Originally Posted by asianthree (Post 2156865)

Isn’t there a Code of Ethics, for MLS? If there wasn’t any keys would not have signed. Guessing the MLS agent knew what you were walking into, and choose not to participate. Sadly you were not the winner, MLS agent got their commission, guessing neither care about their reputation.

Originally Posted by LAFwUs (Post 2156713)

I'm am more than a bit displeased and not sure how to proceed.
Brief background:
We are current 1yr residents of the Villages, on a LT lease on the farthest south end's new construction for the sake of finding what/where we wanted to be.
Found a VLS home in the north end that checked most of the boxes and proceeded with purchase at the beginning of Sept.
Seller bumped the close out to 60 days after accepting our offer, citing they "needed more time" we agreed w/out complaint, even though the slipped in extension was not appreciated.
In fact, needs to be noted, we went with the flow at every step. Not a single complaint voiced, not a single thing asked from anyone.

Literally everything got pushed back to the very last minute, as in the last 2 weeks. No time cushion at all.
VLS "assistant" would constantly pipe us totally wrong info, then take a week to reply, if at all when we asked for clarification. we just rolled with the bs.
Home was literally just cleared of belongings this past weekend (or 56 days post offer acceptance) Some repairs were done very sloppy/shoddy and other things to have been repaired (badly leaking outside spigot being 1) still not done at all.
We were also told home would be "thoughly cleaned to VLS standards" by start of this week! Anyway,

Today was closing day.

Closing time was pushed back 2hrs due to weather. No biggy. Understood.
Closing location was then changed 1 hr before new closing time.
We were not told any of this BTW, had to find it all out on our own. Still trying to go with the flow and adjust accordingly, but the no preemptive contact from anyone starting to not sit well.

No one shows up at the now revised closing time & location, except the title clerk and us, despite being told repeatedly, they'd all be there and everyone knew the new time/location.
The weather was not an issue by then, we drove it, the title clerk made it from outside the villages, bank staff was there no issue, in fact it had stopped raining hours earlier.
Title clerk just wanted to go home, but least she showed.
Kudos for that.
Sales office where we were to get our new gate cards & rez IDs post closing (original closing location), would not let us in, even though there were people inside and we were told we were "excepted". It was 2 hrs before their posted close time. Grrrr.

So, I sit here, end of the "big day" we waited 2 months for.....,
I have No KEYS, garage remotes, etc to our new house.
(because neither agent showed at close)
The house has not been cleaned out, as promised.
House still has belonging in it we ask to have removed.
Some repairs not done.
*Inside was trashed during the move out (nails and screws from wall decorations being pulled out, littered every floor, literally hundreds of holes & scratches in the walls, dirt, clumps of pet hair & debris everywhere, including a small amount of junk we asked to have removed during the walk thru last monday..none of it has been corrected or remedied.

Our agent txt says "another week" to get a cleaning crew over, but I was told "I have to arrange" that thru the sellers agent - whose name & contact we were never provided, despite our asking.

I don't know when we are to get keys, etc. Have to now drive back down to get ID cards in addition to all this.
Not a single congrats or made to feel welcome at all by anyone, just a big fat nothing at almost every turn....SMH.

I'm not sure where to go from here?
Do I escalate these issues to a higher level and if so, whom?
Certainly this is not how it is..is it?
Advice appreciated. thnx.

Originally Posted by LAFwUs (Post 2156887)

Thank you for those that have helped by reply & congrats.
After way too much BS, we are supposed to meet to get keys, etc this evening.
Cleaning & repairs I suppose are on us at this point. Given how other things have been handled on the sellers side/agent, that's probably for the best.

As far as the pre-close walk thru; that was conducted this past monday. It was the 1st time we had seen the house void of 20yrs of personal items inside. We noted the issues of concern and we were "assured" at that time, the remaining item removals, cleaning, repairs, etc would be handled before close!
That was 57 days into the 60 day process and 3 days before any storm arrived. So yes, that doesn't make sense why it wasn't done.

We were not told, none of that had not been done - until after close.

Since no one showed up for close as repeatedly promised and we had to jump thru constantly changing last minute hoops, just to get that done, we had no access to the house to see one way or another and as of the time of this writing - still dont. Hopefully tonight.

