Villages or MLS to Sell ?
 

Getting close to making a decision and we're curious as to what folks are thinking and doing given all the changes in the real estate business.

Who sells more existing homes VLS or MLS?

Success rate (and time on market) is key if you are using funds from one home to complete the next.

Personally, I would give VLS the first chance to sell my house, but I would not give them a six month listing. It would be 90 days max and I would reserve the right to fire them at any time that I lost confidence in them. After 90 days, I would switch to an MLS agent for another 90 days. For any listing, I would use a very experienced agent and they would need to provide a written plan for marketing the house. I would never sign a boilerplate listing contract without reading it and negotiating terms that I did not like. Too many people think they need to sign whatever listing contract the agent presents to them. Also, whenever I have sold a house, the agent would ask me how much I wanted for the house. My answer was always, "you are the professional, you tell me what it is worth."

When we sold our house about a year ago to move to a bigger one, we used MLS. Our realtor is experienced, honest and very professional. She worked her a** off for us. I think she did an open house every week, sometimes twice a week.

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Market flooded right now, majority houses aren’t moving very fast. IMO villages sales more interested in selling new house beings they had exclusive no competition market. In my area seen VLS listed homes sit just as long as MLS homes. I would be more concerned the rate they charge, but that’s me. I also wouldn’t let them (who ever you chose) talk you into bunch of upgraded? I doubt you get money back and most resales the new owners tear out or repaint what they want. House close was good example the sellers spent 40 to 50K on enclosing lani and painting. Maybe got half that back. Then, new owners turned around repainted and redone lani spending another 40K plus.

I agree. I wouldn't do any upgrades.

MLS for resale's. If you are looking for a quick sale (for whatever reason) let the Realtor know it and list your price to start just a few thousand below market price. If no hurry start with market price as long as your house is in good shape. Good luck.

Agreed. The previous owners next door had extensive shelving in their garage but were persuaded to take it out to make the garage look bigger.

Of course, the new owners wanted shelves, so had to pay to put new ones up.

What about a roof if the existing roof is reaching the 15 year mark?

Great point, but a roof isn't really an upgrade.
We were in that exact situation. The home we were selling had the original roof. It was still in great shape but was 14 years old. Our realtor suggested we replace it to make more attractive to potential buyers. She said the buyer would ask us for a new roof as part of the purchase anyway.

And some buyers won't even look at one with an older roof. Anyway, we replaced it and sold it in about a month. But we also priced it fairly according to the current market.
That was about 14 months ago.

If you live north of 466, maybe even 466A, a MLS Realtor would be much better. I don’t think Village Realtors like to go north. It was that way a few years ago and probably hasn’t changed.

I would go MLS, and would choose Ira Miller. He worked for The Villages for 9 years, then switched to the MLS side for many years. He has a contractor's license, a home inspector's license, and his own YouTube channel to help get your home seen by more people.

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There are Villages agents who specialize in pre-owned homes. Donna Fenster is one name that comes to mind, you'll see her name on many of the signs in the northern part of The Villages - though the signs don't stay up long. She's known for getting homes sold, not for having them sit around languishing.

Price. Price. Price. Get that right and it doesn’t matter if MLS or VLS. Both sell about the same.
If you have a view lot in a popular village (meaning mid to south) and price it right it’ll sell, not necessarily quickly.

Houses on regular lots, nothing special and especially north sitting a long time.

You need to know price & time on market for your area, not the entire villages.

Realtor.com shows you days on market. Search for homes in your area, see the competition.

VLS you can sort by village, exact model, price. You can’t see time on market.

Look at both online, get a feel for your area.

Price right for location and condition.

Interview at least 2 agents from each service. If you feel capable FSBO may work especially if you a high-demand property.

Good luck

VLS agents are incentivized to sell new homes before they sell old homes, IMO. Would suggest using MLS agents who will give your home more attention then TV agents.

VLS basically you have no representation in a sale because the buyer’s agent and the seller’s agent work for the same company AKA the Developer . If you choose to list MLS make sure you designate the buyer’s agent commission in your listing. Your property will be shown much more than if the buyer has to pay the agent. Things have changed in the R E biz.

I would never use a Villages “sales agent” to resell a Villages home. Of course there are exceptions, but overall Villages reps have little to no experience negotiating because they’ve never had to negotiate anything, Second, they know little about creative marketing in a tough market. What they know is VLS and doing open houses.

IMO, get an experienced professional Realtor. When you list on MLS, dozens of other pros are made aware of your house. Your home will likely be marketed using all the internet has to offer not just VLS (Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com, etc).
Also when pricing your home, Realtors have access through MLS to a broad set of real comparables sold in an open market not just those sold on VLS.

Finally, when you get an offer, a Realtor knows to handle the nuances of a real contract (concessions, contingencies, counter offers, etc). Good luck.

Yes, I know your Villages sales agent was “sooo nice”. So was mine when I bought my Villages new construction house.

