So what I’m hearing that it is essentially the same as buying a house anywhere else. Choices, choices, choices and having to weigh the importance of one over another. Sounds good.

Thank you so much much talking to us. Nice man and great video as always 😊. Have a great day 😊

Hello Gary, it's nice to see another amazing video from you. I bought my house site unseen and was watching videos and was still working. I knew that I wanted a corner lot with a pond and I wanted a separate dining room. I bought a new designer home in Lake Denham and it's my dream home three bedroom, two car garage and a golf cart garage with almost 2500 square feet and have no regrets and Will never sale my house. You are right about doing your homework and that's exactly what I did and now retired and living life to the fullest!!

We’ve been here four years (“Snowbirds”) I don’t think we’d do anything differently. We like our home (a designer home) and our neighborhood (the Village of Newell).

Point is … the house doesn’t really matter. It’s more about the active lifestyle (what do you want to do in your later years?)
I play golf … nearly every day.
And enjoy riding my bike around the retention ponds. My wife walks and does many activities at several different rec centers. We go to many different pools.

I wouldn’t spend a whole lot of time looking for the IDEAL location. Like I said, they’re all nice. Everything anyone needs is a golf cart ride or a short car ride away. We like being near the turnpike, and close to Leesburg and often dine or shop “outside the bubble”.
Do you want ”a view”? … a preserve, a pond, a golf course?  You’ll pay for it.  Personally, I find that boring. Our lanai faces Meggison (a busy road, and a multimodal path). I like watching people go by … walking their dog, jogging, walking. Not for everybody. I wave and say “hi”. 👋🏻

Also, which Village doesn’t really matter. They’re all nice.
We’re close to Sawgrass which is great. But we’re also fairly close to Brownwood and Eastport. But we don’t go to the town squares often - maybe once a week, or every other week.

The house doesn’t matter that much either (they’re all nice). Only if you have pets and want a fence - then a Villa or a Veranda is your choice. Then, how big a house do you want? How big of a house do you need?  We have a 3 BR/2 bath that is MUCH smaller than the house we moved from up North (moving into a smaller home is quite common in retirement). We don’t see our kids very often now, and only entertain guests 2 or 3 times a season.

I highly recommend doing a lifestyle visit. We did. After three days looking at many (over 30) homes, we met our sales agent over coffee, went over what we liked and what we didn’t care for. He just listened. When we were done, he said, “I think I have the house for you”, and he did. Very happy with our decision. Yes, there are tradeoffs, but isn’t there always?

They say the average Villager moves three times. One of the guys I play golf with is in his fourth house. If after a year or two, you want a different house, a different location, go for it.
Apparently it’s quite common and fairly easy to do.

… just my two cents

Well done, Gary. You are so right…it’s an individual decision. What you like others may not. What others like…maybe not for us. That’s something that makes TV so nice is there is something for most everyone. Like you, we are pleased with our home although we went preowned as we wanted a location between LSL and Brownwood. Yes, there are people closer to our age in the newer areas but ALL of our neighbors could not have made us feel more welcomed. Thanks again for another GREAT video!

Citrus Grove Villager here and we love it! We could not get the garage floor epoxied before we moved in is my only regret. Great video Gary!

Things I would consider:  bond, age of roof, age of air conditioner, location, taxes, house last painted, car and house insurance.

I agree that the house has to be important. I knew what location i wanted to be in. What lot i wanted. We really lucked out and got our first lot we put in for. I love my little “boutique” neighborhood with only 40 homes and one entrance. I know every single one of my neighbors by name. We are within walking distance to the square. And that’s all great. But i love the house the most. Picking out all the finishes and colors and stretching and adding what was a priority for us. This is going to be our forever home. Prior military family and i absolutely am over moving. So i upgraded a lot of things that would “stand the test of time”.  I don’t think everyone rushes to get here but i think some don’t do a ton of research and trust their agent to help them find the right house but they give them a broad stoke of what they want vs exactly what they want and they end up “settling” bc after looking at 20 houses they are exhausted or frustrated.
Here was my must haves.
North south facing house.
Walking distance.
Less then 50 homes on the street. (That can be a hard one)
Full size wall with no gaps between houses.
Bonus is i got a partial view lot with a nice side yard that’s big enough for a pool if we ever thought we wanted one.
The lifestyle comes with every house. It’s about what level of proximity you want vs the quality of home. The first 5-10 years it’s gonna be about the lifestyle after that it’s about the house and the function of it.

Great video Gary, the other thing to consider in the older sections with no bond is fees as in a district which has to pay for sinkholes or fix erosion around a lake, demolish and rebuild a rec center, or even fix the roads. Residents pay for all of this. Thanks for the wealth of information.

I bought a new house here two years ago. We love it here and I agree with everything you said.

Great Video! We moved to a new home in the Villages.  I love the northern and middle parts of the Villages, but we needed to be south for closer access to Orlando.  The older homes a lot of times were more expensive and dated but the bonds were lower.  If we had a lot of time to buy maybe we could have found one that had been updated.  It’s not an easy choice.  The great thing about the Villages is that they are all nice.  You have to weigh pros and cons.  I fell in love with our location, so close to a walking path and town center near Eastport.  I love to walk and can see myself walking into old age.  I can’t imagine another location that would be better for us.  However, the beauty of the northern sections are unmatched!  You almost can’t go wrong!

Gary; I enjoy and learn from your videos.  I learned what I am going to share with you and was verified by our District representative.   If a catastrophe happens in the villages to the infrastructure owned by the villages; the villages can and will increase the maintenance fees of the home owners and there is no cap on it.

Budget, bond cost all comes into focus when thinking to buy.

You're not wrong, but we had to consider it differently. My wife didn't want to live so far south that everything happening in the squares means a 20-30 minute drive (car, not golf car), and then pay a bond for up to 30 years for the luxury of not having the amenities yet. Plus, if we bought an existing home, we could do an inspection and understand what we're facing and adjust our offer accordingly. Which we did. We came from a place that had mature trees and established landscape, and moving to a more barren landscape didn't hold the appeal. Plus, there was plenty of availability in the model we wanted and the area we wanted and could land in the right home for us, then MAKE it our own versus paying the prices the builder would charge for the same items new. We located between the 66s and are happy with the location, amenities, and proximity to shopping options. What would we do differently? Delay our move-in until our renovations were complete, but nothing other than that.

Thanks for sharing this video. You've made some really great valid points! We're part timers, purchased a patio villa 3 years ago. We may buy larger home in 3 years.
❤

Good insight!  Those are the things I’m thinking about now.  😊😊

Gary thanks for making these videos . Soon we will be living in The Villages and look forward to meeting you. We are closing on a home next month and your advise in this video is dead on. Thank you

GREAT VIDEO as always!   I guess we will focus and the HOME more than the location now.  Because we are buying new, we will scramble to decide what the Villages is selling at the time we pull the trigger.  Kind of takes a little pressure off because we can't control what neighborhood will be for sale at the time we decide to retire.

Consider the weather, stay there during July and August.  It became too much for us. That along with the explosive growth made up our mind to pack it in and move. No regrets, have found a slower pace in TN. Many former Villagers here.

Thanks Gary, good old common sense!