Regarding the seller, she is out of state (so I'm told). All matters were done via her VLS selling agent. All her signings were done electronically. We have purchased two previous properties in WA state, never once had the seller attend closing, but agents did attend and all things were done well before that particular date without hiccup.
The whole process was filled with lots of final hour BS, tons of unkept promises and the whole "trust us, we're the villages, we got this!", which has lead us to where we are now....

A previous reply, said it best - we were simply too accommodating and this was the result.
Lesson Learned!
Perhaps this thread can serve as a warning to others.

Originally Posted by LAFwUs (Post 2156713)

I'm am more than a bit displeased and not sure how to proceed.
Brief background:
We are current 1yr residents of the Villages, on a LT lease on the farthest south end's new construction for the sake of finding what/where we wanted to be.
Found a VLS home in the north end that checked most of the boxes and proceeded with purchase at the beginning of Sept.
Seller bumped the close out to 60 days after accepting our offer, citing they "needed more time" we agreed w/out complaint, even though the slipped in extension was not appreciated.
In fact, needs to be noted, we went with the flow at every step. Not a single complaint voiced, not a single thing asked from anyone.

Literally everything got pushed back to the very last minute, as in the last 2 weeks. No time cushion at all.
VLS "assistant" would constantly pipe us totally wrong info, then take a week to reply, if at all when we asked for clarification. we just rolled with the bs.
Home was literally just cleared of belongings this past weekend (or 56 days post offer acceptance) Some repairs were done very sloppy/shoddy and other things to have been repaired (badly leaking outside spigot being 1) still not done at all.
We were also told home would be "thoughly cleaned to VLS standards" by start of this week! Anyway,

Today was closing day.

Closing time was pushed back 2hrs due to weather. No biggy. Understood.
Closing location was then changed 1 hr before new closing time.
We were not told any of this BTW, had to find it all out on our own. Still trying to go with the flow and adjust accordingly, but the no preemptive contact from anyone starting to not sit well.

No one shows up at the now revised closing time & location, except the title clerk and us, despite being told repeatedly, they'd all be there and everyone knew the new time/location.
The weather was not an issue by then, we drove it, the title clerk made it from outside the villages, bank staff was there no issue, in fact it had stopped raining hours earlier.
Title clerk just wanted to go home, but least she showed.
Kudos for that.
Sales office where we were to get our new gate cards & rez IDs post closing (original closing location), would not let us in, even though there were people inside and we were told we were "excepted". It was 2 hrs before their posted close time. Grrrr.

So, I sit here, end of the "big day" we waited 2 months for.....,
I have No KEYS, garage remotes, etc to our new house.
(because neither agent showed at close)
The house has not been cleaned out, as promised.
House still has belonging in it we ask to have removed.
Some repairs not done.
*Inside was trashed during the move out (nails and screws from wall decorations being pulled out, littered every floor, literally hundreds of holes & scratches in the walls, dirt, clumps of pet hair & debris everywhere, including a small amount of junk we asked to have removed during the walk thru last monday..none of it has been corrected or remedied.

Our agent txt says "another week" to get a cleaning crew over, but I was told "I have to arrange" that thru the sellers agent - whose name & contact we were never provided, despite our asking.

I don't know when we are to get keys, etc. Have to now drive back down to get ID cards in addition to all this.
Not a single congrats or made to feel welcome at all by anyone, just a big fat nothing at almost every turn....SMH.

I'm not sure where to go from here?
Do I escalate these issues to a higher level and if so, whom?
Certainly this is not how it is..is it?
Advice appreciated. thnx.

Originally Posted by LAFwUs (Post 2156713)

I'm am more than a bit displeased and not sure how to proceed.
Brief background:
We are current 1yr residents of the Villages, on a LT lease on the farthest south end's new construction for the sake of finding what/where we wanted to be.
Found a VLS home in the north end that checked most of the boxes and proceeded with purchase at the beginning of Sept.
Seller bumped the close out to 60 days after accepting our offer, citing they "needed more time" we agreed w/out complaint, even though the slipped in extension was not appreciated.
In fact, needs to be noted, we went with the flow at every step. Not a single complaint voiced, not a single thing asked from anyone.

