lifestyle visit

[TCRSO]

Allow me too vent. We are here for a week. Being OCD, we spent our first day plus on the home tour and immersing ourselves in the area. Which was fortunate, given the sale's person assigned did not call us at anytime (we ended up calling him); Arrived 1/2 hour late for the appointment and apparently planned to spend as little time and make little or no effort in providing a tour or information. We did make contact with sales people who were willing to put out the effort.

Shockingly poor service.

[John_W]

Call Tony Trussler, he's British and very punctual and been a salesman here for ten years. We just received our Villages refrigerator magnet calendar from him yesterday. We even got invited to a thank you party every year at Katie Belles until we finally stopped after six years of going. His wife is his paid assistant and he also is partners with another agent in case he is too busy. 352-552-6027

https://cdn.thevillages.com/reps/small/29975.jpg

Tony joined The Villages sales team in November of 2009. He grew up in the southeast of England in a small village called Bodiam in the county of Sussex. After attending hotel and restaurant college in England he worked in Switzerland, Monte Carlo, England and Bermuda before coming to the United States in 1977.

Tony and his wife Geralynn moved to The Villages in 2008. Together they have four children spread between Connecticut, Colorado and Florida. They are the proud grandparents of six grandchildren who they visit frequently. Prior to moving to The Villages they lived in Danbury, Connecticut for 20 years.

Playing golf and bike riding are on the top of the list when it comes to activities Tony likes. Geralynn and Tony both love to travel, seek out interesting foods, spend time with family and see Broadway shows. Tony is an avid soccer fan, following Chelsea in the Premier League, but he is also into American sports particularly baseball and football.

Tony has many endorsements from customers he has worked with and assisted in the process both before and after becoming residents of The Villages. Most will tell you that they enjoy working with him because he is low-key, quick to respond, knowledgeable about The Villages and provides 100 percent follow-up. He believes living in The Villages is a clear advantage.

“Properties of The Villages is a great organization and business model that truly cares about customers and employees. It’s very easy to endorse and sell a lifestyle and homes knowing that it is the best of the best. I really enjoy meeting and working with people from all walks of life -- all with different goals and needs. Each day and each customer is unique which keeps me interested and focused.

[Toymeister]

I have had poor service with TV realtors and MLS realtors. I just call someone else. If you want a member of Management's contact info, PM me, it will be addressed by her.

[Bogie Shooter]

Allow me too vent. We are here for a week. Being OCD, we spent our first day plus on the home tour and immersing ourselves in the area. Which was fortunate, given the sale's person assigned did not call us at anytime (we ended up calling him); Arrived 1/2 hour late for the appointment and apparently planned to spend as little time and make little or no effort in providing a tour or information. We did make contact with sales people who were willing to put out the effort.

Shockingly poor service.

By one individual.....right?

[TCRSO]

Just the one and we have found someone willing to put in the effort.

[eweissenbach]

Call Tony Trussler, he's British and very punctual and been a salesman here for ten years. We just received our Villages refrigerator magnet calendar from him yesterday. We even got invited to a thank you party every year at Katie Belles until we finally stopped after six years of going. His wife is his paid assistant and he also is partners with another agent in case he is too busy. 352-552-6027

https://cdn.thevillages.com/reps/small/29975.jpg

.[/I]

Unequivocal dittos for Tony.

[Mmarr]

Allow me too vent. We are here for a week. Being OCD, we spent our first day plus on the home tour and immersing ourselves in the area. Which was fortunate, given the sale's person assigned did not call us at anytime (we ended up calling him); Arrived 1/2 hour late for the appointment and apparently planned to spend as little time and make little or no effort in providing a tour or information. We did make contact with sales people who were willing to put out the effort.

Shockingly poor service.
Get a MLS realtor.. VG realtor.. only sell.. no interest in your well beinging..

[bmit16]

Call Lindsey Lowe. He is the best agent at Villages Realty. He will take you around to all the houses you want to see and spend ample time doing it.

[aboud50]

We had the same stay/tour visit a couple of years ago and had a great realtor and wonderful intro to the Villages. No complaints!

YMMV.

[dewilson58]

OP, I agree............shocking.


My limited experience, this is an exception and not the rule.


Good Luck on your next visit.

[Bridget Staunton]

Vent please! It’s good for stress and well-being

[bilcon]

WOW, things in the Real estate office must have changed since we bought our two homes. Tommy "I" was our great agent, and he is still there. No, he did not bother us when we came down for visits before we bought. He was very patient and when we called him, he was there for us.

