As I write this I have been home about a month after spending 2.5 months (mid-January through March) in The Villages, Florida.
If you missed the fact that we snowbirded there this winter, you can catch up with our escapades by reading the following: Thoughts on The Villages, Florida, and Snowbirding, Part 1, Thoughts on The Villages, Florida, and Snowbirding, Part 2, and Thoughts on The Villages, Florida, and Snowbirding, Part 3.
I know…it was quite a saga. Hahaha.
Now that I’ve had some time to digest my thoughts and feelings on the trip, get settled at home, and work through my dad’s purchase of a home in The Villages (by the time this posts, he will have closed on it and be back down there), I thought it was time to do a review of The Villages for ESI Money.
It’s the number one question I get asked — online and in person: “How was it?”
So I’m going to answer that question and hopefully provide you with some food for thought if you’re so inclined to check out The Villages for yourself.
Doing a review on The Villages is a huge undertaking and one that I want to get right. That’s why I’m really going to do three reviews — or, if you prefer, one review with three separate parts as follows:
- The first will be a simple listing of pros and cons of The Villages from my own experiences. This is how I often look at big issues (what’s good and what’s bad) so it’s the most personal review. Much of this you’ve read in the posts above, but there will be some new stuff here too.
- The second will be evaluating The Villages on my list of five retirement categories everyone needs to cover to have a great retirement. You can see these in my post Huge List of Awesome Retirement Activities.
- And finally, I Googled around and selected the top ranking responses for articles on what people liked and didn’t like about The Villages. I thought I should address these to make any review complete.
That said, there are a few thoughts I want to get out before I begin:
- These are my opinions based on my thoughts, experiences, lifestyle, etc. You are different so it’s almost guaranteed your opinion will vary from mine. My hope is that these will simply give you another source for your evaluation of The Villages.
- I am including the good AND the bad in this review. I noted on an earlier post that a couple people from The Villages objected to the fact that I made any sort of comments that were even slightly negative. They need to get over it. Nothing is 100% positive and if it is, I’d question the reviewer’s objectivity.
- Some of the points I’ll bring up aren’t necessarily unique to The Villages but are part of the way things are there simply because it’s in Florida. For example, heat in the summer, lots of bugs, and so forth. These apply to The Villages but are also true for Miami, Tampa, etc. simply because they are in a given state.
- In case you want a geographic lay of the land, here’s a map that shows where The Villages are in the state of Florida and here’s a close-up version.
Media Opinions on The Villages
Before I get to my thoughts, I want to address the seemingly endless “reviews” of The Villages online. Yes, the heavyweights in the mainstream media have discovered The Villages and they must weigh in with their opinions.
I get asked a lot about the articles people see on The Villages (most of which are negative, which tends to sell more papers, get more viewers, etc. than positive news). Here are my thoughts on those articles which I would generally classify as “hit pieces” (this is a response I left to one such post in the MMM forums but serves as a guideline for them all):
To start, journalists are experts of (or at least try to) creating an illusion of competence, which is what this author is doing. She knows little about the subject she’s speaking on but knows what she wants to say, so she just writes to make the pieces fit from there.
For more on this, see Mainstream Financial Experts Are Experts at Creating the Illusion of Competence.
IMO, all these pieces are written by journalists trying to grab headlines and generally don’t reflect what The Villages is about.
I’ve seen posts about the “party scene” at The Villages. Yes, if you go to a bar there on a Friday night, you would think it’s a party place. But I never saw anyone partying what I would consider “hard”, never saw anyone drunk, or even slightly tipsy.
I’ve seen pieces about how it’s a sexual fantasyland for older people. If it is, I missed it completely. And so did my dad (and he was looking for it! LOL.) Most of the people were married and had been so for decades, much to my dad’s chagrin. He said many times, “All the good women are taken!”
If you want to write a hit piece on anything (drugs, sex, child porn, whatever) I’m certain you could find it in The Villages. It’s a VERY LARGE community of 120k-150k people (I’ve heard different estimates). Go to ANY community that size and you can find all those things as well. If anything, I would guess that The Villages has less bad stuff (it does if you look at the crime stats) than most communities that size (but it’s just a guess based on the limited info I have.)