Literally everything got pushed back to the very last minute, as in the last 2 weeks. No time cushion at all.
VLS "assistant" would constantly pipe us totally wrong info, then take a week to reply, if at all when we asked for clarification. we just rolled with the bs.
Home was literally just cleared of belongings this past weekend (or 56 days post offer acceptance) Some repairs were done very sloppy/shoddy and other things to have been repaired (badly leaking outside spigot being 1) still not done at all.
We were also told home would be "thoughly cleaned to VLS standards" by start of this week! Anyway,

Today was closing day.

Closing time was pushed back 2hrs due to weather. No biggy. Understood.
Closing location was then changed 1 hr before new closing time.
We were not told any of this BTW, had to find it all out on our own. Still trying to go with the flow and adjust accordingly, but the no preemptive contact from anyone starting to not sit well.

No one shows up at the now revised closing time & location, except the title clerk and us, despite being told repeatedly, they'd all be there and everyone knew the new time/location.
The weather was not an issue by then, we drove it, the title clerk made it from outside the villages, bank staff was there no issue, in fact it had stopped raining hours earlier.
Title clerk just wanted to go home, but least she showed.
Kudos for that.
Sales office where we were to get our new gate cards & rez IDs post closing (original closing location), would not let us in, even though there were people inside and we were told we were "excepted". It was 2 hrs before their posted close time. Grrrr.

So, I sit here, end of the "big day" we waited 2 months for.....,
I have No KEYS, garage remotes, etc to our new house.
(because neither agent showed at close)
The house has not been cleaned out, as promised.
House still has belonging in it we ask to have removed.
Some repairs not done.
*Inside was trashed during the move out (nails and screws from wall decorations being pulled out, littered every floor, literally hundreds of holes & scratches in the walls, dirt, clumps of pet hair & debris everywhere, including a small amount of junk we asked to have removed during the walk thru last monday..none of it has been corrected or remedied.

Our agent txt says "another week" to get a cleaning crew over, but I was told "I have to arrange" that thru the sellers agent - whose name & contact we were never provided, despite our asking.

I don't know when we are to get keys, etc. Have to now drive back down to get ID cards in addition to all this.
Not a single congrats or made to feel welcome at all by anyone, just a big fat nothing at almost every turn....SMH.

I'm not sure where to go from here?
Do I escalate these issues to a higher level and if so, whom?
Certainly this is not how it is..is it?
Advice appreciated. thnx.

Originally Posted by LAFwUs (Post 2156973)

Story didnt change, I worded things poorly or at least less detailed than I should have perhaps...

Original closing was to take place at LSL sales office 2pm, where we were to have met all parties, sign docs, get keys, get cards, etc. This was agreed on days prior.
Easy peazy.

That plan was changed last minute to a met at the Citizens First Bank next door 4pm. The bank was clearly open and appeared to be operating normally as was most of LSL. That's the "bank people" I was referring to previously. It was they who then directed us upstairs to meet with the title clerk who also showed up.
Other people, most importantly was our acting "agent" and the sellers agent where supposed to be there as well. The sellers agent had all keys, neither of which felt it was important enough to arrive as stated they would!
Sorry if that one aspect of the greater story was unclear.

BTW - We were able to obtain the keys this evening.
Our acting "agent" readily admitted "several people totally dropped the ball on our transaction/close" and none of it at all, could be justified.

Originally Posted by walterray1 (Post 2156836)

have you ever purchased a home before? Sorry for all that but really. How and why did you sign papers when the other side was not there? Something doesn't make sense.

Originally Posted by LAFwUs (Post 2156713)

I'm am more than a bit displeased and not sure how to proceed.
Brief background:
We are current 1yr residents of the Villages, on a LT lease on the farthest south end's new construction for the sake of finding what/where we wanted to be.
Found a VLS home in the north end that checked most of the boxes and proceeded with purchase at the beginning of Sept.
Seller bumped the close out to 60 days after accepting our offer, citing they "needed more time" we agreed w/out complaint, even though the slipped in extension was not appreciated.
In fact, needs to be noted, we went with the flow at every step. Not a single complaint voiced, not a single thing asked from anyone.

