[franapn]

I am going to be selling my home in NJ. I am going to be moving most of my furniture to TV. I would like to rent for 2-3 months, look around, see which areas i like, where i may work, and then purchase a house. I am trying to figure out if A: I should rent an unfurnished and move my stuff there and then move to the house i purchase. or B move my stuff to storage and rent a furnished house. C: rent 3 houses over 3 months in 3 different areas sumpter, brownwook, and spanish springs and see which i like best. So many options, not sure which is best. What are your thoughts? Thanks so much, i cant wait to get there no more jersey winters.
Fran

[retiredguy123]

Of the 3 options, B the only one that makes sense. I don't think you can rent an unfurnished house for 2-3 months, and it makes no sense to move every month just be in a particular area because you can drive to almost any location in The Villages in about 15 minutes. You should also ask yourself if your furniture is really worth keeping.

[TNGary]

Originally Posted by franapn

I am going to be selling my home in NJ. I am going to be moving most of my furniture to TV. I would like to rent for 2-3 months, look around, see which areas i like, where i may work, and then purchase a house. I am trying to figure out if A: I should rent an unfurnished and move my stuff there and then move to the house i purchase. or B move my stuff to storage and rent a furnished house. C: rent 3 houses over 3 months in 3 different areas sumpter, brownwook, and spanish springs and see which i like best. So many options, not sure which is best. What are your thoughts? Thanks so much, i cant wait to get there no more jersey winters.
Fran

OP, what is the estimated cost of moving the furniture and belongings?

[LuvtheVillages]

Originally Posted by franapn

I am going to be selling my home in NJ. I am going to be moving most of my furniture to TV. I would like to rent for 2-3 months, look around, see which areas i like, where i may work, and then purchase a house. I am trying to figure out if A: I should rent an unfurnished and move my stuff there and then move to the house i purchase. or B move my stuff to storage and rent a furnished house. C: rent 3 houses over 3 months in 3 different areas sumpter, brownwook, and spanish springs and see which i like best. So many options, not sure which is best. What are your thoughts? Thanks so much, i cant wait to get there no more jersey winters.
Fran

You will find that styles in Florida are very different than up north. You will want new furniture for your new house. Sell most of your furniture.

If you just cannot let it go yet, put it in storage in New Jersey. Don't pay to move it. Three months from now you may find it easier to let go.

For what you pay to move a big truckload of furniture, you can instead spend that money on new stuff.

[JSR22]

Originally Posted by franapn

I am going to be selling my home in NJ. I am going to be moving most of my furniture to TV. I would like to rent for 2-3 months, look around, see which areas i like, where i may work, and then purchase a house. I am trying to figure out if A: I should rent an unfurnished and move my stuff there and then move to the house i purchase. or B move my stuff to storage and rent a furnished house. C: rent 3 houses over 3 months in 3 different areas sumpter, brownwook, and spanish springs and see which i like best. So many options, not sure which is best. What are your thoughts? Thanks so much, i cant wait to get there no more jersey winters.
Fran

We moved here from NJ 9 years ago and rented a furnished for several months. Our stuff went into storage. The furniture we did bring has mostly been replaced .The northern furniture does not look great down here. Rethink what you are going to bring.
We moved here from Hunterdon County and love there is not any snow or ice.

[BettyInFL]

Originally Posted by franapn

I am going to be selling my home in NJ. I am going to be moving most of my furniture to TV. I would like to rent for 2-3 months, look around, see which areas i like, where i may work, and then purchase a house. I am trying to figure out if A: I should rent an unfurnished and move my stuff there and then move to the house i purchase. or B move my stuff to storage and rent a furnished house. C: rent 3 houses over 3 months in 3 different areas sumpter, brownwook, and spanish springs and see which i like best. So many options, not sure which is best. What are your thoughts? Thanks so much, i cant wait to get there no more jersey winters.
Fran

We just moved here (in March from Texas) and while getting rid of what I THOUGHT was a bunch of stuff and furniture, we are now wishing we gotten rid of even more. Big, oversized furniture can 'fill up' a TV house pretty quickly. Also, wishing I could buy new stuff to replace that leather couch we've had for 20+ years (won't wear out and super comfortable for napping).

I would suggest renting, or even one the 'Lifestyle' visits, where you rent from The Villages in one of the villas. (We stayed at a furnished 3 bedroom in Brownwood for about $800 for one week, and they threw in golf cart, theatre and movie tickets, golfing, and meals.