I didn’t see anything but a bunch of active people enjoying themselves and respecting others. But then again, that doesn’t make for a snazzy, clickbait headline and story either.
For those who love or hate The Villages and haven’t been there, I would say visit it. And try to stay for at least a couple weeks to get a real feel for it. If you then hate or love it, your opinion is based on something other than a feeling, what you read, or a very short stay.
Ok, now that we have all that out of the way, let’s get to it.
We begin with my list of pros and cons of The Villages.
I do list them by number based on what I view as the biggest wins and losses, but your list may vary.
Pros of The Villages
We start with my list of pros…
1. Tons of Activities
This is the bread and butter and what The Villages is known for IMO. If you want an active, senior lifestyle with a wide range of options on almost any subject, The Villages simply can’t be beat.
Let’s look at all the activities it offers:
- 3,000+ clubs of all kinds and subjects which makes it unparalleled compared to other options. You can’t replicate that anywhere else.
- 100+ recreation centers, all of various sizes and themes and each with different activities. We lived near several of them and took advantage of several activities regularly (pool, swimming, shuffleboard, ping pong, pickleball, Zumba, etc.) at about five of them mostly with another five used now and then. FYI, our favorite was the Fenney rec center. It has beautiful trees and a nature trail that is very, very nice. It’s also home to The Fenney Grill which we discovered later in our time there, but made full use of once we did (great pancakes)!
- 220+ pickleball courts (our favorite!) — which means there’s always a game somewhere. Plus you can play at any rec center which is not something you can do in some developments (like Lakewood Ranch). That said, I would say we played more pickleball there than at home but on average the quality was lower. Because you line up and play with random foursomes, it’s almost guaranteed that better players will have someone (or everyone) in their group that’s not up to their level. FYI, pickleball balls are provided at all the courts, so you don’t need to bring your own (as I did) to play down here.
- 50 or so golf courses. I’m not a golfer but I think if I lived down there I might take it up.
- Live music nightly on every square. You can go to listen and/or dance or simply wander around and take in the action.
- There’s always something “special” going on — like the farmer’s market every Saturday in Brownwood Square, a Mardi Gras parade, a local strawberry festival and the like (we missed the BBQ competition, dang it!!!)
- Plenty of stores to visit. We’re not big shoppers, but we do have sweet tooths. So we found Kilwins in Spanish Springs (just off the square), Peterbrooke Chocolatier in Lake Sumter (also just off the square), Scooples on the Brownwood square (they have a great Oreo sundae), and the Russell Stover store in nearby Wildwood (great chocolate and the best value in ice cream cones we discovered).
There’s a lot more (if you can imagine it) but just these alone make The Villages an unbeatable place for fun and active living for older folks.
2. Affordable Homes with Good Surrounding Environment
This is a broad category but basically covers the homes (costs and quality) as well as the common areas and the general “vibe” of the place.
I have no reason to believe the homes are better or worse built than any others (though some of the Google articles I found count the developer/builder as a positive), but I do know they are affordable…certainly more affordable than comparable homes in Colorado Springs. And this is for a brand NEW home in The Villages.
Most of the homes also come with a screened-in lanai which is amazing. Ours opened up from sliding glass doors in the living room — and they opened very wide. Then the lanai itself was probably 20 feet by 10 feet, had plenty of furniture in it, and was a great place to enjoy a lunch, dinner, or just a chat. The cat loved it too as he felt like he was outside (he did catch a few tiny lizards out there during our stay)!
The common area landscaping is immaculate. As I drove home from Lake Sumter one day I marveled at how beautiful the place is overall. It’s very nicely designed and clean. Imagine a Disney World sort of clean/attractive feel applied to a residential area. And the squares have the same sort of Disney-esque feel — very nice indeed.
Within the living areas (the actual “villages” themselves) it’s pretty quiet — at least where we were. We lived in the Village of Bradford, a newer community in the south, so it could be things just weren’t that developed there yet. But overall I would say it’s generally very peaceful. That said, it is a bit more hectic up north, especially with the traffic, where things are more developed.
There are about a million roundabouts in The Villages, many of them on Morse Boulevard (one of the main drags). The pros are they keep things moving as Florida traffic lights change about every five minutes (miss one and you’re doomed — lol). The cons are they slow things down and even though there are signs detailing what lane to be in, many drivers either don’t read the signs or don’t want to abide by them, making for some near misses on occasion. I’m rating them as an overall positive as I’d rather be moving (even if it’s slowly) than sitting at light after light.
