[Jaggy]

We are in the process of meeting with real estate agents to put our house on the market and will be moving to TV asap.. I need advice on where to start looking for home.. do I contact outside TV for a real estate agent or do I start with someone in TV?? Anything will be helpful. we are total rookies when it comes to moving.. we have lived in our home since 93 .. whew.

[shcisamax]

The only advice I would offer is not to buy anything here until you have sold your home or at least go to contract. There have been quite a number of people who, in their excitement to get here, have bought thinking they would sell their house faster and find themselves feeling very pressured.

[l2ridehd]

Take it slow. The Villages has a lot to offer, do a Life Style preview, then maybe rent for a couple months in a couple different home styles and locations, decide about where you want to live in The Villages, then get an agent. This is a small investment of time and money to better understand the market and The Villages.

If you want a new home then your only option in through a Villages agent. If you want resale, then get a Villages agent and an outside agent. That is the only way to see everything available. The Villages is big, think of it as a small city. While every place is very nice, you will find certain places and things you want and some you will want to avoid. Do your homework, take your time, learn as much as possible, then make your purchase as an informed buyer.

[Jaggy]

we are not buying until this home we have now is sold with the $$ in the bank. .. we are not that much of a rookie.. Unfortunately houses are not selling.. at least not in Jacksonville.. I am just anxious to start looking in the TV to get an idea new vs pre owned.. etc..

[2BNTV]

Originally Posted by l2ridehd

Take it slow. The Villages has a lot to offer, do a Life Style preview, then maybe rent for a couple months in a couple different home styles and locations, decide about where you want to live in The Villages, then get an agent. This is a small investment of time and money to better understand the market and The Villages.

If you want a new home then your only option in through a Villages agent. If you want resale, then get a Villages agent and an outside agent. That is the only way to see everything available. The Villages is big, think of it as a small city. While every place is very nice, you will find certain places and things you want and some you will want to avoid. Do your homework, take your time, learn as much as possible, then make your purchase as an informed buyer.

What he said.....

I think it's financially prudent to sell your home first.

Take the troley tour on a LSV and do searches for new vs pre-owned as there are several threads.

[hotrodgirl]

You could start with an agent in TV to begin with. They can take you to both pre-owned and new spec homes and also to lots if you think you may want to build something yourself. They also will take you into model homes so you can get a good feel for the various types of floor plans and see what you might like. Every day in The Sun (local Villages newspaper) are open houses to go and see. Every day, not just once weekly! Drive around, see the neighborhoods, shopping districts, rec centers and think about what is important and how far or near you would want to be to those places. Take the trolley tour (free) and learn about TV. I went to the town squares and simply walked up to strangers and asked lots of questions. Nobody ever refused to speak with me or give an opinion. People are wonderful in TV! If you feel after that, that your best option is a pre-owned home, then work with both an MLS agent and a Villagers salesperson to find what suits you best! MLS Realtors cannot show Villages listed properties, nor can Village agents show MLS properties. So you would be better off working with both in that case. Good luck and hope to see you soon!

[jebartle]

One more little tip...Many pre-owned have their bond paid or in Lake County, NO BOND...Bonds can run an additional $20,000 to $50,000..

[JoelJohnson]

We bought our house though an equity line of credit (only 3%). With plans to sell our house up north in the next 4-5 years and rent out our TV home in the mean time, we got a nice home cheap that we feel will only increase in value over that time period. When we do retire we know we have a nice place with nice people to retire to.

[hockyb]

Came to TV, via renting, for 2months. The first week I was here, I decided where I wanted to live in TV. Couldn't afford it. Ran into a good real estate person & 2 years later I bought a condo in the place I wanted to live. The RE person, thought I was jumping in too fast. From my viewpoint, I was within 5% of the bottom of the market, in my area.

Looking forward to my 4th winter in TV.

[blaZen]

We rented for two months before buying. If renting, get one with a golf cart. Buy a map at the sales office. We used thevillages4rent.com

[CaptJohn]

to the TOTV forum. Certainly good advice previously.

[sueandskip]

Originally Posted by Jaggy

we are not buying until this home we have now is sold with the $$ in the bank. .. we are not that much of a rookie.. Unfortunately houses are not selling.. at least not in Jacksonville.. I am just anxious to start looking in the TV to get an idea new vs pre owned.. etc..

Take a couple of months and rent something here in The Villages and talk with people and ride around in the golf cart and go to open houses that are many everyday...Have a good look and go to some activities then you will get a good feel of the location you want to live in and be close to what....Other then that have a good time !

[njbchbum]

Originally Posted by Jaggy

we are not buying until this home we have now is sold with the $$ in the bank. .. we are not that much of a rookie.. Unfortunately houses are not selling.. at least not in Jacksonville.. I am just anxious to start looking in the TV to get an idea new vs pre owned.. etc..

jacksonville, florida? re marketing your for sale home...ask your realtor to assemble a promo pkg that can be mailed to relocation/personnel staff of the major employers in your area to be used in the even that a corp might be transferring folks to the area. even though most companies have a real estate firm they deal with, having another resource for their employees is never a bad thing. i know this because i used to work in an office right next door to the corp relocation staff that coordinated all company transfers - even around the world! hope the hint helps. other favorite hint is to bury the st. joseph statue upside down in the yard!

[Geewiz]

To make your life worse...let me add this take...signs are that real estate is rebounding.

Currently, the only downward pressure on prices in TV is the fact that folks are having a hard time selling their pre-retirement homes. The demographics of boomer retirement is the opposite pressure. Once boomers can sell their homes easily...the safety valve is off and demand for homes in TV will go way up. As demand increases so will price.

Also, QE3 (the fed throwing money into mortgage backed bonds) has already begun pushing down mortgage rates...this could actually work. Rising consumer confidence...lower interest rates...higher rental rates (it's cheaper to buy than rent in Chicago and probably many other cities), plus suppressed demand (folks have been waiting for real estate to bottom and I think the bottom is past) will push prices up.

Of course, there is a bunch of things that could reverse this course...the biggest being the fiscal mess that Washington will need to address after the election (the sequester and the whole question of whether to continue, modify or end the Bush tax cuts which expire this year). Also, there is this little problem of a new war in the Mideast plus the whole European fiscal issue.

But - should governments and politicians act in even a semi-responsible way...the real estate problem may be over (and remember that was the catalyst for the recession).

Me - I'm betting on TV...I think now is the time to buy.

Of course, I've been wrong before. A 30 year marriage to Voldemert attests to that.

Trust you instincts and remember --- if you won't sit at the table you can't win the poker game.

Cheers!

[jimbo2012]

I agree, I see the homes being bought now at TV will appreciate quickly especially when the build out is done in 3-4 years.