“How do I find a rental in The Villages” is by far the most common question I get from readers. And for good reason.
So I wanted to put together this complete guide for how to go about finding a rental which includes when to rent, how much you should expect to pay, where to rent, where to look for a rental, and more.
As I advocate in my book, one thing you want to do before actually buying a home and moving to The Villages is to rent a home here for a few weeks or even a few months.
Though I also advise you to take advantage of the Lifestyle Preview Program offered by The Villages, its simply not enough time to get a good feel for what it might be like living here year round.
When is the best time to rent in The Villages?
The answer to this question is similar to “When is the best time to visit The Villages?“
The time from November through April is the busiest time of the year in The Villages. This means a couple of things. For one, it makes it much harder to find a rental. It also means that restaurants, golf courses, and everything else are much more crowded than during the summer and fall.
But, if you plan to live in The Villages full-time in the future, its good to get a sense of just what “crowded” means. It may not seem crowded to you. I’ve heard from people that couldn’t believe how bad it was, and I’ve heard from others who didn’t think it was that bad.
So, bottom line, if you want the best selection and prices, rent from June-October. If you want the best idea of what the busy season is like, rent during the busy season.
I know that many of my readers have made it a point to rent during BOTH seasons, just to be sure.

How much does it cost to rent a home in The Villages?
As you can imagine the price of rentals will vary, depending on the season. Basic supply and demand economics at work. Other things that are common sense but you should keep in mind is that the bigger the home and newer it is, the more you’ll likely pay.
Location is also a major factor in the rent. In general, the more centrally located the home is, or immediately near the town squares, the more you can expect to pay.
Because prices vary so much based on location and time of year, it would be difficult for me to give you price ranges for each home type you’ll encounter in The Villages.
But just to show you how much rates can fluctuate throughout the year, below you can see the rental rates for one home I found, a 3/2 Designer in Lake Deaton.
It’s clear to see just how much the rates change over the course of the year, depending on the season:

Keep in mind that the rates in that chart are not necessarily what it would cost for you to rent a similar home long term. Remember, we’re just talking about coming for a few weeks or a month to get a feel for the place.
Where should you rent?
As you probably know by now, The Villages is a huge place comprised of a lot of individual neighborhoods.
This can make it that much harder to choose a rental. You might see a house you like that seems to fit all of your needs but if its far away from the places you’ll spend most of your time (likely certain golf courses and the town squares), it can be a pain traveling to and from over long distances, especially in a golf cart.
Speaking of golf carts, many of the rentals you’ll see listed also include use of a golf cart. I’ve written before about the golf carts that come with your lifestyle preview plan…they’re super slow. But you might have a little better luck with the carts at the privately owned rentals. If you don’t see any details about a cart being available with a particular home, be sure to contact the owner and ask.
If you can, try to find a rental that’s centrally located. But if you have no preference on golf courses or between the town squares, then it may not really matter. Go with the best home you can find.
Finding a Rental
As you can see by the list that follows, there are A LOT of places to look for rentals. Don’t focus your search on any one website. Be sure to explore rentals available on several of them.
Also, it's important to note that some sites show rentals where the owner is representing themselves (for rent by owner), and others are advertised and managed by local real estate agents.
Rentals Listed on Realtor.com – These will include rentals listed through various local real estate companies. As with most of the sites I've listed, you'll need to read through the descriptions to find out the months that each home is available.
VRBO – Vacation Rentals By Owner is a national rental website where homeowners pay a fee to make their rental listings available to potential short and long-term tenants. At the time of this writing they show more than 700 rentals available in The Villages.
My wife and I have had pretty good luck so far finding rentals in other parts of Florida through VRBO, and I’ve heard from some readers who say they found their rental in The Villages on this site.
- Affiliate Disclosure: All links to VRBO on my site are affiliate links meaning I earn a small fee when you book a rental. (There is never any extra cost to you for using these links).
The Villages Hometown Property Management – This is the developer’s rental division, so you’ll usually find a wide selection of rentals to choose from here.
