[BayLady57]

Hello All,

With a two week of vacation coming up in August with nothing planned decided on the spirit of the moment to book a lifestyle visit. The spark that lit this decision was a recent work visit from a now retired VA primary care physician former colleague of mine who following retirement purchased a snowbird home in TV. He and his wife are very happy having made this decision and encouraged me and my already retired husband to check out the community.

My husband and I are both lifelong Rhode Islanders and have discussed relocating down south when I retire which when that will happen is not set in stone. But I think retirement will be coming sooner rather than later for me as it has been challenging for this 63 year old R.N. to work during this Covid-19 crisis, and fortunately for me I will hit my 20 years of Federal service mark in September which makes me eligible for an immediate retirement.

So we will be heading down to TV with a spirit of adventure and open minds and looking very forward to experience this community.

If any Villagers have info they would like to share that will enhance our visit this would be much appreciated.

[UsuallyLurking]

Summary of personal experience and a recent post related to the subject:

Take the trolley rides (assuming they are running) -- if you take all three you will see most areas of The Villages and get an idea of the differences in the various areas and housing types.
If you have an idea of the type of house you might be interested in search both an MLS site (like Zillow or Realtor.com) and the developer site (TheVillages.com) to check out floorplans, etc. As a recent post noted, you will be assigned a real estate sales person as part of the lifestyle package and they will be able to show you anything available, so if you have something specific in mind (as I did), they can get you a tour.
I imagine that they are still putting people up in the Brownwood area, so take advantage to tour a town center. Don't know when the squares will be open but you will be able wander about.
The house will come with a (speed-restricted) golf cart -- something else to take advantage of. (The bicycles that come with the package are one-speed pedal-brake bikes; if you are into cycling rent them from Village Cycles in Brownwood.)
As noted in a previous post the sales people tend to be low key and won't pressure you into anything, but they will be happy to answer any questions you might have; do come with questions and ask them.
Hmmm. That should do for starters.

[villagetinker]

Be prepared for HOT weather, July and August are typically the hottest months, as well as the pop-up thunder storms. We have been here for several years, and enjoy the warmer weather. Hopefully everything will be back to normal by that time. Be sure you look at all areas of TV, it is now approaching 70 square miles! There are differences between the older areas (north of 44) and the newer sections south of 44. If you are planning on going 'everywhere' by golf cart the options are limited to the south (below 44), and dining and shopping options seem to be limited in this area also, but that is where the new houses are. You will need 2 agents a Villages sales agent for new houses, and a MLS agent for resales, yes this is confusing. There many threads on this site about the differences in the different areas of TV, so you should be able to get some additional info using the search feature on this site.

[Cupcake57]

Have fun! I chose to buy a new house in Marsh Bend (down south), thinking that as all neighbors are new themselves it will be easy to develop friendships and the average age will be younger like me. I am pleasantly surprised to see that others on this site support buying in a more established area. To each their own, there is something for everyone. Before the shutdown, I had to pace myself as there are so many interesting things to do/participate in.

[champion6]

Good luck to you ... the best is yet to come!

[BayLady57]

Thanks for all your helpful responses.

We took a lifestyle visit many years ago when they were giving Villages Dollars out. We stayed in a courtyard villa which gave a good idea of what living so close would be like. Then later we rented a courtyard villa and enlisted the Villages Realty to help us find the new courtyard villa we purchased near LSL. I think you will enjoy your stay.

[Stu from NYC]

Enjoy your visit but realize that now most of the activities are shut down.

You can still explore and definitely talk to the two types of RE estates mentioned above.

Before we moved here earlier this year we rented a home for a month and it was invaluable in figuring out what we wanted.

Just realize that in the newer areas you are much further away from the main shopping area on 27/441.

[mtdjed]

We found it helpful to put together a must have list to help limit your choices. The Villages is a huge area. It gets newer and younger as you go south. That is noticeable .

For us a must have was room to park two cars and a golf cart. Another was a walkable area. i.e.sidewalks along main roads. Closeness to town center. Did not want a wall directly in back of home.