3. Centrally Located, Good Location
When we told people we were staying in The Villages, one of the most common objections we heard was that it was in central Florida away from the beaches. I’ll get to my reasons in a moment why this wasn’t a negative for us.
Going down there, I thought the location would be “ok”, but after living there almost three months, I think it was pretty ideal. The Villages is about an hour north of Orlando and is a medium-sized town. This makes it large enough that there’s lots going on to live an active, fun lifestyle, but not so much that you’re in the muck of the big city. After sitting in traffic jams in Tampa, Orlando, and Sarasota, let me just say that it’s way better for us to be close to but not in that stuff. It’s nasty.
In addition, you can get to a ton of places in a couple hours. While there we took trips to St. Augustine, Vero Beach, Clearwater Beach, Siesta Key, Sarasota, and Orlando — most of them day trips driving there and back in one day. It’s easy access to a ton of different cities and their activities.
As far as “not being on the beach”, let’s just say living on the beach in Florida for an extended period is very over-rated IMO (for a 10-day trip it’s great. Not so much for 2.5 months). First of all, the beaches are “fine”, but nothing really special. Yes, they may be better than the ones in Texas, but they are not comparable to Hawaii or the Caribbean beaches in any way. Second, the traffic around the beaches is horrendous — both car traffic and people traffic. Too packed to live there full-time. Third, what do you do on a beach for 2.5 months? After three days I would have done everything I wanted to do. You can always drive to the beach and even stay there 2-3 days, but it’s impossible to replace the activities in The Villages.
For all these reasons, I think The Villages is in a great location.
Oh, and just for the record and in case you were wondering: 1) the most deadly part of a hurricane is the storm surge and 2) hurricanes tend to dissipate over land. Both of these are additional advantages for The Villages for those concerned about storms.
4. Florida
Like any state, Florida comes with it’s charm and its baggage. But overall I would say being in Florida is much more of a pro than a con.
For the record, I lived in Florida in 7th and 8th grade, so I have lived there year around. That said, I was a kid then so feel I can better evaluate things now.
Obviously, the weather was great in January-March. It wasn’t perfect as there were some cold days, especially in January. And Colorado isn’t a total train wreck weather-wise during this time, so it wasn’t like we traded 75 terrible days for 75 great days.
But in general and on average, Florida weather is much better in the winter. In fact, I would say Florida weather is better than Colorado weather from October through April. After that there are a couple months you could debate and the others favor Colorado.
My wife would say Florida is better October (maybe even September) through May, but she does like it warmer.
Let’s just say we’re watching Florida weather closely this year to see how hot it gets and for how long. And I plan to go to Orlando in early September, so I’ll see for myself how it is then.
Of course there’s Florida in the summer which many people dislike (including me). But if your tradeoff is a brutal summer or a brutal winter, you just have to pick your poison. Personally, I don’t mind a nip in the air, but my wife is a definite warm weather lover. It probably makes a difference that I weigh 100 pounds more than she does. LOL.
Another plus of the weather: my skin LOVED Florida. In Colorado, once we get into winter my hands always crack and bleed despite applying tons of lotion, Bag Balm, and whatever else I can find. In Florida there was no problem at all and my skin looked 10 years younger!!!
5. Easy to Make Lots of Friends
Imagine this: people come from all over the U.S. (and world) to live in an active community. They join clubs and pursue activities where they then meet other people who love the same sorts of things.
So what happens? This set-up is a natural way to make new friends who like what you like.
From pickleball alone, I probably knew 50 people by name (first name — last names were harder to remember or even ask about) down there. And if we had been there longer or lived in The Villages I would have joined a few clubs (maybe chess, cycling, or even taken up golf) and met a ton more people.
In other words, it’s an environment that’s designed to make it easy to make friends.
Some people talk about disliking The Villages because it’s too homogenous. I find that those who say that have almost never been there, even for a short visit. I’ll admit that there isn’t a lot of racial or age (of course) diversity, but there is certainly diversity by location and background. People come from all sorts of backgrounds and just about every state. If you think they all think/act/behave the same way, I have a bridge to sell you.
