Open Houses can occasionally attract genuine buyers.
However often it's just a chance for tire kickers to drop by.
When we had our home listed, I asked the agent to show it only to prequalified buyers, no open houses.

Beachie, I seem to remember you were going to try a FSBO.
Did you ever try to market your home yourself, or did you decide to list it?

I did try it by myself for a little while, had quite a few lookers but no offers. Because we are back and forth to our home state due to husbands work, we decided to list it. It is listed with the Villages. They will only do six month contracts. It has been up for a little less than two months. We have had some Lookers, lots of oos and ahs but no offers as of yet.

If it doesn't sell in this time period, we will probably stay and figure out other options re husbands work.

As someone who just recently did a LPP, I needed to see more than just new homes in order to have a balanced view of TV. All on my own I attended about 12 open houses for resale homes. I certainly wasn't "traipsing" through someone's home or hurting their chance of selling it by me attending their open house. How am I supposed to decide what style of home or which neighborhood I like if I don't visit some?? And just because I'm on a LPP doesn't mean I'm not serious about buying something asap! You really don't have any idea whether LPP visitors are serious about moving to TV or not - but each of us has the right to visit any open house that we want to. I'm really glad I did visit several styles because now I have it narrowed down to 2 and I can focus my search.

We were shown new construction by the rep. We then visited some open houses on our own. The whole process helped in determining what we DIDN"T want. A home that is completely encircled and no view.

There are Villages agents who focus on new and agents who focus on pre-owned. Try to identify one who focuses on pre-owned for more effective results. I have always found pre-owned to be a better value than new. Once you buy a new home you have to spend a whole lot of money to add required items. Depending on the home, that can be washer and dryer, blinds, attic stairs, landscaping, garage floor painting, crown molding, lighting, pavers, and many other expensive items. Try the best way possible to compare those items you want to pre-owned vs new and most times new is more expensive. Not if you feel you need to change all those things, however if you find a home with most of things done and you like them, pre-owned wins.

As for open houses, most markets just provide the agent with potential clients. In the Villages, open houses seem to have a higher rate of success. I have personally bought two homes I saw through open houses. And in talking with folks have found many others that first saw their new home at an open house. So for this market I would recommend them.

Also I believe FSBO has a higher success rate here than most markets. It is still hard work and be prepared to spend a lot of time and money to make it work. Still cheaper than the 6% the agents charge. Plan on doing at least 3 or 4 open houses every week for 3 to 4 hours a day for 6 to 8 weeks. Advertise in the Daily Sun every day. Paint the entire home inside with neutral color. Have it professionally cleaned. Spruce up the landscaping. Do lots of high quality brochures. Get a professional photographer to take lots of pictures. Get contracts ready. Buy good quality signs and balloons. Remember that it's work and do a quality job. Price it correctly.

They may make MORE selling new homes because of the price, but are not given a bonus or incentive. I think the sales people for The Villages have a relatively easy job.

We too worked with a sales agent for The Villages when we were looking for a larger home to live in full time and he showed us many resales.

The developer can run his business anyway he wants to. NO one is doing it better. This is the fastest growing metropolitan area in THE COUNTRY. No one has to do anything to sell any homes here. IF the resales are clean and reasonably priced, they will sell. You can't gouge smart and experienced buyers, they do their homework. Most are pretty sure of market value.

Thank you for your excellent advice, l2ridehd. I'm saving your post in case we ever decide to move to a different TV location.