My friend's experience trying to buy a new home here
 

I wanted to share my friend's story and see if others experienced the same thing. They were down last week for the sole purpose of finding and purchasing a home here. They looked at both owned and new and settled for a new home in Labelle. They were pre-approved for a mortgage through Chase. When it came to sign the paperwork, the Villages would not budge on the 30 day closing date. In addition (I looked at the contract also), if closing did not occur within 30 days (for any reason outside of the developer's control), then the discount on the home would be voided and they would have to pay the higher price. Chase wanted 45 days to ensure they could process the mortgage. So my friend went to Citizen's thinking that well, it's a developer owned entity, that must be the preferred way to go. He said that they were very professional but could not guarantee 30 days either for a mortgage. He said that there had been instances where either paperwork got delayed or something else (out of there control) by which they were not able to complete the processing.

So to make a long story short, they didn't buy.. they were concerned that if they could not get a mortgage within 30 days and if the discount was not continued, then they'd end up paying an additional $11k.

They went home disillusioned about their experience and have a bad taste about the Villages corporate entity. I tried to reassure them. We are on our second home now (all pre-owned) and had nothing but positive experiences in the buying / selling process. I guess that's the difference between dealing with an individual seller vs a corporation.

Anyhow, I'm just sharing.

it's interesting that The Villages Real Estate has a restriction on purchasing when they know the banks cannot fulfill the restriction. Seems to me that if they are really wanting to sell homes with the discount, they should work with the mortgage companies.

It might help to get pre-approved for the loan before they begin the house hunting process. Banks have no problem with that. They pre-approve you and the loan is good for about 90 days. Not sure how long it take to close once you are pre-approved.

The developer no doubt has a marketing plan which necessarily incorporates certain restrictions. I am sorry to hear things did not work out for your friends.

I'm not surprised. I wasn't here but I heard quite a few stories when houses were in demand that you would get a phone call from a salesman that said you have 45 minutes to decide if you want a house that you haven't seen.
If your friend bought into the dream he will do what they say. Tell him to buy a resale. He may feel like he has more control.

They were pre-approved. Chase wanted 45 days for processing.

That is how it was with us back in 2008. You found a house and they would put a one hour hold on it for you to decide. Then if you found another you liked better they would call and take the hold off the other one and put the hold on the new one. You were pretty much at their mercy with how it was handled. They decided how much up front money they needed and it was substantial. We closed with Citizens bank because they told us that if we went with another bank they may not meet the closing requirements and the deal might fall through. They strong-armed us into using Citizens.

Mom and I didn't have any problems getting a loan with Citizens when we bought a new home in 2012. And, we got the discount. Our realtor did recommend that we get our loan through Citizens because they are able to get loans through quickly. Citizens bent over backwards to get everything done in a timely manner.

Bought a spec house in 2011. Same 30 day closing period. Credit union could not do it. Citizens did.

We bought our house with a discount through Citizens under the 30 day requirement, however, that was 2 years ago. Recently, I went for a home equity loan, and Citizens Bank (I am a customer), Chase Bank (I am a customer), and one other bank (not a customer), all stated 45 days, and interest rates of over 5%. Then I tried Community Bank, WOW, 3.75% interest rate, and closed in right around 2 weeks, which allowed the construction of the addition to proceed on schedule.
My advice, have your friends call Community Bank and trust and see what they can do.
Hope this helps.

Yep, he wanted to go with Citizens but they could not guarantee 30 days. The person provided several accounts of loans of which they did not finish in 30 days for various reasons. So, my friend went back to the sales office and asked what happened in those recent cases where Citizens could not satisfy 30 days. The salesperson said they made an exception and allowed the buyer to keep the discount. So he asks, "can you put that in my contract?". The salespersons says no, he is not authorized to do that. So that's what scared them. Unless you buy in cash, you do take some risk.

Tell your friend he can buy pre owned, but tell him/her to focus on MLS listings, if possible. their sales contracts are negotiable regarding various terms and conditions, whereas, the developer's VLS listings have absolutely no flexibility regarding T&Cs. Some of VLS T&Cs are ridiculous. The developer's attitude is my way or the highway.

Did your friends request the Villages agent to take it to a supervisor who may have been able to help? I doubt the developer would want to miss out on a sale financed through its bank unless there were backup offer(s) which could close within the 30 day period. It seems sad to me that it did not work out for them after the time and expense they put into it.

