As most of you know, we recently moved to The Villages, Florida (or at least we’re down here – we still have a Colorado home – so whether or not we’ve moved yet could be up for discussion. Maybe we’re “still moving.” Hahaha.)
That said, I wanted to give an update on where we are to date – from the time we started thinking about coming here to where we are now, as I write this, at the end of January 2023.
I’ll be doing these updates every month or so for the next few months at least, so if you’re interested in them, stay tuned, there are more coming!
BTW, let me make a statement about some of my posts here on The Villages that might be confusing to some of you. Our initial plan was to come down to The Villages and rent a place from January through April. Given that long “vacation,” I decided I wanted to write enough posts to cover that entire time (so I could enjoy my vacation). So that’s what I did. And in those posts, I sometimes refer to us coming down to The Villages and renting because that’s what was going on when I wrote them. However, those were written in the summer of 2022…long before things changed…even though they aren’t posting until now (and in the couple months to follow).
And now I’m adding in a few extra “up-to-the-minute” posts about how our plans changed, what we did, how the house purchase went, how the move went (this post), and so on. So you might see a post about us living in The Villages now, then one a few days later referencing us planning to rent, then a few days later talking about the move, and back and forth that way.
I’m sorry for that. If I had known what we were going to do, I would have written differently (of course). I know it’s confusing but we have moved to The Villages and you can ignore any reference to renting. It should sort itself out soon as most of the rest of my February through March posts are interviews anyway.
For now, let’s get started by covering the past two months…
We Bought a House
Last time I did an official update was on my Retirement Update: 6.25 Years post. That article told the story from where we first thought about buying in The Villages through how the actual purchase went down (up to the point of us committing to it). If you need a refresher on what happened, go back and read the first part of that post before continuing with this one.
After we committed to buying our home, there was a fury of activity – both on the new home purchase front as well as on the Colorado home clean-up front.
I’ll detail the buying process sometime in a separate post and get into the weeds of what happened when and what others can expect when they buy a home in The Villages. For now let’s say there were a few road bumps, but they weren’t that big and the fact that we were paying in cash helped a lot.
There were actually more issues to deal with in Colorado. This was because our plan had been to leave Colorado at the end of December, rent for four months, and then come back to our home in Colorado.
Now our plan turned on a dime and we were buying in Florida, closing at the end of November and going down soon thereafter (a month earlier than planned!), and making not just a temporary trip but a more permanent one. Plus we didn’t know when we’d be back and for how much time, so we wanted to do a lot of clean-up work before leaving.
So here are the highlights of what we did:
- We cleaned the Colorado house from top to bottom including sorting through stuff in our storage areas, closets, etc. To be completely honest, my wife did most of this. We made several trips to Goodwill to donate items we knew we were not going to use, weren’t going to move, didn’t want, and so forth. It’s amazing how much stuff you can accumulate in a house even when you aren’t trying to.
- We had a combination Thanksgiving and Christmas with our kids where we celebrated both holidays on the same day. We did this because we’d be in Florida for Christmas and away from them.
- We packed our stuff for Florida. We drove my car (Toyota Highlander) and had borrowed a roof carrier from one of my wife’s friends. So we had room, but we also had a cat, and he takes up a lot of space (when you include his carrier and litter box). Thus we had to be selective. We took what we absolutely needed and wouldn’t be bringing back to Colorado – as much of it as we could pack in, but that’s it.
- We closed remotely on the home on November 28. It was a non-event day for us as we had sent the money and signed everything electronically a few days before Thanksgiving. So on the close date we simply got a call that said the deal was done and we owned the home. And that was that.
In addition to what you can imagine was a pretty hectic time, we had an incident. The day after we closed on the house (and BTW the same day we closed we had changed insurance companies so that the new house and both cars were now insured in Florida – still with AAA, but they are different/separate companies from one state to the next), it snowed in Colorado. My wife was driving very slowly around the roundabout near our house, slid a bit, and bumped the curve. It was barely a touch, but this started a two-month, $2,500 repair issue that we had to deal with, first while moving and then while in Florida.
For now, let me just say the car was not drivable that day so we had it towed to a shop. They gave us a repair estimate, we went with it, they did the work, then found some other things – including a bent frame. So we drove it back home, put it in the garage, and contacted the insurance company. That’s all that happened while we were in Colorado as a week later we were on our way to Florida.
Driving Down to Florida
After we got all cleaned out, packed up, and ready to come to Florida, we set out. Specifically, we left at 5:30 am on Saturday, December 3. It was still dark out and about 15 degrees. We were thankful to be headed to warmer weather.
