[LeeM]

I pretty much know I would like a pre build home preferably a new spec but older is ok to. Most important to me is that it is easy to get to things (I really dislike driving) but not noisy. Does that exist?

[The Buckeyes]

After reading all the wonderful suggestions I would only add 1 thing....BRING YOUR CHECKBOOK!

[Bay Kid]

My parents looked every winter for 3 years...in a car.... I came down last January, rented a cart and really got the feel of TV. Never got in a car again until we left. Stay as LONG as you can, but it will take years to do it all!

[eweissenbach]

Originally Posted by Bizdoc

Oh yeah... look at some houses. Unless you know exactly what you want, try to tell your sales rep what is important to you in a house. That way they can zoom in faster on what to show you.

If you look at some of the existing threads here, you will see reasons to be in an pre-owned vs new, villa vs cottage, cottage vs designer vs premier. When you first talk with your TV sales rep, turn off your conventional "dealing with a realtor" thinking. They will work cooperatively with you and the more you tell them about your situation, wants, needs, etc, the faster they can zero in on exactly what you want. And be honest about the price point you want. They won't try to convince you to spend more (they will show you homes in that range).

I was amazed at how fast our sales rep (after showing us several homes), figured out exactly what we wanted. The house we bought was 8th or 9th. He took us out to look at some others at around the same price point and features, but was quite happy when we stuck with our first impression of what is now our home.

Other than that, have fun. Jump in your cart and just drive around. Go to each Town Square (try to do at least one on its market night) and see what vendors are there.

Most of the Villages real estate salespeople are pretty low-key, I am sure part of their training. The one problem I have had with some of them, which is likely also a by-product of their training, is their insistence that the bond is "no big deal" or "you'll hardly notice it"! The bond is an add on to the sales price, and used to pay for the community improvements and amenities. On a new or newer home it is twenty thousand dollars or more. If you pay it off, you may have difficulty recouping the outlay if and when you sell. If you don't pay it off you will pay higher interest than a typical mortgage, and it is not legitimately, tax deductible. The bond is not a bad thing necessarily, but you should understand how it works, and for a salesperson to allege it is almost not worth talking about is borderline malpractice.

[LeeM]

Originally Posted by Bay Kid

My parents looked every winter for 3 years...in a car.... I came down last January, rented a cart and really got the feel of TV. Never got in a car again until we left. Stay as LONG as you can, but it will take years to do it all!

This sounds awesome...so you could get everywhere in a cart?

[LeeM]

Originally Posted by eweissenbach

Most of the Villages real estate salespeople are pretty low-key, I am sure part of their training. The one problem I have had with some of them, which is likely also a by-product of their training, is their insistence that the bond is "no big deal" or "you'll hardly notice it"! The bond is an add on to the sales price, and used to pay for the community improvements and amenities. On a new or newer home it is twenty thousand dollars or more. If you pay it off, you may have difficulty recouping the outlay if and when you sell. If you don't pay it off you will pay higher interest than a typical mortgage, and it is not legitimately, tax deductible. The bond is not a bad thing necessarily, but you should understand how it works, and for a salesperson to allege it is almost not worth talking about is borderline malpractice.

I wondered about the bond. Is this paid off then in some of the older homes but not newer ones? How is the amount determined?

[eweissenbach]

Many pre-owned homes have the bond paid off. The remaining bond on many homes that are ten years old and older are less than $5,000. There was never a bond on homes in Lake County, so it varies. In most parts of the country the infrastructure costs are included in the price of the home, so the home buyer still pays the freight, but it is then included in the mortgage, if any, and the interest is tax deductible. Then, when one goes to sell, the purchase price that is recorded includes the infrastructure cost, whereas with the bond system the recorded purchase price does not include that amount. The bond is not an overcharge, or unfair, but one should be aware of the consequences, and it should definitely be considered as a part of the purchase price.

[LeeM]

Just made our reservation. We will be visiting the week of October 14th.

Thanks for all the tips!

[Whit53]

We are coming down Labor Day Weekend. Crazy as it is we already have a pending contract on a home in Poinciana. We have 24 hours after arrival to proceed. Crazy thing about it is we've never even visited The Villages

We know its exactly what we are looking for. An active friendly community.

If anyone can offer any opinions about the Village of Poinciana it would be greatly appreciated.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

If you're interested in investigating some of the clubs, I believe that most of them meet during the week.

[LeeM]

Originally Posted by Whit53

We are coming down Labor Day Weekend. Crazy as it is we already have a pending contract on a home in Poinciana. We have 24 hours after arrival to proceed. Crazy thing about it is we've never even visited The Villages

We know its exactly what we are looking for. An active friendly community.

If anyone can offer any opinions about the Village of Poinciana it would be greatly appreciated.

Wow! How did you go about picking a home you have not seen?

[Whit53]

I know how crazy it sounds. We loved the photos. So, we have a contract pending on viewing. We will spend the day touring other homes new and preowned then make a decision if the one we saw online is THE ONE for us. The only thing we know is we like what The Villages has to offer.

[LeeM]

That is neat that they will hold it for you that long!

Where will you be moving from?

[herbaru]

LeeM, be sure to work with an outside realtor too. You may already know this but to see all the pre owned homes you must work with both a TV sales rep and an MLS realtor as one can not show the other type of listing. There is also for sale by owner. Enjoy our visit!

[Rosiecruiser]

As a "newbie" to TV, (moved in April), I would just add this. We visited TV over a period of 10 years, staying from 5 nights to 3-4 weeks at a time. When we were "visiting", we tended to spend a lot of time at the restaurants on the squares and hanging around down there. What we should have done is spend more time in the neighborhoods visiting with the people about how most villagers REALLY live! In our neighborhood, Fernandina, most of us participate in events in and around our Village.

Our neighbors are GREAT. Yes, we have been out to many restaurants, learned the surrounding areas, driven miles & miles in our golf cart but the one thing we have NOT done is visited LSL square once at night since we moved here!!!! We are not into dancing but rather golf and bike riding, so we stay more in our neighborhoods. There are plenty of driveway parties and rec center rmeet & greet functions. And lot's of luncheons and fun clubs within the neighborhood.

I wish we had spent more time visiting with neighbors in the country clubs and stopping people on their streets and visiting about the different neighborhoods. It REALLY makes the move decision so much easier. We DID do that, but we still had a lot to learn when we moved in. Unless you are into the dancing and square party atmosphere, I would think otherwise.

TV is amazing and we love it here, but whoever posted to "bring your checkbook" is absolutely right, mine has been screaming for 4 months!!!! LOL

Just a newbie's opinion. Welcome.