Love your videos- that said, it was not our experience on our lifestyle visit that the Villages agent tried to “sell” us anything. He took us to the house we were staying in, gave us some coupons for movies and dinner and said he’d be back tomorrow and show us around. Next day We looked at resells. We looked at new houses, went golfing for free , he showed us where all the squares are with outdoor concerts were. Said he’d be back next day to show us where shopping is for each of the areas. Next day, good to his word, he showed us where we would go shopping, go to the doctors and dentist in any areas of VILLAGE that we chose to live in. Unlike all the warnings we got, he did not try to steer us towards a new build compared to a resale. Next two days we were on our own, we had his card and if we had questions we can call and he’d come right over. We didn’t call, we just lived The Villages lifestyle for two days. We spent a week in the village is on our lifestyle visit. We spent the next week visiting other 55+ communities. 80 days later we closed on a new build in the Villages. That was two years ago, and I just retired four weeks ago. And we have loved every minute of it here in the villages. I can see that it’s not for everyone, but if it is for you, there is nothing else like it anywhere in the world!

I follow many different KZfaqrs in the villages. The lifestyle visit is not a high pressure operation. The agent will show you around or leave you alone.

The representatives do not try to sell you anything on a lifestyle visit.

Best ending ever!!! 😂😂 Bloopies and unindated.. I laughed out loud! 😂😂 Thank you for all of the info, and the listings channel is a great idea! 🥰

I live in CT- planning on retiring in the next year or so as a 9-1-1 dispatcher. I am thinking of just renting a room from a resident of The Villages or even Reunion, FL. I am a huge bicyclist and just want to ride my bike all day!! I have visited The Villages and I love it!!

Great video! I'm happy that you left the blooper in at the end....it made me laugh.

So excited about your new channel! Keep the videos coming. We hope to find a winter home in the next year so your new listings channel is perfect. Already subscribed!

I have been watching your channel to learn all the pros and cons of various communities. We visited TV and there were some things we liked but we were not impressed with the houses. Keep doing what you do but you are awesome!!

I would try interviewing people leaving the Villages (home for sale) and find out why they’re leaving.

Thanks for the education.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. Your honesty is so apprecited. Those of us who do not reside in FL have only the lens of the YT channel's camera. I follow other YT channels and watch the traffic in the background, and it is CROWDED with cars and golf carts. Then I will catch a video where golf cart drivers are being absolutely mean to others on the paths (now....all places have the good, bad, and ugly. No place is perfect), with that said, TV has a number of people who visit and are not familiar with the layout of the land. Grace doesn't seem to go very far. I live in a military town where people are new ALL THE TIME. With that understanding, us "ol-timers" have to extend a bit of patience and kindness to those who just dont know. I have tried to get a lifestyle visit on a number of occasions without success. I kinda think this is not where I want to be, and yet I am enticed by all the activities. I dont care about Orlando, Disney, or Tampa. I care about knowing the name of the cashier at Publix, knowing the UPS and USPS delivery people, and I care about my neighbor who might need some assistance. I dont want someone complaining about my dog who might be barking at a squirrel or a gecko. I subscribed to your new channel and hope to get better insights of the real life of Central Florida. Thanks for the hard work. Putting videos together can be a pain and a hassle. Lots of hours of work for 15 minutes of viewing can only come from a dedicated heart. ❤❤😊

THANK YOU!

Well good for you for doing your thing anyway! You are providing an informative service and that is never a bad thing.

imho this was one of your best videos…very aimed at “where do I start, what should I consider”. Maybe already done, but would be awesome to have a series of videos that walks someone thru the whole typical process that you’ve experienced with clients (with your tips inserted of course). Enjoy the channel - cheers!

I am inundated with happiness watching your videos.😅

JM made sense and was easy to follow . . . I think I need to see my doctor for a physical and hearing check . . .

the short term renting in the Villages is getting terrible. We have friends who have renters on both sides all winter, and every month there are different people renting,, NOISE! PARTIES! these people act like HS. they leave trash everywhere and don't care about the neighbors. It's becoming like a motel.

