Buyer's Checklist
Reviewed 2026-08-20
A step-by-step path from 'thinking about it' to keys in hand, in the order that actually matters. Work top to bottom — each step links to the section that explains it.
1. Decide if The Villages fits you
Confirm the basics before you shop: you're 55+ (or targeting a family neighborhood), you're comfortable in a highly social, structured, 55+ community, and you understand it's inland central Florida (heat, summer storms, hurricanes). Read the Why People Love It Here section — the good and the trade-offs together honestly, and the Demographics. If the lifestyle is a no, nothing else matters. Do this first because it is the only step that is not reversible by spending money. Every other decision here — home type, village, lender — can be changed later; deciding you dislike a highly programmed, golf-cart-centred, inland Florida community after closing cannot. Visit in August if you can, not February: the summer heat and afternoon storms are the part people underestimate.
2. Set your real budget (not just sticker price)
Homes run ~$140k to $2M+. But the sticker isn't the cost — add the roughly $199–$204/mo amenity fee, property tax (varies by county), the bond payment, CDD maintenance, and insurance. Pick a monthly all-in ceiling, then work backward. Use the true-cost calculator on any listing. See Taxes & Fees. The trap here is that four of those five charges do not appear in a listing price and two of them are not fixed. The bond is a per-parcel debt that differs house to house on the same street; CDD maintenance is set annually by district; and property tax depends on which of three counties the parcel sits in. Budget from the all-in monthly figure, never from the asking price, and confirm every number against the parcel rather than the neighbourhood.
Sources: [Villages Community Development Districts (districtgov.org)] [The Villages Florida Uncovered] [Stay The Villages] [Sumter County Property Appraiser]
3. Pick your home type and area
Narrow by home style (Villa / Cottage / Designer / Premier / Manufactured — see Home Types) and by area/village (the town-square zone and neighborhood that suits you — browse the live directory on Districts & Villages). Decide must-haves: beds, a walled yard for a dog, golf-front, new vs pre-owned. Two constraints do the most work here and neither is obvious from photos. Which of the three counties a village sits in changes the tax bill for an identical house, and how far the village is from the square you actually want to use decides whether you drive or take the cart — which is most of why people move here. Pick the square first, then the village, then the house.
Sources: [Villages Community Development Districts (districtgov.org)] [Sumter County Property Appraiser]
4. Get pre-approved (if financing)
If you're not paying cash, get mortgage pre-approval BEFORE touring — Villages homes, especially new ones, sell fast. Know that VA loans don't work on new developer homes. Line up a lender and understand Florida's closing costs (doc stamps, title, intangible tax). See Buying a Home. Florida adds two state charges most out-of-state buyers have never paid: documentary stamp tax on the deed, and a nonrecurring intangible tax on a new mortgage. Both are calculated on the amount, so they scale with the purchase — ask your lender to itemise them in the estimate rather than discovering them on the closing statement.
Sources: [Florida Department of Revenue] [Florida Department of Revenue] [The Villages FL Mortgage]
5. Shortlist with Top Picks, then tour
Use the Top Picks ranker to score every home against your priorities (cost, price, lot, sinkhole distance, fence), save favorites, and Compare them side-by-side. Decide whether to use a Villages VLS agent or an independent MLS agent (you can bring your own). Then tour your shortlist. See Listings and Buying a Home. Tour on the same day of the week and time of day you expect to live here. A village that is quiet on a Tuesday morning can sit under the approach path to a square on a Saturday night, and a lot that looks private in winter can back onto an unscreened cart path once the landscaping is cut back.
6. Verify the specific home before offering
For your target home: confirm the remaining BOND balance (districtgov.org / VCDD Bond Team — it's negotiable and often undisclosed); pull the parcel's property-appraiser record; check the nearest reported sinkhole and the FEMA flood zone; note the roof age (it drives insurability); and confirm age-eligibility if a family is involved. Print the Buyer's Brief for the home to have it all on one page. This is the step that costs real money when skipped. The remaining bond is attached to the parcel, not the seller, and it is routinely left out of the conversation until after the contract — two identical homes can differ by tens of thousands of dollars on this line alone. Ask for the parcel's own amortisation schedule, not a district average.
Sources: [Villages Community Development Districts (districtgov.org)] [Robyn Cavallaro (Villages Buyer Specialist)] [Florida Geological Survey / Florida DEP] [FEMA]
7. Make the offer and open the contract
Submit your offer (earnest money is typically 1–2% on a Florida resale). On a resale, insist on a written breakdown of bond and CDD amounts before signing. Negotiate who pays the deed doc-stamp tax. New construction is more take-it-or-leave-it on price but locks your amenity-fee base rate. See Buying a Home. Get the bond and CDD figures in writing before signing rather than after. Once the contract is open, an unexpected bond balance is a renegotiation you are conducting from the weaker position, and in a fast market that often ends with the buyer absorbing it.
Sources: [Villages Community Development Districts (districtgov.org)] [Florida Department of Revenue]
8. Inspect
Don't skip inspections despite the fast-close culture: a whole-home inspection, a four-point (for insurance), a wind-mitigation report, and a WDO (termite) check are all standard. If there are settlement red flags or you're in a known sinkhole-cluster village, add a geotechnical assessment. See Buying a Home and Sinkholes. Roof age is the single line most likely to make a home expensive or impossible to insure, so treat the wind-mitigation report as a pricing document rather than paperwork. Order inspections early enough that the results arrive while you still have the leverage to act on them.
Sources: [MoneyGeek] [Florida Geological Survey / Florida DEP]
9. Insure and close
Get homeowners quotes from 2+ carriers early — binding can pause when a named storm is in the forecast, and roof age can make a home hard to insure. Price flood insurance if the parcel warrants it. At closing, funds are wired; a cash deal closes in ~1–2 weeks, financed in ~4–6. See Weather & Storms and Buying a Home. Quote insurance before the inspection period ends, not after. Carriers routinely suspend binding while a named storm is in the forecast, and in hurricane season that pause can outlast a contingency deadline — leaving a buyer committed to a house they cannot yet insure.
Sources: [MoneyGeek] [FEMA]
10. Move in and set up
After closing: get your Resident ID for amenity access; set up utilities (SECO power, District water/sewer/trash) and internet; FILE THE HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION by March 1 (the biggest recurring tax break); establish Florida residency if you're a snowbird; and attend the free District orientation. See Moving In. The homestead deadline is the one with a hard date and no appeal: file by March 1 for that tax year. Miss it and the exemption waits twelve months, which is a recurring cost created by a single missed form. Electricity comes from a member-owned cooperative in much of the community while water, sewer and trash come from the District, so expect separate accounts rather than one utility bill.
Sources: [Florida Department of Revenue] [Florida Department of Revenue] [The Villages Community Development Districts] [SECO Energy]