch the ads and the appreciation on homes listed here. We bought our house (it's a cottage series...so not large) in early 2009. The market had dropped and they were offering homes at a really good price. Ours was finished in late 2008 but was "bare bones". We had to supply blinds, garage door opener, towel bars and ceiling fans but felt for a couple of "K" we could purchase and do all that ourselves. The price on the house was mid 100's. NOW the same (from what I can ascertain) is at least 100k more if we were to sell, when I see the comps. Don't over-think it or you'll never move ahead. Find something your budget can allow and go with it.

[Old Bob]

Originally Posted by Penglobal

Hello All - I'm Susan, from Lancaster, single and have finally made the decision to buy a home here in The Villages. I'm currently here in The Villages searching for a home and I'm very amazed by the prices of both new and used homes here.

In the new southern area, homes are selling very quickly, supply is low ( compared to last year ) and new homes prices are just crazy. Used home prices are even worse.

How are you guys dealing with the massive increase in home prices within The Villages?
Should I wait until the prices stabilize?

I can't believe that a new house I saw three years ago when Fenny first became developed is now on sale on the used home market for 40% more in just three years !

I have no idea what to do, please help. Thank You Susan of Lancaster

Susan, look at the resale prices in the older part of The Villages, North of 466. The prices are a lot less than the prices down South, and most of them already have the bond paid.

[jmaccallum]

I’ve been in real estate for over 3 decades and retired when I sold my real estate company in NC. The housing market is currently in a “Bubble,” caused by pent up demand, supply price increases, a new demand for larger homes by stay at home workers who would like to continue to do so, and a lot of opportunistic profit mongering. It’s what the real estate industry always does.

This is NOT the time to buy a house IF you don’t have to!

Buy now and you are buying at almost the top of the Bubble. In the short future, if you do a typical finance, you will be “under” in your mortgage. If you pay cash, your investment value could drop anywhere from 10 - 20%. If you are in it for the long run, you will probably recoup, but it will be a LONGER long run at typical appreciation when it finally levels out. So, go into it knowing that.

Hopefully when this Bubble peaks - which I predict will be in mid to late 2023, but maybe sooner as the Fed increases interest rates fearing inflation - it will be a SOFT landing, rather than a CRASH.

Cyclical activity like this is NOT new to the real estate market, as the media hypes today. Actually this is normal, and the real estate industry is known to take it to the extreme limit until it shoots itself in the foot. I’ve seen it happen many times. In late 2006, at sales meetings with my agents I told them by 2008, over 400,000 real estate agents would leave the industry nationwide because they would no longer be able to make a living. It happened. Right now however, It’s a great time to be an agent because they’re not SELLING homes, they’re just TAKING ORDERS.

ONE STRATEGY to consider if you REALLY REALLY want to be in the Villages now: Buy the lowest priced hovel you can live with. Smaller outlay, smaller risk. Percentage of possible price drop is the same, but dollar value drop is less and more palatable. When the market normalizes, sell the hovel and buy the McMansion in a more realistic and stable market. Good luck!

[jmaccallum]

Originally Posted by Old Bob

Susan, look at the resale prices in the older part of The Villages, North of 466. The prices are a lot less than the prices down South, and most of them already have the bond paid.

Susan, I agree with Old Bob! That’s what I was talking as a possible strategy. Look in the “historic” section. Prices have increased there, too, what you could buy at $140k six months ago is now listed at $179k BUT interestingly they are already experiencing more days on market, which provides price wiggle room. They are older and many are manufactured, but very nice with many updated, some with nicer features than $200k new construction. And NO bond! AND you’re in the Villages where you’re not home that much anyway cos you’re out enjoying all the amenities!

[KRMACK55]

Originally Posted by Penglobal

Hello All - I'm Susan, from Lancaster, single and have finally made the decision to buy a home here in The Villages. I'm currently here in The Villages searching for a home and I'm very amazed by the prices of both new and used homes here.