There’s much more to like about The Villages (which we’ll see in part 2 of this post) but those are the major advantages IMO.
However, it’s not all rainbows and butterflies in central Florida. There are negatives as well, so let’s get to them…
Cons of The Villages
The cons of The Villages aren’t as big of a deal as the pros and are certainly outweighed by them, but there are some things that at least could be better IMO. These are:
- It’s not a big walking community. Since we walk so much, we didn’t need our golf car. But most people take golf cars for short distances, they don’t walk. Then again, most people are 10-15 years older than we are, so maybe we’ll drive golf cars at that age as well. But the point is — there are few sidewalks in The Villages (none in our village at all, so when you walked within the village you walked in the street). Yes, there are cart paths and walking trails, but you have to share these with carts (in the former case), bikes, etc. so simply taking a walk and not having to watch for traffic of some sort is not a thing. In Colorado I’m not afraid of being run over by a car, golf cart, biker, etc. when I’m on the sidewalk.
- It is a bit strange to be in an environment where almost everyone is old. When you see anyone below 30 you think to yourself, “What is that person doing here?” It’s weird to say the least.
- Finding a good gym was difficult. I wanted one that had both weights and cardio stairs and only found one with both: MVP Athletic Club in Brownwood Square. Plus they would let me join month-to-month while Anytime Fitness wanted an annual agreement. There are also workout rooms in some of The Villages rec centers but those are usually pretty low-end for what I want. This is a huge miss for The Villages IMO. they have an opportunity to create state-of-the-art exercise facilities and even become a Mecca for wellness in old age (I can see a gazillion research studies being done.) I think they could become the Mayo Clinic of aging well if they made it a focus and not to is a missed opportunity for a legacy that would far outlive almost anything else they could do in both time and importance.
- There are bugs in Florida, even in the winter. Oh, and salamanders too. If we had bugs in the winter, what would July/August bring? Ugh! On the first post in this series, one “defend the Villages at all costs” commenter said he had seen “1 bug in the last 15 months.” I sent him a link to an article naming Florida the buggiest state in the U.S. LOL.
- Overall, the restaurants were “ok” in my opinion — not terrible but nothing great either. The food is nothing to rave about (fair in quality), pricey, and generally smaller portions. Not sure this is different than other places in the U.S., but my expectation was higher in this area given how often it seems people eat out.
- The Villages doesn’t have a Costco nearby. There’s one in northern Orlando and one in northern Tampa, both about an hour away. So we joined Sam’s shortly before we left home. Yes, there are a few good “finds” there but overall my opinion of Sam’s versus Costco was reinforced — Sam’s is a poor imitation of Costco (more like just a bigger Walmart).
- There are some signs of aging in older areas (we had hard seats in need of repair at the theater), though these are limited in number. Most of the place is very well maintained and looks like it was built just a few years ago.
Those are my pros and cons. IMO, the pros greatly outweigh the cons, but you’ll need to make your own personal judgment based on what’s important to you.
But don’t decide yet, we have much more to cover.
To see what else there is to say, see part 2 of this review.
As one that lives in The Villages (TV) year round (and is still working), your thoughts are spot on.
I do think TV is beginning to hear the suggestions regarding the walking trails. In the new Village of Deluna, there is a walking trail that is just for walking/biking from the Water Lily bridge through the entire Deluna. There are so many walkers that serious bikers stick to the cart portion of the road, so thats nice. I hope this carries through to all the new villages.
Our plan to solve the Costco issue is once every two weeks we drive for a nice meal and swing by Costco on the way back. Not the best solution but is a nice change of scenery.
That is better, but bikes are an issue as well. Here in CO we have these new inventions called sidewalks that are great as they are for — walking. Hahahaha. No bikes to speak of and no worries about being run over by a cart.
I thought about doing the “drive to Costco and load up for a month” thing but in the end just toughed it out and went to Sam’s. We’ll see what we do next year.
Like Paul, we usually go to Lutz and shop in Costco. We then have a meal at Longhorn and walk around the large Mall. It is a good outing and we usually have a decent price for gas at Costco. Your article was great – thank you,
Aloha!
I moved from Hawaii.
Comparisons….Goods: MUCH more affordable.
