Bought in 2012 while we both still worked. Retired in 2014 because we wanted to be full timers here.

I think my screen name describes how we feel about living in TV.

It's like a cruise ship on land. If your active , it's the place to be.

We moved here from Pennsylvania 4 years ago. We love it. You will always get people complaining about too crowded or too expensive. It’s less crowded than where we were and it’s also cheaper. And much warmer. That’s most important. Also was very hot and humid in July and august up north. We have ac here and lots of pools. You’ll love it.

Bfisherohoh
 

What’s NOT to love??

replied in error....;(

I think you will find that 99% of the villagers will not say a bad thing about TV, they have "drank the kool-aid" which is not a bad thing and this place is very special, however, had I known a few items, I may have made a different decision based on my personal needs or at least had all the info to make the best decision. I was "sold" by a very aggressive sales agent who over promised and under delivered. Thankfully, I am renting ;) but located in the new South of 44 area so my experience may be slightly different.
Pros: very friendly people, very social, lots of activities and beautiful amenities. easy low maintenance living. a happy place
Cons: stores & services are not close by, 10 miles= about 25 min (slow roads & roundabouts), thin & limited Medical & Veterinary options, very buggy but most don't care
Again, this applies to me, its more country living than I anticipated and the limited services & medical options concerns me as a full time single resident.

good luck, I am sure you will love it!

Yes, friendly people, many activities and a lot of sunshine ☀️

That's like saying "Beeltejuice" 3 times!

we enjoy life in The Villages

just about everything that you need is here and there's plenty to do

the people are friendly and there's virtually no crime

it's not as warm as Ft Lauderdale is in the winter, but you don't have the traffic, nor the iguanas that we had when we lived there...but you do have the 'love bugs' twice a year

We're very pleased with the medical community here too

My wife and I visited 6 or 7 times before we purchased. We decided on the second day of our first visit that we wanted to live here when we retired. We "lived" each time we visited in order to see how we could take advantage of TV's amenities once we moved here. We toured homes on each visit so that when we knew we wanted to buy that we would already know the floor plan that we wanted. We purchased about 8 years ago in a village that was about 10-12 years old at the time because we knew that we wanted to be close to town centers, The Savannah, The Sharon, good restaurants, and large box stores like Lowe's and Home Depot. We bought about half way between Spanish Springs and Lake Sumter Landing and completely redid our home as we had built our last two homes "up north". We flat love the lifestyle down here. We are involved in a number of groups both from the neighborhood and from church. My wife is part of a small group of women who regularly do trips together on nearly a monthly basis, both on land and sea. We are as active as we want to be as well as secluded and private as we want to be. We are blessed to be here as we can choose to live exactly as we want. Best of luck to you.

Look at it as "Gods waiting room", and enjoy your stay

There's something to think about here when it comes to grandkids.......they don't stay kids forever,
They soon have a life of their own, school/friends/cell phones/computer games/romances/summer jobs/sports.

How many people we know that live in the same location of grandkids, and they
never have time for the grandparents when they get older.

Move to TV full time, arrange enjoyment for your own life, fly them down for a week or two, you'll see them everyday.

Just a Thought

If you are a golfer, there are over 700 golf holes in The Villages and swimming pools galore. There are over 3000 organizations you can belong to and enjoy. Pickle Ball, Tennis, Water Volley Ball, Corn Hole, Shuffle Board, Bache Ball, Model Airplanes, Trains, etc. It is like being on vacation all the time. Great food in and around The Villages, plus shopping. The best aspect of this place is the entertainment at the squares. And this is just the beginning.

Excellent place to retire if you want to be active. Lots of clubs.

We have been here almost 8 years and love it. You will always have "whiners" that gripe about almost anything--just ignore them.