We have been in Florida for 10 years.......heat doesn't bother us.

There are 3 bedroom, with lanai, with larger garage, with yard, with kitchen sink.

I don’t know about newer design patio villas but in my area rock yards not allowed like in CYVs.

Courtyard Villas have an enclosed yard with fencing. Anytime there is fencing, there is the chance of a dog being in the yard for hours at a time, not just for a potty break. I would go out of my mind if I had a barking dog in the neighborhood, especially next to my home. Just NO!

My husband and I moved into a PV 4-1/2 yrs ago from a 3400SF home in ATL. Quite an adjustment, but we love it. LOTS fewer dust bunnies to chase, LOTS less yard to worry about. We came with one vehicle and bought a golf cart, and we are just fine. MORE time to play. AND we have learned that we live just fine with a lot less stuff and life is so much simpler. We are in the northern area and have lots of full time owners and several of them are original owners of their PV. Actually, we are surrounded by full-timers and they are all great neighbors and now friends. No regrets.

I was responding to post. I don’t have noise problem or dog problem and my yard has walls around it which muffled noise from surrounding neighbors in my area. I rarely hear anything in my house other than box truck going by.

First home Rental PV in Caroline. Roughly 60% private rentals that was used for LSV. So short term rentals, used by developer.

Second: PV New, in Pennacamp. The first year was a ghost town. Few homes were occupied full time, with majority seasonal rentals, which didn’t include short term rentals. After a year about 40% rentals, by year 4 only a small percentage of rentals.

Third: Cottage New in Fernandina. Purchased as an investment. 60% rentals the first year. Year two 30% rentals, however 1/3 like ours were unfurnished long term, tight knit area due to lack of seasonal rentals. No STR (short term rentals of 1-7 days) for 10 years.

Fourth: Designer Preowned, established area 95% full time original owners. Change of ownership was not welcomed by some residents. However due to age, within 2 years, rentals increased due to loss of spouse, or moved to memory care. Once sold many bought as investment, mostly seasonal, with a percentage of STR.

Fifth Premiere New. First year, some homes occupied by owners seasonally, for first year.
Other areas of village, many STR for the first year, with some seasonal rentals. At one year mark, many STR sold (rumor was due to proximity & some VLS investor owned). Year two Premiers & Designer, mostly full time. PV, and Cottage still have about 30-40% seasonal and STR

So from 2007- 4/2025, new neighborhoods provided a fair amount of rentals, awaiting original owners to retire. Timeline about 1-3 years.

Older Preowned neighborhood STRs more abundant as investment property, down the road, as they age out of homes.

So new Village % of rental higher first 1-2 years, with younger residents moving in. Established areas, depending on age of residents and Village, rental becomes more prevalent, with a mix of Old, and younger buyers. Sometimes younger and renters are not well received by long term original owners.

On a personal note I did find less tolerance of ethic acceptance in older villages between the 6’s compared to south of 44. Could be due to younger residents and different values.

Explore Homes in The Villages(R): Find Your Perfect Home

Click on link above. Select the Villa series you are curious about (Patio, Cottage, Courtyard, Garden) and it will show you the individual floorplans. Clear to see which have 2 and which have 3 bedrooms. Some, as mentioned prior in the thread, the 3rd bedroom option comes at the expense of loss of lanai (Emerald Patio Villa, for example).

All neighborhoods are different. People come and go for one reason or another. Our neighborhood has changed significantly after 21 years in the same designer. Golf cart path behind us plus shrubs and a Village fence. Not noisy at all.
Good luck.

People not being full time doesn't all of the sudden mean they are renting out their places in the other months.

I'm a landlord in TV so have a lot of insight into this. Very few snowbirds bother renting out their place in the offseason months. There's really not much of a market left for that with the few people in cheaper villages offering rock bottom AirBnb rentals in bare bones 2/2 villas.

Rentals are not as common as you may think.

We park in garage! Car and two carts with lots of space leftover. We off loaded our junk before we moved here. So freeing! 😊

They’re moving from Sarasota. I think it’s cooler here, lol.