VillagersHomes4Rent.com – Started by Villages resident Don Crosby, and now managed and run by his daughter Judy VillagersHomes4Rent.com has more than 1,500 rentals listed on their site. This is not a website for full-service rentals. Private homeowners simply pay a fee to have their home and contact information listed on the site.
VillagesforRent.com – This site is run by JD & V Property Management, offering full-service management for owners of the homes that are listed for rent.
Our Villages Rental – Our Villages Rental now has over 100 homes on the site and offers some great features that make searching for a rental even easier. You can search availability for specific dates, which is really helpful for those looking for a week or two week rental. Large home photos make it easy to find the perfect rental home!
Rent From a Villager – Since its launch in 2021, Rent From a Villager (RFAV) has seen the addition of over 1200 homes to its site. RFAV is a book-direct platform, facilitating direct connections between property owners and renters. By connecting directly with owners, renters can discuss details, preferences, and arrangements firsthand, ensuring the ideal fit for their vacation. One notable feature is the absence of additional service charges, as RFAV does not impose any booking, service, or convenience fees.
You might also want to do your own web search to see if you can dig up any other results for “The Villages Florida rentals“.
Good luck, and Happy Renting!
Mike Gibson says
My ideal scenario is to buy a home, live in it from Nov. 1-April 30th and then rent it out from May 1-Oct. 30. I guess a lot of people aren’t able to find renters during that period, though, even for the $1,700 a month figure? Just wondering.
Sharon Kolinsky says
If a person has paid for a rental in advance and due to circumstances beyond our control has to cancel is there any legal protocol to for the tenant to get a refund
Natalie says
What’s the difference between homes and villas? Thanks!
Daniel Laflamme says
I’ve just discovered Our Villages Rentals here. Good site, well built, good pictures. I’m a long time renter. I say VH4R is much more practical with the search filters. You can be real precise with what your looking for, avoiding long fastidious time for searching. For filter example: golf cart included, uncarpeted floors and so on. I’ve allways used VH4R and found exactly what looking for and good deals.
Scott Hadden says
Never have been to the Villages but all the amazing things I have heard about it makes it seem like heaven!
Only problem I have is all the rentals inside look, well – dated – interior looks like my grandparents home
I dont need a 5000 sq foot luxury home – 2 br 2 bath is fine – but looking for a Florida “feel’. High ceilings, large ceiling fans, tile floor, fun colors etc. Willing to pay some premium vs what I see now
Very excited to sch a trip!
Cindy Pawley says
Anyone can access the Daily Sun newspaper on line. You can find rentals in the classified section. We also drove the neighborhood where we wanted to rent, took photos of for rent signs and came home and called them all. The other sites you mentioned all all good resources.
Charlie and Mickey says
We recently experienced the Lifestyle Preview Program, I strongly recommend it. The Golf Cart was NOT super slow, it was governed at 19 mph, the legal limit for the not street legal carts, the developers did not bother us at all, the location was close to Sumter Landing, the house had everything you needed and was very nice. You can only do the Preview once, so go for the maximum time, it will not be enough. They provided us with tickets to a show at Savannah, tickets to the movie theater, passes for all Villages Amenities including Golf, daily newspaper and discount shopping. If you are considering The Villages take advantage of this program, and visit open houses which occur daily in The Villages.
Rusty & Judy Brown says
We own 2 patio villas, both of which we rent through Down Home Property Management. We have been VERY pleased with Vickie & Stacey Joy! They have an excellent reputation and offer outstanding service to their clients! They are always extremely attentive to everyone’s needs and concerns!!!
Bill Keweshan says
I am in The Villages for the third time. I am renting a home for the month of August. I live two hours away and have no plans to move here permanently but love to be here as much as possible.
I am still working a bit and have a large family in my home area so my time is somewhat limited.
I could come up for long weekends and perhaps a few weeks per month. I don’t care abut the time of the year.
