we're renting for the third year having skipped this winter as we tried the Southwest which my wife did not like. We seem to like the quiet'country' northern part of The Villages as the 'frogs' call it.

The house we live in is our tenth new home in our life.

I want to point out to you that new homes and resales are priced almost exactly the same...given the lot and view and model are equal.

We bought a new home already built in Hadley the first time. Sold it immediately when we decided to move here year around. Built the second home here. We rented while it was being built. Homes are much less expensive to rent in the summer. If you rent, rent short term, in case you find just what you want and won't have to pay for the house and your too long lease.

Last night at the "Evening with the Developer" the Villages read their selling statistics; They sold more used homes than new last year. They have 1100 homes right now before they run out of built homes.

My favorite pick for a home to live in here and for an easy resale is a designer of 1900+ sq ft not backing on another home. You can find a new one for around 300K. You can back on a rec center, a road, a wall, for that price.

I don't sell real estate, never have. Just love to see how things sell around here.

Good luck to you. I hope you find the perfect home and make the right decision on how to do it.

The Villages - Search for New, Pre-owned Homes and Villas in The Villages, Florida
Here is a Begonia that I think backs on the street;

Just spent a week in TV getting a "feel for the neighborhood". Planning another look see for my significant other in December. Hopefully will be making the big move in mid-2018.

Several things that impressed me were:
- different levels of homes within a village -- my mother will be moving also and we like being able to be in the same village but in separate residences.
- cleanliness and upkeep of the common areas and homesites.
- use of getting around (Buena Vista Blvd and Morse Blvd) and I did not have an issue with the roundabouts
- make a wrong turn on the golf cart but I realize that will come with time
- you can do as much or as little as you want!

Now I just have to count down the days! :-)

renting before buying
 

We sold our home in upstate NY, put our furniture in storage, and came here "homeless" last fall. We rented for two months and it was just the right amount of time to find and close on our new home. Because we were renting during "off season" the rates were very reasonable. We found a multitude of rentals in all areas of TV, available on the web at ****.com.
Good luck! You won't be sorry that you made the move.

We used Village Mover and were very pleased. The owner is Mike Collop at 352-751-2750 and he gave us a firm written quote. Once you get here you will probably see some of their crews while driving around. They typically drive pickup trucks towing large black trailers with the name and phone number of the company on the sides.

We rented 2 winters, 2 different locations, before buying. We certainly found a location that we love but the house is not exactly IT. The plan was that if something we liked better became available in same area, we would move. Well, life got in the way and it didn't happen so we keep improving the home we are in now. At this point, I think we will stay.

Came to TV on May 1, 2013. Bought a home in August of 2013. This afforded me the luxury of looking around and moving into my home at a leisurely pace. As you may know, TV is a very big place and you will have many decisions to make. Make a list of "must haves" and "would like to have" before you start looking for a home. You will know you have the right home when you find one that has all of your must haves and it will feel right.

Picking a location will be your top priority but keep in mind, there is no such thing as a bad neighborhood.
Good luck on your search.

BTW - Make sure you have a map and study it to narrow down, where you might want to live.

AIRBNB maybe a more affordable option for renting.

We got a contract on our home in Ohio, came down and bought in 3 days. Of course we were buying a brand new home so it is easier. We also had our things stored in a POD that way we could request them bring them when we wanted them.

There are many beautiful reasonably priced rental homes in the Villages. All are fully furnished with everything you could possibly need except clothing and personal items. We have been renting for 2 months taking our time looking and signed a contract today.

Spend time in the community before you buy. It seems to be some what common to move several times.
I know a group of 50 homes. Two buillt by people moving from one part of the community to another. 4 up for sale to move to a different community all together. Needs had changed.
Try VillagersHomes4Rent.com for a rental.

A side note we moved all of our funiture from Ohio stored it until buying , hind sight we would have sold every thing in Ohio , saved the expense of moving it and storage plus wear and tear either bought turnkey or puchased new.

We are in a similar situation, only selling our house is not required to happen before we move to TV so we have some flexibility in timing. Half of our furniture is old and not desirous for TV. We are headed down there in a week to do some house shopping after looking at many houses online to see how well our online evaluations correspond with a first hand look. We may end up having to set up an extended rental (2-3 months) for the winter to find something we want to buy. It seems like the best options usually hit the market in March and April. Ugh! It is very difficult trying to assess and purchase from afar. We've also heard the stories of people buying 2-3 times in TV but would love to find our forever place on the first go around and save ourselves the hassle of future moves. It is indeed a complicated process, but we are looking forward to settling in down there sooner than later! This site is very helpful!

I think you are on the right track. We had visited folks we know in TV twice, so were familiar with TV in general. We held on to the large condo in VA for a while then bought here. We rented for two months expecting the process to take a while. After talking to realtor, Joe Cosentino, and touring a couple days, we bought a spec house from the Villages on the second day!
You should know TV is vibrant and dynamic. Of the fifteen families on our block, which was new at the time, only five have not moved. We're not only frogs, but expect to stay on the same lily pad, in the same pond, till we croak.
So, our advice is to take your time, get the home you want and settle down.

we're renting for the third year. We prefer the 'country' of TV