[theruizs]

That’s too bad. But you did the right thing by requesting someone else. Most of the TV realtors are excellent.

[John_W]

Get a MLS realtor.. VG realtor.. only sell.. no interest in your well beinging..

An MLS Realtor can only show and sell homes that are listed with the MLS. They cannot show resales listed with The Villages and cannot show or sell new homes. You're limiting yourself to less than half of the resales and none of the new homes. If you're in the market for a resale, then of course get a Realtor and a Villages agent. Since they're on a LSV, the Villages is the coordinator and sponsor of such a trip.

[Marathon Man]

Get a MLS realtor.. VG realtor.. only sell.. no interest in your well beinging..

This is nonsense. TV salesmen are wonderful. They are our neighbors. Of course they care about people.

[charmed59]

When we came for our lifestyle visit the realtor assigned to us was also a dud. The only thing she knew was new builds, or more recent homes, and we were not interested in those. When we came back a few months later we asked for a different realtor, and our next one was great. Ended up using her for two houses. She is no longer with the Villages but as others have mentioned there are good ones. I think the bad ones have less customers, and more free time so they are assigned to the lifestyle visits more often.

[John_W]

I had recommended Tony Trussler on an earlier post. Let me also recommend Katie Burns. I knew here as the manager of MVP Health Club at Brownwood for about 4 years. About two years ago she went into the Villages Sales Force. Almost everyday I see her in the ads at an open house. If she is anything like she was at MVP, she is a real go-getter. Ph: 352-321-9764

https://cdn.thevillages.com/reps/small/99654.jpg

Katie has lived near The Villages and has been involved in helping make our residents dreams come true for 15 years. She began her career in The Villages Human Resources Department in 2003 as an intern while attending Michigan State University. Since then she has watched our community grow and feels fortunate to have played a role in helping our residents stay happy and healthy.

Prior to joining Property of The Villages, Katie has worn many hats in the community. She worked for the VCDD, enjoyed serving our residents as a waitress and bartender, worked behind the scenes for The Villages Sales Department, helped furnish homes, and assisted our residents with their physical fitness while working as a personal trainer. While personal training, Katie was also an instructor for fitness classes, including her favorite, Yoga.

As a personal trainer in The Villages, Katie was able to help coordinate and launch our annual Yoga on The Square event. She has enjoyed connecting with community instructors, in order to help share the joy and freedom that can come from movement. As a team they were able to bring over 300 people together to have fun and embrace their health. Residents, grandchildren, and employees all arrived to unroll their mats and spend the morning together. Katie continues to practice yoga and teaches when she can. Through each of her roles, Katie’s primary purpose is to help residents discover how they can live a happier life.

Katie strives to approach each situation she faces with an open heart and mind. She works to share her enthusiasm by finding solutions to struggles, just as she did as a personal trainer. She would love to help you discover whether a move to The Villages is right for you. She can’t wait to meet you!

[crash]

Call Lindsey Lowe. He is the best agent at Villages Realty. He will take you around to all the houses you want to see and spend ample time doing it.

You need a Villages agent also or you will miss 65 to 70% of the resale houses on the market. MLS and Village agents can not show each other’s listings.

[manaboutown]

The Villages agent I initially got was worse than worthless. He took me to a couple unsold spec houses and refused to show me resales. He told me if I spotted one I wanted to view to call him. Sure I would...

BTW, Villages agents are licensed as real estate agents by the state of Florida but they are NOT Realtors.

[collie1228]

I totally understand your frustration, but I don't understand why you vent here and not with the person(s) responsible for home sales in The Villages. My suggestion is that you call the general sales number and ask to speak with the sales manager. Don't take no for answer, and if they are hesitant to connect you, demand an appointment. Then vent your frustrations. Complaining on this board isn't going to solve the problem.

[John_W]

You need a Villages agent also or you will miss 65 to 70% of the resale houses on the market. MLS and Village agents can not show each other’s listings.

