[tophcfa]

One thing is for certain about view lots on Championship Golf Courses owned by the developer. A homeowners premium view can be here today and gone tomorrow, just ask the poor folks that live near where the clubhouse, restaurant, pool, and tennis courts USED TO BE at Hacienda Hills. They now have a construction site view that will eventually be Villas.

[margaretmattson]

Originally Posted by Rainger99

I have been here about two years and my wife is talking about moving. When we got here, we both agreed that we didn't want to back up to a lanai so we back up to a wall. Now, she is talking about getting a house with a view.

The Villages website refers to Home Golf Front Site, Golf View Site, Water Front Site, Water View Site, View Site, and Preserve Site.

Can anyone explain the differences between a Golf Front Site and a Golf View Site and a Water Front Site and a Water View Site and a regular View Site? Why isn't there a preserve view site?

Any pros or cons for these various sites?

I have seen complaints from people that live on golf courses - noise and golf balls in their back yards. Do people with view sites think that it is worth the premium price?

"Worth it" is a term that only YOU the buyer can decide. Are you a nature lover (someone who loves to watch birds, sunrise/sunset, etc)? Than a water front property is for you. The water is literally right behind your lanai. But pay attention to the type of water view. Some are plain jane while others are Gobsmacking beautiful. Remember, in the winter the level of the water may decrease.

Are you a people watcher,? Golf front is for you! From sunrise to sunset, you will be able to watch and listen to the golfers enjoying their game. Keep this in mind: there will always be someone in your back yard, and you will never get a break! Not only can you watch and listen to them, they will also watch and listen to you. After some years, most homeowners plant trees to block their view. In my opinion, this kind of view is NOT WORTH It! After 6 months of living in one, I had to sell and leave.

A preserve front is basically trees in your backyard. Nice to look at, peaceful and serene but there will be animals lurking in your back yard..bears, racoon's, snakes etc. Lots of noisy birds.

Want privacy? A courtyard villa or veranda offers that with walls built around the back of your home. You can create a private space as you wish...trees, fountains, garden, sitting areas, etc. Very private!

A golf, water, or preserve VIEW Site means you can see that in the distance from your home. Examples: A water feature across the street in the FRONT of your home, near a preserve where you can see trees from a distance, a golf course to the left or right but not on your property etc.

If I were you, I would start by looking at preowned homes with views. You will immediately notice some are AWESOME while others are just so so. If you are buying a new home, learn from the AWESOME sites you have seen and imitate those.

Don't neglect looking at courtyard villas and verandas. Some homeowners have created a paradise in their backyard. You can easily duplicate it at your home.

If you plan to make your next purchase a forever home, making money on the resale is not that important. But, if you plan on selling in a few years, homes with views appreciate more and sell more quickly.

Hope this helps and good luck!

[Rainger99]

Originally Posted by margaretmattson

"Worth it" is a term that only YOU the buyer can decide. Are you a nature lover (someone who loves to watch birds, sunrise/sunset, etc)? Than a water front property is for you. The water is literally right behind your lanai. But pay attention to the type of water view. Some are plain jane while others are Gobsmacking beautiful. Remember, in the winter the level of the water may decrease.

Are you a people watcher,? Golf front is for you! From sunrise to sunset, you will be able to watch and listen to the golfers enjoying their game. Keep this in mind: there will always be someone in your back yard, and you will never get a break! Not only can you watch and listen to them, they will also watch and listen to you. After some years, most homeowners plant trees to block their view. In my opinion, this kind of view is NOT WORTH It! After 6 months of living in one, I had to sell and leave.

A preserve front is basically trees in your backyard. Nice to look at, peaceful and serene but there will be animals lurking in your back yard..bears, racoon's, snakes etc. Lots of noisy birds.

Want privacy? A courtyard villa or veranda offers that with walls built around the back of your home. You can create a private space as you wish...trees, fountains, garden, sitting areas, etc. Very private!

A golf, water, or preserve VIEW Site means you can see that in the distance from your home. Examples: A water feature across the street in the FRONT of your home, near a preserve where you can see trees from a distance, a golf course to the left or right but not on your property etc.

If I were you, I would start by looking at preowned homes with views. You will immediately notice some are AWESOME while others are just so so. If you are buying a new home, learn from the AWESOME sites you have seen and imitate those.

Don't neglect looking at courtyard villas and verandas. Some homeowners have created a paradise in their backyard. You can easily duplicate it at your home.

If you plan to make your next purchase a forever home, making money on the resale is not that important. But, if you plan on selling in a few years, homes with views appreciate more and sell more quickly.

Hope this helps and good luck!

