[Vinny]

After 8 months our home is sold and we move in with family in Ocala in three weeks. Our original plan was to move to TV after visiting it 3 times and downsize our home and thereby reduce our monthly living expenses to a level that does not require my current salary and is affodable when we retire.

Unfortunately during this time we have had second thoughts. We are both in our late fifties and cannot retire for at least 7 more years. We are not joiners and tend to have a few very close friends and limit our activities to visiting each other and going out to dinner once in a while. We are not pool people. We are more BBQ people who love air conditioning. Since we both work full time 5 days a week, we are too exhausted to do anything during weekday nights. Last but not least is that we want a fenced in yard with some grass for our two dogs. No fence with grass is a deal breaker. That limits us to CYV homes for my price range. Don't get me wrong. We are not anti-social. Just that our careers do not allow us much time for fun and games. I work every weekday and my wife works some weekdays and weekends. We planned on expanding our social life after we retire.

We have looked at homes we found on MLS (and in person during our previous visits to Central Florida) and found that for the same amount of money we can get a larger, nicer home with more land and less restrictions outside of the Villages. Plus the homes are not on top of each other. We are used to a lot of space between homes. Then there is the Bond cost which does not exist elsewhere. I know that I can get a custom home but the CYV is the only home that meets all of our needs.

We were all set to simply pick a CYV from what is available when we get there next month and now we find ourselves dealing with real estate agents looking for homes outside of the Villages. It is amazing how inexpensive some of the homes, in good areas, are. Some even have inground pools and still cost less than the CYV model we were going to buy. More land, bigger home, better quality construction, ability to fence in yard for our children; I mean doggies, etc.

We are really torn. We fell in love with TV during our visits. My cousin lives in TV and loves it. My in-laws live near TV and have been encourging us to move there. I think they just want to get into Katie Belle. TV seems to be in a world of its own and that is very attractive to us. The people are friendly and there is just a nice, comfortable, get away from the rat race atmosphere wherever we went. We really love the idea of the Villages if you know what I mean. The best way to describe it is it is like loving a beautiful sports car that may not be very practical for your current needs. We have moved 13 times in our marriage and we want this to be our final one.

Anyone else working full time or is in similar circumstances in the Villages that can comment? Hard to justify moving into a place where everyone around us will be having fun while we are working. I would think it hard to make very close friendships with people who are engaged in activities with other people all week long while you are working.

[redwitch]

My business keeps me pretty busy. If I wanted to, I could probably work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. As it is, I usually do something every day and work about 4-6 hours daily. Like you, I'm not a joiner nor a water person. I do not make friends easily. Golf, to me, is a stupid sport and I get more than enough exercise working, tyvm.

So, a lot of TV's amenities are truly lost to me. Even so, I don't regret living here. I love games, especially bridge. I could play bridge here 7 days a week -- I don't, but the opportunity is there. I can play other games 7 days a week. Again, I don't, but I know I can. I could go to the squares every night. I don't.

Yes, you can buy more house outside of TV but you won't get the TV community. I have never seen a community like this anywhere in the world -- the people here truly are the warmest and kindest I've ever seen. That, alone, makes it worth living here. Add that you can do something every day of the week if you like and you really do have this perfect little bubble. Yes, you'll miss not being able to do somethings with your neighbors and friends while working, but you'll be amazed just how much you'll still be able to do with them if you choose to do so. The only thng that will limit you is you. If you choose to stay at home, do nothing, go nowhere, then TV would not be the place for you -- those that live that life here are pretty unhappy. If you choose to go out, meet people, do things, then TV is the best place to be regardless of whether you work or are busy during the week -- weekends have plenty of actvities, too.

BTW -- If you opt to move here, be sure and invite me to a bbq -- I LOVE 'em and make a mean bbq sauce!!!!

[graciegirl]

Although I think that The Villages is absolutely wonderful, I think it may not be the best fit for you. I sense a LOT of misgivings in your post. If you are not completely in love, don't get married. I think that a bigger house and a fenced yard may be more important to you in your not yet retired lifestyle.

We are a welcoming community and I find warmth from people everywhere I go. This place has some people who fill every day with activities outside their home and there are some people who like to read and have close friends over to dinner and lots who are in between on the activity spectrum.

What I like about this place is that it is filled with only grown up people mostly over 55, from broad geographic backgrounds each with a story of their life different than mine, yet we have all had at least five decades of life experiences that have sort of rounded off our sharp edges. I like the cleanliness of the place and the unseen changing of flowers every six weeks or so. I like the educational opportunities and the fact that I have 80,000 choices of new friends. Most of us aren't working, at least full time, although many are. Although this is a paradise that I feel almost every breathing person would love it is constructed and planned primarily for over 55 people who are retired looking for an active lifestyle.