If you're looking for a resale, your correct that you need an MLS Realtor and a Villages Agent. However, your figures are way off. Currently on Zillow, the list of resales on MLS total 40. On The Villages website the number of resales listed is 296.

https://www.zillow.com/the-villages-fl/houses/?searchQueryState={%22pagination%22:{},%22usersSea rchTerm%22:%22the%20villages,%20florida%22,%22mapB ounds%22:{%22west%22:-82.18548881103516,%22east%22:-81.78380118896484,%22south%22:28.76297599692525,%2 2north%22:29.004068617903613},%22regionSelection%2 2:[{%22regionId%22:7403,%22regionType%22:6}],%22isMapVisible%22:true,%22mapZoom%22:12,%22filte rState%22:{%22price%22:{%22min%22:0},%22monthlyPay ment%22:{%22min%22:0},%22hasPool%22:{%22value%22:t rue},%22isMultiFamily%22:{%22value%22:false},%22is Manufactured%22:{%22value%22:false},%22isLotLand%2 2:{%22value%22:false}},%22isListVisible%22:true}


Homefinder - The Villages(R) Homes and Villas for Sale (https://www.thevillages.com/homefinder/?preowned&lng=-81.99831871785713&lat=28.87897057572887&lvl=1)

[Marathon Man]

The Villages agent I initially got was worse than worthless. He took me to a couple unsold spec houses and refused to show me resales. He told me if I spotted one I wanted to view to call him. Sure I would...

BTW, Villages agents are licensed as real estate agents by the state of Florida but they are NOT Realtors.

This has been mentioned nunerous times on this forum. But, what has never been mentioned is a time when this caused a problem for a home buyer.

[John_W]

This has been mentioned nunerous times on this forum. But, what has never been mentioned is a time when this caused a problem for a home buyer.

Since they're not Realtors or belong to the board of Realtors in their county, I don't think they are held to the same ethics as a Realtor is obligated. They are salesman, just like a car salesman but have training in real estate transactions.

On my block in 2012 a fairly new CYV owned by snowbirds had a leak in the foundation. When the owners returned they found about 3" of water in the M/BA and M/BR. They called the warranty department and the home was less than a year old. They sent out a crew who removed all the carpeting and vinyl, the cabinets, the plumbing fixtures, and the drywall from 3' above the floor and the wood baseboards and trim. They ran high speed heaters into the rooms for about 3 days until the moisture was gone.

Over the next 3 weeks they jack-hammered into the foundation, fixed the plumbing, patched the slab and replaced everything like new. The owners within a couple of months put the home on the market with The Villages real estate. The home sold right away and the day of the closing the new owners from Canada were standing in the driveway looking at what they just bought, when another neighbor came up to them and said, didn't the leak in the foundation cause you any concern. Well they had never been told about this problem. They got a lawyer and was eventually told that because the home was fixed by the warranty department, it wasn't necessary to be disclosed. I would believe that Licensed Realtor would be required to inform buyers of this defect.

If this wasn't enough, these new owners immediately put the home back on the market and it sold right away. Once again the new owners were in the driveway when that same neighbor asked them if they knew about the foundation leak. Fortunately these people were not as panicky and lived in the home for three years before reselling. The one thing that did happen was the price of the villa increased quickly. It originally sold new furnished in 2011 for $163K, it resold a year later for $195K and resold 3 years latter for $213K and sold again last year for $222K and the new owner, a widow, spent almost $50K gutting the inside and installing new top of the line everything, mostly using Doc's Restorations and had workers there almost everyday for ten months. This time, no one told him about the past and I hope he lives there for many years.

Here's the home and there is no way just by looking at he home inside or out, that anything had happened.

https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/streetview?channel=mb-pdp-publicrecord&location=2311+Nautilus+Ln%2C+The+Villages%2C+FL+32 162&size=665x441&source=outdoor&client=gme-redfin&signature=VyQzgFcaGobHj57P8tjVWbxWzr4=

[perrjojo]

Many people come here for a lifestyle visit as a low cost vacation and have no real interest in buying a home. Perhaps your salesperson had experienced too many of these folks. It’s not a good excuse but it could be a reason.

[PizzaVilla]

I agree, call Tony. He was and continues to be extremely helpful to us. He has been our best experience at the Villages so far.

[Rosebud2020]

That’s too bad. But you did the right thing by requesting someone else. Most of the TV realtors are excellent.


The Villages salespeople are NOT Realtors. They are simply agents and there is a difference -- a big difference.

[Packer Fan]

True Story. We had a great TV Realtor - Michael O'Rourke - we felt he was attentive but not overbearing. We had friends go down and we recommended him - they thought he was not attentive enough and switched realtors. Everyone has their own taste and that is why there is a selection. If you don't like, ask for another.

[manaboutown]

True Story. We had a great TV Realtor

This cannot possibly be a true story as there is no such thing as a TV Realtor. They are licensed agents but they are not Realtors.

[VILLAGERBB]

Jack and Maureen Wilson (Sellstate Realty) are FANTASTIC! www.thewilsonsalesteam.com - (978) 998-9803