MUCH less crowded and touristy.
Better healthcare.
Cons: lousier food, no ocean,
Low crime.
Low ethnic diversity and cultural depth.
However, as I get older The Villages look better primarily because of the wide variety of activities.
Uh, low crime is a con? You want MORE crime?
A new Costco is being built in Clermont, only a 30 minute drive
I guess it depends where in Clermont it is. Google says it’s 43 minutes from Brownwood Square to Clermont. That’s still a bit far IMO.
And if you live in the northern part of The Villages, it’s even farther.
BJ’s is about to open near Lowes on 441
I’ve never been to BJ’s. How’s it compare to Costco?
Comparable, step up from sam’s tad below Costco. Advantage of BJ’s vs Costco is BJ doesn’t discriminate against the disabled (happened multiple times inJax). BJ’s started in New England and are on the east coast. The problem is here, they foolishly put BJ’s in congestion central (442 at Lowes) instead of along 44, 466A or 301.
Ok, I see it on Google maps — it’s up there by Spanish Springs.
You’re right, it’s a bit congested. Wish they would have put it off 44 as that would be sweet. But I’m sure the retail will build up around there over time.
We live north if the Villages about 25-30 miles and sometimes go to visit, but would NOT want to live there. Having lived in a metro large city previously… We wanted more laud back. Way too many people
Sorry for mistakes…our community is more small town feel and been here over 20 years.
My wife and I arrived at the Villages yesterday. I look forward to comparing notes!
Awesome! Would love to hear your thoughts once you’ve been there a bit.
My wife is laying by the pool and I am in the shade; time to comment.
Walking sucks until you get to the new development. They are taking advantage of the natural area for bike/walk paths. Neighborhoodsare including walking paths, but not street-side sidewalks. We are staying in Brownwood where our morning walks share the path with golf cars. Beautiful landscapes but I would prefer not to have to move off the path for carts.
Visited several community pools and rec centers; all very nice and well-maintained. Nearly every outdoor game I can imagine.
Different entertainment every night is really enjoyable.
The homes are okay for “economical” builds. Lots of MDF trim and molded doors. Out of all we saw, we were frustrated by the odd layout of the open concept in all but one floor plan. Perhaps perfect is out there but we haven’t found it yet. Strangely, we found a plan we loved at “Top of the World,” a completely different development. But we didn’t love the development.
The new woodshop was amazing, huge, and equipped with high-end tools. Like many amenities, it’s in high demand with a 12-15 month wait list.
House prices are much lower than Colorado but probably higher than they should be. At least the development bond is up front, transparent, and a fixed amount that homeowners can pay down or off. Unlike Colorado’s outrageous development debt that is tied to homeowner taxes for 50 years, and rises with home values.
I could live here. I love Colorado and I would miss my hiking and biking, but I think my overall lifestyle would improve and my wife’s happiness would jump immensely (therefore, so would mine).
Given the value of my Colorado home, we could easily move debt free.
I just have to solve the issue of my 87-yr-old mother, now living happily only 6 minutes from me in Colorado Springs.
Great thoughts! Thanks for sharing!
This describes us as well:
“I could live here. I love Colorado and I would miss my hiking and biking, but I think my overall lifestyle would improve and my wife’s happiness would jump immensely (therefore, so would mine).
Given the value of my Colorado home, we could easily move debt free.”
So maybe we’ll be Florida neighbors some day. 😉
I look forward to following your journey!
A key consideration for some folks looking for a home is the political environment. Trump won 68% of the votes in Sumter county in 2016 and 2020 and has held multiple rallies there.
I cover this in part 2…
Please avoid discussing politics.
We have a home in Fenney. There are many people in their 50’s and early 60’s and plenty of walking trails where golf carts are prohibited. Marsh Bend has Hogeye walking trail and plenty of connectivity from them to shopping dining.
The new Villages provider walking trails. Don’t forget the Nature Trail.
As I noted in another comment, it’s just not the golf carts, it’s the bikes as well. I wish they had sidewalks so walkers could walk with safety. I know there are some in the village of St Catherine, but not sure how far they go around as we were only on them in the front part of the village.