In the new southern area, homes are selling very quickly, supply is low ( compared to last year ) and new homes prices are just crazy. Used home prices are even worse.

How are you guys dealing with the massive increase in home prices within The Villages?
Should I wait until the prices stabilize?

I can't believe that a new house I saw three years ago when Fenny first became developed is now on sale on the used home market for 40% more in just three years !

I have no idea what to do, please help. Thank You Susan of Lancaster

Look at other areas then. If you buy a new house you will find that you need to sign a waiver for the villages to use aluminum rather than lumber and every year they make the houses cheaper offer less and lots get smaller. My house is 2 years old and I want to sell. It’s a large house and the only bites I’m getting in Fenny are people looking to list flip or want a bargain. I may be forced God help me to use a realtor as I want out by September.

Expand your search. Prices won’t go down as interest rates go up.

[jmaccallum]

And Susan, if you don’t already know, in the Villages you need to work with 2 different real estate agents, one from the Villages real estate, and one from a “regular” real estate company such as ReMax or whoever. The Villages real estate does NOT co-broke, so if you are only working with them, you are only seeing their new construction and only homes they have listed. A ReMax or whoever agent can show you all the other homes available that the Villages agent can’t. And there are many. As a real estate agent myself, I fully support agent loyalty, but in FL agents work as “Transaction Brokers” They do not represent either the buyer or seller, they only facilitate the transaction. No fiduciary responsibility. So make sure you check both sides of availability.

[dougawhite]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

How did TV home prices do in the 2008 timeframe? (I've tried looking but haven't found the info yet) I know my house up north lost quite a bit of assessed value during that time.

The Villages home sales (new homes) took a huge drop in 2007 and stayed about half of what they were in 2005. Still lower than the rocket increases they had in the early 2,000s. See chart attached...

[Boomer]

jmaccallum, thank you for your posts #98, 100, and 101.

Very interesting reading — and based on your own experience with the reality of realty throughout varying markets.

I liked that advice you gave about buying the least expensive place possible and moving up later — although who really knows where the market will go — but even so, I can’t see how this thing we are in now can be sustainable. At some point surely the “duh” factor will kick in and buyers will come to their senses and home prices will calm down.

TV buyers might be coming in with a lot of cash from their sales of their long-owned houses elsewhere — but if they can’t find exactly what they want — or if the prices make them feel had — the compromise of buying a less expensive home, getting on with life in TV, and waiting to see where it goes could make really good sense in this market.

The issue with trying to buy less expensive homes anywhere right now though is that the flippers or landlords are after them too which causes prices to go up. But, like you said, the investment would be less. And if the buyer is cash-carrying, keeping the change should feel really good.

I am a believer in keeping a moat of cash around other investments. Even though cash pays nothing in the bank, it’s still cash — liquid — liquid freedom.

And, about those agents who are supposed to be raking it in — some certainly are, but I just heard that there are 8 realtors for every listing in the country. A lot of agents have to be spinning their wheels.

A realtor I know up north who is long-experienced and very successful said this market is oddly a version of a realtor’s nightmare. She had 35 bids on one of her listings. That’s a lot of juggling and a whole lot of disappointed and upset people to deal with.

As frantic as this market is right now, the fat lady eventually will take the stage and sing. But, for now, I don’t see her waiting in the wings yet, and I don’t even think I can see her limo approaching. But she will be here. She always shows up.

(Of course, each buyer has to figure it out for their individual situation. There is no one-size-fits all in this one. But it is kind of fun to talk about from different perspectives.)

Boomer

[armywrestle]

Originally Posted by Yvonnebang

All very interesting and wise comments. That's what I like about this forum. Actually I am sitting on the other side- getting ready to relist my parent's house any day now. It's at Briar Meadow near Nancy Lopez Country Club. Has a big lap pool, birdcage, lani, 3br/2.5 bth, 2,478 sq feet, quiet cul de sac. Wish me luck, hoping for a quick sale!

Have been trying to connect. Can you share price info. please?