I don't either. The poster is just misinformed. I'm sure the NAR doesn't consider all real estate agents as Realtors. They charge a lot of money to use the "Realtor" title. I am part of the general public but I don't refer to all real estate agents as Realtors.

Popcorn ceilings been out for at least 40 years.
I would guess only district 1 and maybe 2 has pop corn ceilings? 50 to 100 grand savings lot money for some and for some it’s not. You always pay full price buying new not so much for pre-owned anything.

The term Realtor is a registered trademark. Since its use is not adequately policed by NAR many members of the general public commonly use realtor when referring to any licensed real estate agent. Using realtor when meaning real estate agent is akin to referring to jeans as Levis, soft drinks as cokes, sewing machines as Singers, vacuum cleaners as Hoovers, paper tissue as Kleenex and so on.

That's an interesting (no pun intended) point. I don't have any mortgages and I just pulled out an old 1099 from a mortgage I had a few years ago. I suspect you're right, if the bank was collecting Escrow, the amount paid would show up as one lump some and I doubt the IRS would challenge that, even though it would be incorrect.

All this nonsense about bonds, baffle me. The Bond is nothing more than an additional cost when you buy a home in TV, new or pre-owned. It's not a "pay as you go" expense, unless you elect to do it that way ... in which case, you get an exorbitant interest rate and any associated fees. Along with the fact that it's legally not tax deductible.

WTH? If I home is $500,000 + $30,000 Bond, the true selling price is $530,000. It's not complicated.

Granted, not all pre-owned homes are identical, but if one has a $20,000 outstanding Bond, you're paying $20,000 more than the sale price.

Geez, it's 4th grade math.

Skip
 

I definitely would skip a realtor if at all possible, For sure many are selling on their own now. It is a waste to pay commissions if you can possibly avoid it. A surcharge on the sales price to pay for the middle man (real estate agent) is a waste of resources that could be better spent elsewhere.

The problem is that many of the pre-owned houses are not priced lower than the new houses. In many cases, you get a lower price for a new house. A house recently sold on my street for a higher price than the new houses being built in Newell, even though the new houses had more square footage, and a 2.5 car garage as compared with a 1.5 car garage.

Mallory
 

I’ve seen popcorn in Mallory and in a few houses in the same village none. I would guess going south just after 466 the change on popcorn was phased out? Perhaps during construction of that Village? Of course a home owner might just want it removed if it was there.

Are you suggesting buying a FSBO? I won't even look at FSBOs because every time I have, the house is overpriced because the owner has a biased and unrealistic opinion of the actual value. Some FSBO sellers think that the buyer should pay 100 percent of the cost for upgrades and that they should share in the real estate commission that they think they are saving by not hiring a broker.

Yes
 

For Sale By Owner FSBO has really come along with the introduction of Zillow and Redfin. I would look at those sites before offering 5% more for a home. It’s simple, just choose the filters you want and view the pics on line. If you are afraid of overpaying, just do the square footage price calculation. Check others being sold and decide for yourself.

Step 1 Go to Zillow and look
Step 2 Check homes selling that are similar Price divided by square feet
Step 3 Make an offer

It’s that simple

Home selling is almost as easy

Step 1 Take pictures of your house
Step 2 Log onto Zillow and upload your pics
Step 3 Accept an offer
Step 4 Choose a title company to do all the paperwork

Easiest Option…go with a flat rate seller in The Villages. Additional costs of up to 5k can be expected though.

Lots to consider about bonds, but please be aware there is a yearly administrative fee on the bond. That added amount is roughly 5% to 10% of the bond payment due. People often neglect that extra cost, but it can be significant when building the multi-year model of costs.
I pulled up a 30 year bond schedule at random. Totals:
Principle 22450 Int @4.3% 17300 Admin 2800 (about $95/yr) Total 42550 (admin fee added = 7.04% of prin + int)
Bond interest rates are much higher for new builds, but closer to this for recent builds.

A few other monthly costs you should consider for your budget.
The amenity fee pays for the rec facilities. It gets raised to the current highest amount upon purchase, I think around $204/month now. This is not the yearly maintenance fee (infrastructure maintenance) that comes in the tax bill.
Other monthly costs are water, sewer, and trash. Water here is a lot more $ than other states. Plan around $100 to $175 a month for these 3 things.

If you buy where there is natural gas plan about $35/month.

Electricity will depend upon things you run all the time (lights, alexa devices, tv boxes, computers, music, chargers) and things on demand (a/c, TV, cooking, vacuums, etc). Could be $100/month to $300/month. More in mid summer than spring or fall (a/c).

Lastly, search for threads about home owner's insurance costs.

Yup. I didn’t know the difference until I married a Realtor. I always said realtor for any real estate agent.

Really?

A buyer who sells the home three years later passing the bond on does not pay $20K.

There are bonds from just a few years ago near 4%, you can easily earn more than that in investments or even CD's now days.

What if interest rates go back to +10%, would it have been smart to pay off the bond?

"When a registered trademark owner fails to police and enforce the unauthorized use of their trademark, the trademark owner risks losing the mark through a form of abandonment known as genericide. Genericide is when a protected mark becomes a generic term for the item it is associated with over time. A trademark suffers genericide when the trademark or tradename becomes so commonly used by the general public that the trademark becomes synonymous with the product, and if the entity that owns the trademark does not fight to keep the trademark protected, the trademark or tradename can become a generic term, i.e., it can lose its legally protectable distinctness."

from: Trademark Genericide: How To Protect Your Brand - Revision Legal

I think the problem is that licensed real estate agents don't use the term "Realtor" on their business cards and letterhead unless they are actual Realtors. But, how do you prevent the general public from misusing the name? Personally, I think the NAR should replace the Realtor name with a new name that is more unique than the current name.

I doubt there'd be any trademark issues for a person saying, "Hey I know a realtor you can call." It has nothing to do with trademark infringement.

Apart from that, and a total guess, but I would not be surprised if prior to 1950 when NAR trademarked it, everyone used the term realtor. After all, their name is National Association of Realtors. There have been other instances of companies or people trademarking terms in common use.

None of this really matters. I was just saying that we shouldn't get our panties in a bunch if someone refers to a VLS agent as a realtor.