About The Villages
The Villages is consistantly one of the fastest growing cities in the country. The Villages currently has over 150,000 residents, 4 town sqaures, and expands into 3 counties. It’s not your typical retirement community. The Villages is the largest continuous retirement and golfing community in the world.
Amenities:
The Villages have a plethora of amenities to offer. The community is home to over 3000 social clubs and organizations, including sporting groups like tennis, golf, and bowling. There are also social groups, volunteer organizations, hobby groups, and weekly organized events for retirees to take part in. The city also has numerous restaurants, shopping centers, medical facilities, and an supurb nightlife.
Social:
Social life at The Villages is one of the community’s highlights, making it different from other retirement communities. There are various activities and clubs organized to meet residents’ needs, where they can make friends and have fun. You can participate in arts and crafts, sports (golf, tennis, softball, pickleball, and more), dancing, book club readings, and even theater and live music productions. You can easily stay active and engaged by pursuing your passions and hobbies in the community.
Entertainment:
Being one of the largest active adult communities in the world, The Village truly has something for everyone. If you can’t find something fun to do here, then you might just be no fun. If you are into music, you’ll love the 4 town squares spread across The Villages, featuring nightly live music featuring genres like country, rock, and 50s and 60s. There is always something exciting happening here, from street dances to festivals, parades, championship polo matches, car shows, and holiday bashes.
Golf Carts:
Living an active lifestyle in such a vast community may seem overwhelming, but that’s not the case with The Villages since it has one of the most incredible network of interconnected golf cart trails you will find anywhere. Residents can move around in this massive community going practically anywhere on their golf cart. Many Villagers use their golf carts as their personal vehicles. The Villages offers numerous parking spots for the golf carts at businesses, venues, and the town squares.
The Villages Essentials
There are certain things you should know before moving to The Villages. You should consider various bond (CDD) payments and payoffs, important homeowners’ insurance variables, differences in area property taxes, and of course proximity to golf, town squares and other amenities.
The Villages Bond (CDD):
All homes for sale in the Villages are subject to a bond by the Community Development District (CDD). These are established to pass along developer infrastructure costs to future homeowners. These municipal bonds are financed (like a second mortgage) for 25 years and paid yearly on the property tax bill. The payments and payoff can vary greatly depending on the amount financed and interest rates at the time.
Bonds can be paid off early as you will see some sellers will advertise Bond Paid. Most homes built prior to 2000 will have their bond paid off. The CDD also imposes a year maintenance fees of approximately $400-650+. Bonds on new construction homes can be as high as $50,000+ and have $3,000+ yearly payments. All prospective homebuyers should verify both bond payoffs, payments, and maintenance fees before purchasing as these can have a significant impact on a homes value.
The simplest and probably most accurate way to access the bonds impact on a home’s value is to add the bond balance to price of the home.
Property Taxes:
Do not dismiss the importance of property taxes in The Villages because you are moving from a more heavily tax burdened state. You should also consider paying property taxes might be different in retirement.
2023 property millage rates range from 1.03% to 1.63% which on a $500,000 home represents up to a $2,400 per year difference in property taxes. This, often accompanied by a difference in bond payments, can have a sizable impact on a home’s worth.
Homeowner’s Insurance:
Homes build prior to 2002 Hurricane Building Codes may have noticably higher insurance premiums and deductibles. This is namely due to wind roof codes and roof straping. Homes built in 2002 or after will have similar premiums and deductibles to comparable new construction homes. Block, formed, and poured concrete homes mostly have lower premiums than wood framed homes but the difference is usually less than homes built prior to 2002. Rates for manufactured homes in Florida are the highest by proportion of what amount you are able to insure.
From a insurance standpoint, homes built after 2002 are effectively the same construction quality as new homes.
Some homes in The Villages may need flood insurance.
Location:
The Villages has been building homes for over 30 years. There have been a number of changes in the way homes are built and neighborhoods are designed as well as the quality and quality of amenities and golf. The newest area has always been dubbed as the best or the “New Middle”, but do not forget the developer is in the business of selling new homes.
Please do your dillegence in determining whether a potential neighborhood provides comparable ACCESS. If a neighborhood (or general area) provides less access to amenities or golf, future home appreciation may lag behind more convenient neighborhoods.
Please visit The Villages Maps for more area data and statistics.
Which area of The Villages has the Best Golf and Amenities?
The problem with this question is who you ask. Ask an agent, and it will undoubtedly be where they are selling. Asks someone who owns in The Villages, and they will surely tell you the town square, golf courses, and amenities that are closest to them. The point is you should take everything you hear with a grain of salt as people have different motivations and variables that went into their decision.
A common way to determine which areas are best is to consider ACCESS. The average Villager is willing to travel about 30 minutes by CART for an executive course and little further for a championship course, town square, or other venues. The distance, amount, and quality of the amenities a home has access to will determine a fair portion of it value.
The areas in between CR466 and SR44 currently offer the best access to golf.
A practical way to determine which courses you feel are best is to Focus on Design rather than condition. Both Exectutive and Championship golf course conditions can vary depending on a number of variables, but they are maintained to a similar standard. New courses often initially look better because it is where the developer is selling new homes.
Instead look at course layouts, course ratings and slope, total number of holes (27 or 18), the clubhouse and practice facilities. These are less likely to change than the current course conditions.
The Villages Real Estate Market:
The Villages is subdivided into 100+ neighborhoods or “Villages”. The styles of homes for sale in The Villages range from luxurious designer villas to expansive premier homes both available with private pools, golf cart garages, waterfront, and/or golf course views.
Homes prices in The Villages mostly rise from year to year as retirees continue to seek out the best retirement communities in the country. The Villages real estate market has experienced significant growth in the last thirty years. So much so that it is inadvisable to considering only The Villages wide staitistics.
There also a number of golfing and family communities near The Villages that offer designer homes at an afforadable price.
