New homes, agent or agents?
 

Just joined thanks for having me and what a terrific site!

I have perused around some but may have missed the following information so looking for some clarification regarding new home purchases.

1.) As I understand it new homes can only be purchased through a VLS agent?

2.) While surfing though the site I couldn't help but notice in a couple of threads around here somewhere that it was suggested that it would be in ones best interest to have a couple of agents working for you as opposed to just one?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Yes, the Village Agents are the only ones for new homes. I cannot think of needed more than one agents unless it is a team working together. They all have the exact same info. Just find one you like.

I started with one but ended up switching to another and bought from them. For me personally, the first person didn’t seem very interested in helping me find a place. The next one was very helpful. But i never used them both at the same time.

Ask for Tony Trussler. He's thorough, patient and he listens and he's just a nice guy. You won't be disappointed.

the realtors for the villages are not to be trusted watch your step with them

Why would you say that? Maybe you just had one that wasn’t that good. Ours was great and very trustworthy.

Villages agents are NOT Realtors.

WHO CARES?

I love that they will NOT hound you to death...

Because they don't have to. People are lined up to buy. They don't need to tell you anything untruthful. People want to live here and have made this the most popular place in the whole United States.

We have had nothing but good experiences and help and good advice from the wonderful man Jim McLaughlin both times we bought here. (He must be close to retirement) He was a """"licensed realtor""""" in his previous life. I don't think it amounts to a hill of beans.

I so dislike the constant calls and the hounding.

Jim showed us used homes too, our second time around. We decided to go with new. They were cheaper and warranted. But that is US. Some folks like that all the things have been added; pull down steps in the garage, gutters to the side and back, and other things that to me are too much personalization. We are ALL different.

No needs to hoodwink you to buy here. It is a GREAT place to live but getting more expensive all of the time.

They are just pricing according to the National market....so don't start about greed.

I love The Villages and I do not know the Morses, but would like to shake their hands and thank them.



I have heard nothing but good things from my friends about The Villages agents.

Beth Pope is the best 352-552-1511

"1. REALTOR® = Member of NAR

A REALTOR® is a member of the National Association of REALTORS®. The term REALTOR® should never be used as a substitute for "real estate agent."

The REALTOR® trademarks include:

REALTOR®
REALTORS®
REALTOR-ASSOCIATE®
the REALTOR® block "R" logo
The REALTOR® marks let people know that you are more than just a real estate practitioner: you adhere to a strict Code of Ethics that protects clients, the public, and other real estate agents.

The term REALTOR® is not only a trademark owned by NAR and protected by federal law, it's a valuable membership benefit that distinguishes members from other real estate licensees."

From: Top 5 Things You Need to Know About the REALTOR(R) Trademarks

There are two ways to buy a new home, a spec built, or a custom built, which you design and create the specifications. With a custom build, you don't really need a VLS to look at lots and pick one out, you can do that online to find the lots, and visit them yourself to see the actual view, and potential lots around it, and the cost.

If you do a custom build, just call up a VLS, and tell them you want to buy X lot, and then ask what models WILL or WON'T fit on it, so that you then look at the models to see what you like or not. . . then put your money down

With custom builds, VLS doesn't do much but hold your hand through the initial sale financial process and gets you in line for the design session. . . and finds your lifestyle accomodations for the design session. . .

During our first and only lifestyle, the VLS assigned to us just drove us through a few areas and because we were both former military, we visited eisenhower rec center, Fenny for a couple of model homes, and then maybe marsh bend, not sure, I can't remember the first drive. . too much visual stimulation . . . . two days later we drove ourselves around Fenney and Marsh Bend, looking at the for sale map, and the prices. . . and the views, and discussed the financing at home, and what we had to do to afford the whole deal. . .

VLS wasn't involved with selling until we decided to actually buy. . .

YMMV

Thanks. That answers my first inquiry.
Thanks for this as well.

Perhaps I miss understood what I read and members here were talking about re-sale homes? I looked over and over again but couldn't find the thread.

A little background... we already have an agent and he seems like a good guy. We got to looking around and ran into another agent who was without a doubt much more knowledgeable.

I've done what I would consider some extensive research and felt surprised at how much more I knew about the area than the agent I currently have. The 2nd agent I ran into knew the same information that I did which leads me to believe they are more on top of their game. At least when it comes to knowledge of the area.

In turn, all of this got me to thinking to find a forum about the villages and start doing research there as well so here I am. We like our current agent, but more impressed with the knowledge of the one we ran into.

Attempting to figure out if it is considered gauche to drop the one we have been working with for over a year now and go with somebody else and/or prohibited to have two of them working independently as I thought I had read on here somewhere.

My first Villages agent spent as little time and energy with me as possible as he wanted me to do all the work, driving around to see open houses of various types. He mumbled minimal information when I asked him questions about The Villages, especially about the bond. He was extremely evasive about the topic of bonds and reacted as if he had never heard of them! lol All he did was take me to three spec designer houses and spent as little time with me as possible. BTW, and since the OP is only looking at new this would not apply but my first agent evaded showing me even a single resale after multiple requests and steered me to buy new. I did switch and found a much better Villages agent.

Re: getting more expensive. That is true everywhere.
I am an Ex-New Yorker the population of Florida now exceeds New York. The reasons are multi-fold. Rising labor cost, rising land cost, rising population, for the villages aging population and historically low mortgage interest rates. A perfect storm.

I am not looking to buy or to sell. It is interesting pricing on new homes numbers like 469,488. I just noticed it. Is that new for the villages? What ever happened to magic numbers-469,500?

Re: two agents.
Keep careful notes. You do not want to be buying a home and have two commission sales people fighting over who generated the sale.

cost marked up at a standard margin, simple multiplication, no market research needed. . .

