[clekr]

anyone have those links to the special deals? My wife is chumping at the bit and I can't find them any more.

[villages07]

clekr...

Here's the link:

http://www.thevillages.com/newsletter/200802/index.htm

each month, change the yyyymm part of the address to reflect the current month; i.e. for march the url will include 200803.

I'll leave it to the discretion of the admins whether to leave this post in place or not. There were earlier issues that this might be considered advertising. However, with the large number of TOTV members in the house hunting mode, this information is invaluable and has already saved several members many thousands of dollars.

[hunt9791]

Would be interested in knowing if other potential buyers receive these offers from their Villages agents on a regular basis. We have been looking for about 6 months and we find out about the specials from TOTV web site and not necessarily our Villages Realtor. Maybe the controllers in Sumter landing have special rules on who receives these? Any Thoughts?

Thanks,

[lm01]

I am not trying to tell you to buy a new home or used home but BE CAREFUL purchasing NEW.

Here is why......

For any new home the purchaser pays all closing cost. and the Purchaser gets to pay the bond. What is a bond you ask ....well it pays for the infrastructure. For a Premier home the BOND is now $45,000.

If you are interested in a used home, the seller pays all closing cost, and depending on the village the bonds are always lower. North of 466 bonds generally lower than south of 466. An example Springdale 8-10,000 Harmswood 12,000 compare that to

Bridgeport of.....
Miona- 32,000
Sumpter 42,000
Miona Shores 45,000

Remember - the villages wants you to buy new. If you look in the right neighborhood you can get a very good buy and really negotiate a good price for you home.

LOOK AT THE BOTTOM LINE BEFORE YOU SIGN !

[jeffy]

$40k bonds are the way exception, not the norm. I live in Winifred in a three year old home. Our bond was about 10k (we paid it off). The newer areas that are now being sold like Hadley are closer to 22k. There are huge deals in the new market. I think there will be even better deals this summer when there are way fewer people here.

Jeffy

[njgranny]

Do the bonds vary based on the value of a house in a particular village?

[lm01]

I agree Primer homes represent 3% of all homes in the Villages. But the same rules applies to Designer homes north generally have less of a bond than yours. All I'm saying is do you homework. If you like to pay the large bond and closing costs to get new than that is what you need to do. Even Winifred's bond looks cheap compared to what the Villages is asking today.

[JohnN]

We're planning to look at new and resales and just take the bond balance, whatever it is, into account as part of the price of the home. No big deal as long as folks are aware. New home prices seem very competitive, SOME of the resales are, many are not, IMHO

[lm01]

Originally Posted by njgranny

Do the bonds vary based on the value of a house in a particular village?

It is based on how many homes are in a given neighborhood. The higher concentration of homes the lower the cost of the bond its all about cost of running utilities and infrastructure.

[villages07]

...and, to expand a little on what LM01 said...all homes in your unit/section have the same bond. For us, that's 3 streets and we all pay the same bond regardless of the sales price of the home. So, our designer neighborhood, with original sales prices ranging from 210K to 525K...everyone pays the same bond and the balance transfers with the house when it is sold.

[Boomer]

Looking at both new and pre-owned is something that most potential buyers should do. The bond just becomes part of the equation. The developer develops and selling new is what goes with the territory and all that entails. The market will bear what the market will bear, no matter if it is the pre-owned market or the new market.

And new or pre-owned is such an individual decision.

Some buyers absolutely prefer new for whatever reason. The appeal of a brand new neighborhood forming is an appeal for many. That is not an issue for me but I do know it can be for others.

Every time I think of brand new homes, I think of a dear lady who lives in my town. She is nearing 90 and has lived in her home for 60+ years. One day I asked her if she and her husband had been the very first owners of the home. -had it been built brand new just for them? She said, "Honey, it sure was. All the dirt is mine."

[Lil Dancer]

Our real estate agent told us that the bond varies by neighborhood, and by the type of home. For a new neighborhood, he quoted us $10-$11,000 bond for a patio villa, I believe it was $13,000 for a ranch, and $20,000 for a designer. I didn't ask the price on a premier home.

Our existing neighborhood is 2 years old, and the bond on our designer was $15,000.

So, it is important to compare apples to apples when you're looking at new and used homes.

[Boomer]

The developer seems to offer "deals" on the new homes from time to time.

Buyers of new may be finding that the cost of the home itself adjusts in an inverse relationship to the bond as the developer tries to move inventory.

The developer's profit margin may not be what it was when buyers were given do-or-die windows of time in which to make up their minds, but it's not charity work either. It is the cost of doing business.

Unless a buyer is completely committed to the idea of one or the other, both new and pre-owned should be considered. When a buyer does the math, factoring in everything, the answer will be clear(er). (Answers will vary. )

We have not bought yet. We are likely to do so before the end of this year. I really had to work through this bond concept, too, so I know how it feels. Another aspect of the bond is whether or not to pay it off. I came in thinking of it one way and by the time I left, I had changed my mind. Again, answers will vary.

[JohnN]

Boomer, you're likely to buy before we do, and since you're fairly studious about this process and the home availability, it'll be interesting for me to see where/what you end up with in TV. Best of luck always ....

[Boomer]

Originally Posted by JohnN

Boomer, you're likely to buy before we do, and since you're fairly studious about this process and the home availability, it'll be interesting for me to see where/what you end up with in TV. Best of luck always ....

JohnN,

It will be interesting to us, too, to see how all of this turns out. -- although we have a pretty good idea where we are headed.

For a long time, I have had a fascination with real estate markets. ...and the TV market fascinates the heck out of me. I am also cursed with some kind of thing where I tend to gather information and then sift it, and then look at what's left from every angle.

We cannot make our move just yet, and the winter has been long and dreary so I seem to have had way too much time on my hands to analyze this particular situation and then write about it. (But it is kind of fun. I am such a nerd.) Maybe I should go back to those soap opera writing days that gripped me here on TOTV at the end of January.

Hey, maybe when we get to TV, I can morph into the Embedded Boomer Reporter. --Don't think I haven't thought about it.

I wish you and yours the best on this journey to TV, too.