[ValerieJo]

Hello,

Thinking about making a preview visit to The Villages. However, we are still both working full time with a few more years until retirement. We are in the beginning stages of getting our ducks in a row for retirement and deciding what we want to do.

With our travel time very limited right now, I was thinking of coming down either the few days over Thanksgiving or over the Christmas holiday. Would either of these times give us a good representation of the lifestyle in The Villages?

What can we expect from a preview visit? Will we given tours? Will be left on our own?

Any input from others who have done the Preview Visit would be helpful?

(I ordered the video - waiting for it to arrive).

Thanks.

[dewilson58]

Our first Life Style Visit: We checked in, met a Broker, he took us to our Villa and got us settled in. He asked if we wanted to tour homes and we did. We set the schedule, not them. Not pushy at all. We spent three 1/2 days looking at homes.

They will give you a map. Jump on the golf cart and go explore. Have lunch at various clubs, play golf if you have time (we did not until our 3rd visit), visit each of the Town Squares (each very different). Be sure to be at the Square during happy hour and live music.

Either time of the year you mentioned is good. It's The Villages......it's all good.

Take time to look on the website and determine your housing expectations before you arrive. The homes range from $200k to $1mil. Big range, but planning ahead on this will help your home search significantly.

Good Luck

[villagetinker]

There is one big difference, the dates you suggest will have all of the snowbirds and their guests, in other words TV will be crowded. After April the snowbirds go North, and you have the frogs (here till we croak), and a much more leisurely lifestyle. So depending on what you want to see you can choose accordingly. We have been here since mid October, and have just gone through the first snowbird season.

We love TV, and are sure you will too. Good Luck with your visit.

[RErmer]

We enjoyed our lifestyle preview and unlike many others did not buy on our first visit - there was absolutely no pressure to do so. We came four times (each time with a less generous preview package, but that's OK). My advice is to spend your time looking at a few places (get a feel for if you want a villa or a house) and spend more time enjoying the activities, because that's the best part of living here. We bought our house while still working, had it for about 4 years then were able to retire and move here full time 2 years ago. Still loving it!

[ValerieJo]

Originally Posted by RErmer

We enjoyed our lifestyle preview and unlike many others did not buy on our first visit - there was absolutely no pressure to do so. We came four times (each time with a less generous preview package, but that's OK). My advice is to spend your time looking at a few places (get a feel for if you want a villa or a house) and spend more time enjoying the activities, because that's the best part of living here. We bought our house while still working, had it for about 4 years then were able to retire and move here full time 2 years ago. Still loving it!

Thanks for all the great responses.

My question to Rermer - did you rent your home out the 4 years before you retired? If so, did you have trouble finding anyone to rent it?

Thanks again.

[TV MAN]

ValerieJo,

We started looking into the Villages several years ago. Mom had frenids who lived in a court yard villa. We went over one afternoon and then decided next time we came down we would partake in the life styles tour, We met with a great agent Kathy Actius who made arragements for us to see some old and new homes. We did rent a golf cart and spent about a week checking things out.Fortunitly Moms friend had done a lot of prior research and was happy about what he saw.
We came accoss a lovely home on a nice lot and purchased it on our last day.
We have rented it out thru the Villages Hometown property management group to people like your selfs for the past several years and never had an issue.
Now we are about to become full time frogs since we will be moving down in June and enjoy the Villages full time.
Yippie!

[Schaumburger]

ValerieJo, I took a Lifestyle preview visit last October. As others have said, there is no pressure from the sales agents who work for The Villages. The Villages pretty much sells itself. On a 7 day Lifestyle preview visit, I spent about 4 hours looking at homes with the agent assigned to me, and I also looked at homes on my own. I'm trying to set a record for being the longest wannabee/hopetobe someday resident in The Villages . Hope you are able to visit The Villages this year; it is a beautiful place.

[Count'n the days]

I understand planning your trip around those holidays, however if you are not from or have not spent extended periods in the south, you may also want to come in the summer months to make sure you can tolerate the heat. It may not be an issue for you but there are so many snow birds I'm sure it is as much of an issue as wanting to be near their grandchildren.

[RErmer]

Originally Posted by ValerieJo

Thanks for all the great responses.

My question to Rermer - did you rent your home out the 4 years before you retired? If so, did you have trouble finding anyone to rent it?

Thanks again.

No, we didn't rent the house out, because we wanted to be able to come to TV whenever we could get away from work. As chance would have it, my husband's health forced earlier retirement than mine, so he spent a while here as a pseudo-bachelor and I visited whenever I could!

[Philip Winkler]

We purchased a home in 11/05 in Bonneybrook. I was not retired yet, so we visited 2-3 weeks/year and rented it out. I was able to retire and move down full time in April 2011. Best decision we made! We sold our home in Bonneybrook and purchased a home in Buttonwood.

[DougB]

Probably too late to book a visit over Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday, 2014.

[2BNTV]

Four days will go by in a blink of an eye. Take the trolley tour. If for nothing else, to see how big TV is and get a feel for getting around. Buy a map and study it before coming down for a visit. Hop in the golf cart. and explore.

Talk to anyone and everyone about TV ,and they gladly volunteer all kinds of information. People are very happy and proud of living in TV.

REA will show you to your property, and then leave. You will have to contact them if wanting to house hunt.

Consider renting for a month or two will give you a better feel for TV.

Be prepared to be blown away by the beauty of TV, and it's friendly people.
It's like a step back in time to a gentler generation.

[~Jojo~]

We drove from Tampa to go visit for one day in February 2013. We met an agent that day who told us a bit about the villages and answered our questions. She suggested a preview visit. Exactly one year after, we came back for 5 nights. This wonderful agent, Cindy Coffey kept in touch with us all year, sending news letter, and listing of every open houses. When we returned for the Preview Visit, Cindy met with us and gave us a ton of info. I had made a list of houses (pre-owned) I wanted to see from the website. She took us to all of them and then, at the end of the day, she said "can I show you a brand new house?". She then told us the price and it was less than a pre-owned! I had no idea that a new house could be so affordable! I hadn't looked at new houses because I figured they would be too much. That was in February. There was absolutely no pressure. We are now owners of a brand new cottage in Dunedin! I highly recommend Cindy Coffey. She always answered my emails very quickly. She is the hardest worker I have ever met!! The best realtor! Good luck to you!

[uprivergirl]

We were on our preview last week and the time in TV went by way to fast. We did so much in those 5 days. Met lots of friendly people, played golf twice. went to a concert, the movies, all the town squares, played bunco, went to the polo field and looked at new and pre-owned houses. My heart is still in the Villages. I can't believe I fell in love the first time I saw it. We have been looking on-line since Jan and finally were able to see it first hand. You can't explain how wonderful it is until you see it for yourself.Our house is for sale in Ca. and I can't wait to be back in TV. There was no pressure .

[2BNTV]

Originally Posted by uprivergirl

We were on our preview last week and the time in TV went by way to fast. We did so much in those 5 days. Met lots of friendly people, played golf twice. went to a concert, the movies, all the town squares, played bunco, went to the polo field and looked at new and pre-owned houses. My heart is still in the Villages. I can't believe I fell in love the first time I saw it. We have been looking on-line since Jan and finally were able to see it first hand. You can't explain how wonderful it is until you see it for yourself.Our house is for sale in Ca. and I can't wait to be back in TV. There was no pressure .

AMEN!!! It has to be seen to be believed!!!