Well said.

Also;

They did ours

We have closed on two different homes and we had nothing but good to say about them.

Those who come late get the bones? I do not follow. Is this a non sequitur to the OP or what?

sero venientibus ossa - Latin-English Dictionary - Glosbe

You snooze, you lose. The view lots in The Village we live in sold in seven hours a little over six years ago.

We found a house we really, really liked a lot in Hadley when we first came here and waited a half an hour too long. They ended up being very good friends who lived next door to us, but I really wanted THEIR house.

Oh, ok. I get your point and of course agree with it based on several of my own experiences elsewhere.

We used June Brine of The Villages Realty when we looked for a home here. After we had come to an agreement with the seller, the woman realized she had forgotten to exclude the dining room chandelier as part of the sale. June explained to her that it was too late, but she would ask us. After some thought, we agreed to let her take it so long as she bought our choice of a replacement and have it installed. It was an informal arrangement, no addendum, but it turned out the exact way we agreed to, and June made sure of that. So, we had absolutely no issues when we bought our home.

No problems at all

Sometimes you must close in abscecia but that is always a risk. I’m sorry it did not work out well for you.

That seems to be quite common these days and not just in The Villages. The level of electronic communication we have available today makes it feasible, quick and easy. I bought a house in Idaho two months ago and closed on it with a Notary coming to my house in California.

Of course it is best to have retained a trustworthy and reliable BUYER'S agent to follow up on all the inspections and to-do lists resulting therefrom. I had termite and Radon checks as well as a thorough inspection of the house and its systems. No problem.