Thanks for the very detailed response! Very informative!

[patfla06]

We bought a Designer on a waterfront lot in 2013.
The upcharge at the time was reasonable.

We didn’t want a golf course view. Between the mowing, fertilizing, and noisy golfers we opted out.

I would not buy a house with kissing lanais.

I can only imagine what they charge now for view lots.

[Klearhead]

How Important was "Privacy" when selecting the wall. With Golf, it's gone, Birds on and near lakes have droppings, Nature Preserves are always "Animal First"....

[Papa_lecki]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

One thing is for certain about view lots on Championship Golf Courses owned by the developer. A homeowners premium view can be here today and gone tomorrow, just ask the poor folks that live near where the clubhouse, restaurant, pool, and tennis courts USED TO BE at Hacienda Hills. They now have a construction site view that will eventually be Villas.

The golf courses aren’t going anywhere, they are part of the water management plan by the developer.
We have a great sunrise view. Wife and I are early risers, and love coffee as the sun comes up.
I would hesitate to live on an executive - golfers from 7 to 7, every day. Especially stay away from tee box or green.
Championship might be different. Not as much volume of golfers and multiple tee boxes, spaced farther apart. Try to find a home between where shots were designed to land.
Remember, with golf courses, there are mowers starting at 5AM.

[banjobob]

My suggestion look for a home with a view that is on a decorative pond, not a retention pond, the latter will have water only at certain times other times a weed field and no grantee of water.

[IndianaJones]

Can anyone explain the differences between a Golf Front Site and a Golf View Site and a Water Front Site and a Water View Site and a regular View Site? Why isn't there a preserve view site?

Be wary of the term “view” - a friend bought a “golf course view” property and yes, you can view a tee box if you stand on the very back corner of the property stretch out as far as possible & look left. If you want to see the water, better have binoculars. Go see the place (drive by, look in the backyard) to judge the “view”.
We bought a golf front site (actually the back yard faces west so sunsets are spectacular) - we’re on the black tee box so very little noise, no golf balls, just a great view! The maintenance workers are there & gone, minor interruption & the evenings are quiet & beautiful.

[MidWestIA]

I'd look for a 2 car plus golf cart garage first. I don't think it's worth the $ for me if I'm in the house I'm on the computer or watching tv otherwise I am not home except at night. But I had a house up north where my computer/tv room looked out on a woods and that was great.

[Bay Kid]

I moved from looking at 5 neighbors to a beautiful sunset overlooking a golf course. A championship course does have less traffic. Well worth the money.

[Ellwoodrick]

My wife an I just bought in an older section on the Northern side of the Villages. As a professional Appraiser I understand the benefit that the View and Location can have on a home. The home we purchased has a typical street view of the homes in the Neighborhood. One of the things that actually sold us on the home was a very large Lani (Bird Cage) looking out to what appears to be an undeveloped fire lane and hedge row. On the other side of that is a Block wall that separates our neighborhood from a neighborhood of Villas. Our only neighbors are on the right and left. The privacy was a great selling feature to us. If we all liked the same things what a boring place it would be....

[MandoMan]

Originally Posted by Rainger99

I have been here about two years and my wife is talking about moving. When we got here, we both agreed that we didn't want to back up to a lanai so we back up to a wall. Now, she is talking about getting a house with a view.

The Villages website refers to Home Golf Front Site, Golf View Site, Water Front Site, Water View Site, View Site, and Preserve Site.

Can anyone explain the differences between a Golf Front Site and a Golf View Site and a Water Front Site and a Water View Site and a regular View Site? Why isn't there a preserve view site?

Any pros or cons for these various sites?

I have seen complaints from people that live on golf courses - noise and golf balls in their back yards. Do people with view sites think that it is worth the premium price?

I’ve lived most of my life in forests with few or no other houses in sight. I bought a house here because it had a pool, then several shady trees, then a fairway, then more trees. When I sat in the living room, I could see no other houses. Few houses like mine have that much privacy. I loved the sense of openness. I have a friend who lives in a house with a kissing lanai. She and her neighbors get along, but she always has to close the curtains at night. If she steps onto her patio, neighbors come out for a chat. No privacy. I have another friend with a much nicer home than mine, corner lot, bare wall and no windows on one side, six foot plastic privacy fence on the other. She can’t see into her neighbors’ homes, but she would have loved a view like I had.

