We went with Houzeo.com, cost $300 to list on all MLS websites & their brokers,
you decide the commission we went with 2.5% (which is all any broker makes after their split.) You have the option to sell it yourself no commission.

Had showings every day

Sold in 8 days for way more than TV brokers set price at

Broke contract with TV broker 3 months not one offer, they do push new, I sent a friend in to test the sales pitch- sure enough that's what they did.

EXACTLY what happened to me. I would have walked away and wish I had. The type of contract written did not allow me to do so. Now I have so many repairs that need to be done--even though the house was FUNCTION.

Go to an outside agent, using MLS--imho. Either that or For Sale By Owner. In a hot market you can easily navigate this with FSBO and you keep 3% more of your selling proceeds.

Having no say over repairs to be made sucks. If it is the roof, with not much life left, or appliances, or HVAC, you must proceed with the sale. If you back out, you lose your earnest money. Seems unfair/wrong!

Put it on Talk of The Villages with a fair price or contact Sally Love.. best realtor ever!

So totally agree about Village realtors!

So ask a person who is looking to potentially buy in TV. Let me be upfront in saying that I am a real property appraiser. I've lived all over the country. I've bought and sold in at least six states. I know what I am doing when I buy and sell homes. I'm about two years from retiring and moving.

I doubt that I would even look at a resale at TV or use one of their salespersons. First, a buyer has to know that they need to look at their website to find resale listings. It's more clicks than I want to go through to get to the TV website when I'm surfing for homes in over 55 communities. Most people are going to assume that the listings at the TV website are new construction. Most people aren't going to know that TV uses their own in-house marketing and sales department or understand what that means. Second, the TV website sucks. While they show a few pretty pictures, there is no way to really sort or get detailed particulars on a specific property. It's very generic. I know how to do it, but I've got a lot more experience than the average buyer.

Today, most people start to look for real estate online. Very few people use anything that is printed. The few that do are aging out and selling rather than buying. Don't waste your time with it. Use the internet to your advantage.

You want the most robust online listing engine available. That's realtor.com. The only way to list on realtor.com is to use a real realtor. TV's salespeople are not real realtors. Their listings won't be there. Lost opportunity.

If you want to sell it yourself, Zillow.com along with letting everyone TOTV know that you have an active Zillow.com listing will accomplish FSBO. If you go that route, hire someone to take real, professional pictures with good lighting. It's really all about the pictures.

Bottom line: As a buyer, I'll be using a realtor and not one of those nice folks at TV.

With trepidation I listed last time with The Villages Properties. I had always heard they would show your house and then take clients to the new area to sell. Not so. Listed with Chrystie Painter-Smith and had 2 cash offers within about 3 weeks. At her expense she hired a stager, had her assistant present as well at open houses, advertised widely, had professional photography, and even had her own kids help with packing. I cannot say enough good things about her; also they charge less than other realtors.

Forgot to mention: They let me set my own price, which was much higher than MLS had said I would get.
My first post so maybe messed up.

do not rush to sell your house
 

If you want the best price be patient . Realtors are in out to make money . Never go exclusive with a realtor. Find a flat fee realtor and offer 2 % commission to any realtor who brings you a buyer . If you are patient things will work out.

We sold very quickly and for much more than I thought we would ever get with Kerry Hanson of Sally Love Realty. Why would you ever want to sell with an agent who doesn't have MLS listings?!

it really does not matter which way you go, MLS or TV, they all only have their bottom line as a priority. In this market you can sell your home in 1 day if it's priced right and you're honest with the buyers. It is not difficult and you really do not need the realitor. you can find everyone you need to process the sale and close within 30 days.. read up on it it's worth 6%..

Pope Family all great!
 

Unfortunately, Beth Pope is currently undergoing surgery, I can say that both Todd Pope and their daughter, Kelley Pope, are excellent to wok with. I recommend them highly!

Good luck with your house sale?:)

Quickest Sale at the Best Price?
 

'Quickest Sale' doesn't mean the fastest sale. It's ridiculous to boast "Home sold in 2 days!"
To me, that's like having an auction, and selling to the first bidder!
Allow a couple of weeks for the listing to upload to all the major websites (Zillow, Realtors etc).
You're looking for the last, highest bid, not the first, lowest!
No listing salesperson is 'best'. They do little more than an appraiser -
Inspect the house, shoot some photos, fill out an input form and wait for a check!
Multi-List/websites, do the same job for all of them.
A 6% commission on a $300,000 sale is $18,000.
Go with 4% - to be split at closing - 1% to the listing broker, 3% to the selling Broker.
If the listing Broker makes the sale, they get only the 3%.
That's $9000 - still over-payment for the service provided.
Does anyone on this thread believe that these Real Estate Broker Commissions are justified?
After over 30 years 'in business - I don't. . . . .

See attachment

Sell it yourself
 

If you can use an iPad, you can sell your home. Houses are flying off the shelves here. Log onto Zillow, add photos and list for no cost. Then go to Walmart buy a sign and place it in the front yard.