That day we made it all the way down to just outside Ft. Worth, Texas by about 6 pm or so. We checked in the hotel, loaded in, went to sleep (exhausted), and were up at 5 am the next day, reloaded, and were off again.
Day two we made it all the way to Pensacola, Florida and repeated the process from the day before at the hotel.
On day three, Monday, December 5, we rolled into The Villages at about 2 p.m. and were so thankful to arrive. It was nice weather (about 70 degrees) and the long drive was over.
We picked up our house keys from my dad (who moved down here last May). In our closing documents we had signed a paper that allowed him to pick up a key and he had done that for us. We drove over to our house and I unpacked the cat and the car while my wife and dad made a trip to Walmart to get basic supplies.
Now when you move to The Villages, many will tell you not to bring your furniture along. This is because it’s likely old, not the style you want down here, it won’t fit the house (many downsize when they move here), and so on. In fact it’s very common that those who move down here with their furniture will end up giving most or all of it away. Thus they’ve dealt with the cost and frustration of getting it here for no good reason.
So we followed the advice and moved with no furniture. All we literally had is what we brought in the car and what my wife bought at Walmart. That’s it. No bed, no chairs, no table, no nothing.
Imagine a 2,000 square foot house empty and that’s what we had. Where do we sleep? Where do we sit? And a million other questions.
Fortunately we had thought about some of these things in advance. We had an inflatable bed, blankets, a table, and a couple chairs from my dad. But that was that. It was barely enough to fill a small room. “All” we now had to do was furnish our house. Hahahahaha.
Getting Established
The first few weeks here were a whirlwind.
Here are some highlights of what we accomplished:
- Got internet service hooked up (of course!) – I can’t live without that!!!
- Got our Villages IDs and did a quick orientation to The Villages at the sales offices. We would have normally gotten our mailbox keys but the boxes were not opened yet in our area (because it was so new), so we had to drive to the post office 30 minutes away to see if we had mail (not the post office 10 minutes away which was much closer.) Thankfully we got postal service a couple weeks after arriving but it was a big hassle until it opened.
- Added my wife’s name to our bank account down here (we had it in just my name as she wasn’t available when we opened it and we needed it asap), ordering our checks (which will probably last us a lifetime), and renting a safe deposit box (remember those?)
- Signed up at my gym (used to be MVP and is now Genesis) in Brownwood Square. My wife is still unsure if she wants to join it or not (she may take advantage of the exercise classes in The Villages instead since she likes class exercise options.)
- Bought a subscription to The Daily Sun, the daily newspaper owned and run by The Villages. I still read the paper every day (yes, just like grandpa did) to find out what’s going on around here. There’s really too much happening to know it all, so I just try to keep up on the important stuff.
- Got our Florida drivers licenses, registrations, and voter cards.
- Met with our builder for our house orientation (more on that below). I also had orientations with a pest control company (they treated our ground for termites prior to the build – we have a one-year warranty from them), an irrigation company, and the HVAC guy.
- Hired a company to do both lawn care and pest control. Gone are the days I want to do that so we’re outsourcing it all.
- Attended a “New Residents Seminar” hosted by the Villages Homeowners Advocates (VHA), one of the two (completely voluntary) HOA organizations in The Villages. We met a ton of local officials (law enforcement, governmental authorities, utilities, etc.) at this event and received a lot of information on how things work down here. We eventually joined the VHA as the benefits were well worth the costs ($25 for a family for two years!)
There was more than this, of course, but these are the highlights of what we did to get settled. Later on I’ll include a few of the fun items we managed to squeeze in while dealing with getting settled in.
But before we get to those, let’s discuss the three big issues we’ve had to deal with. Any of these was more than enough to crush even the most stout-hearted person’s spirit and we had THREE of them!!!
Ok, so maybe it wasn’t that bad, but it sure seemed like it at times, especially when they all had a pressing need on the same day.
But enough bellyaching for now, let’s get on with the story…
Furniture Shopping
Of course, since we had no furniture, we had to start with furniture shopping. This saga alone could be an epic post in and of itself and writing it would likely give me PTSD flashbacks.
Let’s just say that over the next several weeks we spent hours and hours on multiple days each week looking at furniture places in The Villages, Ocala, FL (about 30 minutes north), and even Orlando (an hour south), visiting many of these places more than once as we saw what there was, pricing, learned about options and the market, etc. We also looked at 3-4 consignment stores and did some shopping on Facebook Marketplace.