The wife and I bought earlier this year through The Villages. We got our mortgage through Well Fargo, who bent over backwards to meet the 30 day date but just couldn't do it. We closed about a week later. We did NOT lose our discount but we did have to pay some sort of fee for each of those days we were late by. Afterwards, Wells Fargo sent us gift debit cards equaling the amount of the fines so it's not like we actually had to pay much of anything for the fines.

I'm not sure why buying through The Villages includes this absurd 30 day time, but it is a bit of a pain in the a**. If we'd found a resale home we'd like as well as the new one we bought AND if we'd gone through an "outside" realtor, I feel like we wouldn't have had this. Whatever. It's all behind us now. We just need to finish up our final year or two of our careers and retire down to TV!

Did you get a fixed rate on your home equity loan? We just got one with SunTrust and it took less than 2 weeks but it is adjustable rate. They did originally quote me a 30 day lead time but it processed very quickly. We will have the cash in our account in just about 2 1/2 weeks from the time we applied but do have to keep the account open for 3 years to avoid penalties. There were no closing costs. We are adding on a bird cage and enclosing the lanai.

Sorry to hear about the bad experience. We are very familiar with meeting the 30 day closing requirement. Please feel free to send along our contact information to your friends, we love making new neighbors! Scott Turner can be reached at 352-399-5899.

We had no problem, either time here, buying a new home. The developers don't negotiate and they don't take VA or FHA and there have been people here who have complained about that.


It's a new experience for many. But it is what it is. You can either fish, or cut bait.

I believe the issue with the Villages on new homes has something to do with taxes and bond starting on a home that hasn't been sold. If the deal fell apart, the Villages has to start paying those items. On a pre-owned, someone is already paying those items so it's not an issue.

Last year we worked with a local Ohio bank, knew the loan officer to obtain a fixed loan almost with in the 30 day time. Paperwork was sent to the wrong office, not our fault that resulted in the closing date being postponed by about a week. We were not assessed a penalty by the Villages. My brother went thought this same bank to meet the time constraints for the purchase of his house this year.

Because of the rush or something, our bank had to refund some of our closing costs as the result of a Fed audit. My brother was upset that he didn’t get a refund.

Sometimes it is the luck of the draw how things turn out.

I refinanced my mortgage in January with Quicken Loan. It was quick and painless. The banks I called wouldn't touch it because the loan amount was too small, they said.

We had a horrible experience with Citizen's Mortgage and so did my sister. Because of the Dodd - Frank bill getting a mortgage is a lot more difficult and takes longer. The Developer needs to advertise discount applies to Cash Buyers.

As to buying in The Villages the market determines your experience.
When we first looked the Developer couldn't do enough. We backed away

We came back about a year later and (2006) and the Developer was telling people what they were going to pay and that they had no options take it or leave it. the prices by the way doubled by our second visit. I was so incensed that I listed everything I wanted in a home and if she could not deliver at my price then I would look elsewhere. Three weeks later she called and had a meeting of minds.

Business is business and I understand tough dealings and negotiations but this Developer leaves you with a very bad taste in your mouth .

Our terms were the same as yours, variable rate, 3 years to avoid closing costs, and interesting, we added a birdcage, but are not enclosing the lanai, the cat did not approve the enclosing of the lanai:a040:.

In our case we wanted to start construction, and were lead to believe that the builders typically file a lien at the time the contract is signed, and if that were signed before the loan went through, chaos would ensue. By securing the loan first we avoided the chaos, also as it turns out our builder did not file a lien anyway.

We did WFargo as well. They were able to meet the deadline. I got a set of knives. :a040:

We used BOA on our first house in a TV. We closed 13 hours late. Not our fault, there was a computer issue at TV. We were charged $495 for closing late. Our bank picked up the tab. Citizens always closes in 30 days. That's why they want you to use the. Higher interest, more closing cost. I am surprised citizens said they could not close on time

Thank you all for your replies. Mr. M (my friend) is contemplating what they will do next. I read through all the reviews. God bless you all for taking the time to share your experiences and thoughts. Mr. M and wife are going to think about things for awhile. They will be coming down again in December. Perhaps things will work out for their favor in the next visit. As I mentioned earlier, the concern they had was the clause that if they didn't close within the 30 days, they would lost the discount. They had no problem with the interest nor the $250 to change the closing date. I'm hoping that that sales department sees this and does a survey on other folks who were ready to "sign" but the 30 day restriction scared them away. Thanks much for your comments.

