I only paid interest when I had to. I rather receive interest than pay it.

Like some have said, look at the areas for what is there. I live in what will eventually be the middle of the villages. It is not far for me to get to two of the squares, and soon three when Eastport is finished I am close to a shopping center with gas, grocery, and soon to be a CVS.
There are villages that are not close to anything, but that also makes them quieter.
Also, look for where the adult pool is for your village. I can easily walk to mine, though taking the golf car is more fun. :)

I guess life was much simpler when my wife and I did our lifestyle visit in 21 years ago in 2003. We spent a week in a villa near the Lopez country club, drove around in a rented car, visited used homes and model homes, and after The Villages agent took us to the "new area" south of 466, decided on a lot in the village now called Bonny Brook. No houses existed south of 466 at the time because TV only sold a dream. They started building spec houses on one of the Palmer golf courses a few months after we moved in (March of 2004).
The point of this post is that purchasing a home doesn't really need to be as complicated as some people have said. Just come on down and check the place out for a week. If you like what you see, buy it. We live in the same house originally had built, made a few improvements over the years, learned to play golf, joined a couple of pool (billiard) leagues, took line dancing lessons, etc., etc. We are happy as a bug in a rug!

We’re from Tampa as well
 

We’re from Tampa as well and moved here almost 3 years ago. We are thrilled to be in this location. We bought a preowned home, actually it was built in the year 2000. We love this location for one reason because we no longer have to worry about the extreme weather threat in Tampa where we lived at 6 feet elevation. Hurricanes have to cross a lot of land before they get to us here in The Villages. We also got away from some crazy traffic. I do not think Tampa would’ve been the right place to retire.

But one thing we noticed here in our village, where the houses are almost all built in the early 2000s, people are dying off, moving away to family or assisted living, so that there are three empty homes around us right now. Demographics in an aging community will naturally affect real estate.

It seems good that you are doing the "due diligence" part well. The Villages has a lot of positives to offer. Mainly I would say to visit during the hottest months- July and August. People have different tolerances for HEAT and the older you get the more difficult it is to tolerate the Florida summer heat AND HUMIDITY. Many people advise new people to NOT buy a house too quickly, but rather to rent for at least 6 months before buying. The different Villages all have different personalities and pluses and minuses.
......You need to realize that the "feels like" heat index in central Florida was between 100 deg and 105 deg recently. You also should know that 2024 is going to set the record for hottest year on records worldwide and climate scientists say the future will keep setting records. So, Florida will also be that way.
.......We are happy where we are in The Villages so we have NOT been keeping track of whether property values are rising or falling. In our particular area they are likely rising.

As the only parts of America south of latitude 28.9270° N is TV and points south, and the very southern tip of Texas, it is a pretty safe bet that 95% at least of Villagers came from "the north"

This whole "rent for a few/six months first" - that only applies to people who can afford to pay for two homes at the same time. There are a lot of people who aren't retired yet. They can't afford to quit their jobs and move south for six months, they aren't working from home, they don't own their own business. They're looking to the Villages as the place they WILL retire. That means they'll be selling their home up north - which means they're not allowed to live in that home up north anymore since someone else now owns it and lives in it. And moving to the south. I mean sure they could pay for storage of all their stuff and rent, but monthly rental fees are MUCH higher than monthly mortgage payments here in The Villages.

To that end - if you're just a normal Joe Shmoe who wants to retire, who isn't wealthy enough to pay for two properties at the same time, I'd say take a week's vacation with a lifestyle visit first, to see the newer parts of The Villages. Then, take another week's vacation renting north of 466A. Honestly, anywhere north of 466A within the Villages is fine, but if you can get between Sumter Landing and Spanish Springs, you'll get a great idea of affordable options away from - but very close to - every possible retail, grocery, medical, and dining option you could possibly need, with mature landscaping and little-to-no bond.

I would like to provide a correction. The lots around Paradise Lake are flooding or close to it right now. We better NOT get any more BIG rains or hurricanes.

I would add to my last reply that it is important to decide if you want to be on a BUSY street or a quieter on as far as traffic goes. Pay attention to the number of cars and trucks that go by at various times of the day. I like where I live, but I am on a busy neighborhood street. There are a lot of noisy commercial trucks going by (usually exceeding the speed limit). And surprisingly many of the golf carts are noisy and speeding because they have their governors cranked up to 30 plus MPH. The older ones also smell of gas fumes as they pass by. so , I would advise picking a street with MINIMUM traffic going by your front lawn.

After one year of home ownership, we are definitely in the glass is more than half full camp. Nothing in life anywhere is perfect, but I am not complaining about anything in the Villages. Here is the quickest summary I can provide:

1. The Villages is beautiful, I think it is almost pristine. They take great care of it, do not build things on the cheap, they have preserved many areas, there is almost no litter, they plant flowers four times a year. It's a gorgeous place to live.
2. The people really are great. Folks are friendly, it's easy to strike up conversation, we are all here for primarily the same reason, I love the people here.
3. The Villages is safe. I feel safe and secure here and don't worry about my wife going anywhere. I'm sure there is some crime, but it's as safe a place as I have ever been in my life. And the older we get, that's reassuring.

We were looking at both new and pre-owned. The Villages put some of the Lifestyle homes on sale right next to Brownwood, and we bought the same home that we had stayed in for our Lifestyle visit. Of all the places we could have bought, we actually had a week's experience living in this house. It is so close to Publix and all kids of shopping and restaurants. It is literally 2 minutes from Brownwood via golf car, and within walking distance or a cart ride from the big Villages Health building.

If you are into an active 55+ community with so much to do, I don't think there is a better place in this country than The Villages. And I honestly think the majority of folks who live here agree with this. Good luck, it's major step in life but you will hear many people say the only regret they have is they didn't do it sooner.

OP lived in Tampa for 13 years pretty sure they got heat and humidity and loads of traffic experience under their belt.
Then again their current location in savannah, Georgia Heat & humidity isn’t that much difference.

You are or should be aware that the Villages offers packages where you can rent a new home at reasonable prices. Choice of where, how what and when is a personal choice

We do not know you so how could we make this decision for you? Terms of active seniors this place is huge. A sort of Disneyland for seniors, Foreclosures? We've been here for 11 years never seen one. Teasing a little. If you have an intense interest in door knobs there is likely a door knob collectors club here-or you could start one.

Assuming there are at least two involved in the CHOICE, it often helps to write it down on ??????? index cards. Stuff like what is important, interests now, future kind of stuff. Budget. ETC. "Help your son out in the military," Frankly makes me wonder. Will he need further help?

I do know of a nice 3 bedroom home, fully furnished, in a nice neighborhood North of 466A. It is fairly priced in my opinion, but I'm clearly not a realtor. PM me if you want the phone number of the owner.

test it
 

get a cart and drive to what you would want to do. If you want to drive 20 min or less to shopping & restaurants stay above hwy 44. Yah eastport will be a new square with nothing between here and there until it builds up. Are you willing to drive 40 min to anything for the next 5 years

Best Input
 

I agree. Why pay taxes on a home or pay for the maintenance? Rent for a while, look around. With inventory going up and closings down over the year time gap you have plenty of time. There certainly is no reason to rush with a falling market. We have the Reventure App, but there are several good real estate apps out there. Check out the different zones and pricing.

Note there is a free portion of Reventure you can use.
Reventure
Use the link
Put in your zip 32162 or 32163
Home Value and Home Value Growth are both free I believe
Click on a section you are interested in and go from there
Happy Hunting

PS. What is your opinion of Georgia’s own Peach Tree City? They are similar to the Villages.