Someone in the MMM forums asked, “What does it cost to furnish a 2,000 square foot house?” The answer is: it depends on how long you have. One person there had furnished his whole house for $5k with stuff from Facebook Marketplace. But he had time and took five months to do it. We did not have time as there was NO WAY I was living in a no-furniture house for five months – or even five weeks.
So we took a balanced approach to buying stuff. We knew what we wanted and after locating it we bought from a variety of places – furniture stores, consignment shops, Facebook Marketplace, and online (Wayfair, Amazon, and a few others).
As I write this we are about 75% done with furniture and have spent somewhere around $20k (which also include “furnishings” like rugs, bedding, kitchen utensils, and so forth). I’ll tally it up one day, but that will need to be in the future once the dust settles.
Home Repair
As if the furniture nightmare was not enough, we had to deal with house issues. Specifically, our house was not up to snuff when we moved in.
When you buy a new house in The Villages you generally have a walkthrough with the builder a couple hours prior to closing. There you identify issues and they have a swat-team-like group come in and fix things up quickly – many times by the time you close. Then you have another week to identify cosmetic issues, list those, and they will repair them.
FYI, the houses have a full 1-year warranty so you have a year to determine what needs fixed on the larger items. Many people hire an inspector at month 11, have him tell you what needs fixing, and then submit that to The Villages to be repaired before the year expires.
But we were not here for closing so no one did the walk through. And they needed to. There were TONS of cosmetic issues like dings in the paint, bumps in the trim, etc. that had to be fixed. Obviously someone had not done a 100% job and, even worse, no one had done an inspection at the end once the work was completed.
Hence we had to tack on the role of house inspector to our list and to be honest, it was not pleasant. We had more than enough on our plates getting settled and now we needed to identify what turned out to be probably 100 or more fixes with everything from cabinets to walls to floors and on and on.
When we finally met with him a week after we arrived, our builder was embarrassed and apologized for the condition of the house. He told us our closing had not been “on his list” and thus the ball for quality control was dropped somewhere.
Thankfully he gave us plenty of time to identify the fixes (until the first of January) and from that time until the first week in January we spent hours identifying the issues (marking them with painter’s tape) and then hours more with repair people coming by and repairing everything. As I write this there is still work to do. Yes, they are fixing all of it,, but we have to live through it and manage the workers, which is not a pleasant task and one we should not have to do.
My learning from all of this: be sure you are here for your closing and do the walkthrough prior to close. I’ll include this when I write about the process of buying in The Villages but I do want to mention it now as well in case someone reading is thinking of buying here.
My Wife’s Car
And as if all this wasn’t enough to send us to the looney bin, we had my wife’s car issues to deal with.
After regular and constant calls to the insurance company (they used the excuse of “being overwhelmed from the hurricane” for the delay), they sent out an adjuster to look at it (after a couple weeks!) and they listed the repairs that were needed.
Then, the garage that could fix it (we were limited in choices due to the frame issue) didn’t have availability to work on it until mid-January. (FYI, my son-in-law and daughter took it to the garage for us.)
Then the parts they needed were delayed – so much so that the final repairs were not completed until January 27, two days after our kids were supposed to start driving it down here. Now they are leaving a few days late, which is a bummer since they have a firm return date.
Add on to all this dealing with the insurance company to receive payment, multiple calls to the garage to be advised on the status, and all the rest (which my wife has had to deal with) and it’s been just another major issue we didn’t need.
Discretionary House Work
Now back to the house. I want to share some things you probably didn’t know about homes down here.
When you buy a new home, you kind of expect that it’s “all done” if you know what I mean.
But not here in The Villages. These homes come solid but pretty bare bones in some ways (or at least having the potential for some extra add-ons.) As such, many owners change/add to their homes with discretionary purchases they make once they are in their homes.
Here are just a few we’ve considered and where we currently stand on them…
- Garage and lanai floors – Many in The Villages have their garage floors epoxied, which we have done. We had a friend do it and it looks great. We also had him paint the lanai floor (which was just plain concrete) and it makes the lanai look a ton better…more like a finished room.
- Paint the driveway – Many people paint their driveways in all sorts of colors/fancy designs. We have decided not to do this for now as we’re ok with a concrete driveway.
- Landscaping – Many residents here will tell you the pine mulch The Villages puts down encourages the breeding of bugs. Well, that’s not what the pest control people say. It’s also not what the water conversation people say – they prefer it because it allows air to get to the land and did not have one peep to say about any pest issues. Regardless, many people spend tens of thousands of dollars on fancy landscaping (rocks and bricks mostly along with new plants) that we were going to do, but after listening to those who should be more in the know have decided not to do.
