Hi mgman,
I'm new to TV so we just went through the process of looking. A few thoughts in addition to what's been said:
When we looked at new houses, I believe that all of the bonds were $20,000 and up. Be sure to ask about the bond on both new or resales.
As Bryan advised, we used one TV and one independent agent. A unique thing about TV is that the TV real estate office does not share listings with the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) that outside agents use, and vise versa. So, your TV real estate agent and your outside agent will show you completely different sets of houses. TV shows only new homes and re-sales listed with the TV office. Outside agents show only resales listed on MLS. We ended up buying a MLS re-sale because we found the perfect house for us.
Another factor is whether you want to furnish everything from scratch or not. Many resales are sold completely furnished and decorated, many even turnkey (pots and pans, dishes, sheets, towels, etc.) If you want add-ons such as a glassed-in or extended lanai, a birdcage, etc., a resale with those additions might be the best bet.
We just closed on our house this month. Buying in the same market that you will be buying in, we found re-sales to be a better dollar value at this time. Then again, dollars are
not the only values any of us consider when buying a home.
Even though we bought a beautifully furnished and decorated resale that we fell in love with, we found it invaluable to look at new homes. It gave us a chance to see all available floorplans.
There probably is much to be said for moving into a brand new neighborhood where all your neighbors are also new, and there is that bond. In defense of moving into an established neighborhood, we have found our established neighbors to be welcoming and wonderful. In fact, everyone we have met at TV, no matter where we go, has been friendly, helpful and welcoming. The slogan, "Florida's friendliest hometown," surely rings true.
Happy house hunting. I wish you all the luck in the world in finding your dream home and becoming a TVer!
