I’m 61 and could never afford The Villages but I love watching and keeping up with yours & Jerry & Linda’s videos about life there. Thank you for sharing this info is invaluable to folks considering living there. As an aside I would love living there with all the many activities and entertainment ❤❤
I lived in Central Florida from ‘89 to 2014 and knew of The Villages when they first became a topic of conversation I’m in DC now and just shy of the age requirement for residence Why am I watching ? 🤷♀️ I have no idea but I enjoy the commentary Who knows, in a few years maybe I would reconsider Florida Thanks for all the fascinating insider scoops🎉
Thank you for taking your time to make these videos. We appreciate it. We're newbies. Just learned about The Villages last year. Lifestyle Preview visit is in April. Already thinking of securing a one week rental for next Christmas. We're about five years from retirement, but after all the information we gather, I suppose sooner is possible.
Hi ladies, you've been very helpful! Once I move here, I hope to find a ladies club that takes day trips around Florida for shopping and sightseeing through some kind of transportation company. I need to get oriented to the new surroundings before I take independent trips.
I am really enjoying the information. We have a place in The Villages, but can only come about 4 times a year. We want to snow bird for longer in a few years. Thanks for all the good information.
My parents moved to Wildwood in the early 70’s when the Village land was beautiful pasture, they passed in 2018, I buried them and haven’t been able to bring myself to go back. 😢
Very sorry. It has definitely exploded, but the village of wildwood has been so good about asking their residents what they want to see happen to their area. I think that is amazing.
Sometimes the pavement can be too hot to walk your dog, so that’s why people use carriages. So, if you wanna go for a walk yourself, you can still have the company of your dog
Part of the healthcare problem is the nursing shortage. Nurses don't want to work in central FL because the pay is horrifically low. Until UF decides to significantly raise the pay, offer benefits like a pension plan, etc, the area will continue to suffer from a shortage of nurses. If you are a patient in a hospital you will absolutely suffer from the lack of nursing care. It is very real and noticeable.
actually my daughter moved from Tampa to outside Baltimore and pay is sh*t everywhere for nurses. It used to be that cost of living here in florida was affordable, that is no longer the case. homes have doubled, salaries have not.
I'm glad you mentioned how clean it is there. I complained to Polk co commissioner about litter in Lakeland & they said low on priority list bc lack of funds. I tell everyone how pristine T.V. looks.
Thanks again for explaining the pluses and not so pluses about living in The Villages. Overall, both of you ladies paint a nice picture about living in The Villages. I'm looking forward to visiting come this Sept. Thanks for the heads up on The Loft as I was considering leasing when I made the move permanently. If there are other nice apartments you could suggest, I would appreciate the info. Be well.
Thank you! It is a great place to be! As far as apartments actually in TV, the Lofts are the only ones right now. They are building 7 more in Spanish springs. There are lots that are around TV, but you wouldn’t get the amenities ☹️. Thanks so much for watching!
I just retired March 15, 2023. My wife wants to retire to Florida,but has mobility issues. She wants to retire to Shalimar Creek in Lakeland where her mom used to live there. I'm personally not interested. In the summer in it's hot enough I'm not sold on going somewhere hotter for longer into the year. However I'm getting tired of the winters here.
Congratulations on your retirement 🥳. It is such a big decision when thinking of moving. Im sure you will find your ideal happy place! Thanks for watching!
Hi Keith! Interesting! We are currently working on a video with some of the new things coming. We didn’t see anything announced on that, but doesn’t mean it isn’t happening 😊. Thanks for the info and thank you for watching!
Thank you for the great information and discussions that you provide regarding The Villages. During your video, you mentioned that The Villages has plans to expand from 32 square miles to 52 square miles over the next 20 years. Do you have a link with a reference to this fact and hopefully a map of that future growth? I'm really interested to learn more about where The Villages will grow over the long-term.
www.thevillages.com/faq Here is the link. Just click on how big is The Villages. The growth is all going south. Wildwood is taking on a lot of the growth.
I enjoy watching your videos, you both seem nice and sincere, too. Following up on an earlier comment, can you provide any reassurance regarding homeowner’s insurance? It seems there is a crisis of sorts, but it also looks like plenty of homes are selling so it must be available….thank you!!!
Hi Tom! Thanks so much for the kind words. In our area the biggest issue was that a lot of roofs were replaced. We really didn’t see much hurricane damage here as we are in the middle of the state. Insurance premiums have taken a huge jump to be sure. Both of us experienced huge increases. We haven’t heard of anyone having a hard time obtaining insurance though. Thank you for watching!
Thanks for another great video! My aunt lives there on the Lopez golf course. We have been there 2 times and this summer will make 3. We would love to live there and the prices are getting so high. We live in Kansas so our home price is cheap here. We hoped our kids would visit us but because of there political view they don't want to come. So for now we will visit. We love the community. We can't wait to come back each time and we never want to leave when we are their. Take care ladies!
Hello ladies thanks for all the information on the villages I only wonder if you ladies will show us your spouses you may have already I just haven’t seen them but it would be interesting to get their take on living in the villages thanks so much for all you do
Hi Doug! Our husbands have done little appearances in some of the videos with the golf courses (like Glenview, I believe). They are both camera shy so have declined our requests for anything more! 🤣. If you are looking for a male perspective, we did a video with some new residents. I will put the link down here. Mark’s wife was too shy to do that one 😊. Thank you for watching! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bIb6kh8kxqk.html
Thank you! Well, that will still remain to be seen. Right now there is only one championship course south of 44, which is Southern Oaks. They built the course first. Then they built the Sawgrass area right across the street. The pro shop for SO is inside the marketplace at Sawgrass and then there are a lot of small restaurants in there. When SO first opened, we talked to the starter there and they sounded like the intent was to give a marketplace concept a try. There are two more championship courses in the works down south, so we will have to wait and see how they build those. Thanks for the question and thank you for watching!
