[skyguy79]

Originally Posted by ajbrown

Our Villages real estate agent was named Casey Stengel.

The last used home we looked at somewhere by Palmer I was bit by a dog. The garage door in the kitchen had a note that said, VERY FRIENDLY DOG in garage, please do not let out. I love dogs, so I opened door, crouched over showing it my hand and it got me drawing a little blood (nothing serious). Always the little ones it seems that catch me by surprise . Casey almost fainted, he did not know what to do. It probably did not help that I kept asking him liability questions and if I might be able to now get the home for free

If I were Casey, I would have said NO... but I can probably arrange a used dog house somewhere down in the Everglades!

[ajbrown]

Originally Posted by skyguy79

If I were Casey, I would have said NO... but I can probably arrange a used dog house somewhere down in the Everglades!

You are the emoticon master , love the dog house!

[cleanwater]

If you have particular interests/needs that are better served in one area than another that's the area for you. Everyone we know loves the location where they live regardless whether its in the center, north, south etc. Each area has similar recreation opportunities and you end up doing most of your activities in your area. It's nice to be in the middle or near shopping. We are neither and still love our place as we found the privacy we value most of all.

[gary42651]

We bought in Bonita, when Brownwood is completed, we will be half way between LSL and Brownwood, the only mistake I made was not getting a house with a golf cart garage.

[LisaJ]

We loved the villa we stayed in for the LSP..We loved the location and the floorplan. Sooo, when they came up we bought site unseen. Couldn't be happier!

[ducati1974]

I agree with gary42651- wish we had bought a place with golf cart garage!

[memason]

ALWAYS go for the largest garage possible. It's impossible to have a garage that's too large in TV. It is essentially the only real storage area you will have....

Cheers!

[graciegirl]

We bought our house three years ago about this time and at that time they were not building for people on the lot they chose. They were building a whole street or say 10-12 houses at a time in Hadley. Our original assigned rep went on vacation in the middle of our 6 day stay after our 2 hour time with her so we were surprised at the lack of interest for anyone else to jump in...and kind of delighted by it so we took the homes available advertisement from the Daily Fun and went looking at the outside of them ourselves. There wasn't and isn't still models that are open for you to go through without a rep.

SO...We fell in love with a Lantana (which is now occupied by our dearest friends in The Villages) and called the sales office and found it was sold minutes before...and we walked around the house next door. A little white Camellia..with the garage door unlocked! Well we entered that house, or rather Sweetie did, and opened the front door for me.........and when I entered, the colors brightened, the music went up, the birds began to sing. There was a sweet short wall behind it and some pretty landscaping that screened it from the shuffleboard court at the Odell center. I knew in my heart that I could sit on THAT lanai in my jammies and drink my coffee without offending anyone.

I looked at Sweetie and he looked at me and we both looked at Helene and we nodded in unison. The rest is history...chronicled on this forum by over 5000 posts because TAL is counting.

[liere]

We just bought a house in Woodbury....the house was a resale, we just have to move in...price was right and had everything we wanted. On a cul-de-sac, and it seems to be quieter in Woodbury....4 minutes from the pool...will look for nice drives to other parts of TV.

[skyguy79]

When we were looking for our home we only had three mandatory requirements with one being that the house have a roof on it. We figured that without one, the air conditioning bills would be astronomical and that it would take a lot of mopping whenever it rained. On the other hand the heating bills would be non-existant during certain times during the year, especially when it wasn't cloudy.

The second requirement was that there be doors so that we wouldn't have to use windows to get in and out. If we had to use the windows we would consistantly be getting finger print smudges on the panes that we would consistantly be cleaning. The bills for just the Windex would have been unbelievable. Don't even speak to me about the wear and tear on the blinds!

The last requirement was that the house was accessable by car... and I don't mean golf car. Not only would a park and walk by trail have been a deal breaker for me, but the time it would take to get to the car and a restaurant when I'm hungry would have been unacceptable!

< off>

We really had no hard and fast requirements when we were looking. Our main concern was that it be suitable should we decide to live here permanently. We haden't decided if we would be froggies or flip-floppies! We would of course like such things as a golf or water view, golf car garage and lots of space, but we also had to temper our desires with reality.

We were never to TV before, and while looking at what was available online we started to become concerned that homes that we seriously liked may not be available by the time we would arrive for our lifestyle. So we asked friends that already lived in TV to be advisors and our eyes. We saw a condo around SS that looked interesting and they were already familiar with what we were looking at and advised us against it.

Our friends then started looking at pre owned designers that we were interested in. So as we found what we were instered in, they went to see the place with our agent and reported back to us. We literally started in the north-west corner of TV around the Lopez area where they advised us against the first two we had them look at.

We then became very interested in one that was more centralized. I showed beautifully on the TV website, but on closer examination they told us that they noticed a lot of problems and especially for us there was too much landscaping to try and keep up with. Oh well!

The next was a house on Maverick in Hadley. They called us from the house and said that it looked good but that our agent suggested that we look at one near where we were. So they headed to the south eastern part of Hadley to look at a Gardenia.

From the Gardenia house they again called us and said that the house was unfortunately no longer available... then said "We loved it so much that we're buying it!" Needless to say they were just kidding around!

The Gardenia had an expanded garage and master bedroom, it had a roman bath, but it didn't have a golf car garage. No big deal we though since the garage was expanded. Right... 4 feet, big deal! Anyway, the back yard was large enough that you didn't have to worry about opening you liani door and being so close to your neighbor that they could open their liani door and we'd be close enough to kiss each other!

To make a long story shorter, we placed on offer on the Gardenia and all paperwork was processed by the time we arrived in TV and we closed on the next day! The rest is history now and we're happy... except mayby for there being no GC garage! Oh well, can't have everything!

[skyguy79]

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[skyguy79]

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[Russ_Boston]

Originally Posted by liere

will look for nice drives to other parts of TV.

Don't worry, you'll have some. Get a gas cart!

[Pturner]

We looked all over TV during several visits, then decided we wanted to focus on the north side. We were several years from retirement and were looking for a vacation/rental.

We found a beautifully decorated turnkey on a corner lot with a private east-facing lanai at a great, priced-to-sell offer. Just what we'd been looking for! Even so, we made a lowball offer, only because I found the house when on a visit with my parents when hubby wasn't there. He said to make a low offer thinking we'd negotiate and he'd have a chance to see it first. Our offer was accepted. Sometimes the "luck of the Irish" is with you, even if you're not Irish.

We couldn't be happier with our Springdale (somewhat by chance) home.

[hedoman]

To maximize ur lifestyles (LSP) visit time we looked at HUNDREDS of listings and virtual tours from the villages and realtors.com. We wanted a "boilded down" list of maybe 12 to look at. There was 1 listing in Polo Ridge that we kept going back to as a benchmark against all other listings. Finally I got tired of looking so, on a snowy January day, I called our Villages rep and I asked if the owner would accept the figure I had in mind. Well, after a few offers/counter offers we sealed the deal. A fine home over looking Glenview CC, right on the course. Pool, Privacy and great views were ours. So, on our LSP, we actually went to closing and became Villagers! Like other issues in life "when you see it you'll know it is the one for you". Now if I can recover from Mardi Gras and 7 fabulous golf days.....

I never got lost in a neighborhood I didn't like......and I got lost ALOT. It is true what they say....no more than 30 seconds and a Villager will stop to see if you need help.