[Tworetiredartists]

My parents are retired in Tampa. I joined this message board (though I live in Baltimore) so I can show them how active and lively the community.
I'm trying to encourage them to move to The Villages.
All the best to you all!

Christopher

[PugMom]

have they come to visit yet? watching you enjoy yourselves every day is the best advertisement: let the Villages sell itself. my in-laws thought we were nuts for moving here until they came to visit, then just looked around wide-eyed & said 'wow!'

[Tworetiredartists]

I definitely need to get them over there!

Originally Posted by PugMom

have they come to visit yet? watching you enjoy yourselves every day is the best advertisement: let the Villages sell itself. my in-laws thought we were nuts for moving here until they came to visit, then just looked around wide-eyed & said 'wow!'

[Stu from NYC]

Have them come and see for themselves if this place is for them.

[manaboutown]

I had to experience it to believe it.

[JerryLBell]

The Villages aren't for everybody. Some folks like a much quieter, more sedate life style or they may have made close friendships in their existing community or there is something or someone in the area they live in that is really important to them. That said, The Villages does have activities like nobody else. A friend of mine is in a continuing life care community up north. He bought in and lives in the independent living apartments but can move to assisted living when he needs to and on to nursing care and even hospice. He's happy there as he figures he's set for life. We visited him and saw a monthly calendar of activities there and ALL of the activities for an entire month could fit on a single page monthly calendar (there's never more than one activity on a given day). The Villages used to publish a 72-page weekly insert in the newspaper just to cover what was going on at all of the recreation centers. They eventually cut it to 64 pages to save paper but they are only giving highlights of what's going on there. What with the 3,000+ official clubs and who knows how many unofficial clubs, they can't keep up.

As was mentioned elsewhere, if your folks are interested they should come for a visit and take one of the trolley tours to get an overview. If they like what they see, they should consider a lifestyle visit and maybe talk to a realtor (remembering that new houses can ONLY be sold by Villages-official realtors where pre-owned homes can be sold by those realtors or by "outside" realtors).

It's a weird time to move here what with housing prices skyrocketing everywhere. They might get way more than they would think on their current house but might have to pay way more than they would hope to get into the houses here that come available and get quickly snapped up.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

At the very least, they should come for occasional visits. The Villages has their own rental group that rents properties for a week at a time, over and above the Lifestyle visit. We stayed in week-long rentals a couple of times when we came down just for vacation, before we decided to buy.

[BlueStarAirlines]

My parents also live south of Tampa and have no interest in The Villages. Their neighborhood is the size of one of our villages, so they were okay with that but once they saw that were were tons of villages it because too much.

Another factor is their healthcare is much better. 30-45 minute drive they have access to all of Tampa's hospitals. I even drive the 90 minutes to Tampa for some medical needs, so its not insignificant.

I think the biggest issue, is all their friends are where they are now. Its hard enough to start over in our 50s and 60s, but all that much more when one is 70+.

[Madelaine Amee]

The OP does not say what their Tampa lifestyle is like. I know Tampa and I love it, especially near the water. They have great shops, excellent food international food shopping and super restaurants. I think if they wanted to move here they woul come and take a look ....

[DylanTodd]

Originally Posted by Tworetiredartists

My parents are retired in Tampa. I joined this message board (though I live in Baltimore) so I can show them how active and lively the community.
I'm trying to encourage them to move to The Villages.
All the best to you all!

Christopher

Hi Christopher,

Would your parents like a guided tour of the Villages? I am one of the real estate sales agents here and I would be happy to block off a morning or afternoon to tour them around. I would suggest that they do a 2 to 3 hour tour with me and then have the rest of the day to explore and enjoy on their own. They can either drive back to Tampa that night or have fun at one of the entertainment squares and get a hotel.

Cheers,

Dylan

[asianthree]

If I were alone I would move to Tampa in a heartbeat. Restaurant’s, great specialty grocery stores, and walks in the sand.
Beach living is more my lifestyle, than being in TV. But for now will continue in TV, with the occasional visit to the beach.

[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by BlueStarAirlines

My parents also live south of Tampa and have no interest in The Villages. Their neighborhood is the size of one of our villages, so they were okay with that but once they saw that were were tons of villages it because too much.

Another factor is their healthcare is much better. 30-45 minute drive they have access to all of Tampa's hospitals. I even drive the 90 minutes to Tampa for some medical needs, so its not insignificant.

I think the biggest issue, is all their friends are where they are now. Its hard enough to start over in our 50s and 60s, but all that much more when one is 70+.

You hit the nail on the head with the singular and absolutely most important reason we may never become full time Villages residents. The place is fun, fun, fun, so much to do, never get bored, great, but the healthcare is dismally substandard. Unfortunately, as we get older healthcare becomes increasingly important.