The Villages do not put your listing on realtor.com Zillow.com or Trulia.com. So if you live say across the country and hear about the villages how would you even know they have their own real estate company

I would definitely go with an MLS realtor. VLS agents don’t care about you. All they care about is making the sale. Check what it’s going to cost you with both and I’ll bet you will see a big difference in the fees they charge with MLS being much cheaper.

Hands down use an mls agent!!! I made this mistake of listing with LVS agent and all they did was try to sell the new homes and when they did show my house, they actually talked to people about a comparison of how much of a better deal they could get a new home! Then it was a nightmare trying to get out of the listing, it is impossible. And, if anyone looks at your house while it was listed with them and comes back even months later, they will come after you for commission. It was a nightmare, the other thing to consider,many people look for their own homes now and that’s in MLS listings online! Unless if they are looking to buy a new home, they will go to the MLS listings online .

Selling
 

Exactly what I’m doing now. Village realty is missing the boat not using MLS services.

VLS vs MLS
 

Depends on your house, if you think an existing villager is more apt to buy your house, use VLS, if say, if you think a new villager, use MLS. Most new clients don’t know about VLS, but they sure know Zillow, Redfin and other MLS sites.

The Villages has a lot of agents with extensive experience negotiating and selling resale houses. You really need to evaluate their individual experience before deciding between VLS and MLS. Note that you can hire any VLS or MLS agent you want. I would not hire an agent because they are nice.

You don't need a buyer's agent to buy a home. Having a buyer's agent wasn't even a "thing" until the 1980s and didn't really catch on as a trend until well into the 1990's. Up until then, the ultra-wealthy employed "people" to "handle" these things for them because they were too busy counting their millions to be bothered with all the running around. The peasant stock handled the process of finding a home themselves, and secured a lawyer to work out the sales details.

Just because a buyer's agent is now all the rage, doesn't mean it must be assumed. You can pick out and arrange to buy a house all by yourself, just like people used to do before 1993.

If you're across the country and you've heard about the villages, you'd look up "the villages" on the internet. Then you'd click over to the website that shows up in the search. And then you'd click on "homes" on the very top of the website, and then "search available homes," and VOILA - you discover all the homes that The Villages is offering for sale. New, pre-owned, and even just vacant lots waiting for someone to buy and build! With an easy-to-read map, lots of pictures, tons of filter options to narrow down what you want to look at.

The top top producing VLS agents every year don’t get there by selling new homes - they are almost exclusively resale agents and don’t spend their time driving prospective buyers around. Yes, there is an incentive to sell the new construction. It is the exact same incentive as selling their own listings. I would try VLS first but your listing needs to be more attractive than the other thousand listings with location, features, or if none of the above then price.

I would use MLS to sell. Buyers looking for a new home would go to the villages agents because they have to and that makes sense. Every office has real estates agents and they are all of varying capabilities so picking one that is right for you is a task. Every agent is solely worried about making their commission unless they are your mother. I make upgrades to my property for my own comfort not to collect on resale since every improvement enhances a property but is common knowledge that it does not give you all your money back so best to not get carried away. Zillow and the like are not dependable sources of information as there is a great deal of information about every house they do not know about. Real estate agents do their job but you sometimes do not know how good or bad they are until you use them.

Mls
 

MLS because there is more flexibility and word goes further.

You are not allowed to show buyers agent commission in the listing.

Do VLS and MLS agents typically get the same percent commission from a seller? Are both negotiable? I have wondered that, and that factor would influence me if I were deciding between the two.

Stink, Stank, Stunk
 

I know people on here try to talk to out of upgrades. Worn and dirty paint, stinky carpet, or an old/tired roof will make the difference how much you will lose on your house and how long it takes to sell. I walked into a house that should have sold for a lot more and sat through 2 realtors. It's problem? It stunk, old dirty carpet that couldn't be cleaned. You walked into the house and knew some person had bladder control issues. As far as a roof? I wouldn't buy any house that had a 12 year old or older roof. Would you?

I just look at all the people I personally know that have sold houses in the Villages. Without exception, every house listed with a Villages Realtor sold within 3 weeks of listing and one even sold prior to the listing being released! Granted, all were very well maintained and attractive designer or veranda homes. I know there are exceptions, but I feel the well maintained homes that are priced right sell quickly. I am sure the Villages initially push new homes but bottom line, they just want the sales commission! I also feel that well maintained homes that are priced right sell quickly with MLS also! I also feel most of the complainers about either service are the ones overpricing thier homes. Appearance and well maintained homes matter!

As long as the buyer has enough knowledge about the process then that is ok but trusting the listing agent in a transaction is very risky. The ins and outs of a real estate sale can be much more complicated than you make it sound

conversation with both VLS/MLS both are slow but plenty of houses on both sides of the market

Commissions have always been negotiable, technically speaking. However, agents can decide what they are willing to work for.

If you use an MLS agent to represent you as a buyer and you want to buy a VLS listed home, the MLS agent will not get paid any commission by the seller as The Villages does not "co-broke" with outside agencies. However, your MLS agent will most likely ask you to sign a buyer agreement that specifies how that agent will be compensated. Might be you paying their commission, but that is known upfront.

I second using Ira Miller