negotiations

[gerryann]

I know that the price of new homes is not negotiable. Are the Re-sales (sold through the villages) negotiable? I know that one can negotiate when you use a MLS realtor..but not sure if you can negotiate a VLS home......HELP...I have so many questions to follow. Thanks for any info.

[DebbieB]

You can negotiate re-sales, usually no more than $6,000 I have heard. I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong.

[jimmemac]

I think most homes that are being listed by the villages Realtors are priced at a very fair price-yes you can negotiate but you may not have the wiggle room that you had in your former home market.

[GeorgeT]

I know that the price of new homes is not negotiable. Are the Re-sales (sold through the villages) negotiable? I know that one can negotiate when you use a MLS realtor..but not sure if you can negotiate a VLS home......HELP...I have so many questions to follow. Thanks for any info.

Sure you can. I believe that the seller of the re-sale makes the decision on whether or not to accept. We bought a re-sale for 14K less than the asking price from VLS last year. It really depends on how motivated the seller is.

[Snowbirdtobe]

Make an offer. You can always go up. Even the new VLS homes are on sale from time to time.
Keep looking while the offer is being considered and let both agents know.
You will either feel better about your offer or find a place if your offer is rejected.

[wdwduo]

We listed our cyv last September, agreed on an asking price, and were given a print-out of what we would end up with, after paying commission, balance of taxes, etc....based on the estimation that we'd get an offer of 94% of our asking price.

Guess what? Our first offer was exactly 94% of the asking price! This really angered me, as it appeared the bid was based on the buyers' realtor "suggestion", not what the buyer may have offered if on their own.
Who decided 94% was the magic number?

Because more than 3 parties were interested, we did end up getting our full asking price...not a bidding war, but close.

So negotiations can depend on many different things. jackie

[Larry Wilson]

Good friend bought a golf front home listed at 349,000 for 280,000.
Pre-owned and at the end of the contract with the Villages for pre-owned homes. Owner was given a real low offer and was ready to sell.
Plus this home was listed a 100,000 less than what was paid for it in 2006 when it was new.
Great deal for my friend.

[Jim 9922]

All resales are negotiable! I've purchased 2 houses of my own and "assisted" friends with 4 others all at substantial "discounts". Right now there are a lot of "fish in the pond" and it is a real buyer's market. A few things to consider when buying.
Asking price is a high end guess in the mind of the real estate agent. Never forget - agents are driven by commission.
No matter what they say, agents have a very vested self interest interest in the final price. Every dollar less, is less in their pocket, even the person who is supposed to be representing you. One way to gain a little leverage to your own side is, if possible, to make the offer using the listing agent -- all of a sudden that person has double the commission at stake.
Do your OWN home work on appraised values, recent sales of neighboring homes, etc. Spend some time on the internet at Zillow.com and each of our 3local county appraisers have excellent web sites with all kind of sales history.
Make a "clean" offer without a bunch of contingencies. Have your money in hand, waive nickle-dime faults the inspector may find totaling, say $700, closing date when the seller wants, etc, etc.
Make the offer timeframe very short. If during the day maybe six hours. This helps prevent the agent from calling all other known interested parties and trying to dredge up a better bid. Put a tough face forward to the agent (or owner if dealing directly) that your price is is not "even probably open" to change and that there other homes in line if this fails.
The agent is obligated to submit all ligitimate offers to the seller. Don't let the Agent try to up or modify an offer by implying" I know the owner will reject". Let the owner think about it and do the rejection.
You should have determined in advance how desperate the owner is to sell, what is the real reason they are selling (did they buy another home, are they in financial trouble, don't like the villages), how long the home has been on the market, etc.
Go into the offer process with the attitude that the price you offer is tops for you. If you lose this one there are a bunch more out there.
All the deals I've been involved in have been first price offers. All it takes is a fair price based on current market conditions, a positive attitude, and a strong stand.
Remenber you don't owe the seller or the commissioned agent anything! It is your own pocketbook that you are working for.

[BobKat1]

Jim, all very good points. It's definitely a buyers market right now and things are negotiable.

On just TV site there are 502 resales and 310 new construction homes listed.

Add in MLS and FSBO homes you are probably close to 800-1,000 resale homes available, PLUS new construction.

It's a great time to buy.

[gerryann]

Thanks for all the helpful info. Now I need to figure the best area for me.
Thanks again!!

[Larry Wilson]

Everyone has their reasons for liking an area.
Must tell you that the best location for selling pre-owned is close to 466. Many realtors say that is the best location. The homes will always have location, location, location in their ads.
The realtors say you get more for you resales and they sell more homes in this area.
People like to be near grocery stores, clothing stores and many restaurants, wal-mart, plus gas stations. Saves people a ton of travel time over the years.
Plus you are near town centers.
A friend just had a home built and he has already put 300 miles on his car traveling to these stores.
Again, everybody seems to love where they live but this is what the realtors say.

[Barefoot]

Village agents will tell you that, on average, most houses sell for about 97% of list price. Owners usually aren't that negotiable on new listings, but may become very flexible as time goes on.

[Larry Wilson]

Bare, What we learned is the Villages figure new homes(which always get asking price) in to get that 97% figure. Pre-owned are much less than that. Yes we have friends who use to work for the Villages.

[Barefoot]

Bare, What we learned is the Villages figure new homes(which always get asking price) in to get that 97% figure. Pre-owned are much less than that. Yes we have friends who use to work for the Villages.

That's an interesting observation Larry, that new homes are averaged in. I did not know that. When we listed our CYV on VLS, it sold for 97% of list price, probably just a co-incidence.

[Larry Wilson]

Bare,
That means you knew what you were doing and had it priced right to begin with. :)

[784caroline]

Hey dont kid yourself with the negotiation range of only $6000....each house and property is different. Why do I know....I was involved just recently in a property listed by the villages and they were pushing to use their loan department if you wanted a quick settlement. Well the party I was with used USAA for a loan and when their appraiser looked at the property it came back $10000 [U]over priced. AT first The Villages tried to "Negate" the appraisal for in their contracts the appraisal company has to be located in Sumpter county....and this company was from Lake County. My friend while fighting this provision with TV real Estate( BTW 3 days before the settlement date), the owner offfered to drop the price another $5000....the 50/50 deal. My friend ended up getting out of the contract entirely....not without a hassle.

So what I learned from this experience is if you use The Villages to list your property and also get the buyer to use The Villages Loan Department you will have no problems in selling your property and getting it appraised once you find a buyer. BUT if you really want an independent assessment of the property, as to value,get an outside company (Appraiser) to look at it

[Larry Wilson]

Good friend bought a golf front home listed at 349,000 for 280,000.
Pre-owned and at the end of the contract with the Villages for pre-owned homes. Owner was given a real low offer and was ready to sell.
Plus this home was listed a 100,000 less than what was paid for it in 2006 when it was new.
Great deal for my friend.

You are so right Caroline! The above was a cash deal.