Why don't you store your furniture and rent for three months and see if The Villages, it's people, lifestyle, homes and lack of fences is right for you.

You will be welcomed here.

[Russ_Boston]

Vinny, I think Gracie may be right. Why not try the rental route and determine for yourself. I'm going to move to TV late next year and work full-time but at least I'll be in the place I want when I do retire for good 10 years from now.

Also - don't worry about the bond. Just add it to the price of the home to do your comparison. Right now the bond is about7-8% (about 20K) additional in price for the designer home I'm looking at.

Best of luck!

[Boomer]

Hi Vinny,

It sounds to me like you are not ready to make a decision. Buying in TV is mostly about buying "The Lifestyle" so if that is not something that you are convinced is for you, at this point, maybe the timing is not quite right for buying.

You might want to consider renting in TV for a few months. At this time of year, rents are heading into their lowest range. But this time of year will also be far less crowded than winter and so you will not get to see how you really feel about the crowds that arrive when it gets cold up north.

Another thing that some people do first is to buy a manufactured home in what is known as the historic side, known as such because it is the original part of TV. There is no bond in Lake County (as I understand it) and the cost of buying in is quite a bit less than other areas. Manufactured homes are located in Orange Blossom Gardens, Country Club Hills, and Silver Lake. The "feel" of the historic side seems more relaxed than other areas. There are no fences there though, but I think that one of the villages there has a dog park on site.

The historic side can work out well I think for some. Sometimes people buy there for second homes. Sometimes people buy there just to get access to the amenities which are the same for everybody throughout TV. And sometimes people buy on the historic side to live there all year round because they just plain like it there for lots of reasons.

Re. the cost of buying on the historic side -- I have heard it said that if someone is considering renting for a relatively long period of time or for just the winter months for a few years in a row, it can actually be cheaper to buy something on the historic side than it is to rent for an extended period. That's because even if it is sold later at a lesser price than when you bought it, you have saved a lot of money in rent and had access to your own place for all that time at the least investment possible to buy in TV. Of course, you have to crunch your individual numbers in every case. What works for one does not work for another.

Anyway, my take on your post is that you are not ready to make the decision about TV. But I know that no matter how much you love the relatives you are moving in with, such situations can get to be kind of "crowded" sometimes after a while. I have a friend who always says, "Buckingham Palace is not big enough for two women."

But don't rush your decision. You might want to think about not boxing yourself in right away with something that you are not sure is for you. Consider other options. Don't look at just an either/or choice. Look at something in the middle, like renting or buying in relatively inexpensively and trying the place out for a while. It just might take the pressure off.

You can just put the money from your house sale in a safe investment, like a really short-term CD or a money market, FDIC insured, so it will be there if you find you want to make a commitment to buying a CYV. (Yes, I know that CD interest rates stink right now. They may be creeping up a little, not much though, but the cost of sleep is worth a lot, especially for money that might be needed in the short term.)

Money spent on rent could just be an outstanding return on investment because renting would give you the chance to see if TV is for you. Do not be rushed into buying if you have doubts. (My theory on the urgency of the real estate market is that there is none. I really do not see that the real estate market will ever again truly sky-rocket anywhere, anytime soon. But that's just my theory. -- Of course, I am the only one who has to take my own theories to the bank. Nobody else should.)

Well, you asked the time and I think I just built you a clock. -- Actually though, people ask me questions like this in my real life, too. I always say that I am not trying to tell them what to do, but I will tell them what I might do under their circumstances. And I also try to help them play out, in their heads, every possible option they have. (And I think that's what I just did here.) Stop. Breathe. Take your time. Think it through. Consider all your options.

I wish you the best.

Boomer

[Vinny]

Thanks alot redwitch. You sound like me. I am career driven and have a %25 share in a company in NJ which demands a lot of my time. I too have traveled a lot since my business is international transportation. And like you, I love making my own BBQ sauces. Still experimenting but I tend towards the hot and sweet ones.

Thank everyone for your commentors. All are very spot on. We considered renting but do not want to go through the hassle of moving yet again. You are all correct about buying into the lifestyle. That is what we like about the Villages even if we cannot take full advantage of it now. We want this to be our last move as we have moved 13 times already and burnt out from it.

