[Mallory]

I said it on this thread on 2/20/09 and will say it again - Ron Delk is The Man.

[CandiceC]

The scoop... as another mentioned, the only way to buy new is through a Properties of the Villages sales office/agent.

When looking for re-sale/pre-owned properties - Basically there are 2 separate ponds... and the lines do not cross

For Pre-Owned homes there are available homes that are listed by Realtors - Independent Brokers and agent members of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) ie: REMAX, ERA, RExec etc. These Independent National and Local Real Estate Brokers partner with eachother to bring buyers and sellers together through the shared multiple listing service (MLS).

There are also homes listed through The Villages Developer - (non-Realtor) properties of the villages agents who maintain their listings only in the single company/developer Listing Service. The developer is not a NAR member and does not share/partner with any of the other National or local brokers or agents that participate in NAR and the MLS.

Realtor Agents can show you all the NAR - MLS based Villages inventory and the Developer agents will only show you the developer inventory new and preowned.

As a buyer you can fish in one pond or the other, or you can fish in both ponds... There is stock in both ponds, you will just need 2 separate poles (agents)

Hope this is helpful - Feel free to message w/?.

[skyc6]

I highly recommend Mike Joy. Very honest, no pressure, and extremely knowlegable.

[alemorkam]

If you want to see all pre-owned, non-villages listed homes, that are listed in the MLS I recomment the web site of WWW.focusonthevillages.com. Karol and Marge are very helpful.

[Judy n Ron]

We have Kathy Collins and she has had the patience of a saint with us. We're closing on our house on 11/11 and will be taking her out for a nice dinner to thank her. Absolutely no pressure from her from the start.
Judy & Ron

[Doodlegirl]

Bill Vasquez of The Villages.

Just wanted to clarify to an above question that any realtors out of The Villages are MLS, The Village Realtors are VLS. Never the twain shall meet. The buyer does have the choice of using either MLS or VLS as long as it is not a new built
owned by the Developer so to speak.

I'm guessing that once the Developer moves on, The Villages will be all MLS,
however, that doesn't look to be in my lifetime just now. Lots of the VLS realtors also hold MLS licenses so to speak and came from company's like Coldwell, Remax, etc., however, I understand that they do not/ cannot cross over to MLS work while a Villages sales employee. I also am guessing that if a Villages sales agent should leave for one reason or another, they simply return to the MLS world whether in this area or elsewhere. I was impressed with the 'time to task' of The Villages sales operation. Specialized ways of people and departments who gather and prepare paperwork, etc. necessary for mortgages, closing, etc. It 'felt' to me as though the agents in The Villages (VLS) are able to concentrate time on sales and the customer opposed to paperwork.

That being said (cautiously because it is a voyeur opinion observed as a buyer), my sister is a long time realtor in South Florida. She didn't get the VLS-MLS and spent most of the time I was purchasing grousing about the parallell LS situation. Nor has she yet visited me here to 'see' how it works!.. She spends altogether too much time running around South Florida to get paperwork accomplished and primarily does that on her own (without the systems back up of a place like The Villages). In a way she has lots of down time without the support I seemed to feel with my buying experience here.

For what it's worth, my only headache was the lack of understanding of Reverse
Mortgages, however, that is not necessarily the agent's issue. Further compounded by the sale of my South Florida home also on a Reverse Mortgage.
Compounded further by that home in South Florida selling within a week of
listing (lucky, lucky, lucky) and the need for a home here within six weeks.

Having worked for one of the largest Developers in South Florida many years
ago (not in sales but in a new conceptual building plan at that time), I noted The Villages uses what we called then the "ups" system in sales. That's ups as in jumps, not the delivery company! The greeters rotate people who walk in the door through the agents on duty that particular day. An agent doesn't necessarily know if the purchaser is interested in a $150,000 home or a $450,000home.

Funny for me, my nephew, a high end realtor in South Florida
helped me move, and stayed a few days to help out. He was fascinated by the process. I tried to convince him to look into The Villages and he told me he
was sorry, that while he would put it number one for his own approaching retirement life, will be up to look in fact, he didn't feel he could make the money he is making even in a bad r/e economy while concentrating at the high end, "unless they hired me as the head of sales", I'm still teasing him long distance... e.g. "Hey Tim, the Morse's called me today and they want YOU!" or, "Arnold Palmer stopped by this afternoon, he's put in a good word for you!" Fun.

I thorougly enjoyed my VLS experience. I also met with an MLS agent, however, I felt the VLS agent had a wider pool for what I needed and my time
frame. I've been a flipper most of my life, 35 homes in 40 years! This move,
for me, was my last and so the most critical. Kudos to Bill Vasquez for understanding my needs, wants, background and experiences to find that
home with VLS.

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by Halle

Debra Park was our Villages Sales Agent. She is very easy to work with, a great listener and no sales pressure. Good luck!

Originally Posted by JohnN

We also used Debra Park (like Halle did). Debra is a good listener and shows you what you're interested in without pressure. We've met Ron Delk at an open house and he's a good realtor too.

I recommend Deb Park, Cell 352-408-8800. I've used her to sell a CYV and buy a house. She is an excellent realtor, very professional and knowledgeable. I was a Real Estate Broker for 20 years and I'm very picky about who I use.