[coffeebean]

Originally Posted by Don Dukes

Ed and Beth Sterling. Do you know them? They are moving down next week! It's all they talk about! They told us to come on this site and thevillages.com.

I've been looking at the "pre-owned" homes and the new homes on thevillages.com. Nice homes, but many of the homes in Florida are a lot less expensive with more options. I'm not sure I get it. I don't mean to be rude. I'm just trying to figure this out.

It's not only a home you are purchasing in TV, it's a lifestyle. There aren't any other retirement communities like TV so it is very hard to compare this lifestyle to others.

[lanabanana73]

Originally Posted by Barefoot

We based our decision on the following:

We wanted a pre-owned house because we think you get more for your money that way. We wanted something built in the last five years because we didn't want to have to worry about replacing roofs or furnaces or air conditioners. We wanted to live mid-town with easy acces to both Town Centers.

We wanted to be minutes away from the following by Golf Cart:

Library
Publix
Fresh Market
Urgent Care
Vet
WalMart
Bealls
Perkins
Crispers
MacDonalds Golden Arches
Bob Evans
Olive Garden
Bonefish Grill
Red Lobster
and many other restaurants and stores

We wanted to be within 10 minutes of the dog park called Doggie Doo Run Run, because we take our dogs there for an off-leash run every day.

So we live in Belvedere Village, just south of CR 466 and The Villages Charters School. We are very close to Southern Trace, Buffalo Ridge, etc.
For us it is the perfect location. As a matter of fact we sold our CYV in Belvedere Village and bought a Designer in Belvedere. That is how much we like it!

That is perfect, thank you and exactly the kind of answer I'm looking for. Hmmm.....since I have now turned into a "crazy dog lady", perhaps we too need to be near Doggie Doo Run Run!

We have decided that we are going to dump our 3 kids and make a day trip to TV next month on the 16th to lay our eyes on it. I simply canNOT wait until October! We'll take a trolley tour and maybe make a reservation for a LSV for a few days before we take possession of our rental on the 1st of October.

Hanging out on these boards is probably not good for me. I'm ready to sell the two properties we own here and buy something at TV sight unseen!! Someone needs to tell me, "Hey, slow down girl"!!!

I really appreciate everyone's input and hope you'll keep it coming. I'm very interested to know how people decided on the homes/locations they are in when there are just so many choices.

On to more dreaming.......

[l2ridehd]

Your all wrong, my Villages is best.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by janmcn

When I made my first trip to The Villages in July 2000, they were building CYV's in Santiago. Two months later the sales person I had met called and said they had one lot left and were offering one million dollars in incentives, either 5% in upgrades to your house or 5% in furniture from Southern Lifestyles. I took the upgrades, but some of my neighbors were able to furnish their entire homes with this deal.

This was back in the day when everyone got to design their own home, from patio villas to premiers. Also back in the day when everyone visiting The Villages got picked up at the airport in a big white limousine with a fully stocked bar and two free nights in the villas at Spanish Springs.

This was when Harold Schwartz was still alive, and he and his son, Gary Morse were extremely customer service oriented.

I think that if you look around you, and see what it takes to maintain this place and look how it is kept and the flowers changed out every six weeks, and the remarkable HEAVY folding chairs in all of the rec centers and the design and furnishings of all of the rec centers, and the dozens of beautiful clean sparkling pools with painted every year common areas and beautiful shade coverings to the shuffleboard courts and the picnic areas at the neighborhood rec centers, and the pools for family and the pools for adults over thirty, and the pristine CLEANLINESS, no trash along the roadside or trash anywhere in the neighborhoods and the immediate response given by the warranty department, and the beautiful downtown areas, and the music available at the squares nightly and at the church on the square and at the Savannah center and the stages with curtains at all of the regional rec centers and the mail drops with air conditioning so our prescriptions don't get hot, and the EMS running all of the time to the folks who have fallen or become ill and the big hospital and the attempts to improve health care by the invited USF and the gorgeous landscaping, expensive landscaping right now everywhere getting new pine straw and the..

I think they are still plenty "customer service oriented". Thank you Harold's descendents. I would like to hug all of you. The apple never falls too far from the tree.

[lightworker888]

as it was centrally located and will about center from all 3 town squares. We can get to SS and LSL by golf cart. I take the car north of 466 on the Buena Vista end as I haven't yet learned the tunnel connection through Laurel Manor. But I do go to Southern Trace by golf cart through Belvedere. The only other reason I use the car is if I have to cross 441. Except of course, if I don't leave enough time!

We are in Poinciana and because we bought a turnkey that was fully furnished with everything I needed and liked, it was a no brainer, even though we had no intention of buying when we rented! Must have drunk the Kool-Aid as soon as we landed. I'm sure you will love TV as much as we do. They seem to have thought of everything to make retirement a permanent vacation.