And yes, there are a few nature trails you can “stroll”. But I need a lot of space as I try to get in 20k steps a day. the trails might provide 2k steps (if that) — they just aren’t long enough. FYI, I have been on the Fenney nature trail and loved it (it was like a botanical garden meets the marshland). We will get to Hogeye next year.
Laurel Manor, Roh Han, Eisenhower, Colony, Lake Miona, Sea Breeze all have walking trails around the outside perimeter. This is walking on sidewalks.
No bikes, or golf carts. There may be other places that have trails too that I do jot know about. At Lake Miona Rec Center they are building a nature trail much like the one at Fenney. I think you can get a good walk in on the boardwalk at Lake Sumter.
How far are each of these. I know there are some sidewalks around Rohan as I went by there every day, but the ones I saw were pretty limited for someone who likes to walk for exercise.
Really!
No doubt the villages are 90.% trump supporters if you put up a Biden sign they will make you take it down. Most villagers do not talk about politics. They are on vacation every day
I’d like to hear your experience with healthcare in The Villages. My mom has lived there for 20 years. Healthcare is my biggest concern. She has experienced long ER wait times with no triage, long wait times in the ER before getting a hospital bed, you can find a good doctor but you need to hunt for one, lack of hospital employees, lack of home healthcare help, getting to doctor appointments if you can no longer drive yourself, without going into more details – I am concerned about quality & lack of healthcare especially because it’s an elderly community –
Just my opinion
I don’t have any experience with is as I didn’t need healthcare while there.
In part 2 I will review articles others have written listing pros and cons, and healthcare doesn’t make the list of pros or cons.
We discussed this issue on the MMM forums and a couple people had good insights. Here’s the first one:
“My in-laws have lived down there for a few years now and they aren’t enamored with the medical care there. When they need to see a specialist it usually means a trip to Orlando (and Costco!). It does sound as though TV is trying to address this as it’s kind of a big deal for a retirement community. The problem with medical is actually that because TV owns all of the land they can control who occupies commercial space.
I didn’t see any total joint replacement factories, or ambulatory surgery centers, nearby but it would seem to be a matter of time. Having worked in that industry and seeing the numbers Florida seemed to be a bit behind the curve.”
And the second:
“There are a number of memory care and senior living facilities all around TV. In fact, there are 5 within 1 mile of my house alone and several newer developments in Wildwood. TV itself has addressed the issue of medical facilities by creating The Village Health which has a number of smaller clinics throughout TV with medical specialists for ailments that affect the elderly specifically.
In fact, a whole new medical specialty hospital next to Brownwood with an attached hotel was just finished last year to provide specialized medical services and allow relatives to stay onsite if needed. These types of facilities will be a continuing trend going forward as they expand south.
University of Florida Health is also trying to get into the action and recently overtook TV Hospital and Leesburg Hospital and has opened up several emergency clinics in the area. And, while not exactly a titanium factory, there is actually a dedicated Knee & Hip replacement hospital already located on Rolling Acres near Target.
Despite all of this, wait times & appointment scheduling can be dramatic because of the sheer number of people that have medical issues, which only increases with the age of the populace. My wife has to schedule her OB-GYN appointments over 4 months in advance to reserve a spot, and from what I’ve heard, many wait just as long for other regularly scheduled services fairly consistently.
There is definitely much room for improvement on this front.”
FWIW, I have to schedule my annual physical three months in advance in CO, so the issue isn’t just with TV.
Four Colorado Springs ER visits with my elderly mother in six months… waits are everywhere. My daughter is an RN and works an extra 12-hr shift per week due to short staffing. It would be hard to compare.
My perception is that the political climate in The Villages is very conservative and that would be a problem for me.
I’m glad you enjoyed your stay.
Never go their with a negative opinion
They won’t hurt you.
California and NYC would be a better fit for you. You can enjoy the high cost of living, the homelessness, lawlessness, the mentally ill and drugged defecating on the streets which progressive policies will offer you.
I agree…dont bring your political views from NY, CA or the like to FL. We are happy with ours and don’t want yours.
AMEN!
As one who lived in TV for 10 years, I will give a true comment in a neutral tone. You are correct. And there is just as much “piss and
vinegar” about this as in any other town. So if the dominant political climate makes you uncomfortable then do not live in TV.
