Hi Larry,

I actually went through a similar process recently. I started researching the Villages back in November and I learned a lot from TOTV and youtube. I had it all built up in my head and I was so excited to come down for my first visit that I was actually scared it wouldn't be as good as advertised, especially since I had been encouraging my wife that this would be a great spot. We came down the first week of February and heard the music playing in the square, had a great tour day with our Villages realtor. Smitten from the first moment. Purchased a home in the south in De Luna a couple weeks later. In sum, I think you are on the right track. If you have any specific questions don't hesitate to reach out to me directly.

Cheers,

Dylan

Someone was just telling me when building was starting south of 466, yes, 466, everyone said you don't want to buy past there, there is nothing there. LOL!!!

Move
 

Definitely get a mls realtor as well. Good luck!

Check out Top of the World in Ocala before you buy here…..A lot more home for the money and better golf courses.

Can't look at new homes.

Come down for a few years and during all seasons and then make an informed intelligent decision.

Moving from Texas
 

We moved here from San Antonio and have found that our Village realtor tried to discourage us from buying fast (we did anyway). We have a new house down South and it is absolutely one of the best decisions we have made. Amazing amount of stuff todo - we prefer Edna’s on the Green to town square (which is 12 minutes away in a golf cart).

Have lived "down there" 3 years, love it. There is no right place or better place, but only the place you like.

Hi Larry,

Not sure if you are a YouTube watcher, but if you are or are not let me suggest you being a single guy considering TV for retirement, YouTuber Rusty Nelson who is on the same journey as you has put out a number videos detailing his experiences from a single's perspective which begin with making his 1st call to book a lifestyle visit. Rusty just completed a month long stay which he rented a patio villa. Also, Rusty is very responsive to answering questions of those who leave them in the comments. Although I will be making the journey to TV with my husband, I very much enjoy Rusty's videos as well as several other TV YouTubers.

Best of luck.

The point is the Villages agents have NO access to MLS listings at all.
They cannot list them,
They cannot show them,
They cannot see them.

There is a whole, bigger world out there in MLS that Village realtors do not talk about or deal with. We closed on house 2 in March. It took us an additional 3 weeks to close because the title agencies were doing 10 closings a day in TV and that was the backlog.

8/10 people use MLS to purchase.

Always excited to see a new person look at our little slice of heaven, but he needs to know how big the resale world actually is.

You should work with an MLS agent too. I work with Exit Realty.

Also check out my YouTube channel. I can’t put the link to the channel because when I do I get a warning from this site because I advertise my real estate business. But if you search my name you will find it. Robyn Cavallaro. It’s all about living in the villages in Florida

What suburb of Dallas? My son lives in Southlake!

I think your info is not quite accurate. Since the opening of the Water Lily Bridge all the squares are very easily and quickly accessible to anyone in a new home area. From Monarch Grove we can get to Brownwood Square in 15 minutes. The new Sawgrass Grove area is coming and there will be entertainment there.

Before we bought new we looked at pre-owned, when we inserted all info that was important to us into our spreadsheet, new came out on top every time.

As someone that has moved DOWN THERE you have no idea what you are talking about. Things are moving fast and within a couple of years, this will be the best place to live unless you are to old and set in your ways.
PS the cost is going up as fast for resales as it is for new and you can build for no more cost or spend as much as you want to have the perfect new home with non of the resale house problems like plumbing and roof replacement.

Also, check out “Single in the Villages” on Facebook. It is a great group!
The Villages 55+ Retirement Community and Being Single. The Facebook Group Single in the Villages. - YouTube