You haven't seen any lighting that was Edison most favorite things would experiencing with the lighting SWF out in the Gulf the lighting is fascinating....that and shooting stars.Ft Myers at nite on the Gulf something you we never forget.....Fla is a Peninsula like a big thumb .So you can't go east or west.just north and south.....the more you fill up the lots The less land you have...Wh
Yes! If you want to go through TV, I would recommend Rob Goldberger 352-205-6656. A realtor that is not with TV we would recommend Kim Aschman 630-270-7584. We would recommend talking to both of them. TV realtors cannot show non Village listings and the non-Villages realtors cannot show Village listings. This way you would get to see everything available. Thanks for the kind words! Good luck with your search!
Love your channel! I'm in my 40's and am ready to move to the Vilages. My husband isn't quite there so it'll be a few years. One question I have: Is there a minimum age for club participation? Fees?
Thanks Rebecca! All clubs are run independently. They are run by a villager, with the support of the recreation department. Club members just have to live in TV. As far as fees go, that would be up to the club. For example, I belong to the Platform Tennis Club. The dues are $10 per year. They use that money for tournaments, club socials, etc. Each club can be different. Thank you so much for watching!
Hi Debbie and Jan! I love your videos! They really help with giving people a good idea of what to expect in The Villages. My husband and I own a small business and were wondering if there was opportunity to work together? Is there a good email where we can connect?
Thanks for your video! Can you tell me if you own a home and are having guests, do you pay for the visitors IDs or are they free? Do you have a limit on the number of guests at one time? Thanks and keep up the great work 👍
Hi Sandy! Nope, guest passes are free. You can order them on line or pick up at certain rec centers. I have never heard of a limit on guests. Many people have lots of family visit. Thank you so much for watching!
I live in Portland, OR and there can be long waits for non emergency appointments. There just aren't enough doctors out there. So that's not unique to the Villages. I'd imagine The Villages would have more geriatricians than places that aren't 55 plus.
Hi girls, do you find the areas up ort are much older? I am nervous about looking up there since I am in my mid 60s. I would appreciate your perspective.
We would absolutely say no. We have been told that The Villages realtors kind of push the narrative that all the young people are down south, however we know people and have been to their homes in those areas, and it is all the same. I (Debbie) am 56 and we have been here for 7 yrs full time and I know many people around my age. Of course there are some “older” people up here too. Jan is 66, but has been in her home since she was in her mid 50s. We both live in the northern portion of TV. We have truly found that one of the most important things to think of when looking here is to figure out where your activities are and where you are going to spend most of your time. We did a video “where to buy” that may be helpful. I will put the link down here too. Thanks for your question and thank you for watching!
You mean to get into a dentist? If so, I am sure it depends on who you call. My husband cracked a tooth and they got him in quickly, but wasn’t with the dentist he requested. At least it got taken care of. Thanks for watching!
Oh my goodness yes! TV is always up for a party and a parade! Here is the link for St Patricks Day last year. They have one for Christmas as well and there are a lot of fests! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jUHQjX01NWE.html
Hi Elaine! It was always 55. I bought my home here but it was used for a rental until we retired in 2015. In addition, 80% of the residents must be 55 and up, which means 20% can be under 55. No one under 18 is permitted to live here. Hopefully that clears it up a bit. Thank you for watching!
I was actually considering The Villages. I will NOT be moving to Florida. Why? You cannot get quality Homeowners insurance. My brother got stung for $50K due to IDA. He is moving to Vermont. I look at Insurance choices and I have zero confidence. Take Care.
Debbie and Jan, very informative videos! We are considering moving to The Villages from Illinois (near St Louis) and we recently recently stumbled upon a Villages "newscaster" RU-vid channel, Skip Smith (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-NdjwzRY6DkY.html). He mentions an ongoing problem at The Villages where folks rent their Villages properties to anyone, including troublemakers who are younger than 55. In your video about "surprises", you also mention renters. Does The Villages have rules against renting to folks under 55? What are your thoughts about it? Many thanks for your continued insight! George and Gwen
Hi Guys! No, there are no rules against anyone renting here under 55. Everyone must be over 18. The only perspective we can give is in the areas we live. We have not experienced any/many “really young” people renting or even living here for that matter. Mostly it seems (and I can say this because I am one 🤣🤣), most younger people don’t want to live amongst only “old” people. If younger people are renting, they can’t have any children. It just really doesn’t seem to be an issue in the areas we live. We do know people down in the newer areas and they have had younger adult children living with them. There is a “news-ish” web site that normally shows all of the more…let’s say “darkish” info on TV. Villages-news.com. If you watch that, you will see lots of negative things. Many of the “younger” people actually live with their parents. Most don’t seem like they are renting on their own. Remember too though if you check that web site, The Villages’ population is roughly 160,000 now, so when you do the math, to me the “issues” are fairly small. Hopefully that gives a little help. Thanks so much for watching! PS…weather is much better here! 😂😉
Did you watch the video Jacki or just read the title and decide it was negative? We talked about the activities, how clean it is, how nice the people are and on and on! We love it here and have been here about 20 years. We spend more time, and quite frankly too much time (because we are unpaid) defending all the nasty comments about TV. Thanks for watching (hopefully you did)
Jacki, I’m watching this video now and hear no negativity at all. These two just present the reality of life in TV with candor and a bit of humor. There’s a lot of great stuff in The Villages but too many folks find out only after buying that it really isn’t a utopia here. It’s life like anywhere else with better weather and amenities than a lot of places.