I worked with Nicki and a new build Villages agent. No pressure from either. Nicki is true to her word on finding the right lifestyle for you and not pushing you into a specific home. Would definitely work with her again but i ended up buying new build in villages 2 years ago. Great video

Great description of the villages. Like you're on a cruise. Couldn't quite put my finger on it. Not good and not bad, but accurate. Thank you!

Great video. Well done. You guys are telling the truth on all of this. Key point on the golf. If you are a golfer, you need to have your agent be able to log in to the tee sheet so you can see for yourself the tee time availability in season. You need to know that the free golf is only 9 holes per day that you can get an advanced tee time for. The country club golf is a 60-80 dollar green fee for the championship courses. The villages builds on 18 hole championship course for every 7500 homes.

The Villages tries to sell both new and used homes listed by Villages sales agents. You steer people to homes listed by MLS. Both VLS and MLS has an agenda.

Love your videos, it's been a while since you had one! My husband and I are looking to retire in Florida, we toured Solivita in August, loved it, but once outside the gates, there was nothing! So we decided against that. We hope to do a Lifestyle tour at TV someday, the reason I like the area, the home prices are in my budget, you can't find much under 350K in any other community in the area, the homes are over our budget sadly.

I’m thinking about the villages because my daughter lives in Orlando which is a lot closer than where I live now. I like a place where I can get anywhere by golf cart.

I am 65 single, female and like serenity, space, meditation and continuing education, a dog park, fenced yard, water aerobics, art classes and the ability to walk or golf cart to coffee shops and restaurants where there is not likely to be hurricanes. Needs safety and security. I have a dog and cat. What would be a good match for me?

Love your channel, love what you do, love The Villages but it’s not for everyone which is totally fine. What I notice though is that folks that do not choose TV tend to be disparaging about it to justify their choices which is unnecessary.

Too darn bad. The Villages can get over themselves. It is not for everyone and that is okay. We visited two years ago and stayed in a short-term rental for the week. That was the smartest thing we did. We explored on our own, went to some open houses (both new build and resale). While we liked our experience, we also realized TV is not likely where we'll end up. I so appreciate Explore55Plus' content as I get to learn about all the other options. Keep it up and have a great week.

VLS / MLS split for active listings is about 55 / 45. However, closed sales are closer to 60 VLS / 40 MLS. There are areas of The Villages where the MLS is stronger (north of 466A) and areas of The Villages where the VLS is stronger (south of 466A, especially south of Florida's Turnpike).

2023 sales in The Villages: new construction was down about 18 percent compared to 2022 and 2021. Combined resales (VLS & MLS) for 2023 were virtually unchanged (up slightly) from 2022...

Shocked by recent videos describing all of the AirBNB properties in The Villages. And it's not just older, but families visiting Disney World. Ah hell nawwwwww..........

The Villages is awsome! love your videos! I like Beach LIfe so Villages are to far from the beach.

I wish The Villages had a section called “The Introverts Leave Me Alone” neighborhhod😂😂😂. I think I would love having easy access to all the pools and activities, but I do not want people up in my business all the time. I don’t want to attend a weekly neighborhood happy hour or monthly block party🤢🥴🥴. One of the popular The Villages youtube channels is ALWAYS criticizing ANYONE who DARES parks their car in their driveway! Every other video containe a rant about cars in driveways. If the HOA policies DO NOT state that vehicles CAN’T be left in one’s driveway, then stay out of people’s business. He would be the neighbor ALWAYS making comments to someone like me and he would end up getting his a$$ handed back to him😂.

My brother lives there and says traffic is not an issue with the golf carts... only for the cars...and he uses his gold cart every day & takes his golf cart everywhere.

