[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by George1964

Hi! I'm George and my wife, Vicky, and I will be doing a 2nd lifestyle visit in July, with plans (if I can take the heat) to move to The Villages around the end of the year. We will be coming down from Delaware.

We just wanted to say hi.

-George

There is one other thing that you should know and your real estate salesperson will definitely NOT tell you. Many people will simply NOT believe that the whole world is getting warmer, but it is. Check out real scientific evidence on that subject and find a graph of the Gulf of Mexico's water temperature (which has been steadily increasing for at least 10 years) ......That water temperature is IMPORTANT because that is the engine for increasing HURRICANES. Which is another reason for traveling away from Florida for the summer. And each year the summers will get hotter until people start buying more ELECTRIC vehicles, which they are NOT doing in the US despite US government rebates. I am sorry that I am being such a downer, but I felt obligated to tell the truth. And you will find some people that disagree with me. Just do some basic research because it is important to know when deciding about living year around in Florida.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by bsloan1960

One piece of advice I'll give you: Be aware that online forums such as this one, Facebook etc. tend to attract bitter, snarky, unhappy people. If you see answers to your questions like, "Don't move here", or "Why don't you just look it up on Google", these are people who thrive on anger. The vast majority of Villagers are happy, enthusiastic people who consider The Villages to be Paradise. I haven't read the comments generated by your post, so they all may be positive. I'm simply urging you to not draw negative opinions about The Villages from snarky, unhappy people. Float around in the pool and mention you are new- people will embrace you and tell you about the place- it's called, "Pool School". Welcome!

"Pool school" will tend toward the positive comments about The Villages. Very few people will have the character and honesty to tell you about the great things that go on here like a mired of activities, while also pointing out any negatives either small or large. Maybe at a bar an "old timer" that is heavily lubricated with "truth serum" would give you the "down low" skinneys.

[badkarma318]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

Every home we visited we began our tour outside, and we never went inside almost half the homes after going into the back yard and seeing no privacy, hearing traffic, or hearing/seeing someone we found undesirable.

Do tell . . .

[Marathon Man]

Originally Posted by JMintzer

Cut & Paste much? It's becoming monotonous...

You can say that again. I counted 14 posts that say the same thing. The person in question lives in Santo Domingo, so it is a good bet that they have never been to the south let alone play golf there. I think that it is more likely that they are concerned about the value of their property.

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

There is one other thing that you should know and your real estate salesperson will definitely NOT tell you. Many people will simply NOT believe that the whole world is getting warmer, but it is. Check out real scientific evidence on that subject and find a graph of the Gulf of Mexico's water temperature (which has been steadily increasing for at least 10 years) ......That water temperature is IMPORTANT because that is the engine for increasing HURRICANES. Which is another reason for traveling away from Florida for the summer. And each year the summers will get hotter until people start buying more ELECTRIC vehicles, which they are NOT doing in the US despite US government rebates. I am sorry that I am being such a downer, but I felt obligated to tell the truth. And you will find some people that disagree with me. Just do some basic research because it is important to know when deciding about living year around in Florida.

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

"Pool school" will tend toward the positive comments about The Villages. Very few people will have the character and honesty to tell you about the great things that go on here like a mired of activities, while also pointing out any negatives either small or large. Maybe at a bar an "old timer" that is heavily lubricated with "truth serum" would give you the "down low" skinneys.

Yeah, a drunk at a bar is the perfect person from which to get your information...

[ElDiabloJoe]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

I am very analytical and we had a spreadsheet with our list, but our list was prioritized differently. FYI, when we bought they were still building houses north of 44, most, if not all Villages residents, had no idea anything would ever be built south of 44, much of the commercial space in Brownwood was still vacant, and Rocky and the Rollers weren’t yet Rocky and the Olders. Also, we were already fairly familiar with the Villages because we have friends who had already been living there for several years who graciously invited us to stay at their home several times.

Our list looked like this.

...

Based on both our timing and criteria we were pretty much limited to pre owned homes. We rented long term in the fall, retained the services of both a VLS agent and MLS realtor, and identified every home on the market that appeared to fit within our criteria (including a few homes for sale by owner). Very few of the homes that fit our criteria had a pool because of our price constraint. During the next three weeks we saw a few homes almost daily until we saw a total of close to 50 homes. Every home we visited we began our tour outside, and we never went inside almost half the homes after going into the back yard and seeing no privacy, hearing traffic, or hearing/seeing someone we found undesirable.

Wow! Your agent sure earned their money!

Originally Posted by Karmanng

So far I dont get what all the heat is about as i am from arizona and that is bad..........93 is not hot to me.........2nd villages are over rated

First of all, AZ is a heat that lacks much humidity - they are different beasts with which to suffer.

Second of all, please don't tell me you prefer Sun City / Sun City West over The Villages! They are old, outdated, with dry rock landscape, little greenery, and just plain old earth tone boring colors. But you do you

P.S.- Not sure I'd brag about being from Arid-zona. Guess that's just me.

[Villager24]

Hey George and Vicky.

I thought I’d chime in to say good luck and just relax and enjoy the process. My wife and I had two lifestyle visits and rented a couple of times for a couple of weeks in different parts of TV. I’m one of the “others” lol. We recently bought a CYV on a whim while visiting the last time. We had no intention of buying and then looked at the house for no more than 20 minutes and made an offer. If we dont like it, we’ll eventually sell it and move, so no regrets. If we lose a little money (and I don't think we will) then so be it. We plan on using it periodically as a second home (no, we have no plans to rent it). My wife will redecorate it and furnish it, so that will keep her busy for a couple of years, lol. It’s funny because I’m typically very analytical but we were just tired of looking and figured the location was the premium feature for us. After a while you realize there is no perfect location and it’s just all about what you want. Enjoy the ride and just do you.

[JohnN]

The Villages is a great place to live, better than anywhere else we could find.

[George1964]

Thank you so much, everyone, for all the great things to think about. Perhaps we'll see some of you in July.

-Geroge

[Dusty_Star]

Hi George, Hi Vicky,

Hope you have a great time when you visit in July. Maybe we will see you.

You sure did get an earfull for a friendly "Hi" post ������

[CarlR33]

Originally Posted by JMintzer

Maybe some have buyer's remorse. But I'd wager more are investors, trying to flip for a profit...

AND selling to buyers not doing their homework first?