[garyr]

Good morning everyone; I'm a snow bird on his way to TV and I, looking to purchase a home this coming spring. But have noticed a larger than normal inventory of homes on the market. Why?

[784caroline]

If you have not heard it is a buyers market in most parts of the country INCLUDING the villages. People sell for a variety of reasons to include moving up to a different neighborhood or differnet style and size of home, Miss the grandkids or family backhome, death or sickness in the family, could not carry 2 properties while waiting for the house up north to sell, or simply could not adjust to the active lifestyle of TV.
With the population growing in TV, having more resale houses on the market should not be unexpected. In addition resale homes are competiting with the developer selling new houses with new bells and whistles AND offering in many cases generous incentives.
If you truly plan to make TV your home or winter home, you should not look at this with a short term perspective. When things settle out, the baby boomers will be comming and in order to beat the crowds, there probably can not be a better time to look at purchasing a home, New or resale, in TV.
However, take your time, its a buyers market.

[SteveFromNY]

The real estate market is slow, so houses aren't moving as fast as they once did.
It's largely driven by the folks wanting to move to TV not being able to sell their homes up north (or wherever).
Should make it an optimal time for you to buy, given the choices and the near-flat prices.

[jjdees]

Look at any community in the United States and you'd see the same thing. The market is dead.

[travelstiles]

We were very lucky to sell our home quickly on LI and will be renting in TV until we buy. Looked at about 26 homes so far and made offers on 2 but those sellers really weren't budging much in price. That may be because both homes were on very private lots (golf course or water view).
If you're looking for a designer, ranch or villa with the typical yard, there are many good buys in resales. We didn't find the new homes to be very attractive due to lack of landscaping, too open in the yard, looking into someone else's lanai, etc.

Like the post from Travelstiles, we are also former Long Islanders now living in Fort Myers Fla. We are definitely coming to TV. We have rented there for a total of six weeks and really love the lifestyle. We realize that we are in a buyers market but, we also realize that we will sell lower and then buy lower as a result of market conditions. Seems to us that everything will be relative. So far we have not found the right fit for our needs and our plan is to rent until we do. All depends on being able to sell what we have. In any event we plan to find a rental for the entire summer and really get to know TV.

[F16 1UB]

Originally Posted by SteveFromNY

The real estate market is slow, so houses aren't moving as fast as they once did.
It's largely driven by the folks wanting to move to TV not being able to sell their homes up north (or wherever).
Should make it an optimal time for you to buy, given the choices and the near-flat prices.

Yep - That's the boat we're in. House on the market for 6 months now, price dropped 3 times, not even an offer YET!

[dadspet]

Mass Exit?? WOW I wonder where all those people in the squares at night are coming from. Sure seems like a mass exit into TV instead of from TV!

[Barefoot]

Totally misleading heading on this post!! : The housing market in the U.S. right now is depressed for sure, and it is a buyer's market, which makes it a wonderful time to buy in TV. Smart people buy when the market is depressed. I hear there are still over 200 homes selling each month in The Villages. Think of all the Baby Boomers who will be flooding into TV when the market improves and they sell their northern homes. If there is one market that is resilient and poised to "spring back" when the conditions improve, it is The Villages. ;D When prices bottom out, they don't stay at the bottom. It is like a bouncing ball, they hit bottom and start bouncing up right away.

[villages07]

A little perspective here.....Properties of the Villages currently has 478 resales listed; assuming they have approx 50% of the resale business (and they probably have more), let's say there is a total of a 1,000 resales out there. That's a 1,000 out of a total inventory of over 35,000 homes, or less than 3%. I'm no real estate professional, but, I would say this is a fairly low % of home listings in today's normal suburban type location, even lower for a 2nd home/"resort"/retirement location like TV.

To clarify Barefoot's statement....the Villages is still selling a good 200+ NEW homes every month.

[rpribu]

Forget the resale indicator, check the growth indicator!

[Ooper]

I work for a contracting firm in Ocala... one of only a few left. The residential housing market has slowed down to a crawl in Central Florida as well as elsewhere across the state and the country. It is not because of a mass exodus from TV. Folks in the North are apparently having a problem selling their homes to buy in the South.

[gfmucci]

The heading on this thread is as misleading as the editorial headlines in most liberal media, like "Candidates Opposed To Immigrants" when it should say "Candidates Opposed to ILLEGAL Immigrants."

I certainly agree that this heading is very misleading. Especially if you are someone like me that is chomping at the bit to be a part of your community. I retired young. Started making plans at 48 at retired at 50. We have lived in Florida since 1989, Orlando, Boca Raton and Fort Myers. We also kept a home on top of a mountain in Brevard N.C. All I can say is I thought that we had investigated Florida thoroughly and knew it well, until we stumbled on The Villages. It is my opinion that the residents of TV have truly found paradise. You have friendly inclusive people a wonderfully kept property and the best amenity package anywhere. You are all so fortunate. I only wish that I would have found TV years ago. There is another thread out there about an alternative to living in TV. As far as I am concerned, there is no alternative anywhere on the planet with the same lifestyle offered at TV.

[gfmucci]

Originally Posted by beartrack

We also kept a home on top of a mountain in Brevard N.C.

Beartrack:

We currently have a condo in Brevard, NC. We are deliberating between TV- Brevard/TV-Brevard. It's a tossup right now. They are so different from one another, yet each has such great qualities. What are the factors that cause you to favor TV?