[Pinball wizard]

What I found is that the cost of moving furniture from NJ to TV was similar to just buying new furniture here. Just move your 'must haves".

[retiredguy123]

If you are by yourself, another option to consider is to stay in a hotel, especially if you are coming during the high season. I rented a hotel room for a few months for about the same price as a house. Although, you will not have access to The Villages amenities.

[Papa_lecki]

It is not worth it to party to move furniture to FLA. Sell the NJ furniture. Also, house in FLA is probably smaller.

My advice is C - rent a furnished house in 3 different areas in The Villages, see where you want to buy.

[JMintzer]

We rented a furnished home for 2+ months last Winter. We had already visited (staying with friends) around Thanksgiving 2019, and the extended stay was to make sure SWMBO was sure about buying in TV. I was sold on our initial visit... She came down again in early February 2020 (again staying with friends) and met with their realtor, who took her to the area we were interested in, as well as Chitty Chatty, which had just gone up for sale and the areas SW of the turnpike...

On both visits, we toured the various areas and had a good idea where we wanted to be.

Once we decided to buy, we found a place rather quickly and settled late Februrary.

We decided to bring our master bedroom set, a sideboard (that was my wife's grandmother's), an armoire and a futon (along with the needed kitchen crap), came down in mid-April, had the house painted, our furniture delivered and we're 90% settled.

We bought a dining set, a sofa, a leather recliner, and a queen size bed for one of the guest rooms (the futon will suffice in the other), plus a new mattress/box spring for the master BR.

My friend (who's in the moving business) recommended we tally up what it would cost to buy everything new. If it was less than the move, it was worth moving things. Our BR set alone would cost more to replace than the move cost us... Plus, SWMBO -insisted- it was coming with us (and I have to agree, it looks much better in TV than it ever looked up here! )

Now, whenever we visit (we typically will drive), we'll bring some other odds and ends, pictures and artwork, along with the rest of what we want (like my guitars/amps) until we're done...

Eventually, we'll sell the place here and have the kids take what they want, have an estate sale and make the permanent move...

We -may- keep a small condo/apartment up here, as our kids still all live within 10-15 miles of our home and each other...

[Stu from NYC]

Rent a furnished house for three months, sell what you do not want to bring and put rest in storage.

Travel around the villages during your three months to decide where to go.

BTW when the three months are up how long to buy house and complete sale and where do you put yourself during this period.

[TNLAKEPANDA]

Most unfurnished rentals will want a yearly lease.

[retiredguy123]

I sold a 5 bedroom house and liquidated everything in it. I came here with an SUV and clothes. I was amazed at how easy and inexpensive it was to buy all the same stuff again. Now, I have too much stuff again.

[Cupcake57]

Originally Posted by franapn

I am going to be selling my home in NJ. I am going to be moving most of my furniture to TV. I would like to rent for 2-3 months, look around, see which areas i like, where i may work, and then purchase a house. I am trying to figure out if A: I should rent an unfurnished and move my stuff there and then move to the house i purchase. or B move my stuff to storage and rent a furnished house. C: rent 3 houses over 3 months in 3 different areas sumpter, brownwook, and spanish springs and see which i like best. So many options, not sure which is best. What are your thoughts? Thanks so much, i cant wait to get there no more jersey winters.
Fran

Congrats on deciding to move to the Villages! you will like it here, wherever you choose. I am sorry that many of the posts (again) advise people to sell all their furniture and buy new that 'goes' with Florida. Sounds like you have given much thought to your move and have decided to come with most of your stuff. I just moved here and spent around $5000 to move all of my furniture from the midwest. For that money I couldn't replace my sofa, let alone the rest of my furniture which is either good quality or antique. To each his/her own, but some us don't care for coastal chalk paint particle board. AND currently most furniture that has to be ordered is taking 4 months or more to get in. Best wishes and I hear ya on the 'no more snow'!

[Number 10 GI]

I tried to convince the wife to sell our furniture in Tennessee before we moved. Lost that argument with the exception I talked her into selling the dining room only because it wouldn't fit in the house we bought. Were here less than a year and replaced the bedroom and living room. If memory serves correctly we spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $4,500 to move the rest of our stuff. Right now though if the furniture store doesn't have the stuff in stock it can take 6-8 months to get new furniture. I found a recliner that I fell in love with, almost fell asleep in it while trying it out in the store, and was told it would take 10 months to get it as it wasn't in stock.