There are so many good and bad nuances about the villages that you really should rent a home there for as long as you can up to a year so you experience all the seasons. For example, they will tell you there are 3000 clubs in the villages, but try to get into one that you’re interested in. Many of them have waitlist. Definitely check the crowds in the winter months. Take all the glamour and glitz with a grain of salt because a lot of folks who are there for a while don’t use them as much as they thought they would. I’ve also found when you need a mortgage, you can often rent a house for less money than your monthly outlay will be when you own one. To figure all this out takes a lot of time and experiences. Just something to think about.

144,000 does not break down full time residents versus snowbirds versus rentals, correct? TV residents state it is quiet in their neighborhoods…unless there is construction

You two❤

No other community has as many clubs as TV. That’s the draw for us. Also we’re not close to the coastal hurricane areas.

I live in The Villages and the main reason was I’m a golfer and ride my golf cart everywhere, I haven’t pulled my car out of my garage for over a year and a half. I’m a widower live alone play a lot of golf. I just enjoy getting in my golf cart and go for rides. I don’t care what anyone says about The Village it’s a great place to live it’s always manicured, clean and well kept. You make TV as big as you want, I live half way between Lake Sumter and Spanish Springs I don’t care to visit the southern part of The Villages.

The Villages very expensive, I personally checked the "pros / cons " between where I live and The Villages. The Only differences, we can't drive a golf cart. There's so much to do , it would keep you busy all day long. We have ALL AGES, kids included and, in my subdivision, overall, we don't have that many kids , maybe less then 50 (kids ) if that. There are 4 cities in our region , and this applies to these 4 cities ONLY. Each one has over 300+ activities , Olympic swimming pools , 2 gyms ( 100,000 sq ft each ) ( every kind of exercise equipment for each cities, we have a lot of bike trails, they are building more bike trails everyday and we can ride our bikes, Ebikes on the trail , basketball courts, pickleball courts , volleyball court (sand), skateboard courts, Tennis Courts, Roller Skating Rings, there's so many "classes" for anything you can think of , beginners, - professional photography , Classes for everything . This is just to name a few. Each Cities has the same of activities. And it's all Free for the Citizens of those cities.

I disagree with the young man, I've watched PLENTY of Villager's videos and spoken to realtors who've all concurred that short term rentals ARE a problem.

I'm a Stellar MLS realtor and can sell resale in the Villages or anything else in Central Florida.

Come on you guys, if your link for the listing channel doesn't work, what else doesn't work? We just looked at some places in the Villages, yet I'd like to look at other communities.

I think the link for the other channel is broken. When I click on it I get page cannot be found.

Same here, your link for the listing channel doesn’t work!

What do you think about the villages for a single woman?

Why should a Chevy dealer sales person say go check out those Fords and Dodges? Of course they shouldn’t. If you are showing people options, that’s great. But you are using The Villages to market your services.

What is the new channel listing?

Sounds like a 15 minute city!

We prefer no CCD fees

Y’all are so cute

My wife and I feel we may be need to look out side the Villages. Would like a little more lot, own pool, privacy fence yard. We like the amenities, but my wife thinks the age of those in the villages is a little older then she would like, she doesn't want to feel like a elder person there. I would think there is a good range of 55 to 65 we could socialize with.

I tried your listing channel www.youtube.com/@UC07ghWM3CvTTVNndQ4un2JA and it said it isn't available? Am I looking in the wrong place ?

Does the Villages have a shooting range or club that can offer the opportunity to practice range and target shooting?

I LOVE THE VILLAGES! We're hoping to move there in five-ish years. Love to buy a house ahead of time and rent it to snowbirds to build some equity.

Is the villages diverse?

$$$$

Overbuilt and Overcrowed

I just don't see the attraction of the villages. Heck ya cannot even make a profit year 1 of buying a new home from the developer. Really? The excuse is so flippers cannot buy up a bunch of homes?? More like they do not want any newer home to undercut their pricing .And people show up at closing and sign the form. Odd.

they can beep off