What does that mean? My guess is that your friends said this is what I earn, assets and debt I have etc and they said ok if what you said is all true you can have a loan of x. Now the bank needs the 45 days to verify. Remember the people the bank goes to may not respond quickly or their response may result in more paperwork.

No mortgage company can guarantee 30 day closing because of many factors. Perhaps your employer, bank or previous home loan does not respond in time. Perhaps you cannot provide your requested documents on time. A mortgage company is at the mercy of appraisers, underwriters etc. a good solid applicant can close in 30'days but a mortgage company doesn't know what may come up when you first apply. The developer ask for a 30 day close because time is money. He is paying interim financing interest on each home he builds. Some home loan processes can go on forever, costing the builder more money.

The only way to complete a 30 day closing for certain is to do a cash closing.

When we purchased in April 2014 we were presented with a similar closing schedule and were told it would be best if we handled any financing through Citizens. Although we already had a long relationship with BOA we decided to give Citizens a shot at our business. Not only were their rates and closing costs much higher it turned out that they could not provide the relatively short term financing we needed. We therefore ended up going with BOA who completed the entire process in under two weeks. Since everything was complete we requested that the closing be moved up so that we could handle it in person in lieu of having to send the documents via the mail back to NC. The response to this request was to provide us with a $250 change order to cover administrative costs for changing the terms of the contract. I very politely (not) told them where they could put their change order and let them mail everything on the original closing date. Seems like they could have figured out that the savings in taxes, utilities and loan interest would have been incentive enough to allow the early closing but they would not waiver from their position. Our agent even offered to pay the fee out of his own pocket which I refused to allow.

Sorry to hear about your friend. We bought pre-owned twice, once in 2012 and on the exact same day in 2013 closed on the 2nd house. Used Citizens First both times, no issues whatsoever. First house bought from The Villages, second house from a For Sale By Owner. Found the entire process very simple both times. Both done from Wisconsin via snail mail. My suggestion? Eat the 11k. In a year your friend's house will be worth that plus some... there is nothing on Earth that compares to TV lifestyle and amenities. Nothing! Best of luck to your friend no matter what they decide.

You may not have noticed the kickout clause, or maybe when you bought they had not started using this clause. Although you had a signed sales contract, the house you were wanting to buy stays on the market, and if another offer comes in before you sell your other house, you are required to pony up thousands more in NON-refundable EMD, and held to your closing date or forfeit the EMD. Also, not one word of the sales contract could be changed.

On a resale, aren't you negotiating with the owner of current owner of the home and not sales department?

I would second Quicken loans. Bought a new house and the financing was over the holidays. It was tight but they got it done in the 30 days. The closer said if it was the mortgage company that was the problem they always gave a few day grace period on the 30 dayside long as you made every effort to close on time

There are no guarantees in life

Only on price and a few things like "as is", etc. The sales contract (form) is pretty much non-negotiable, unlike with a MLS contract, where you can attach an addendum and change almost anything the seller agrees to.

We also used Bank of America after being told we should use Citizens if we expected to meet the 30 day requirement. B of A was ready in 21 days, The Villages was not!!

That is very strange indeed. Who is calling the shots here, the buyer and seller or the middle men processing the paperwork (i.e. the sales people)?

Who is calling the shots? On a new home, the developer.


When people are lined up to buy your product you don't have to negotiate with people.


MLS is not allowed to sell a new home here. There are no changes of any kind to the contract on a new home. Period and Amen. Once you absorb that information, your life get's simpler.


AND realtors who aren't allowed to sell new homes post on this forum in many ways. Many are not fans of the developer. Need I say more?

I went through the same thing and I didn't find out until after I had signed an agreement. In my case there was a $250 per day fine if I couldn't close within 30 days. This is unheard of in real estate sales.

Another thing I found out after I had signed papers is that there is no loan contingency. If you are turned down for the loan, The Villages keeps your
10% deposit.

My sister is a very successful real estate broker up north and was flabbergasted when I told her of these two conditions.

I guess that they are in a position of strength and are able to sell thousands of homes in spite of these outrageous conditions.

I went through Quicken Loans and did everything online. I explained about the $250 per day fine for not closing on time and they were great in expediting everything. We had the loan approved after 25 days and there were a few issues. I would highly recommend Quicken Loans. They made every thing easy. Their communication was incredible and it was all done online.

After this experience, I would not buy another new home from The Villages unless I could pay cash. If I move again, it will be into a pre-owned home.