[Snowbirdtobe]

There are over 5340 homes sold per year by the developer and another 2000 sold by MLS.
When we came to look for a home we stayed at the Waterfront inn and looked full time for a house. We kept the MLS and developer agents busy showing us homes. When we passed a place with a sign we made a note in our notebook. We drove around in a rented cart whenever we weren't with an agent. We took pictures of every home we looked at and ended up buying a place in one week just over the top of our price range.
My wife replaced all the flooring and counters and we couldn't be happier with our home.
We closed painlessly by mail.
If you can't find a home that you want keep looking. Settling for less than you need will result in another commission for the sales agent down the line.

[JaniceOhio]

It's very cool how different we all are! I bought a new Wisteria and cannot be there full time but I can see that it was a good decision to "carry the cost" till I can close up shop here. Prices have already increased and interest rates surely will.

I have a dining room and a kitchen with a breakfast nook.. Two areas of hospitality seating. That's a good thing for me. I have a golf car garage in addition to my 2-car garage.. .. Yes my lanai backs up to another house but this doesn't bother me a bit. I like my new neighbors behind me and next door a lot! I'll landscape and make my own semi-privacy, and though I'm a social person it's easy to have privacy without backing up to a golf course. Also saved me about $100K.

As a single girl there's always been a sense of security in knowing others weren't far. But make no mistake.. all the home beauty, comforts and Village amenities would be worthless if it weren't for the great sense of community.The people make it happen!

I'd never heard of the Villages until someone told me that I belonged there.. She was correct!

[mickey100]

Originally Posted by Medtrans

Scaly bow...the house I speak of is in Buttonwood so perhaps it could be me you shout out at through the lanai!

Perhaps you might ask yourself what you are looking for in terms of privacy. Is it a view you would prefer? Or just knowing that you won't have noisy neighbors behind you? As someone else mentioned, there is a huge premium for a golf or water view which affords privacy behind. We had considered going that route, but as my spouse correctly pointed out, that it really is the luck of the draw as far as neighbors. You can have a beautiful golf course view, but the houses are generally so close on the sides, that neighbors, if they are noisy or have barking dogs, etc., can be heard. So we went with an interior lot. All of our neighbors to the back and sides have now enclosed their lanais. With the privacy landscaping, we rarely see or hear the neighbors. By contrast, we have friends who have a pricy golf course view, but have neighbors 2 doors down that play a loud karaoke machine on their lanai/birdcage that drives them buggy. So there really aren't any guarantees as far as privacy. Just something to think about.

[jimmy D]

my reply is this. After 3 visits and not finding what you want maybe it would be best for you guys to look elsewhere,. You will never like it here if you have to compromise and after 3 visits you should know by now

[TNLAKEPANDA]

If you talk to people here most have move at least two times because they did not buy what they really wanted the first time. There is a give and take here unless your budget allows you to just get it all up front. Choose wisely. Carrying costs are not cheap but we looked at a home 18 months ago and the same home is $70k more today.

[Medtrans]

I wasn't saying we weren't ready to be in TV, just whether to hold out for the issue I described. As it turns out we decided to go for it but today found that we did not get the house. Obviously someone accepted that someone was behind them. We have visited 3 times yes, but the first 2 were just to visit friends and the last one a week ago was a fact finding mission but we found a house and so on and so on. It has not deterred us. Our goal is 2015 or sooner. Thanks everyone for your thoughts.

[keithwand]

Buy now if possible. I mentioned in another post that my neighbor bought his house for around 442K and 18 months later sold it for $625K in 1 day. This was on an interior lot.
Other neighbors we have don't retire for a while but locked in now.
With the number of boomers retiring daily only a handful need to move here to keep things going up.

[whybeglum]

Wow... That is just such good advice! I have been looking at 2 houses a day since New Years and the "perfect house" just aint gonna happen. But I have made a list of what I absolutely must have to be content and will work off that. Lots of folk sort of settle for a house with "potential" and do just terrific stuff to it over the years...
Good Luck Chicago!!