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Originally Posted by NavyNJ
Good lord.....do people on this forum actually not know how to use Google (or Bing or whatever)?? Most of all of the "rumors", "things I/we heard", "things I/we were told", "things I/we understand" posted and re-posted on this and just about every other thread, could probably be figured out way more easily than posting in these threads.
But, since all of this has been bantered about, confirmed and contradicted multiple times here.....I'll throw my 2 cents in:
- Properties of The Villages Agents (i.e., VLS agents, Developer agents, etc.) are, in fact, licensed by the State of Florida.
- Outside Agents, working for various Real Estate Brokers/Companies (i.e., MLS agents) are, in fact, licensed by the vary same State of Florida.
- MLS (Multiple Listing Service) is just that....a Service. Not an entity or firm or anything one swears allegiance to. It's a service that Real Estate Brokers pay for annually to be given access to all those listings in the area served by a specific MLS (there's not a single MLS for the entire State).
- VLS (Villages Listing Service) is just that.....a Service. But, in this case, it's only accessible to agents working for Properties of The Villages, and is a private service.
There was a time, pre-VLS, that all agents played in the same sand box. Then as The Villages began to explode, friction between the organizations (mostly due to outside agents not having access to new construction) led to the birth of the VLS and the segregation of the two systems.
And, as most/many have suggested, if a home buyer truly wants to have the full measure of the marketplace to choose from, they should work with an agent of both services (MLS & VLS). Some find that too cumbersome, and land on just one and most likely end up doing just fine, notwithstanding the inability to buy a new home thru an MLS agent.
Hope that has cleared up at least of few of the rumors and points of contention.....oh, and yes, VLS agents are paid as independent contractors via a IRS 1099, but so are 99.9% of all real estate agents in the country, so that's a non-issue.
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Finally somebody broke it down to simple terms. I'll add one little item, I do have some experience in this area. I was a licensed Realtor in Savannah, Georgia in the 1980's and published the magazine "Homes & Land of Savannah". Later I was a licensed Realtor in Hernando County (Spring Hill), Florida.
Most Realtors in the MLS system split the commission 4 ways. The listing agent and their broker each get 25% and the selling agent and their broker each get 25%. The exception was Remax, and for that reason Remax generally gets the cream of the crop, or let's say, no part-time retirees. Because Remax Agents actually pay the broker for the right to work in that office.
A Remax agent for example will pay his Broker $1200 a month or about $14,000 a year. The broker will provide the office, the Remax sign, the MLS system and computers, a receptionist, phone numbers, a desk and everything else you need to sell. In return, you get 95% of the selling or listing commission and the broker gets 5%. So this is why I say they get the cream of the crop, because he's paying out every month whether he sells a home or not.
I don't know anything about our local area here or the agents, other than seeing Lyle Grant make informative posts on this website from time-to-time and he seems to be a conscientious Realtor. My own experience was I didn't try to sell homes, because that was very time consuming and also a lot of wear and tear on your car and gas, so I admire those agents who do sell. I specialized in listing and especially listing vacant land. Here's why, there is no key to deal with, no appointments for showing the home, you really don't even need to contact that listing agent until you have a buyer wanting to make an offer. Of course the sales price is much lower for a lot instead of a home, but the commission on vacant land is generally 10% and closings are pretty quick.