My guy must have been a top performer as he had been rewarded with flights on at least one of the company's private jets, dinners in the private dining room and so on. The Villages sales office is there to drive the sales of newly built product. That is what keeps the developer going, making the big bucks. Resales are a sideline, and of course a highly profitable one, but the emphasis is selling new product.

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

Find your individual agent, no matter who they’re with.

Many years ago, I had a license for a short time. I took the classes, passed the test, and then went through in-house training with the biggest agency in my northern city.

But all I wanted to do was to learn about the business. I never did much with the license because I had no intention of quitting my day job. I finally let the license drop. It was back in the days when our budget was tight and the costs to maintain the licensing did not make sense.

Throughout the years since, I have FSBO’d 5 houses, but that was a while ago. As our houses got to the point where I wanted lookers qualified, we went with an agent.

I found our agent in an Open House. In the class I had taken back in the 80s, we were told that Open Houses are really for the agent to meet potential clients — not necessarily for the house where they are hosting at the time.

That does not mean that having an Open House cannot be valuable to a seller — done right, of course, it can.

Also, if using an agent, you want one who will round up other agents from the office to give them a quick tour, as a group, to get the word out.

I have found that the best way to find an agent is to go on a reconnaissance mission. Go to Open Houses and eavesdrop a little, watch the interaction with lookers. Listen for lies. Yes. Lies. Or, if I am being kind — omissions. Rarely — but it does happen. I have overheard a couple of doozies. There are a lot of TV agents so there is every type of personality.

As the hosting agent in the Open House gets a lull in the action, chat a bit, ask some questions. You are going to know if it can be a match. I clicked immediately with the agent I chose. She had a lot of experience, knew the territory, was smart, was not a phony, not condescending, or Pollyanna, and had a sense of humor. That worked for me.

If you find a possibility, MLS or TV agent, get their card and after some thought, invite them to your house to see what they think.

In TV it is easy to watch for Open Houses that are similar to yours in model, age, and general location. If you go to those, you can get a real feel for the competition.

(I am north right now so I am not sure if Open Houses are happening much in TV. They are here in Ohio.)

I have thought recently that if we decided to sell, I would be tempted to try a FSBO again and have wondered if people are happy with trying FSBO through Zillow.

Good luck to you. Finding your match is crucial when looking for an agent. Take your time.

Boomer the Mover

I have a villa for sale, I chose a non village sales representative who is a realtor. Not because I have anything against TV but most aren’t realtors. Mine has connections within TV so the best of both worlds. Unfortunately, with current situation of COVID and the fact the market is flooded with pre owned homes, mine is not moving as quick as I’d hope. Fingers crossed the seasonal/snowbird renters are on there way down and I look for a more positive response soon.

It appears to me that if the house is priced to the market it sells rather quickly.

I was pushed a new home over used by a TV real estate agent. I was specifically told that the agent could get me in a new home cheaper.

Does that make me unreliable or just a liar in your eyes?

That could be, because he/she was a coach at one of The Villages Schools, which still shouldn't have happened, IMHO, BUT...just sayin'

What I have noticed most is the amount of information NOT given by the Villages in their listings. By that I mean, on Zillow I can see the ENTIRE history of the price the property sold for every time it has sold, the entire TAX history, much more, won't go into it all. The Villages presentation format is always incomplete and I think their idea is (maybe ?) to not give much to get people to call, give them phone number, get all the personal info for their records... just a guess. I think ALL houses sell when they are priced at the "right" price, the price people will pay. Some RE agents like games, inflate price and owners feel GREAT, then the pressure begins on the owner to cut the price in small increments, then to do certain things, paint, get new flooring, saw it go on and on with a neighbor and a good friend. The real answer was to take everything into consideration, and then price it at a fair, price, or just a little less (saves in the long run because you pay taxes, and many other expenses while you wait for it to sell. If you are right on target or just below, it is going to go quickly ! Last three moves we got opinions from 4 different agencies. Took the average of all four, knocked off 5K because they all inflate to some degree, and it sold WHILE they were putting sign up in front! Never really understood the practice of pricing as high as possible and then putting in the ad every month that it has been "reduced". That whole approach seems a loosing one to me, but it must work as so many use it ! ? We did like doing for sale by owner, had so much more control over our life as we tried to balance work, family, having to show house. Also were surprised at the very reasonable price of having an attorney looking out for US, we expected it to be much more, but we found most have a standard price unless there is some out of the ordinary circumstance in the sale. When we used a RE agency, always "seemed" we were not really represented well, the "attorneys" involved seemed more concerned with the buyers bank and real estate agents involved. When we sold FSBO the first time we were actually surprised that it was LESS stressful and we felt so much less helpless (didn't get those calls from an agent who says "I KNOW we agreed no showings during on your mother's birthday on Sunday but....." and the "but" was always I have this client who MUST see it, they are leaving, yada yada. Or I KNOW we agreed NO late night showings but..... Sure, many reading this will feel they want ANY prospective buyer at ANY day or time, and I can see that point of view. Just saying, we've tried different ways and doing it ourselves was definitely the best for us and our stress level.

I haven’t made a science of it, but my general observations were the same. If your house has something special (golf/water/pool lot), list with TV, otherwise MLS.

Does anyone know what the commission structure is for Villages sales agents?

Is their compensation the same for new homes vs pre-owned, or does each have a different commission percentage? Do Villages agents pay a percentage to the developer for every pre-owned sale like most MLS Realtors do to their brokers?

Another Beth Pope fan here. I bought 2 homes, and sold one using Beth. Her husband Todd and daughter are part of the “ Pope Team”

It has been reported on this forum numerous times that the commission to the agent on VLS pre-owned listing is one percent VLS one and one half for new, this for selling.

No first hand knowledge but based upon over a dozen reliable posts by honest people it is clear that VLS agents will activity discourage pre-owned over new.

I have always thought well of you Toymeister. I wish that someone would verify that this is widespread or based on something concrete. Do "THEY" give higher percentages to new homes over used? That seems silly. New homes practically sell themselves.

Here is the ad on Facebook for open houses TODAY; Two open houses for new. None for used. We need to see if "THEY" are promoting new over old.

The Villages, Florida's Friendliest Hometown

What's the minimum length of time I have to advertise my home if I list it through tv? 30, 60 days? 6 months? a year?

I found the opposite. Village salespeople price high and open house the daylights out of it ( I have yet to go to a village listed open house and have the salesperson sell me that home, they use them to get your name and see you new. Never forget, they work for the developer and it is in their best interest to see new.

And I'll wager your VLS agent never voluntarily revealed the amount of the bond on a new home. My first VLS agent was so "busy" he showed me only three or four new spec homes. At each one when I questioned him about the amount of the bond on it, he opened his big blue eyes in astonishment like he had never heard of a bond! lol. What an actor! Then he mumbled and fumbled for a while and would only guess at the possible amount. I wonder if any VLS agents when they show a customer a preowned house and claim they can get them into a new one for less ever bring up the amount of the bond on the new home versus the bond (if any) on the preowned home - or the improvements most people do to their new homes such as upgrade the light fixtures, landscaping, replace the cheap builder grade carpet with tile, repaint all the rooms, outfit the closets with shelving and cabinets and so on.

My first VLS agent when asked also tacitly admitted by nodding his head affirmatively that VLS agents are incentivized to sell new homes over preowned. And of course as I have historically reported on several threads over the years my first VLS agent evaded showing me even one preowned home after I made numerous requests for him to do so.

Unless VLS has changed its practice their online listings do not show the year a house was built as MLS listings do.

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