- Lanai blinds – The lanais can get very warm/sunny, which is absolutely no problem in the winter (it’s actually a benefit.) But in the summer, it’s a different story. People deal with this in various ways such as enclosing their lanais in glass and cooling the area, using curtains to block the sun, or using blinds (that retract). We haven’t done anything yet but will most likely go the blind route, primarily because they block the sun but also allow some light in and let you see out of them.
- Attic access – The homes here come with attic access (for storage) over the garage. The problem is that there’s no way to access that storage as it’s on the garage ceiling. You can solve this issue with a ladder (if you want to risk your life), a foldable ladder that comes down like Clark Griswald got trapped with in Christmas Vacation, stairs (that come down) that are either automatic or manual, and probably a few other solutions. Not sure what we’ll do here as that’s in “phase 2”, the term we use to signify “we’re not working on this issue at this point.” haha.
- Gutters – The house comes with two (I think) rain gutters. Debate rages down here whether you need them all around your house with half the people saying they are a waste of money and half saying they are vital. Not sure yet what we’ll do.
- Golf Cart – We have been golf cart shopping and know the options. We’ve decided that we need two vehicles so we both can get around independently (we’ve spent the past two months with one car, and it’s no fun). So we can either be a two car household or a one cart plus a golf cart household. And since we have two cars already (the kids bring the second one down in a few days) and we don’t play golf (the only other reason we’d need a golf cart), we’re holding off on purchasing a golf cart for now.
- Sprinkler donuts – When you have someone else mowing your yard, they are not as careful with the sprinkler heads as you’d be. That’s why some owners pay companies to install sprinkler donuts (round, concrete barriers that protect sprinklers). The going rate for that is $20 per donut. Or you can buy your own at Lowe’s for $1.50 each and install them yourself, which is what I did.
Some Fun Along the Way
While most of our time here has been working on the things noted above, we have had a few opportunities to sneak in some fun here and there. If you follow me on Instagram you’re up to speed on most of these (and more) as I post pictures there regularly. But for those of you who don’t, here are some highlights of fun activities we’ve taken advantage of:
- Train show – There are over 3,000 clubs in The Villages and one is the model train club. They put on a show several times a year where they have elaborate landscape scenes with functioning trains that fill up many large ballrooms. It was a nice event and very fascinating.
- Breakfast with friends – I have met two friends from the MMM forums so far (and had one and his wife over to our house) plus a friend I worked with 25 years ago who now lives here. I did coffee at Dunkin Donuts with the first group and breakfast at the ever-popular Fenney Grill with the second.
- Lifestyle Expo – We attended a free expo where they covered everything from golf carts to joining clubs to governmental services to entertainment options and on and on. It had a lot of great information for newbies like us.
- Festival of Trees – One of the local groups here does an annual fundraiser for the Special Olympics where they have Christmas trees decorated by various businesses and then auction those off for proceeds (I think they raise $20k or so a year). The trees are on display before the auction at a local hotel and we stopped by to see them.
- Pickleball – Yes, we have played some pickleball in the past two months, but much less than we would have played at home. I’ve played maybe 10 times and most of those were with beginners, so I haven’t yet found the higher-level players. But I will.
- Beach Tennis – Our home has a backyard grass area that extends about 15 feet out from our house. Then there are a series of bushes and then a park. In that park (part of a recreation center area) there are sand courts for sand volleyball and beach tennis. The beach tennis group plays every Monday at 1:30 pm and since it’s literally right out our back door, we have joined them a few times.
- Pool – We have been to the pool once (on a hot day, of course) and I’m looking forward to more trips once things settle down. It’s literally 200 steps at most from our back door to the pool (pickleball courts are within 100 steps).
- Christmas with my Dad – While we didn’t have Christmas with our kids, we did have it with my dad, which was great. We didn’t exchange presents (we’re almost all completely done with accumulating “stuff”) but there was plenty of food consumed over the Christmas weekend.
- Church – We have found a church in Leesburg and attend weekly. We have even had lunch with the pastor (as part of a group) and are getting settled in there. My dad goes with us every Sunday.
- Weekends with my dad – We have spent every Saturday and Sunday with my dad. At first, it was out of necessity as much as out of wanting to see him – we needed places to sit, somewhere to do laundry, somewhere to grill food, etc. But since we’ve addressed many of those issues in our house (like buying a washer and dryer), we still see him both days of the weekend (though now we’re as likely to be at our house as his).
