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.
Browse The Villages
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.
Currently, the areas in between CR466 and SR44 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 Villages is building new homes.
Instead look at course layouts, total number of holes, course rating and slope, Clubhouse, and practice facilities. These will be less likely to change than the current conditions.
If you would like to read more about the statistics for the differnt areas of The Villages, please visit The Villages Maps.
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. Some homes in The Villages may require flood insurance.
From a insurance standpoint, homes built after 2002 are effectively the same construction quality as new homes.
Location:
The previous three variables will be mostly determined by a home’s location. The Villages has been building homes for 30+ years, and there has been lot of changes during that time in the way homes are built and how neighborhoods and amenities are designed. Some home types such as premier, verandas, cottage, and manufactured are only available in certain areas of The Villages.
The Villages Market:
Prices on homes for sale in The Villages persistently rise as retirees continue to seek out the best retirement communities in the country. The community’s real estate market has experienced significant growth in the last ten years, with many retirees buying into the community because of its great amenities, entertainment, and housing options.
The Villages is subdivided into 100+ neighborhoods or “Villages”. The styles of homes for sale in The Villages range from designer detached villas to luxurious premier homes both available with private pools, golf cart garages, waterfront, and/or golf course views. There also a number of golfing and family communities near The Villages that offer designer homes at an afforadable price.
If you are waiting for prices to go down on homes in The Villages, you should consider the majorty of the homes in The Villages are or could be paid for in cash which means there is not a lot of distressed selling.