Literally everything got pushed back to the very last minute, as in the last 2 weeks. No time cushion at all.
VLS "assistant" would constantly pipe us totally wrong info, then take a week to reply, if at all when we asked for clarification. we just rolled with the bs.
Home was literally just cleared of belongings this past weekend (or 56 days post offer acceptance) Some repairs were done very sloppy/shoddy and other things to have been repaired (badly leaking outside spigot being 1) still not done at all.
We were also told home would be "thoughly cleaned to VLS standards" by start of

Today was closing day.

Closing time was pushed back 2hrs due to weather. No biggy. Understood.
Closing location was then changed 1 hr before new closing time.
We were not told any of this BTW, had to find it all out on our own. Still trying to go with the flow and adjust accordingly, but the no preemptive contact from anyone starting to not sit well.

No one shows up at the now revised closing time & location, except the title clerk and us, despite being told repeatedly, they'd all be there and everyone knew the new time/location.
The weather was not an issue by then, we drove it, the title clerk made it from outside the villages, bank staff was there no issue, in fact it had stopped raining hours earlier.
Title clerk just wanted to go home, but least she showed.
Kudos for that.
Sales office where we were to get our new gate cards & rez IDs post closing (original closing location), would not let us in, even though there were people inside and we were told we were "excepted". It was 2 hrs before their posted close time. Grrrr.

So, I sit here, end of the "big day" we waited 2 months for.....,
I have No KEYS, garage remotes, etc to our new house.
(because neither agent showed at close)
The house has not been cleaned out, as promised.
House still has belonging in it we ask to have removed.
Some repairs not done.
*Inside was trashed during the move out (nails and screws from wall decorations being pulled out, littered every floor, literally hundreds of holes & scratches in the walls, dirt, clumps of pet hair & debris everywhere, including a small amount of junk we asked to have removed during the walk thru last monday..none of it has been corrected or remedied.

Our agent txt says "another week" to get a cleaning crew over, but I was told "I have to arrange" that thru the sellers agent - whose name & contact we were never provided, despite our asking.

I don't know when we are to get keys, etc. Have to now drive back down to get ID cards in addition to all this.
Not a single congrats or made to feel welcome at all by anyone, just a big fat nothing at almost every turn....SMH.

I'm not sure where to go from here?
Do I escalate these issues to a higher level and if so, whom?
Certainly this is not how it is..is it?
Advice appreciated. thnx.

Originally Posted by Josephjmarchese (Post 2157175)

I would talk to the Agents boss, seek a reduction in commission or compensation or do us all a service and name the agent so we can avoid him or her. My villages agent was outstanding and above and beyond in getting thing coordinated and done

Originally Posted by La lamy (Post 2157233)

So sorry you had to deal with all that. I think in general people are quite satisfied with their house purchase in TV, but I had a bit of an issue too. It was a private sale, so no agents to deal with, but the house had TONS of crap left inside when I got it. The people selling wanted to keep a key at closing so they could take their time finishing emptying it, and I assume keep living in it while I was away. YEA RIGHT, that wasn't going to happen!!!
I was leaving 2 days later, so I spent 5 hours NON STOP putting their crap into garbage bags and leaving it outside for them to sort through. I put what I thought might be needed in one pile, the obvious old crap in another pile. I think it was about 40 full garbage bags. I wasn't going to come back to a VERY DIRTY house full of crap, so I spent another 5 hours the next day cleaning.
Not the best start to owning a home in TV, but it was a blip in an otherwise awesome investment.
Good luck to you for your house to feel good soon.

Originally Posted by LAFwUs (Post 2156887)

Thank you for those that have helped by reply & congrats.
After way too much BS, we are supposed to meet to get keys, etc this evening.
Cleaning & repairs I suppose are on us at this point. Given how other things have been handled on the sellers side/agent, that's probably for the best.

As far as the pre-close walk thru; that was conducted this past monday. It was the 1st time we had seen the house void of 20yrs of personal items inside. We noted the issues of concern and we were "assured" at that time, the remaining item removals, cleaning, repairs, etc would be handled before close!
That was 57 days into the 60 day process and 3 days before any storm arrived. So yes, that doesn't make sense why it wasn't done.

