[2rts2tv]

Originally Posted by Michiganders

We started looking at the Villages five years ago and dreaming about getting a place here someday. Well that day has finally come. We bought a lot in Fernandina last summer and built a house which was completed in May and is waiting for us.

We both retired this year, just sold our house up here in Michigan, purged, sold, and gave away lots of our "stuff", packed and cleaned and went through the closing process. Surprisingly we survived this whole process which at times was questionable.

The movers came yesterday and pulled out with the rest of our belongings. It was sad doing the final walk through of our now empty house and pulling out of the driveway for the last time but exciting because we know what we have waiting for us.
We will be saying goodbye to our friends this weekend and heading out for our new life in The Villages.

The last month has been emotionally draining but we are ready for a new chapter in our lives with new friends we will meet and lots of fun activities that we will finally have time to enjoy!

Wishing you all the best with your new life! Your shared experience gives us strength...thank you! Hopefully we will meet someday!

[MSG@TV]

Michiganders: Wishing you all the best. We will see you soon in Fernandina.

[MSG@TV]

Graciegirl, as usual your advice/wisdom is right on. May send you a PM when I get a chance to comment further in the midst of packing.

[patfla06]

Graciegirl - your post really resonated with me.
Very insightful and I like that you told the good and the bad.
CHANGE is never easy.

Moving and changing your life can test even decades old, GOOD marriages.
I'm hoping the end result will be worth it.
We can't wait to move to T.V. Full time.

[TrudyM]

We are in the same situation. We live all the way across the country so considering flying and renting for three months this year and then longer next season if we love it.
Just got off the phone with the insurance company.(Gieco)
CAR----If I put extra car in storage they will give us a 75% rebate on car insurance for the months we aren't driving it. It will be covered for theft and fire etc. and it will cover my rental car for 30 days but will have to get insurance from the rental car company after 30 days.

Furniture and stuff--- If house is sold and stuff in storage use sons address and get rental insurance and stuff will be covered in storage even though it's not at our sons place, sounds weird but that's what they said, they said they just need an physical address to attach the coverage to and that it covers all items even those in storage.

Golf cart in Rental--- Liability covered under umbrella policy if someone sues me but collision and injury to myself not covered and coverage not available as I don't own it. If I owned the cart could add to my car insurance policy but not as a rental.


Your insurance company may say different depending on policies available.
Just what mine said.

[manaboutown]

Great post, GG. Thank you!

[2rts2tv]

Originally Posted by TrudyM

We are in the same situation. We live all the way across the country so considering flying and renting for three months this year and then longer next season if we love it.
Just got off the phone with the insurance company.(Gieco)
CAR----If I put extra car in storage they will give us a 75% rebate on car insurance for the months we aren't driving it. It will be covered for theft and fire etc. and it will cover my rental car for 30 days but will have to get insurance from the rental car company after 30 days.

Furniture and stuff--- If house is sold and stuff in storage use sons address and get rental insurance and stuff will be covered in storage even though it's not at our sons place, sounds weird but that's what they said, they said they just need an physical address to attach the coverage to and that it covers all items even those in storage.

Golf cart in Rental--- Liability covered under umbrella policy if someone sues me but collision and injury to myself not covered and coverage not available as I don't own it. If I owned the cart could add to my car insurance policy but not as a rental.


Your insurance company may say different depending on policies available.
Just what mine said.

These are just the kind of details that have to be handled to make this all work that can drive you to drink!!

[Duvalboomer]

Originally Posted by 2rts2tv

We are Pat and Tom from Michigan and will be full time villagers by the end of this year...we can't wait! Tom is retiring and I will continue to work in health care for several years when we arrive. All our planning is in full swing and we are VERY overwhelmed with it all! We have researched TV for over a year, got the book, did the Lifestyle preview plan and read so much of the priceless advice given on this forum...thank you to everyone that contributes!

It seems the advice given over and over is to take our time to be sure to purchase a home that is best suited to our needs/wants. This approach does seem to be the best and least stressful for our situation, but we're conflicted about wasting money renting and having to put our stuff in storage and then move again once we purchase our home. Does anyone have any additional insight to help make this decision clearer for us? How did you all do it?