Perception is everything. Over time, I predict the population will become more and more politically homogeneous as the media reports will act as a deterrent to many.
A voluntary moratorium on yard signs would go a long way toward making The Villages a more welcoming place perception-wise. But I doubt this idea would work for those who wear their politics on their sleeve.
Any business that is service related-including healthcare-is experiencing long waits and lack of staff. IMO-most of today’s younger people want jobs that can be done from home. Can’t say that I blame them!
We just purchased a home in the Village of Bradford. We close the last week of May and will move in the first week in June. We visited 5 times before buying. The attraction to us was the weather, the activities and the Conservative Climate in the Villages.
Nice! I probably walked by your new house several times this past winter! 😉
If you’re a Democrat, don’t move there. Fox “News” is mandatory EVERYWHERE! Election time was hellish. I loved my home, my trees, and the birds. I could walk to Spanish Springs, but it sounds like that has been changed now. I lasted almost two years. It was an expensive mistake.
We are very interested in renting next winter. Do you have any suggestions on how to find a place. Our plan is to rent and then buy if we like it.
We used this site:
https://www.thevillageshpm.com/rentals.php
I can absolutely appreciate the value of longer-term stays (at various times of year) to truly get a feel for how you may like it, but a Lifestyle Visit booked directly thru The Villages (4-7 nights) is a fantastic intro – at an amazing price!
You get your own HOME (we had a detached 3BR/2BA w/ stocked kitchen, laundry, screened lanai, fenced yard), included golf cart, 2 bikes, green golf, movie Tix…. We had a wonderful Villages Rep (realtor) who asked (in advance) what we were interested in and spend just a few hours one day showing us around based on our preferences – no sales push – just giving us the lay of the land and showing us various homes that fit in our interest list.
She’s now a dear friend!
They want you to “try on” living there – listen to live music in the squares (and elsewhere) EVERY DAY, dine out, join in the activities… it FAR exceeded our (high) expectations, and we ended up buying a home (over FaceTime!) just 6 weeks later (a year before we intended to!)…
The people we’ve met (new friends and neighbors, those we see in the squares and out and about) are so welcoming, friendly, and easy going…
So glad we gave it a look!
I am glad to hear that they aren’t pushy. We are 2 weeks away from a Lifestyle visit. We want too see if it is a fit for us. I don’t know we can make that decision in a week.
My wife and I just returned from our “Life Style Visit” and our experience was similar to yours. Plus it was a bargain!
AWESOME!!!!
I’m guessing I already know the answer to this based on the political comments, but what’s your take on diversity?
I address that in part 2.
We live in the Sarasota area and agree with your thoughts on traffic, but overall enjoy living here. I have friends from both Ohio and Orlando that have recently bought in the Villages and plan to live there full-time at some point in the future. Despite coming from very different places, both couples love the area and the concept. We need to get up there for a visit and see how a massive planned senior community compares with this very unplanned part of the state.
Thanks for sharing your excellent insights!
If you get up there between Jan-April next year, let me know! 😉
Hello, we just sold our winter home in TV after spending 20 years and owning for 16. We were told when we bought that after it reached 50,000 people they would be built out. We would return to our winter paradise to find more crowds not always friendly. Regrets leaving however we find it is not Florida’s friendliest hometown and with the crowded political climate it will continue to get worse not better. We are grateful for all the time we have had there. Truly was a great place. Moving on.
I’m curious-where did you move to?
Great article. Looking forward to others. I’ve been reading a lot about TV and hope to visit the area this winter while we stay at Longboat. I think that would give us a better understanding of the different neighborhoods that I am reading about. We are new to the snowbird lifestyle. I would love to be in an area with more activities. I joined this website to learn more about being active in The Villages.
Great article. We rented in TV for 4 years before purchasing in 2014 in the Village of Mallory on the golf course where i spend my free time dissecting the golfer’s game, funny at times. But as you say there is a lovely home for any budget.
If I desire to have a beach day, it is only 1 hr. 20 min to Daytona Beach and there are bus trips for day trips. There is a small beach at the Eaton Beach location (@ 25 minutes) and is free if you dine there. The food is great.