LW888

[swimdawg]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

I think that if you look around you, and see what it takes to maintain this place and look how it is kept and the flowers changed out every six weeks, and the remarkable HEAVY folding chairs in all of the rec centers and the design and furnishings of all of the rec centers, and the dozens of beautiful clean sparkling pools with painted every year common areas and beautiful shade coverings to the shuffleboard courts and the picnic areas at the neighborhood rec centers, and the pools for family and the pools for adults over thirty, and the pristine CLEANLINESS, no trash along the roadside or trash anywhere in the neighborhoods and the immediate response given by the warranty department, and the beautiful downtown areas, and the music available at the squares nightly and at the church on the square and at the Savannah center and the stages with curtains at all of the regional rec centers and the mail drops with air conditioning so our prescriptions don't get hot, and the EMS running all of the time to the folks who have fallen or become ill and the big hospital and the attempts to improve health care by the invited USF and the gorgeous landscaping, expensive landscaping right now everywhere getting new pine straw and the..

I think they are still plenty "customer service oriented". Thank you Harold's descendents. I would like to hug all of you. The apple never falls too far from the tree.

Give me 5 for that one! You said it all, Gracie.

[keithwand]

Re: The Villages being more expensive than other parts of FL is not totally true.
We thought so at first too. Then we priced it out.

Selling our 3,213sf home with 3.5 baths, 3 car garage in Baldwin Park, Orlando and purchasing 3,200sf, 3 bath, 3 car garage with 2' bumpout, pool, cage and summer kitchen for the same $$ in TV.

Now to me thats a deal.

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by lanabanana73

Hanging out on these boards is probably not good for me. I'm ready to sell the two properties we own here and buy something at TV sight unseen!! Someone needs to tell me, "Hey, slow down girl"!!!

We bought our first CYV sight unseen! And we never regretted it for a second. We wanted a newish Villa south of CR 466 and backing on a golf course. So when one came up, we grabbed it for $20,000 less than list price. My husband came home from work (in Canada), and I told him "We just bought a Villa in TV." You go girl!

we really didn't choose the village we live in .our representative showed us so many lots & so many houses in 2 days that we had no idea where we were .we found a lot that backed up to a horse farm with lots of old oaks and fell in love with the idea of no houses behind us! haven't regretted a thing!

[rubicon]

What made me choose the village I live in? My neighbors promised me a rose garden

[PandG]

We appreciate everyone's thoughts and suggestions, as we inch closer to making a permanent move from the Midwest to become Frogs in TV. We're getting some projects done, before putting the house on the market. In the meanwhile, we're living vicariously through everyone's posts!

Paul & Gail

[Someday Came]

We picked Heminway, because a friend of my sister who lived in TV for 10 years said buy in one of 5 or 6 ( she have us a list) Villages that are some what on the new side you will find people more your age that are just retireing. We looked in many other states and kept coming back to the Villages for activties people and life syle. We take over our home March 31 2012, part time for the first year .

[angiefox10]

We didn't choose the village... We didn't know enough about The Villages to know what or where any of the villages are. We chose the lot!

We didn't care where we lived in The Villages as long as we could get there! We wanted a lot that didn't back up to another home as we have a "yapper' and we didn't want the sun setting on our lanai. We also wanted a lot large enough to build a birdcage.

I don't think you can live in a "bad" village! They are all wonderful!

[lanabanana73]

Thanks you guys! Keep 'em coming!!! I'll have my village picked out before you know it.

[jane032657]

We looked at a lot of wonderful neighborhoods, houses (including premier and designer) as well as different views. We chose Haciendas at Mission Hills on the view side because we found it a combination of seeing preserve, water, the tunnels under the bridge, and private looking straight out; and activity looking out to the side view where the new Live Oak Park and baordwalk is which we can see from our home, the golf cart path etc but all with privacy. We have the corner lot. We liked the quiet and the busyness depending on what you want to gaze at. We likes the very large fenced yard for our two dogs as well as our own enjoyment of privacy. We know we will love our neighbors when we finally get moved there. We also liked it is a new neighborhood four minutes by golf cart to Lake Sumter Landing and a short ride to Spanish Springs, near many golf courses and easy to get to the supermarket, liquor store, town square. We also get the same gorgeous sunset you see over the Morse Street bridge and we can hear the music at night from a dstance. Just seemed like everything we wanted. We wish our villa was a few hundred feet bigger but we are making a Florida room out of the lanai and putting in a big bird cage. We could have bought a larger view villa a few doors down but we wanted the corner lot so settled for the smaller space as the yard, outdoors and view is important to us.We feel it is plenty for our lifestyle and the kids still have a few rooms to stay in when they come to visit!