Absolutely disagree. We have made many close friends, some of them are like family.

People use TV for investments. Not as a home.

My little village feels like I'm the only one in it.

You sound like one of the sales people that work here

Same with us. The naysayers would find a reason to be unhappy anywhere.

Some of us were sold a bill of goods and didn’t realize it right away. Now kinda stuck because TV has flooded the market with new homes they can’t sell and reducing prices a resale can’t compete with

Don’t forget the bond payments..

Which neighborhoods? I would love to buy a 1 year old home.

A couple on The Villages Experience youtube podcast state they were ready to sign an in season rental agreement and then said “screw it. This is a down payment. Lets just buy a patio villa and sell it in one year”

I am planning on buying a new home, but bonds for new Veranda and Designer homes south of Eastport are close to $50,000. With the morrgage at 7% interest it is not affordable.

That was yesteryear, it’s almost 2025 and the total economics have changed. The last of the large boomer retirement years have passed and the prices here have escalated to where it’s not as attractive as it once was. Also the shear number of new homes being built detracts from the value of existing homes. Couple that with the loss of the small town feel that attracted many and what people were able to profit from ten years ago is like comparing apples and oranges. And the last 4 years prices were highly influenced by Covid and the work from home syndrome which is fading. I wouldn’t want to be too deep into owning rentals as the continuing new build competition will impact long term returns.

Things to take into account, if you are looking at investment during high interest.
Your investment advisor is your key voice in your head. Our investment gains are far above 7%.
That said we took largest mortgage on our fourth home @6.25%. 30 days after close started dropping large principal payments. So basically in less than 5 months our interest $$ amount per month is equal or less than a 4.1% mortgage rate. This has always been our mortgage process since the 70s.
Our financial guy will tell us when to stop large principal payments and then use power of OPM.

We bought in TV 2 new spec houses, one preowned, and just built a 4/3 pool home, with $50,000 bond. So four houses, have sold three, not one did we pay off bond. Buyer absorbed the bond.
Our current bond rate is extremely low, and paying off is not in future.

There are expenses during that 1 year period that must be paid. Like to prevent mold you need to run the A/C. You need the grass to be cut. The sprinkler system needs to use water. You probably need security cameras installed. Basically you have expenses. So, you are betting that the house sells at the end of the year for more than the original sale costs plus those 1 year expenses. Like ANY investment, there are risks involved.

Real Estate Commission
 

Real estate commissions do increase sales prices. A Seller wants 500,000, but list it for 530,000 to cover commission costs. When it sells comps for the neighborhood go up etc. It looks like the tide is turning though as the market becomes more competitive with newer rules and increased FSBO activity. Many websites are now selling and listing homes on MLS for a $99 dollar fee. It’s becoming a madhouse in the market.

We were told by several agents not worth paying off bond you will not get it back when selling.

However when you consider the fee for having the bond on top of the interest, at some point think we will pay it off.

Many like my in-laws would never risk investing at a bank, homes, or market. Then again younger residents have time to play catch up. One sells investment homes at the right market, not because it’s a year old.

Since we have always owned 2-3 homes at a time in TV from 2010, plus up north lake house, and family home, have a little experience. With extensive knowledge of what homes need, your “probably need cameras” should never be probably. One can monitor anything inside or out while 10 or 1000 miles away.

If one owns an investment home, “at not the right sell time”,long term tenants are plentiful, in TV. We are in the process of guiding our 21yo grand for her first investment flip home.

However some just aren’t comfortable or have the funds to invest without constant worry. Plus we have Zero attachment to any home in TV. So if something comes along, at the right location, view, then it could become next home, then either long term current home or sell since it’s a great view/location.

In my case I did two sales on new houses that I built with the first being at the 2 year mark and the second being at the 1 year mark. The reason for both was for a great profit, and in the case of the second one an additional reason was that I wanted to move up north of 44.