I sold the home with pool on a golf course a few months ago for $525. Now I am mortgage free and saving thousands a year on pool cleaning, mowing, fertilizing, etc. I bought a ten year old courtyard villa in a very attractive and quiet neighborhood. Yes, I can see houses and housetops out my windows, but no one can see in. I’ve only heard neighbors outside a couple times. I don’t need to close curtains, as no one can see in. If I felt like trimming the shrubs in the courtyard in the buff, no one else would know (but I don’t). It’s a very attractive, low maintenance courtyard. At the other place, it seemed like nearly every day there were lawn crews on the block cutting grass, or else on the golf course. Pretty loud. Here, the lawns are like postage stamps. They get mowed once a week, but the crews are gone in half an hour. Then it’s quiet again.

It’s a little like living in a monastery with a wall around it, but it is much better than kissing lanais. I enjoyed my previous view, and miss it, but not having it is saving me $2,500 a month. I do have a lot of beautiful paintings in my house, though, many of them landscapes and rivers, so that gives me something view-like to enjoy.

I lived right on a lake for ten years and loved it, but a lot of the “lakes” here are really man-made drainage for flood control, often essentially rectangles a hundred yards long. Or else, a sea of plants most of the time. Many golf course houses have views of other houses on the other side of the course.

One thing to note about a golf course lot is where is the cart path? If it is on the other side of the fairway, your yard will be much quieter. Another is whether the house is on an executive course or a country club course. I don’t have statistics, but I was on Tierra del Sol, and my sense was that often the course wasn’t very busy. There were busy times, but other times when there might be ten minutes or more between players. Executive courses might be much busier, especially with the shorter fairways.

[La lamy]

A waterfront property is TOTALLY worth the premium price for me. Being able to look out and bird/turtle watch is an absolute pleasure. Watching the young chicks grow up is the best!!!
I saved a lot by being in the historic section where the bond was paid, and I didn’t mind updating an older home. The lots are much bigger than the southern villages, providing more privacy from neighbors.
A golf front property would not work at all for me.
Good luck with your search!

[lmack]

Originally Posted by Rainger99

I have been here about two years and my wife is talking about moving. When we got here, we both agreed that we didn't want to back up to a lanai so we back up to a wall. Now, she is talking about getting a house with a view.

The Villages website refers to Home Golf Front Site, Golf View Site, Water Front Site, Water View Site, View Site, and Preserve Site.

Can anyone explain the differences between a Golf Front Site and a Golf View Site and a Water Front Site and a Water View Site and a regular View Site? Why isn't there a preserve view site?

Any pros or cons for these various sites?

I have seen complaints from people that live on golf courses - noise and golf balls in their back yards. Do people with view sites think that it is worth the premium price?

I agree with other posters, ‘front’ means directly connected and ‘view’ means you can see over whatever is connected (like over a road).

We bought a golf front home on a water hole as we like golf and water. We love it, have had it since 2011 (having moved from a non-view home we bought just the year before).

We love to watch the golf and birds at the pond. You can see and hear carts, golfers and course workers but the sound (I won’t call it noise) is usually just in the background. We do have a cart path behind us and we don’t mind that. Occasionally a ball in the yard (I get about 6 a year) but one has never broken a window (that would be a pretty impossible shot). Extremely rare for a golfer to go into the yard or address us on the lanai but we are social people and don’t mind that (just took exception the one guy in 12 years that actually lined up to play his ball from where it laid well into our yard).

Golfers do start early and go until dark, course workers start even earlier. It doesn’t bother us, we don’t get up at the crack of Dawn and don’t hear anything unless the windows are open (and even then, the body gets accustomed to some background noise).

So, we’d say, it’s well worth it for us. We paid a lot premium of $145k and it’s also been a good investment (but we aren’t going anywhere 🤩).

[jmaccallum]

We just bought our second house in the Villages and it backs to the Owl/Turtle Preserve in Santo Domingo up near Spanish Springs, and we love it! The sunrise view is spectacular! Nobody behind us as far as the eye can see!

It is a block and stucco home that only had one owner since it was built. Yes, we did have to replace some carpet with LVP but it wasn’t that much $$’s. And it has NO Bond. It was paid off long ago. Great location too. Can’t believe how many stores, restaurants, the Spanish Springs Town Square, and everything else is so convenient to get to by golf cart!

In our search, we learned the difference between Golf Front and Golf View is that Golf Front is right on the golf course. Golf View means turn your chair, look past the neighbors house and that big oak tree, and you’ll see a bit of fairway. The same holds true for Waterfront versus Waterview.

And a note about Golf Front, we rented a house in St. Cathrines that backed to the Putting Course between Sawgrass and Ezell Recreation. Thought the view would be nice until we were awakened almost everyday at 5:30 am by mowers and weed eaters and who knows what other kind of maintenance machines working that little itty bitty course. Cured us of wanting Golf Front!

Good luck in your search!