[keithwand]

I am 57 and my wife is 63. We moved to Orlando (Baldwin Park) from Birmingham, MI in 2004 a few years after we both retired in 2002.

We moved here because we liked Celebration, FL and other than Disney it is the exact same concept away from WDW and 3 miles to Orlando downtown.

My parents moved to Sun City Center in the middle of know where and it seemed all their neighbors were late 70's on up. It kind of turned me off to "retirement comm. living". NO OFFENSE to anyone older than 70's as I know I will be there too; just no hurry.

Having said that anyone here in BP under 70 is still working!

We have made a lot of friends and my wife and 2 other women started a Nifty 50's group.

We knew no one here when we moved and no one in TV so that is not a problem.

Am I missing something and should open my mind?

Secondly how is the quality/ build of housing? Does anyone have a 3 car garage or more than 2 bathrooms? It does not seem so according to online real estate sites.

I look forward to any input.

Thanks in advance.

[aln]

There are many homes with more than 2 baths & 3 car garages. However most of those garages are probably filled with golf carts.
As for the quality, "you get what you pay for".
57 & 63 is certainly not too young. TV is getting younger every day.
It's the old phrase, 'try it you'll like it".

[Taj44]

We looked at Sun City before settling in The Villages, and there is no comparison. TV is a really active community, and there are many younger retirees here. I'm in my 50's and have had no trouble meeting others in my age group.

[Tom Hannon]

The Villages is not an old age farm. 57 & 63 are perfect. Especially if you move to the newer neighborhoods such as Buttonwood or Pennecamp. I'd say more than half the houses have 3 or more bedrooms and 2 baths. Check out any designer home. Go to Thevillages.com and click on homes. Like ALN says ''Try it, you're gonna love it."

[keithwand]

Thanks for all of the comments so far.

When I searched a real estate website I got 7 results for TV with 3 car garage, 2.5 baths, under 10 years, 2500sf+ with a range up to 800K. It looked to me as though they were in Lady Lake but not specifically TV.

We need a 3 car garage to house our 2 cars, would purchase a golf or GEM Car and still need to put racks from the ceiling to store our Christmas stuff.

We like walking or biking to our shops and restaurants (nothing like TV in comparison) and would like to be able to do the same. What neighborhoods can be reccommended for that; not too far out?

Friends of ours also from MI (she's 60 and he's 70) were going to rent a place after visiting friends of theirs who speak high praises. We had planned on visiting for a few nights to check it out. They couldn't find a place to rent so off they went to San Diego to try again next year.

We love where we are but know this will not be our final place. We get the itch every 5-10 years.

[Kelsie52]

We moved here 2 months ago I am 58 wife is 57 --We cant keep up with friends we have met who are anywhere fron 65 to 80 !!!!!

If you read many posts you will see more and more of the same comment
" my only regret about the Villages is that I waited too long to make the move.."

We have found here its not numerical figure of your birth ..its the feeling inside ...

Good luck

[RichieLion]

Originally Posted by keithwand

Thanks for all of the comments so far.

When I searched a real estate website I got 7 results for TV with 3 car garage, 2.5 baths, under 10 years, 2500sf+ with a range up to 800K. It looked to me as though they were in Lady Lake but not specifically TV.

We need a 3 car garage to house our 2 cars, would purchase a golf or GEM Car and still need to put racks from the ceiling to store our Christmas stuff.

We like walking or biking to our shops and restaurants (nothing like TV in comparison) and would like to be able to do the same. What neighborhoods can be reccommended for that; not too far out?

Friends of ours also from MI (she's 60 and he's 70) were going to rent a place after visiting friends of theirs who speak high praises. We had planned on visiting for a few nights to check it out. They couldn't find a place to rent so off they went to San Diego to try again next year.

We love where we are but know this will not be our final place. We get the itch every 5-10 years.

Sign up for a preview visit (not expensive) and you'll see for yourself what a vibrant community we are. The Villages is big, so it's impossible to be close to everything. For your purposes in biking and walking, I would scout out both town squares (a third is coming in the future) and decide which one I liked better for their stores, restaurants and scenery, and then search out the villages that surround it for my home.

Good luck if you decide to come and check us out.