Once you have your buyer, go to a title lawyer/company in the area and they will do the rest (costs between 1500 and 2 k).
Best 30 Title Companies in The Villages, FL with Reviews - YP.com

Then go out to eat at your favorite restaurants for the next 5 years with the money you saved on commissions.

If the market is so hot why not just list it yourself on Zillow save the commissions even the brain dead can figure out a florida sales contract. Clauses are easy to find title company does all the legal you can even use a mls entry company that offers contract review for $500 odd if you need it ps that listing gets sent to the mls Zillow Redfin the lot .. not hard hell you can pay a realtor to do a open house if that scares you plenty will do it for a couple $100

Oops
 

Don’t use this advise look for a “mls entry only” company for $259 bucks they offer the same service as a realtor basically photos forms lock boxes listed to all the major websites. Never heard of the buyer being responsible for forms but anyway ..

So does every mls only
 

So does every mls entry only company and for peanuts not 3% not many realtors actually sell that home themselves so why offer a listing commission.. you only want to offer a selling

Suggest you interriew both. Have not had any experience selling a home hear. We bought our home from The Villages. THey only could show homes that they had listed. Make sure your agent will be listing through MLS and other similar firms to get most exposure.

[QUOTE=CoachKandSportsguy;1999274]First, quickly and profitably are two ideals which everyone wants, but seldom occurs.

Second, the appeal of the TV pre-owned sales process is the speed of the sale, which is why all the conditions in the agreement. We looked at the TV rental program, and too many of their requirements hindered our profitability business goals, which is a high occupancy rate. .

Third, the TV preowned sales motivation for speed is a hidden agenda, as they want minimal competition for their new construction. ah, your lightbulb might have just gone on . The fewer re-sales on the market, the more the new construction sales are the monopoly. The TV concept is an entire monopoly and monopsony lifestyle development. . .

Fourth, if you have to sell quickly, you will never sell for profitability, as you are looking for the ideal person who falls in love with your house as you are, and willing to pay the premium to which you attach your fondness. Seldom will that person show up in the first week of opportunity.

So pick your poison, speed or profitability, but assume you can't get both. Profitability, go with MLS and wait, Speed, go with TV preowned sales.

But that should be the basis for your decision, and remember that MLS wants a quick sale as well, which may be counter to your goals, but they also want the contract. So when an MLS agent says, "I can sell it for X$", and you don't know what a quality valuation is, the $X is appealing to your profitability motivation, whether the realtor can perform will only be determined in the future, so it is a confirmation bias statement you want to hear with a prediction which they know you want to hear so will sign the contract.

so the above is the psychology of real estate sales and marketing in TV.

financial analysis guy

Noted above thoughts. Most of them do apply when the demand is down.

At this time it is a sellers market and any decent home will sell ASAP and can sell for more than a reasonable listing price with good terms such as a quick closing, cash buyer etc. We sold home 10 months ago and sold it for more than the listing price and 30K more than the lowest we would have accepted. Do not know how long this sellers market will last.

What's the difference between a new village and swamp land? about 3 feet of dirt.

I would say that the sellers market from 10 months ago, nearly a year, is over, and that the many who wanted and could make the purchase as quickly as needed, were panicked into buying, or had plenty of money to burn.

Now, not so much, however, TV is an exception, as a monopoly of new house construction. But TV will soon start to hit some scale issues, not with construction, but for those later coming to buy as the services in farmville get exceeded by the population growth.

The interesting dynamic of TV pre-owned sales vs new, is that if the TV can successfully keep the appearance of new construction only slightly more expensive than used, then people will buy new, as evidenced in the migration south from previous owners buying into Southern Oaks.

But not everyone will be able to live here, and looking at the obituaries, there will always be pre-owned for sale, but most want a quick sell due to financing or distribution of assets. . . My heirs are instructed to sell ASAP as its split 4 ways, and let the cash be used where they want it. .

But each person is an individual, and why I discuss concepts is that anyone's personal experience is a sample size of 1 or 2 is not a valid sample size for data analytics, but aggregate together, find the underlying economic motivation, and then you can make a better decision.

finance dba guy

I was a snowbird renter and casually looked at buying for a couple of years before I even realized The Villages Homefinder even existed. Therefore, I would list with an MLS realtor. There is a good chance the casual buyer who is not familiar with The Villages real estate situation may not even think to look for The Villages Homefinder. It also seemed to me that houses lingered longer on The Villages Homefinder website. That said, I purchased my home from The Villages Homefinder website and the realtor we worked with was very good.

wow, that's quite a statement there. I BOUGHT from an MLS realtor, part of a realtor husband and wife team, out of REMAX, and they LIVE in the Villages, and have for years. They knew all kinds of things about living in TV, that I, even though I'd rented for 3 years and have friends who have owned for or 15 years, did not know.

I also had a Villages agent, so I could see the homes listed that way. It just turned out that the home we wanted was an MLS home. The Villages agent was fine. Very good, very helpful, and never once tried to steer us to a new home, once we explained where we wanted to be (between the 6s).

If I were buying I'd use both (duh), but if I were selling I'd go MLS. I wouldn't want to compete with the developer, and I know, from having bought, that MLS listings have more exposure.

We are looking to buy a home. Can you tell me about the house you are selling?