On our first visit, we narrowed down our home style choice and general area. Also made a decision to limit our choice of what to bring with us. We were looking at 2000 Sq ft homes in The Villages and we had a 3000 Sq ft colonial up north with a 1200 Sq ft walk up / stand up attic and the same size basement. In other word 5000 sq ft of stuff. Pool table, air hockey, ping pong table , treadmill, lawn equipment and on and on. Ended up recognizing that Antique Dining room set and other existing furniture would not be right. Ended up selling most and brought one POD of stuff and found that half of that was not going to be used. As I look around now , I see only one antique desk left of what we brought here

[Ladygolfer93]

Originally Posted by BayLady57

Hello All,

With a two week of vacation coming up in August with nothing planned decided on the spirit of the moment to book a lifestyle visit. The spark that lit this decision was a recent work visit from a now retired VA primary care physician former colleague of mine who following retirement purchased a snowbird home in TV. He and his wife are very happy having made this decision and encouraged me and my already retired husband to check out the community.

My husband and I are both lifelong Rhode Islanders and have discussed relocating down south when I retire which when that will happen is not set in stone. But I think retirement will be coming sooner rather than later for me as it has been challenging for this 63 year old R.N. to work during this Covid-19 crisis, and fortunately for me I will hit my 20 years of Federal service mark in September which makes me eligible for an immediate retirement.

So we will be heading down to TV with a spirit of adventure and open minds and looking very forward to experience this community.

If any Villagers have info they would like to share that will enhance our visit this would be much appreciated.

At this time of Virus, and as an R.N., you probably know the experience is going to be greatly altered. So keeping that in mind, I can not tell you strongly enough how in "regular times" it is so important to rent for awhile, even it it costs you $$ that would have gone to the house you purchase. I guarantee there is no way to choose a village without living here, getting the "feel" of various locations, what stores you like to shop in most, what YOUR patterns of living are, etc. Just no substitute for living here in a rental, chatting with people and LISTENING to the pros and the cons, there are many of both ! If you possibly can, sell, store (because most of us bring way too much, even if we buy a larger home, still 85% find they do not want all the brought) and rent for at least 6 months if you can swing it !

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by Ladygolfer93

At this time of Virus, and as an R.N., you probably know the experience is going to be greatly altered. So keeping that in mind, I can not tell you strongly enough how in "regular times" it is so important to rent for awhile, even it it costs you $$ that would have gone to the house you purchase. I guarantee there is no way to choose a village without living here, getting the "feel" of various locations, what stores you like to shop in most, what YOUR patterns of living are, etc. Just no substitute for living here in a rental, chatting with people and LISTENING to the pros and the cons, there are many of both ! If you possibly can, sell, store (because most of us bring way too much, even if we buy a larger home, still 85% find they do not want all the brought) and rent for at least 6 months if you can swing it !

95% of the people who move here quickly realize they brought too much stuff.

[RandyLW]

We just completed a week long Lifestyle visit a week ago, stayed in Alden Bungalows. We explored a lot of the villages, went to Publix the first day to stock up on food and drink for the week, did three preserve (Fenney, Hogeye Sink, and Sharon Rose Wiechen) walks, visited all three town squares (sunset at Sumter Landing was awesome), many open houses, a visit to the street of dreams to visit many model homes, and even went out to eat a few times but maintained social distances, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Chitty Chatty and Bradford look to be awesome places to buy right now to us. Get the Villages App to assist you on your visit, and enjoy!

[davem4616]

we bought the first weekend that we visited (we had been looking at other venues and TV had everything and more that we were looking for)

we knew which floorplan we were interested in before arriving

sadly you won't be able to get a sense of all the activity due to the virus

one week gives you a little idea of what TV is like....give though to renting for a few months before buying...that way you'll get a better idea of which location(s) works best for you

[Stu from NYC]

Thinking about this and based on our previous experience would delay visit until this is over and you get a better understanding about the lifestyle.

We went around a lot and talked to many people and it helped us to determine where we wanted to go and the floorplan we liked the most.

So few people are out now hard to talk to a diverse group.

Good luck whatever you decide to do