Renting could be viewed as a waste of money but you also need to ask yourself what is the cost of buying the wrong house in the wrong area

[JP]

From one Michigander to another...welcome to the villages!

The last one out of Michigan please turn out the lights.

It is/was a ton of work but worth ever bit of it!

[2rts2tv]

Originally Posted by Duvalboomer

Renting could be viewed as a waste of money but you also need to ask yourself what is the cost of buying the wrong house in the wrong area

You are so right...that is exactly what we're struggling with!

Originally Posted by JP

From one Michigander to another...welcome to the villages!

The last one out of Michigan please turn out the lights.

It is/was a ton of work but worth ever bit of it!

Hi fellow Michigander! How did you make the move? Did you buy or rent first?

[l2ridehd]

I would do this to help make the best decision possible. Narrow it down to 2 or 3 different homes and 3 or 4 locations you like. Find a similar home in one of those locations and rent it for a month. Try another type home in another location. After 3 months buy your preferred type home in your preferred location. It is a very low cost investment to help you make the best possible decision. Low season rents are around $1200 a month and high season around $3400 a month. So for around $6000 you can make a very informed decision. You will then have the perfect home in the perfect location for you based on your experience. Many who have moved or bought something they wish they had not, would pay 3 times that for a do over.

[Bill Tasker]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

The first home we bought was for us to live in half year, snowbirding home. We decorated it with found stuff and fun stuff and enjoyed it for four years.

The home we built a year ago in October was a full time residence AND we had sold our first home here and our residence in Cincy and we were homeless. One of the kind souls on this forum offered us their home in Harmeswood to rent while our home was being built and we drove down pulling a big rental trailer with our stuff to put in the large garage of the rental. We had our really GOOD furniture packed into a POD and stored during our home build, the rest we put in a storage unit in Cincy. We moved into our new house in October and in November Sweetie drove down all alone and through a snowstorm with a big rental UHaul truck. We contracted to have unloaders unload the furniture, but we brought a lot of boxes from the garage in Harmeswood to our new house in our van. Sweetie did most of the heavy stuff, I hate to admit that I can't lift heavy stuff like I used too.

I want to point out one thing that we sometimes fail to see. We are going through a LOT of life changes in this move, most of us. We are ceasing working, we are moving away from known and loved people and known and accepted ways of doing things. We are forced to give up, and sometimes give away things that we had planned for, saved for and worked for and we do not have the stamina for the physical part of the move that we once had. We, as a couple, went through more serious and tense situations that we did not expect and I feel we have a wonderful marriage but we really, really lashed out at each other due to frustration and stress. Now the stress was not over terribly important things, like a life threatening illness but it was TOUGH. Kids can really hand out a guilt trip to a lot of us for leaving them.

I have had a couple of dear friends move here and buckle under the stress or the after effects of the move for awhile, so give yourself all of the kindness and slack you can, because emotionally it is very HARD to do even if you want to do it.

If you find yourself down, or sad or unexplainably moody, seek a doctor's help. It is more common than you know and since we are old "soldiers" we tend to ignore our own emotional battles sometimes.

I don't know you but I love your wisdom and sage advise given on these post!

[Lbmb24101]

Originally Posted by jojo

We bought after looking three days. Wanted to avoid the double move. We were willing to build if we needed to but found the perfect house. In our case we knew it when we saw it.

We did the exact same thing, jojo, and no regrets so far!
Furthermore,
THE ABSOLUTE PERFECT HOUSE DOES NOT EXISTS

Yes, one plans and looks, but there will be a point when it becomes overwhelming and no longer fun...

[JP]

We did about 3 LSL visits and decided THIS IS IT and we bought new. We come down as often as possible and wish we could be full time but I've got to close down my practice and it's going to take a little more time.

Go for it. You can always sell a house if you don't like it or its' location. We've had numerous people ask if we are interested in selling our place. Of course my answer is always a resounding NO.

Good Luck with your decisions!

[batman911]

You can pick a location you like and style of home but you cannot pick your neighbors. It is the luck of the draw. Even in an established neighborhood it would be next to impossible to determine if your neighbors are compatible with your lifestyle until you have lived there for a while. Just go for it and hope for the best. The odds are in your favor because there are so many good neighbors in TV.