realtors
 

Hi Villagers,,when buying in TV, do you have to use a Village Real Estate agent in their sales offices ? And can anyone recommend a good, honest agent who you worked with and had good results with them. I can't deal with some agent who turns on the pressure to buy and also won't play the usual games that some realtors pull. Thanks,,,Mark

If buying new, yes. If buying previously owned, no.

We worked with Bryan Thayer from TV sales office.... Zero pressure and VERY helpful

I worked with Lori Simon fron TV sales office. She was very knowledgeable and helpful, absolutely no pressure, and is a resident of TV so she really knows the area and her way around.

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

If buying a re-sell I would also get an agent outside The Villages to show you the MLS listings.

Good luck!

Jackie Murphy and Bob Knorr - they work as a team. Both are Villagers, knowledgeable, helpful and not pushy.

realtors
 

Thank you all for the help. We are coming over next week to look around and drive thru the neighborhoods,,,can't wait. Some people see moving as a hassle but I see it as an adventure. I've been all over the world with the Navy but my greatest adventure will be when we move to TV !!!!!! Mark

I'll second the opinion concerning Ron Delk of The Villages. Call him at
352-636-3549. No pressure, very professional, will find the house you are seeking.

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.

Nanette Tolleson is our Villages Sales Agent. She and her husband are residents of The Villages and have lived in all different styles of homes and Villas. Any questions I have she either already knows the answer or gets the answer to me ASAP! Pressure?!?!?! I don't think that word exists in her vocabulary. She has a great sense of humor, tons of patience and is flexible.

Ron Delk is a wonderful agent and helped us to narrow down what we needed when WE didn't know what we wanted. His middle name is Patience and he does everything he can to make the process as painless as possible.

Excellent realtors for The Villages.
 

Two sets of friends have bought pre-owned homes here recently. They both had the husband and wife team of Jonathan and Betty Bonomo as The Villages representatives.
This couple worked hard at finding the right homes for our friends. Very patient and you get two working for you. So if you are looking for a Village realtor, I recommend them.

Do all these agents work out of the same office, or are there several different realtor offices in the Villages?

Just one now at Lake Sumter Landing.

It had been at Spanish Springs, and probably eventually will be at Brownwood.

We used Jim Mclaughlin for both of our homes here. Villages sales representatives can sell new or resale homes but not MLS homes. MLS agents can't sell properties listed by The Villages.

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

Buying a home in the villages
 

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/?.

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

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.

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

(Long) I had great experience with
 

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.

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.