Half the homes in The Villages are empty in the summer, but they are all kept up. Most of those are not rented out, as it isn’t easy to find summer renters, and a lot of people only here in the winter don’t want other people living in their house. You can always ask your agent. Your agent can perhaps check to see how many homes are rented out through The Villages Sales and Rentals office. Or, you can go to the Air B&B web site and see if there are any rentals listed on that block. That should be pretty easy.

Your post inspired me to check out Air BnB, and "VEE-R-BEE-oh", as if I were searching for a rental. I searched for summer months, figuring that's when I'd see the most availability. Far from perfect I suppose, but it sure seemed to me that there are areas readily identifiable as more heavily concentrated with rentals, and areas where they are pretty sparse.

it seemed to me the newer villa areas had more offerings, and the older neighborhoods with homes had fewer. So if this is a hot button for you, you might do this kind of search yourself and compare the newer areas with some of the older areas. We live in Poinciana, built ca. 2006, in an area with "regular homes" as opposed to villas. There are a few, very widely scattered offerings on the rental search sites. We have never noticed any issues with rentals.

Just a thought. Good luck.

Hi Marvin:
I’m an appraiser and I have been involved in thousands of residential purchase transactions, many here in The Villages. Your concern is both fair and legitimate. I see no reason why your agent should not answer the questions however he/she simply might not know.

I would definitely walk the block perhaps on a busier Saturday morning and talk to the neighbors. Remember also that you can look up any owner on the Sumter County assessors website.

One telltale sign of a non-owner occupied property is landscaping that is unimproved or noticeably worse looking than others. Also, in the villages owner occupants tend to invest in gutters. Landlords often don’t.

Good luck,
Jim

Tax Record
 

Look up the tax records for the surrounding homes where you are considering. It will give the address of the owner and if they live somewhere other than that house, it may be a rental. It's not perfect but it will tell you if it's the primary home of the owner.

Two comments...
1) I would not be upset that my block was tranquil for 1/2 the year with how frenetic things can be in the villages during winter. You will make your friends through clubs and activities, and most Villages have some sort of social club so you will meet the neighbors even if they are not on your block.
2) The Villages Sales agents are not representing YOU the buyer, so anything they say is in the best interest of the seller.

Your sales agent would be able to tell in GENERAL what they see as the more likely/desirable rental areas, which IMO, are going to be those close to squares, entertainment, golf, golf cart accessible, and such. We chose Dabney which is close enough but not too close, and we have zero problem using a car for further things since we and most people probably never owned a golf cart before moving here. I think Eastport is going to be a zoo between having the family section, schools, stadium, restaurants, ball fields, day and night games, shopping, new golf courses, etc. I'm guessing they'll be heavy rental and with all the young people, more like living in a big "small town." We love our preserve lot and being close enough for easy access but not too close.

If you have neighbors that Snowbirds and lets others use their properties ( for money) , just worry about one own! That means that if anything happens ( like storm damage) then again, worry about one’s own. And when they are here, let them know that The Villages is a retirement community and not a hotel area!

actually you are incorrect.

The laws in this state are that IF an agent is aware of it and it's bad they have to reveal it IF you ask. If they lie they can be suspended, fined, etc. An Agent that "tells you what you want to hear" needs to be reported to the DBPR

There are ways of telling a truth that make it sound like good news, when it's actually bad news. If you ask them how many rentals are in your neighborhood, the TRUTH would be "we don't know, there is no way to know who is actually LIVING in each house, but we can tell you that 98% of all homes are owned by individuals, and exactly 2% of them are owned by the bank in foreclosure." That might be the "truth."

Also the "truth" - "I'm not authorized to tell you that information."
Also the "truth" - "I don't know, but you can probably check the various rental websites and find out for yourself."
Also the "truth" - "I haven't seen any rental ads for this neighborhood all year."
Also the "truth" - "I only know of two houses in this neighborhood that have "for rent" signs in their windows."

The residency of someone else's property, is not something a real estate agent is required to disclose if they know about it. They only have to disclose that information if you're looking to buy a home that has tenants. They don't have to disclose if the next door neighbor has tenants.

Mine would.

:thumbup:

Usually the less expensive homes, like patio villas are purchased as an income producing property.

How would any real estate agent know ? I guess you would have to go talk to neighbors

I rented for two months close to one of squares almost half houses in that villa was rentals due it’s close approximately to square.

We were thinking along those same lines, neighborhood of larger, high priced homes, less subject to rental, investment, AB& B. We could not have been more WRONG ! As you stated, not much you can do, although we do have family and a few friends who retired to communities where investing to rent out, subletting, etc. is nearly impossible due to the restrictions of the community. That really helps produce a more homogeneous neighborhoods.

Quite Different to What the OP said
 

I think the OP is worried about the neighborhood turning into a revolving door of renters and weekend Disney warriors. That hardly means quiet and peaceful.