I recommend Katy Kelly from RE/MAX Premier Realty. 352-355-7982
katypkelly@gmail.com
katykellyhomes.com

You should have an agent that can show you MLS listed homes. You should visit my YouTube channel I have a video that discusses this topic MLS or VLS. I cannot put the link here the moderators will take the comment down because I advertise that I am a licensed realtor. But if you search my name you will find it Robyn Cavallaro. I would be happy to help you on the MLS side of things

As an agent moving down from KC here’s my take. If you’ve signed a buyers agency agreement you can’t really work with both at the same time (excluding a VLS agent since they’re not realtors). If you haven’t signed anything you’re free to do what you feel is best for you. Perhaps the 2nd agent would pay the 1st agent a referral fee to pay for the time he’s already put in working for you. That way everyone is happy. 1st agent gets paid for his time, second agent gets paid when the deal closes and you get an agent you feel will do a better job for you. Just an idea to make it win/win/win.

Beautiful home for sale by owner in Fernandina. Corner of Pinelles and Abana Path

She can't sell new homes in TV. Only resales. And it looks like the OP was more interested in a new home.
:ohdear::ohdear:

This is pretty much the same thing we did with two agents.
:coolsmiley::coolsmiley:

Why would you accuse the Villages "realtors" of not being trustworthy without bringing some facts into the conversation?

I have found the Villages sales representatives to be attentive and helpful. I would recommend the sales rep that I have worked with in a heartbeat. We've bought two homes and are selling another with his assistance. We are not talking quick buys either. Any of the sales reps will do a quick buy if that is what you are looking for. On the other hand, we exchanged information with our sales rep for nearly two years before we settled on the right home at the right time. There was no sales pressure in my opinion.

Of course the sales representatives are all motivated to sell homes. I'm pretty sure that is how they make a living. But I have found that most of them are very helpful and don't throw a big sales pitch at you. It is a fact that some reps have been with the Villages longer than others and have more experience. As a prospective buyer, you have to learn that on your own. If you take your time to go to showcase homes (open houses), you will meet many sales representatives. Find someone you click with. There are hundreds of them and I would bet that most of them are trustworthy.

Could it be that you didn't take your time or ask enough questions? Did you talk to a number of people who are already homeowners and have gone through the process? What did you learn from them? Once you sign on the dotted line ....... Well, you know the rest of the story.

Ask for Mario Kurtz. He will work hard for you

Agents
 

Beth Pope and Kelley Pope are the best!!!

When we were home shopping we had a great sales person that we worked with. On our second visit we found the home at an open house and put in a full asking price offer. Later in the day he called us to let us know the sales agent already had the house under contract and proceeded with the open house anyway.

Our sales agent continued to work with us and before we had to leave he found us our home.

Not all Agents are ethical.

He said it obviously because that was his experience, I am there are some good agents and there's some terrible agents and there are some agents I strictly think about their pocket

Ymmv . It stands for your mileage may vary, in other words everyone's experience is different. This is real life humans have motivations above and beyond what you may think and there's a difference between a realtor who has signed a statement for ethicality as well as their agents who are usually glorified sales people and may or may not really care about you a week after you sign up and give them a large fat commission by buying a house that's probably be overpriced in today's market. The fact of the matter is the villages proper is selling all the houses it can build rather fast and that puts a different mindset into sales agents.

Our realtor in Queens, NYC told us to make sure to use "88" as part of our listing price. Why? Because 88 - according to her - is considered a lucky / good fortune number in some Asian communities. So, it's not uncommon to see it come up now in real estate listings.

That's a pretty broad brush you paint with.

🤔 Puzzling.

If you buy a new house you pay what they demand. If you want to purchase a used home look on Zillow Next Door. Get the seller to pay the title insurance if you need it. There’s no security in having it. Only reason you need is if the house is financed. DO NOT use villages insurance company. Two years ago I got a quote after 4 days of calling it was 150% higher for identical policy.

They’ve hired a lot of new people with very little knowledge. Most sales people in the villages are average or below. The outside agents selling used don’t care much either. Go online look at the sales people with the most listings and experience under their belt.

Keep in mind whoever you use does not work for you they are agents of the villages. Their job is to sell you as many ancillary products as possible. Always get quotes for those services. Put your money in a bank but not the villages. Better service elsewhere

2nd vote for Tony Trussler....you will not regret it, and he will become a lifelong friend.

you are totally wrong and misinformed. You may have had a Villages agent you did not like, but like every walk of life there are good and not so good. I know several Villages agents and trust them implicitly. I have also known and had real estate agents that I would not trust to walk my dog.

As with any transaction or business dealing, if the two sides can not communicate honestly and completely, it is incombunt upon each side to cease and find someone to deal with.

There are way more options enlisting the help of a Villages agent and an outside real estate agent. We ultimately decided on a new build, so used our only option.

We did, however, come close to buying an existing home from an MLS agent, which would've been fine. She was/is very friendly and helpful.

Now, when it comes time to sell - which may not be for a long time - we will keep all options open as to who we choose to sell our home. This is, after all, a business.

No agent will starve if we pick someone other than the one(s) we worked with previously. There may be some hurt feelings, but this is a business and ultimately the highest sale price wins.

i was in real estate for 41 years before I retired to The Villages. If you want new construction, or any property listed by The Villages real estate company then I HIGHLY recommend you call Donna Fenster. Her CBR# is 352-753-2270. My wife and I have referred her to many other friends and family and ALL have been very pleased. If you want to investigate properties listed in MLS you must have a Realtor with another company. Best of luck to you. Oh, and you must like, enjoy and respect your Realtor, or selling agent. Trust is critical when you've buying real estate.