My thought is to have a website where folks like me can be contacted by potential home owners to work out some arrangement for such a situation.
This might be interesting to some of the owners who don’t bother to rent in the regular market for a number of reasons but might like to defray some of their costs for the home they are not using all the time.
This could be a very flexible arrangement and would depend on a lot of mutual considerations.
Sound plausible or too complicated? One alternative is to post on the site Talk of the Villages and see what happens but this is a somewhat limited exposure for the renter.
Dolores Schmelzer says
In regards to the question of Vickie Joy of Down Home Property Management, she has been the manager of our property for over a year now and we couldn’t be happier. Her business has grown so much in that year that her daughter, Stacey, also works with her now.
Maddy says
Where is the best place to advertise for a rental, I have a 2 bedroom2 bath, nicely furnished very private back yard .Looking to rent long term.
Sandy says
Do you know anything about Down Home Property Management Llc ( Vickie Joy)? I am going to rent a home at The Villages through them tomorrow. Thanks.
Sandy
john stecher says
thanks for the above info but are there any homes for the handicap i am in a power wheelchair and need one level.
Sheri and Curt says
there is also TheVillages4rentbyowner.com which is a by owner site also that shows rentals and those homes for sale. Happy hunting! by the way, we bought in the area after our rental ventures, not IN the Villages proper due to the excessive crowdedness and congestion during “peak season” but we LOVE the area and The Villages!
Sheri and Curt says
My husband and I have always had good luck finding rentals in The Villages thru the website VRBO.com (vacation rental by owner . com). You just put in the dates you are looking for and what city (The Villages) and state (Florida) and the website will pop up a list of available rentals along with contact info for the owners. We were very lucky and were able to rent twice a year from the same owner for several years, who even let us keep our suitcases/clothing at the home until the home sold. We would definitely recommend this website for finding an affordable vacation rental in The Villages, or any are to be perfectly honest.
Kathleen says
I’m looking to share rent in a villa and/or home in the villages long term. Any website I can go on to see if anything is available?
Gail says
We used thevillages4rent.com to find the home we’re going to be renting next year. We did the Life Styles Preview in January of this year and fell in love with TV. That’s all it took for us to know we want to live there. We found an unfurnished long term rental and put our deposit down a couple of weeks ago. While there were many more furnished than unfurnished we still found many choices.
Courtney Sams says
Linda – we have a home in TV that we just listed on Don’s website – thevillages4rent.com -and are willing to do short term or long term – for long term we can do furnished or unfurnished. It’s a great house in a great location. It is property #1962. Let me know if you have any interest. Long term rate is negotiable. Thanks!
Linda Wheeling says
so, most rentals in TV are short term? seasonal? i need to go check all those links!
john troiano says
why does the villages real estate not offer va mortgages? or the bank in the villages.?
thevillagesfloridabook says
John- I don’t know. I didn’t know they didn’t. I’ll look into it.
Linda Wheeling says
I’d like to find out how many rentals are furnished vs unfurnished. Obviously someone renting for a month or two will want a furnished home. Whereas someone who wants to live at TV for a year before buying their own home may want an unfurnished rental. I assume the monthly rents posted in your article are for a furnished home, maybe one with a golf cart? Do you know if most are furnished, or if there are many homes rented for long term/ unfurnished? I will go to the links you provided and take a look for myself – thanks for giving us those links! But furninshed vs unfurnished is my #1 concern.
thevillagesfloridabook says
Linda- Someone else might chime in but I’d say its 3 furnished to every 1 unfurnished. Roughly.
Herb Thieme says
Another source with no real website but accurate and trustworthy help– call TV sales office and ask for rental info; they’ll turn you over to The Villages Hometown Property Management (not ownde by The Villages but closely affiliated). They have a number of furnished and unfurnished homes and villas that all have been inspected and meet their high standards. Or call THPM directly at 877-447-6217 or 352-750-1595.
thevillagesfloridabook says
Good info. Herb. Thanks for sharing that one.
Kathleen says
Great job! This is a big help to me