[crash]

Originally Posted by Midnight Cowgirl

It is ILLEGAL for an agent NOT to take an offer on a property unless the seller has put something in writing regarding a low-ball offer.
That agent should have been reported to the Florida Real Estate Commission.

Overall I have found that Villages' agents list a property for a higher price so that if the house does not sell within a reasonable amount of time, they can make a price change and reduce it.

From what I understand, you have no leeway in the amount of time for the term of the listing if you list with the Villages.
I believe the minimum is six months and if you re unhappy with the service you are getting (or rather, the lack of service), it's too bad.
MLS Realtors have the luxury of making changes in the listing contract, but not so with Villages' contracts.

You have signed a contract, even with MLS you are locked into that Broker until the contract expires.

[graciegirl]

If you want to sell your home with or without agents or realtors, clean it up, get rid of junky looking stuff, inside and out and make it look like a magazine as much as possible. You may like shabby chic but downright junky is asking for failure.

[manaboutown]

Personally, I would go FSBO to sell a home in TV. No Realtor or Villages agent is needed if the house is priced right, clean and well presented.

More and more homes are being sold FSBO all over the country. Friends of mine just sold their house in Hawaii FSBO, no problem.

[charmed59]

For villas or houses with lots of drive by traffic I think I would try FSBO, and if that didn’t work out I’d go with the Villages, as they seem to do well with homes under $500K. Over $500K they seem to flounder a bit, and there is where I’d go with an MLS realtor.

[ColdNoMore]

As others have mentioned...I would go the FSBO route first.

My second choice, would definitely be a MLS Realtor over what is not much more than a 'checkout counter person'...under the VLS system.

As for Judge Judy, and maybe it's just a career hazard of reality television personalities, I find her arrogance and of being able to always control that which is shown and not shown...as often being just plain nasty.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by npwalters

Don't take this the wrong way because every sale is unique. I would be concerned if my house sold on day one or if there was a bidding war for it. That would cause me to question if the asking price was too low.

When looking to buy our pre-owned home our (very nice) VLS agent was unwilling to take an offer to a seller that was about 12% less than asking. Her rationale was that the VLS homes are always priced accurately and sell within 5% or so of asking. She went on to say my bid should be in that range. I politely declined to follow her advice and stated my offer would always be based on my perception of the value of the house in the current market. I found a better deal with the MLS agent I was working with a few days later.

Whenever I have listed a house for sale, I have always told the listing agent that I want to see any and all offers to purchase. They are working for me. A seller should not be offended by any offer. If you get a lowball offer, just say no or make a counteroffer.

[Mosells]

Do VLS agents fall under the Florida real estate commission? You are correct that the agent has to present all offers.

[GrumpyOldMan]

Originally Posted by manaboutown

Personally, I would go FSBO to sell a home in TV. No Realtor or Villages agent is needed if the house is priced right, clean and well presented.

More and more homes are being sold FSBO all over the country. Friends of mine just sold their house in Hawaii FSBO, no problem.

I agree, and here is a site for FSBO listings:

Search Homes By State | ForSaleByOwner.com - FSBO

[ColdNoMore]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Whenever I have listed a house for sale, I have always told the listing agent that I want to see any and all offers to purchase. They are working for me. A seller should not be offended by any offer. If you get a lowball offer, just say no or make a counteroffer.

You shouldn't even have to say it... as it's the law.

If I found out that they were making the determination on their own, of which offers to let me know about, I would be elevating it way above...just any company bosses they might have.

[graciegirl]

If you want to sell your house, get rid of the junk, inside and out and stage it prettily. This may be the time to buy some stuff to replace the old stuff you have. Spending some money and doing some work will pay off with faster sale and bigger bucks. This is general talk. The OP already knows this.

I like to look at pretty homes;


home staged nicely - Bing images

[eweissenbach]

When we listed our home in the Kansas City area this spring, our realtor/friend had a staging specialist come in and give us ideas. We took her suggestions, which were quite reasonable, and decluttered a few thing, moved some furniture to make the home look more open, repainted the front door and area, put some excess furniture in storage, painted the deck railing, etc. The house was shown once, garnering a $10,100 offer over list price. I would have gone the FSBO route as I have done three previous times, but we needed to sell in a relative hurry. Our realtor, who has sold six homes to us and our children gave us a reduced commission price as well.