- Attend classes – We have been to several classes hosted by various organizations including golf cart safety, managing water, CDD orientation, and “where does your money go?” (a class on where fees and utility costs are sent and what they are used for).
- Restaurants – We’ve been to probably 5-10 of them. We really like Willie Jewell’s and The Flying Biscuit so far.
- Walks – My wife and I take almost daily walks around our village.
- Open houses – When we walk, we often hit open houses south of us. They are selling off the last of the homes in our village and we go in to see the different designs, layouts, etc.
And with all that, you are up to speed on our time at The Villages so far. As I said above, I’ll do an update once a month so look for those if you’re interested. You can also follow me on Instagram if you want to see what’s happening in almost real time.
But before I end this post, let me leave you with a few general thoughts so far:
- It has been a really trying time. Moving (and especially moving without furniture into a new house across the country) is not for the faint of heart. I will be so glad when we are settled.
- That said, we can begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel and it’s becoming clear how much we’re going to love it here. The problem we’ll have next is selecting which activities to participate in and which ones (though still awesome) don’t make the cut. It’s a tough problem to have!
- We love our location! Some might think it’s too busy being up against a rec center, but we love it – tons of action and easy access to pickleball, pool, etc. We’re also a walk to one of the town squares (Brownwood) which is amazing!
- The lanai (as expected) has been one of the most popular parts of the house. We sit out there, eat most meals out there, and the cat especially loves it. If you remember, the price in Colorado Springs for a lanai that would have been half the size of what we have now was $85k. Why put one in there when that money can buy a major part of a whole house with a bigger lanai already in it?
- The Villages is not a walker-friendly community. Many will tell you it is, but for serious walkers (1,500 or more steps at a pop), it most certainly is not. Yes, you can walk on the hundreds of miles of paths that are used by golf carts, but it’s not a pleasant walk as you’re dodging them for your life most of the time (they drive like crazy). And the paths that are walking/bikes only are so short that are not worth a trip out to them. Even walking up to the square, there are times we have to walk on grass for lack of a sidewalk or path. It’s like they thought people would either drive or take a golf cart – and no one would want to walk a decent distance here.
- Over the next month, we have a few things to look forward to. The kids will be here for a week, we’ll get the house settled, and we’ll begin expanding our list of fun activities.
And I plan on ramping up my YouTube channel in the coming months which is a whole huge project in and of itself…so stay tuned for that. 🙂
The Crusher says
Congrats! So happy for you. So many of your pain points are similar to ours especially the furniture shopping. As I currently type this I am sitting in my luxurious outdoor folding chair (the kind you take to a travel soccer game) and have been for 5 months. UGH!
I agree – very challenging ordeal this moving…
Jan says
Awesome and so thorough. Thank you so much for taking all the time and effort to write this.
Bill says
We scout the first week of May. Think we will bring some furniture if we buy.
Middle Aged Investor says
Wowser. I cannot wait until Zues catches his first lizard on the lanai….LOL. Seriously, great post with all the detail about moving. Note to self, new side gig could be installing sprinkler donuts.
Jeff says
Congrats! Going to be very interested in your long term view after a year or two.
Peter says
Really enjoy you sharing both the highs and lows of this adventure. I can relate! 3 and 1/2 years ago I retired and we moved twice! To a new townhome we bought up north ( my wife headed this) and to our condo in the Florida Keys! ( my brother and I headed that one)
There is a light at the end of the tunnel!
David H. Lunt says
Great post!
I know you all like to walk, where do you go if that is something you want to do? Do you drive to a county or state park or just deal with the situation as it is to walk in The Villages?
ESI says
At this point, we deal with it. We walk mostly in our Village, on the streets because there are no sidewalks. My steps per days are down to 15k from 20k as a result.
AZ Joe says
As you prepare for the full builder’s home repair list, I suggest you get a lamp or circuit tester and check each and every one of the outlets (upper and lower!) and, where applicable, that the correct outlets are switched and that the switches work. Also, open the top and bottom every window (if applicable) and if any are supposed to swing out for cleaning, make sure they actually do; check every door for fit and finish (clearance including carpet) and that the central air vents are adjustable where appropriate. These are typically things that aren’t used regularly, but do tend to be needed occasionally. It wouldn’t hurt to do a walk of the house, inside and out, with an eye to any other items that should work, but haven’t been used to assure they are operational.
Congratulations on your new home, it will get better!