[natickdan]

Originally Posted by keithwand

I am 57 and my wife is 63. We moved to Orlando (Baldwin Park) from Birmingham, MI in 2004 a few years after we both retired in 2002.

We moved here because we liked Celebration, FL and other than Disney it is the exact same concept away from WDW and 3 miles to Orlando downtown.

My parents moved to Sun City Center in the middle of know where and it seemed all their neighbors were late 70's on up. It kind of turned me off to "retirement comm. living". NO OFFENSE to anyone older than 70's as I know I will be there too; just no hurry.

Having said that anyone here in BP under 70 is still working!

We have made a lot of friends and my wife and 2 other women started a Nifty 50's group.

We knew no one here when we moved and no one in TV so that is not a problem.

Am I missing something and should open my mind?

Secondly how is the quality/ build of housing? Does anyone have a 3 car garage or more than 2 bathrooms? It does not seem so according to online real estate sites.

I look forward to any input.

Thanks in advance.

If 57 & 63 are too young, then my wife and I are in trouble because we are in our mid 50's.

During our visit to TV, we never felt out of place. We met a number of people in their 50's and 60's that were there to buy property. We also met a number of couples in their 70's that were more active than most of our friends in their 50's.

As Tom suggested, you are more likely to find a younger owners in the newer villages.

Best of luck!

[mikeandnancy1112]

My husband and I are 63 and we have many friends here in their late 50's and 60's.

This is our second time living here. There is no other place like the Villages. We call it the adult Disneyland.

[OpusX1]

Hard to look at housing from just one site on the net. The Villages Real Estate does not co-op with MLS realtors and vice versa. Housing stock runs from the 70's up through a Million. Just depends on what you want. Come up and take a lifstyle visit for 4 nights, you will be amazed at the activities and the size of the place. We considered Celebration but The Villages is the place to be if you want to be active. And no offense to Sun Citiy but we had friends come for a visit after visiting Sun City and they told us that people move to Sun City to die and they move to The Villages to live. Allmost forgot. We are both 58 and I just played Pickle Ball with a fellow that is 93.

[keithwand]

That was exactly my thought about Sun City Center.

My mother passed in July 2010 and we will be selling her house on a boatable lake.
I could never find myself living there but they liked it. Too bad they didn't find the TV.

I "heard" that the FD was called out for stove fire in TV. The owner after a few years decided to use the oven and the instruction manual caught fire as it had never been removed from new. Everyone eats out? I do like the 2/1 Happy Hours.

[Freeda]

We moved to TV full time 3 years ago when I was 56 and my husband was 59, and we have friends of all ages, younger and older than us, that we have met here. The common denominator here seems to be that it attracts people who are young at heart and who want an active lifestyle, regardless of their age; age really becomes irrelevant here.

My husband plays golf almost daily with people of all ages. He's a great golfer, started playing at age 8, but has been outplayed (and not just at golf, but also at pool) by several '90-somethings' and a few '100-somethings' here.

[robbie]

after six visits to TV over the last two years and hating to say good-bye each time, hubby and i decided to move up our retirement... he turns 62 tomo and i will be 54 next month...we'll be there permanently in june.....life is toooo short!!! start living the dream as soon as you can....good luck....

[Pturner]

Hi Keithwand,

First, Welcome to TOTV! We're glad you've come to us for answers and hope you'll continue to join us in discussion.

You asked about age, quality of building and home sizes.

Age: Hubby and I were in our 50s when we purchased here. I still am. You would not believe how many young people of all ages (above 50) whom we have met here! TV is perfect for people who want to live life to the fullest, so age is not, um, age here.

Quality: TV has it's own building contractors. The developer therefore has a lot of control over quality construction and in my opinion, maintains good standards.

Size: There are houses that meet your specs, you just have to look and be patient to find what you are looking for. Get attic stairs so you will have storage in the attic. Remember that you need to have both a Villages agent and an MLS Realtor to see all the choices available, as they do not share listings.

Come for a Lifestyle visit. You'll see a lifestyle with a capital L.

[aljetmet]

Can I assume those retiring before medicare is available to them have medical insurance paid by a former employer? How do you do it? Primarily waitng to retire to TV because of health benefits