We were not told, none of that had not been done - until after close.

Since no one showed up for close as repeatedly promised and we had to jump thru constantly changing last minute hoops, just to get that done, we had no access to the house to see one way or another and as of the time of this writing - still dont. Hopefully tonight.

Regarding the seller, she is out of state (so I'm told). All matters were done via her VLS selling agent. All her signings were done electronically. We have purchased two previous properties in WA state, never once had the seller attend closing, but agents did attend and all things were done well before that particular date without hiccup.
The whole process was filled with lots of final hour BS, tons of unkept promises and the whole "trust us, we're the villages, we got this!", which has lead us to where we are now....

A previous reply, said it best - we were simply too accommodating and this was the result.
Lesson Learned!
Perhaps this thread can serve as a warning to others.

Originally Posted by La lamy (Post 2157233)

So sorry you had to deal with all that. I think in general people are quite satisfied with their house purchase in TV, but I had a bit of an issue too. It was a private sale, so no agents to deal with, but the house had TONS of crap left inside when I got it. The people selling wanted to keep a key at closing so they could take their time finishing emptying it, and I assume keep living in it while I was away. YEA RIGHT, that wasn't going to happen!!!
I was leaving 2 days later, so I spent 5 hours NON STOP putting their crap into garbage bags and leaving it outside for them to sort through. I put what I thought might be needed in one pile, the obvious old crap in another pile. I think it was about 40 full garbage bags. I wasn't going to come back to a VERY DIRTY house full of crap, so I spent another 5 hours the next day cleaning.
Not the best start to owning a home in TV, but it was a blip in an otherwise awesome investment.
Good luck to you for your house to feel good soon.

Originally Posted by Finchs (Post 2157315)

Am I the only one who doesn't know what VLS is????

Originally Posted by LAFwUs (Post 2157212)

Op here - THANK YOU to everyone that has replied!!
I have read each one and learned from many of them.

To those that ask why we closed, I have tried to address that previously in follow up post.
We had, what we thought were very legitimate concerns should we had not done so when we did, combined with assurances that all would be handled prior to.
Our trust in those "assurances" & "promises", is admittedly part of the blame.
I have to own that.
It was not naivety, just misplaced faith in apparently the wrong people.
Anyway;
My wife & I discussed our range of options at great length today, while we spent the first of many hours to come, trying to clean up, mop and assess the damages, things not repaired, needing attention, etc. The list is a good long one. I'll have no lack of things to do for the next 6 months...lol

We have chosen to move forward at our own expense and effort, as stated we own it now, good or bad. We signed and took possession, albeit the hard way. Little to nothing would probably be accomplished in complaining to TPTB at the VLS, except more wasted time & interaction with people who simply didn't care to begin with...
Thank you again everyone. Some of you, especially those that send private messages, have really made us feel welcome & understood and I appreciate it perhaps more than I can express here. :)
LaF w/us

Originally Posted by Finchs (Post 2157315)

Am I the only one who doesn't know what VLS is????

Originally Posted by Papa_lecki (Post 2157357)

Village Listing Service (VLS)
Vs
Multiple Listing Service (MLS)

Originally Posted by BrianL99 (Post 2156737)

& that folks, is why amateurs should use Lawyers when purchasing real estate.

Originally Posted by Barborv (Post 2157368)

Usually if the sellers aren't out including all items by given date and work that the owners were supposed to do, isn't done, it usually is stipulated that the owners have to pay a daily rate per day. Thats how it is up North. But up North use lawyers. Your Village salesperson/realtor should be taking care of this.

Originally Posted by Maker (Post 2157436)

I recall something about 1.5% of selling price is held back for a period of time where buyer can submit a claim for correcting an issue that should not have been present at closing. I did not need that, so my memory is not too clear about it. Worth asking. You could fix a bunch of stuff that was not right using seller's money.

Originally Posted by Kelevision (Post 2157445)

All I’m going to add to this post is….. EVERYTHING in central FL was closed on nov 10th. No mail delivery, disney and all the parks were shut down, etc. I’m surprised anyone went through with the closing at all?