[natickdan]

We will be arriving at TV in December on Thursday and leaving the following Tuesday. I've previously posted about our TV visit and I'm thankful for the responses I received.

I have also read a number of post which answered questions about "must do's", coupons, etc, and we'll make certain to follow those suggestions. I would appreciate any input that may make our schedule below more productive.

Thursday: Our time to enjoy TV. Dinner with friends who live at TV.

Friday: The day with an MLS agent viewing properties and the evening enjoying TV.

Saturday: The day looking at FSBO and then enjoying the evening in TV.

Sunday: The day with a TV rep viewing TV properties. The evening is ours and we'll be enjoying the dancing and music.

Monday - Tuesday: We are leaving these two days open to take a 2nd or 3rd look at properties we liked or to negotiate if we found a property we want to purchase.

We are excited about our visit and we have done lots of research during the past several years. We believe this is where we want to spend our retirement. If there are suggestions that may make our schedule more productive, I'd appreciate any advice.

Thank you...

[Bill-n-Brillo]

If your main purpose is to find a home in TV, it sounds like you've got the perfect itinerary laid out!

Bill

[redwitch]

I'd suggest you take a trolley ride on your first day. It may help you in deciding where you want to look for a home and give you a feel for TV. It does sound like you have a good plan -- work during the day and have some fun at night.

[Pturner]

Hi Natickdan,

Sounds like a good plan! You are giving yourself every opportunity to find the right home here in Lower Paradise.

Do you already have a pretty good idea of the floor plans available and such? If not, the only thing I might suggest if you can is to reverse the order of your appointments, meeting first with TV agent, then MLS then FSBO.

The reason is that the TV agent can spend the first part of your meeting showing you models of the different floor plans available. That will help you prioritize what resale models you would like to see, and help you weed out some you don't, making all of the rest of your time more productive. The TV agent can also tell you the prior names of current models to help you compare apples-to-apples more effectively.

If you can't reschedule the meetings, or already have a good idea of the floor plans offered, don't worry. Your plan works just fine.

All best wishes in finding your dream house! Please keep us posted on your progress.

[K9-Lovers]

Your plan is right on, except for the adjustment PTurner offered. We purchased a home in TV during a four-day visit and our time was spent just as you have planned.

[Tom Hannon]

It wouldn't hurt to look at the new models on Thevillages.com and decide the type of house you are looking for. Villa, cottage, designer, premier...all have their style ...and price range. Reale, spec or build it to your choice of options. (We choose a spec house) A friend told us to each pick out 5 things important to us and my wife and I choose the same 5 (although in different order) My friend said :If you find a house with at least 3 of these options consider it. The house we bought had all 5 and it was a done. You must also think about neighborhood. Do you want an established one with neighbors who might be older than you or one where everyone is newly retired and in the approximate age range. So many options and so many beautiful houses and locations. A difficult decision but one where you can't go wrong.

[Talk Host]

Originally Posted by redwitch

I'd suggest you take a trolley ride on your first day. It may help you in deciding where you want to look for a home and give you a feel for TV. It does sound like you have a good plan -- work during the day and have some fun at night.

Does the trolley ride cover the entire Villages? I heard that it goes only to the southern portion. They may want to look at homes in the North as well.

[getdul981]

We took the trolley yesterday with some friends up from Orlando. We went all the way down to Odell Circle and up to the Polo field. It lasted between 30 and 45 minutes. Very informative for people that haven't been here and also a refresher for those of us that have.

[cookies]

Hi Natick Dan,

We are going to be in TV starting on Friday for 6 days and our schedule is setting up close to yours except we are meeting with the TV agent on Sat. and MLS on Mon. We definitely want to try and schedule a trolley tour, we were disappointed several years ago when we just dropped in for a 2 day visit and the trolley wasn't available. We wandered around alot on our own looking at several of the areas but we never could find the polo grounds and the softball fields and I'm sure alot else. We also are very interested in seeing the new VA clinic. Maybe we will run into you while we are enjoying our sampling of paradise!

Sue and Gary

[Snowbirdtobe]

When we came to TV to look around for 1 day we stayed at the Waterfront Inn. We extended our stay for a week and by Saturday signed an offer to buy with an MLS agent on the way to the airport.
Make the people showing houses work! You are here for a limited time and get them showing you houses on your schedule. I think that making a major purchase like a home means working 12 hour days, always pushing for what you want to see, calling the agent whenever you have a question.
We wanted an existing home close to a town center. Whenever we saw a home I took a lot of pictures of the inside and outside. I always tried to get the house number in the first shot so I could identify the location. When we were shown a place that didn't meet our liking we told the agent we wanted to see the next place on the list and why we didn't like the place we were shown. Don't waste time on a home that you would never like.
Mrs Snowbirdtobe didn't like the counters or the flooring on the home we ended up purchasing and we replaced them, but that's another story.
If you want to buy an existing home work the MLS and the VLS agents hard. It's your money.
Buying a retirement or vacation home is hard work and the vacation doesn't begin until you own the place.

[natickdan]

Originally Posted by Pturner

Hi Natickdan,

Sounds like a good plan! You are giving yourself every opportunity to the right home here in Lower Paradise.

Do you already have a pretty good idea of the floor plans available and such? If not, the only thing I might suggest if you can is to reverse the order of your appointments, meeting first with TV agent, then MLS then FSBO.

The reason is that the TV agent can spend the first part of your meeting showing you models of the different floor plans available. That will help you prioritize what resales resale models you would like to see, and help you weed out some you don't, making all of the rest of your time more productive. The TV agent can also tell you the prior names of current models to help you compare apples-to-apples more effectively.

If you can't reschedule the meetings, or already have a good idea of the floor plans offered, don't worry. Your plan works just fine.

All best wishes in finding your dream house! Please keep us posted on your progress.

Thanks for the points! Actually, I wanted the TV rep on Friday, but he was already booked. We have been doing so much research on the model types and we have done literally hundreds of virtual tours, we have am idea the different models.

We are really looking forward to our trip to TV.

[natickdan]

A big thanks for all of the responses. I now have a better comfort level that we are as prepared as we can be for our trip to TV.

[Bill-n-Brillo]

Just remember to bring your checkbook!!!!!

Bill

[Pturner]

Originally Posted by natickdan

Thanks for the points! Actually, I wanted the TV rep on Friday, but he was already booked. We have been doing so much research on the model types and we have done literally hundreds of virtual tours, we have am idea the different models.

We are really looking forward to our trip to TV.

You are doing great! I'm excited for you. Remember to keep us posted. We'll remember to keep our fingers cross that you found the perfect home.

[2BNTV]

Best wishes on finding something that is perfect for you.

Some people have said when you see something that says "home" to you.

Don't forget to have some fun!!!