You must mention the Thursday activity paper (about 20 pages long) which details the numerous activities for the week and 99% are free and you can go to anyone at anytime, just walk in. The fee is covered in your rental and the owner pays @ $160/ a month. If you purchase a home, your amenity fee is the same. Where can you go to a pool, rec center with pool tables, games and tons of exercise classes for that cost? You can do an activity 8 hours a day. The grounds and flowers everywhere are just awesome.
We do enjoy the restaurants there and around TV. Every price point is available with the Country Clubs being our favorite (Nancy Lopez). The only negative is that in the prime months they are crowded so early dining or going to a restaurant that takes reservations is best. We enjoy dining @ 5 pm and dancing or walking the squares after is a great night. The entertainment in the squares is dynamic.
I believe that the average age of people in TV is 66.4 (2018) and getting younger every year. Now many owners especially in the newer areas are in their late 50’s working from their home and enjoying the lifestyle. I don’t see many “old” people there, they are there but they are still dancing their legs off.
Everyone should visit.
I talk about the app and the Thursday paper in part 2, I believe. Those are great ways to know about what’s going on.
I almost never see any bugs. For some reason, NO mosquitos (spraying?), No flies, etc. Never.
That is the only thing i found misleading in your discussion. Great job!
Regardless of your personal experience, Florida is the buggiest state:
https://www.pctonline.com/article/bugs-national-problem-basf-survey/
“In a national survey, homeowners ranked Florida as the state with the worst bug infestation problems – including ants, termites and cockroaches.”
Really love the statements about the media – totally agree about the “illusion of competence”! I work in biopharma, and my colleagues and I used to just be amazed when they wailed about how a vaccine could be 10+ years out “since they have to build the factories.” I mean, c’mon…it would have taken ONE PHONE CALL to pretty much anyone in our industry for them to learn about the large number of CMO’s that allow people to rent out their equipment to make pharmaceuticals. Used to tell my family to just ignore the media, they didn’t know what they were talking about LOL
Lived in the Villages for 4 years. Loved it except for 2 things:
1. Trolls: These are people who have no life and make yours miserable by “tattleling” on everyone else instead of minding their own business.
2. Run by what I call “Nazi thinking”.
You pay YOUR money out of YOUR pocket for YOUR home and YOUR land. Then THEY force you to plant, paint, etc. what they want on YOUR own property. God forbid you have a lawn chair, sign, flag or “little white cross” on your OWN property or are a Democrat or Independent.
Trolls will show up and Nazi thinking will come down on you like rain.
Couldn’t wait to move out. Tell folks who ask, “Don’t buy there, unless you want trolls/Nazis telling you how to run your life, home and property.”
We are having a discussion in the MMM forums about HOAs.
There are pros and cons, of course.
And, as I’ll detail in part 2 of this series, there are rules in TV. If you don’t want to abide by the rules, don’t live there. If you do (and want to make sure your neighbor doesn’t put his washing machine in his front yard), then move there.
For me, I’m willing to give up putting a flag in my yard in exchange for making sure my neighbors keep things nice and tidy. YMMV.
Even though there is not an HOA, it is run like an HOA. Which is good for those or us who enjoy being surrounded by a neat and clean environment. It’s not Nazi thinking, it’s just like HOA thinking.
I am happy I came across this as we are making a Lifestyle visit to The Villages in 2 weeks. Going with an open mind.
We are visiting tv next week see some friends down there planning move soon to downsize and chill we are 80yp hape it is good choice
So much friendlier than Sarasota. Amazing how people speak to everyone.
The thing about North being older is a bit of a fallacy. I have owned 3 different houses in The villages North Middle and South. Most Villages age in anD out like when you lived in a Neighborhood raising kids . They get older but people move to smaller, assisted living , of back north , or pass on. New People move in many younger and it becomes a good mix.
In New sections many people buy for future retirement so there tends to be a few more renters..
All that being said and having lived North , South , and Middle, it’s all pretty good.
I enjoyed the people and each neighborhood I lived in. Some are closer to squares some aren’t
T but that is usually a preference. In my opinion it’s all pretty good has its issues but way more advantages
For those who are democrats, don’t be afraid to move to The Villages. There’s at least one democrat club amongst the 3000+ clubs. There are clubs for different states and parts of the country. Almost everyone is very nice and politics isn’t discussed all that much. Come down and give it a try, then move here and help turn the place a little bluer!