ESI says
Yep, did all that.
FYI, there are actually two cut-offs for new home fixes.
The first one, which is usually a week after close, is for mostly cosmetic things that need fixed (bad paint, cracked drywall, etc.)
The second is a one year warranty on anything not working as it’s supposed to. If anything does not work (like the heat goes out) within that year, you call The Villages and they send someone out to fix it at their cost.
Many people (we will do this) hire a home inspector to comb through their home around 11 months after they purchased it. The inspector lists everything that needs fixed, sends it to TV, and they repair everything.
After a year, the homeowner is on their own repair-wise (though there might be manufacturer warranties on things like the appliances).
Jim Doran says
Congratulations. We close the end of the month in Village of St. Catherine. We’ll be snowboarding for a couple years, but playing a lot of pickleball, meeting tons of great people, and in better shape than I would in the land of ice and snow. Look my wife and I up. We’re always at Ezell / Sawgrass
ESI says
We just ate at McGrady’s Pub a few days ago!
We spent a lot of time in that area last year as we stayed in Bradford and played most of our pickleball at Aviary and Ezell.
Email me if you want to meet for coffee some day…
Jim Doran says
PS, your experience is exactly why we chose a 1 year old home that existing homeowner had made some improvements and had all minor issues resolved. All cash closing in < 30 days and zero drama. Home is perfect. Location is great. We've been here for 3 months in a nice rental home and after closing head back up to CT for family stuff. Seriously ping me if you want to play some pickleball as we play ALOT and at a descent high level. I encourage you to take a day trip to the east coast ocean ( New Smyrna ) as it is therapeutic and great seafood restaurants.
Rick says
Interesting coincidence. My wife’s car slide in the traffic circle on Chapel Hills Dr. Downhill slope on ice. She was going slow and hit the front right wheel, so I only saw the scratches on the wheel. $11k later and it’s all fixed!
ESI says
UGH!
Well, no sliding here in FL!!!! 😉
Stacey says
Congrats on the move and new adventure. Since you got drivers license and voter registration cards, you changed your state of residence. Do you plan to sell your CO house within 3 years? If not, you would lose your $500k exemption…unless you plan to move back to meet the “live in the house 2 years in last 5 years” requirement.
ESI says
Yep, will sell within 3 years.
John M. Sinopoli says
Congrats on moving to The Villages!
I hope to retire and move from Western Massachusetts, to The Villages, later this year.
I have friends and former co-workers who live in The Village of Dunnedin, and will focus my home search to that general vicinity, to buy a pre-existing home.
Did you research home internet providers before choosing one?
If so, what did you learn? Who did you decide to go with for high speed home internet, and what speed do you get at The Villages?
Thank you for this very informative post!
ESI says
There’s no fiber cable in my area, so I went with Xfinity. I dislike them, but they seem more reliable than Spectrum from the comments I’ve seen (though opinions vary widely.)
They have various speed choices to choose from and mine tested initially well above what they promised. Haven’t looked since then as it does what I need. If there was a problem, I’d check.
John M. Sinopoli says
Thank you for the info.
Do they also offer a cellphone plan if bundled for about $30/mo unlimited data, there in The Villages? They do up here in Massachusetts.
They use Verizon’s Network
ESI says
I think so, but since I wasn’t interested in it, I don’t know the specifics.
SMB116 says
Thanks for sharing your moving experience with us! Always interested in hearing more about the Villages. What larger metropolitan city is near where you are at? I am not that familiar with the area but definitely something to consider for retirement!
ESI says
The Villages is an hour north of Orlando.
It’s a quick and easy drive there — straight down the turnpike.
Karen says
I am curious about your reasons for making a permanent move to Florida. You mentioned how much you enjoy spending time with your kids. I ask because we are thinking of moving closer to our son and grandchild coming soon. We live in Wisconsin right now.
ESI says
Mostly because:
1. It’s a hassle and a drain on mental energy having a large asset sit idly 1,000+ miles away. Plus it requires far away management, two of everything (lawns, roofs, utilities, etc.) and it’s more complicated than I want my life to be.
2. Going back and forth is a drain on us and our cat. It’s not an easy trip no matter how you go (car or air).
3. We’re trying to get our kids to join us down here. 😉
Van says
Thank you. This is an awesome narrative of TV. I have been thinking of making a move from Georgia to the Village and plan to do a lifestyle visit in a few days. I’m not sold yet, but hope to get a feel of the environment when I get there. I appreciate the write-up. It’s been very helpful.