Have used both sides of the equation. Found that TV was wanting to go with a lesser price than MLS. Listed with MLS at a fair price (still higher than TV) and had it sold in a week, two offers. Something that we forget is that TV is a buyers agent. We ended up paying an additional 5,000 due to the agent telling the seller that we would go that much higher. We never had discussed that with our TV agent. Another item to be aware of, get it in writing from the TV agent, one of ours had a different memory until we reminded them of the facts.
IF we had a choice we would go with a good MLS agent.

We sold our ourselves, villages appraised our home $20,000 less than what we sold it for. They want a quick sale which gives them more $ in their pocket. Stay away from TV

Buy from the Villages.
Sell with MLS

Also I am in a 6 months w no action for 3 months. Was not told I could do a 3 month list.
Should have done my homework before listing

As an out of state buyer of existing home in 2019 we tried working with TV remotely from California. Our circumstances dictated we buy remotely though we'd visited in 2018 and knew what we wanted. The guy TV assigned to us did almost nothing in terms of checking out houses we found on their website. We also worked with a traditional MLS realtor who set up reporting sending us MLS listings with exactly what we were looking for. Then based on our feedback that realtor went to the homes we were interested in taking videos and send to us. We couldn't get the TV guy to even go to the TV listed homes to get answers to questions we had. We bought an MLS listed home though there were some on TV website that might have been better fit. Friends we've made here in TV told us their experience in buying with TV was heavily weighted to getting them in the 'new' areas south of 44 & turnpike rather than existing homes. That was our experience and experiences of a friend.

The MLS is the best. Sally Love Real Estate Inc. She has been in the Villages for 14 years and has the clients and one of the most experienced Realtors in The Villages.

The first Villages agent I used did. He evaded showing me even one resale after multiple requests and steered me to new homes.

P.S. I have never been and am not now a Realtor.

Definitely MLS

Used the Village once, never again

Sorry Lori , you cannot blame the agent. You had your house listed with MLS with no action then listed with TV. The problem is your house, although beautiful outside, you have 2 oversized refrigerators in the kitchen and wall to wall cabinets everywhere, including the bedrooms. That's why you're having a problem and I don't mean to be unkind but its very unfair to blame the agents.

MLS gets seller exposed to all the realtors all states all online forums!

VLS only gets you the people who show your house as a contractor of the villages !

MLS the way to go

Frankly, the way homes are sold has changed in recent years, first with technology and then with the pandemic. An out of state or out of the country buyer can easily check all MLS listings and whatever FSBO listings are registered on Zillow. A few years ago my daughter in CA bought a home in MD after viewing it over the internet the very day it went on the market. She had her agent go through it and FaceTime with her. Then sight unseen she signed a purchase agreement with the seller subject to the usual inspections and conditions. It all worked out fine.

Agents I know are currently doing virtual tours for buyers as sellers do not want people trudging through their homes, sitting on their couches and so on during the pandemic.

From my perspective current conditions may work to the advantage of MLS and FSBO listings as they can be found by anybody anywhere in the world with internet access. This is incredible exposure.

Is such breadth of exposure similarly available to Villages listings? It seems to me a potential buyer would need to know to also go to The Villages website to separately view VLS listings. Buyers who have researched The Villages may likely understand this; other buyers may not.

P.S. I have never been and am not now a Realtor.

As with any home sale or purchase, it is the agent you have that makes the biggest difference. The Villages will be listed in The Villages.com, while outside agencies ONLY on MLS. If you want new...only availabile in The Villages on Villages.com. Many first timers from up north only know MLS. There are more Villages homes listed by Villages.com than you find on MLS. Some of the Villages agents will work with MLS agents (as long as they play fairly) to provide you the best service.

Ditto here. He said, "No, you don't want to look at resales; they are priced higher than new homes." His schedule was very busy. It was at the beginning of a down market and he mentioned that TV was starting to purge their sales force and he didn't want to be a victim.

Well then don't. However Forbes listed The Villages as the fastest growing community in the U.S. They must be pretty successful.

Every business wants to "corner the market" sell up, be the best, have the most sales, .......some like The Villages have such a good product and way of doing things they don't have to pressure and they don't have to give away new home sales either. THAT is just good business.

P.S. There are so many realtors on this thread or retired ones. I grow so weary of the tired sell of realtors with a capital R.

I would call Bonnie Berman with The Villages, she is amazing. But I know her, like her, and trust her; we bought a house and sold a house using Bonnie. However, I did like that answer about interviewing both The Villages and outside realtors. We did that when we sold our house in the north, the realtors who we chose sold our house for $30,000 more than another real estate agent said was the max we would get for our house!