[John_W]

Originally Posted by skyking

Incorrect. They are licensed in Florida. They are not members of the real estate board.

If they are licensed as you say, then that's why they're already acting the same as MLS agents. They are working on behalf of the listing agent or seller and not the buyer. So beware of anything you say in front of your salesman whether he works for an outside broker or The Villages Sales Office.

[valuemkt]

Welcome to the Villages .. and welcome to Florida. Since you sold your home somewhere, this wasn't your first rodeo .. but perhaps only your second. Regardless of whether this really is America's friendliest home town or not.. the norms of BUYER BEWARE still come to play. Without getting into the endlest debate of whether you should pursue homes listed in MLS or VLS, someone new to a state needs to school themself on the standard real estate contracts of their new state. Even though you went through the Villages, some of the things you referenced are part of a standard Florida contract ( the 1.5% you mention). It's several pages long .. and I;ve read it word for word many times .. and asked clarifying questions to understand those points that were different from my previous state (Georgia). The due diligence comment is nonsense . You can ask for any time you want .. It's as negotiable as an earnest money amount. What I don;t understand is why you didnt walk away .. You still had ten days .. you had a sales person tied to the seller and to The Villages real estate. you had issues with the house that the sales rep tried to bully you into accepting ..If it didnt feel good .. WALK !

Your well intentioned advice after the fact can be boiled down into some simple caveats

Don;t sign something you don;t understand
You are responsible for surrounding yourself with people that will work in YOUR best interests
Due diligence means you can walk away for any reason
There are ALWAYS many similar homes for sale in the Villages - wait and you will find one that is better suited for you

Sorry you had a rough beginning .. get over the misery and enjoy the lifestyle that made you move here

[Hifred]

Kathy, I don't understand what you mean by "you agree to repair anything that is broken." Do you mean after the inspection or that the home should be in good condition before you list it. I am not sure what you mean by "anything" I don't understand but would like to know.

[Hifred]

Hi Value Market, I am not sure what you mean when you say we could have walked. Once the sales agreement was signed we could not walk without losing our down payment which was 10%. We had 10 days to get an inspection. We got two because the first inspector we felt did not work on our behalf. After the second inspector there were 2 cracks in the foundation and a number of cosmetic items that the seller did not have to fix. My point is that had we known this information before we put in an offer we would have offered less money than we did. We were not allowed the option to walk because we were under a sales agreement. In Illinois where we are from there is an attorney review period and once the inspection is completed there is a negotiation process between the buyer and the seller to determine who is going to pay for the work that was identified in the inspection report. Florida is very different. That is why I am writing this to help anyone who is coming here and may not understand some of the differences. Since we have been renting every person we have met has been exceptionally kind. I just feel bad that I did not realize that our agent from the Villages was not really representing us. I thought he was "our" agent. But all sales people in the Villages work on behalf of the Villages and do not look out for buyers which is very different from what I know or expected This is an important distinction because you can't count on them to interpret or explain the contract fully and when I asked for different terms my agents response was that is not what we do here. I like the Villages and I want to live here so I took him at his word. It was only after I spoke to the manager later that I learned on pre-owned homes you can change the agreement and he was wrong for example by telling me I could not change 10 days for inspection to 15 days. I agree with you that I was kind of a "dumb ass" about this but I have found this process very stressful. Retiring, selling my home, moving, leaving family and friends, being in a temporary rental have taken a toll on me and my thinking probably wasn't what it should be. But this sales agent fostered a relationship with us and I took him at his word that the contract had to be done the way it was written without being allowed to make changes. My goal in writing this is just to help others. You are right .... it is my fault...I am not trying to say I am a victim but I do want others to get some benefit from my mistakes.

[Velvet]

Thank you for this warning.

When I was looking for a home in TV I wanted a certain resale area and as soon as it was suggested that I look at the new area instead, when I asked about sinkholes and they have never heard of them, the agent lost my confidence .... with MLS as soon as she answered my questions with she didn’t “understand” them, or it was not the right time to ask them, I involved other people. I asked anyone I met; the title company, the bank, future neighbors, TOTV, other real estate people etc for advice. The only person I never asked again about anything, or followed any suggestion they made, was “my” real estate agent.

And you are not dumb, you were not told “the whole truth” and some of us are trusting people and there are individuals who take advantage of that, especially when large amount of money is involved.

[mamamia54]

Thank you for your post. It is very informative and I’m sure will
help many buyers with their process of negotiations, etc.