Probably the core of our indecission is that fact that we are downsizing considerably. Right now I am looking out of my window at the farm that abuts my property. If I look to the other side I see a horse ranch. Our rooms are large and have more of them than two people need. So the factor of buying a smaller home with much less property is an issue that keeps rearing its ugly head. It is hard to go from always having big homes with lots of land to something smaller. I guess we want our cake and eat it too. This is an issue that we have to deal with regardless of where we move. We are making a drastic lifestyle change and we have to recognize that this goes along with our future plans and we better get used to it. We both have said that if we buy outside of the Villages we will always be thinking that we should have moved to TV. One thing I have learned in life is sometimes it is best to buy what you want rather than what you need or else you will regret it the rest of your life.

All of your replies have tipped the scale back towards the Villages. Today we were contacted by our buyers and they want to buy most of our furniture. That eliminates the problem we were having about not fitting our furniture into a CYV and trying to decide what to take, etc. Once again, thanks.

[Barefoot]

Now that I'm retired, I love living in TV (as a Seasonal resident). And we treasure the many friends we've made. We back on a golf course and small pond so we still have a "connection" with nature. Seven years ago, when I was still working, I would not have picked TV as a place to live. I would have chosen a larger home and property with a huge fenced yard for my dogs.

So obviously, it's all about lifestyle choices. TV is definitely a paradise for most, but it isn't for everyone. I've met people who are moving because they want less "hustle" and more privacy.

If you're living in Ocala with family, why not make some visits to the town square and walk around and ask people questions. There is a private dog park on Country Road 101 just north of CR 466. Mostly Villagers go there, with a few people from surrounding communities. It's a great place to hang out and talk to people and do some research.

[Pturner]

Hi Vinny,
Like Gracie, I wonder whether TV is the best fit for you right now.

Right now, it sounds like you would prefer a bigger house, more land, a fenced yard and quiet, down time when you are not working. You even state that not having a grassed, fenced area would be "a deal killer". As fabulous as TV is, these are not the things TV has to offer. As you said:

Right now I am looking out of my window at the farm that abuts my property. If I look to the other side I see a horse ranch. Our rooms are large and have more of them than two people need. So the factor of buying a smaller home with much less property is an issue that keeps rearing its ugly head. It is hard to go from always having big homes with lots of land to something smaller.

In TV's favor: you love visiting TV, you love the concept, you have a cousin in TV and in-laws nearby and you think you would love living in TV seven years from now. In addition, you stated, "We both have said that if we buy outside of the Villages we will always be thinking that we should have moved to TV".

I hope that if you buy in TV and don't take advantage of the lifesyle, that you won't wish you'd gotten more house and yard. I know that you want this to be your very last move. I get the feeling though, if that one "want" were not an issue, you would go for the bigger house, more land and a fenced yard in a quieter neighborhood and be happy in the knowledge that when you retired, TV might be the place you want to be at that time.

Of course, I could be wrong. I love TV myself and have no qualms at all about it. Then again, I very much want to downsize and love the social life and all the amenities and we will be retired when we move there.

Whatever you decide, please make up your mind to love what you love about it and give no thought to regrets. This might not be a good analogy, but I am reminded of a common situation in golf. Sometimes you have to decide whether to lay up or not, or which is the best approach shot onto the green, or which club to select in a given situation. For all the thought you put into it, sometimes you'd have ended up with the same number of strokes either way. Most of the time, there's only one way that your decision turns into a disaster. And that's to step up to the ball and not trust your shot.

[Vinny]

Well TV won out as I signed a contract for a home in Pennecamp on an oversized corner lot that is actually larger than the one I have now. Grass on all three sides and surrounded by stucco walls instead of fences. Had to pay more and of course the bond was more but the lot is a little bigger than we now have. The Golf course is behind us and we are in walking distance to the pool/rec center. Guest parking is just a block away, my cousin is a ten minute walk away and we are close to the highway that leads to my in-law's house. If i could have wished a location and lot, this would be it. Oh, did I mention it is on the corner of a dead end street so no through traffic.

So I am now in contract with TV and my buyers are still waiting for the appraisal which is tomorrow and the title report. We do not expect problems but their attorney is making himself a pain in the you know what. He wants us to bring a 29 year old home that has no structual problems, up to today's codes. Meanwhile the buyers know nothing of this and have to vacate their apartment in 3 weeks and if we kill the deal they lose out on the $8000 new buyer tax credit. I think we hold all the cards in this one. See ya all soon.

[Russ_Boston]

That's kind of weird Vinny - you go from not really thinking you're TV people to buying in 3 days? Best of luck.