[Kilmacowen]

Originally Posted by Hifred

Hi Value Market, I am not sure what you mean when you say we could have walked. Once the sales agreement was signed we could not walk without losing our down payment which was 10%. We had 10 days to get an inspection. We got two because the first inspector we felt did not work on our behalf. After the second inspector there were 2 cracks in the foundation and a number of cosmetic items that the seller did not have to fix. My point is that had we known this information before we put in an offer we would have offered less money than we did. We were not allowed the option to walk because we were under a sales agreement. In Illinois where we are from there is an attorney review period and once the inspection is completed there is a negotiation process between the buyer and the seller to determine who is going to pay for the work that was identified in the inspection report. Florida is very different. That is why I am writing this to help anyone who is coming here and may not understand some of the differences. Since we have been renting every person we have met has been exceptionally kind. I just feel bad that I did not realize that our agent from the Villages was not really representing us. I thought he was "our" agent. But all sales people in the Villages work on behalf of the Villages and do not look out for buyers which is very different from what I know or expected This is an important distinction because you can't count on them to interpret or explain the contract fully and when I asked for different terms my agents response was that is not what we do here. I like the Villages and I want to live here so I took him at his word. It was only after I spoke to the manager later that I learned on pre-owned homes you can change the agreement and he was wrong for example by telling me I could not change 10 days for inspection to 15 days. I agree with you that I was kind of a "dumb ass" about this but I have found this process very stressful. Retiring, selling my home, moving, leaving family and friends, being in a temporary rental have taken a toll on me and my thinking probably wasn't what it should be. But this sales agent fostered a relationship with us and I took him at his word that the contract had to be done the way it was written without being allowed to make changes. My goal in writing this is just to help others. You are right .... it is my fault...I am not trying to say I am a victim but I do want others to get some benefit from my mistakes.

Initially you signed a offer, subject to an inspection, to be done in a timely matter. Yes, you could adjust the offer price after the inspection or WALK. An offer is not a legal binding sales agreement. A purchase and sale agreement is legal and binding. This would be done after with your lawyer approval. All agents be it VLS or MLS work for the seller unless you hire your own, this is a disclosure to both parties.

[kathyspear]

Originally Posted by Hifred

Kathy, I don't understand what you mean by "you agree to repair anything that is broken." Do you mean after the inspection or that the home should be in good condition before you list it. I am not sure what you mean by "anything" I don't understand but would like to know.

After our offer was accepted by the sellers we had the property inspected, as most people do. Our realtor told us that anything that the inspector found to be not working would be repaired by the sellers. She said the listing agreement they signed with VLS requires them to do so. They are not required to fix cosmetic issues and obviously buyers and sellers can disagree over what items fall into each category.

It was our experience in other parts of the country that people often used the inspection report to make unreasonable demands on sellers to make "repairs" or to lower the price that had been agreed to by threatening to walk away from the deal. I think The Villages was very smart to write their listing contract in such a way as to limit the possibility of deals falling apart like this. It isn't necessarily in a buyer's best interest but it keeps things on track as far as sales go!

k.

[ohiosbestus]

You are exactly right, the village realtors actually do not represent you when purchasing a home, particularly a resale home. We have had to repair several items that were not found by the home inspector or were told or lied about by the previous owner. We were only given one hour before closing to inspect what the home inspector did find wrong with the home, which ironically was done by the home owner, not a professional. We found out some cosmetic stuff was not even repaired. I believe we could have hired an attorney to have this stuff corrected, but we would have probably spent more money with the attorney than it would be worth. We do like the property and the neighbors though. Also we just found out recently our small lot was just reevaluated and increased 20 per cent from 40,000 to 48,000. Good old Lake County. They are basically robbing us in taxes.

[ohiosbestus]

One ting I would strongly recommend to future buyers is that you should not put hardly any earnest money down, when making an offer, we were later told by our realtor after putting a good amount of earnest money down we could possibly lose it if the home doesnt close by the date for some strange reason, we could possibly lose that money.

[Velvet]

I wrote into the contract that until my home inspector found everything to my satisfaction I would walk away with all moneys up to the day of closing, but I was reasonable in my expectations.... as it was MY offer, and MY money we were talking about; I set the terms. The owner, of course could make their own response and I would consider it. Because my expectations were reasonable the offer went through without modifications.

[jpvillager]

As I understand it the Villages sales agent are not realtors.
When looking at a house take a strong flashlight and take of pictures of everything. Using the flashlight will help you to focus and looking at the pictures afterward helps you to focus and you do it on your own time.
A contract is a contract and sales people are just that, a salesman. Get everything into the contract and if the salesman will not do it, move on.
On a new home, Have the home reinspected by an independent inspector before the warranty expires so you can get repairs made under the warranty.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by ohiosbestus

One ting I would strongly recommend to future buyers is that you should not put hardly any earnest money down, when making an offer, we were later told by our realtor after putting a good amount of earnest money down we could possibly lose it if the home doesnt close by the date for some strange reason, we could possibly lose that money.

I don't know what you mean by "hardly any earnest money". But, as a seller, I wouldn't accept an offer and take my house off the market unless the offer included at least $10,000 in earnest money. The earnest money is put into an escrow account, and it is only forfeited if the buyer violates the sales contract.

[Velvet]

I agree that the earnest money should be somewhat significant... but you can write into the contract under what conditions it needs to be returned to you. The seller will then know you are earnest to buy but you have certain expectations or you walk. It is YOUR offer.

My experience is that the sales agreement used in TV seems quite fair, just check the blanks and fill them in.

[vintageogauge]

They sell 5 or 6 resales per day and I doubt there are more than a handful of complaints per year.