[Waverunner]

The Villages sales agents are the only ones who can sell new properties. They also list and sell appx. 60-70 percent of all pre-owned homes. (They give the stats every year.) Pre-owned home sales now exceed new sales.

You will need to use both a Villages sales agent and a MLS realtor to see near 100% of the homes available for sale. You can also do your own leg work on FSBO and MLS sales on-line.

There are Villages sales agents that specialize in pre-owned homes. They are the ones that are advertising the pre-owned homes open houses. They know the neighborhoods, the history, and have a very good sense of the values by model and upgrades, as well as lot potential.

We used a Villages sales agent to show us both new and pre-owned. When we bought in 2012, we couldn't custom build, like the option you may have today, saw a lot of pre-owned that would need a lot of updating, so we ended up buying new and adding and enhancing from there.

Good luck with your search. The journey to The Villages is so worth it!

[TheDude]

If you want to get someone who is personally a good person and is a villager real estate sales person and lives in the villages also, private me, and I will have my mate send you the info.

[VillagerNut]

Originally Posted by ggnlars

We just went through the process. The MLS agent gets a percent of the sale, the TV agent is on salary. I think they have a quota, and likely will get bonuses. In the latter, your sale price is not as dominant.

In considering new vs preowned, you need to consider that Florida is hard on building materials and such. Figure the life on items like roofs, HVAC's etc to be 50 to 70 percent of what your used to.
That is particularly important when DIY is less of an option.

We ended up building. The lot choice was ours, the builder would and will do virtually all of the add one before closing at a competitive price. These are all in at closing, where doing it after, you have to have ownership paper work to start and then find and get on their(the new company) list.

The time was important to us.

Just some corrections on the above post!

All sales representatives working for the developer are independent contractors license in the state of Florida with a Florida sales person or Florida brokers license. As far as your commission comments the truth is the sales rep gets 1.50% commission when they sell a preowned home based on sales price. They get 1.75% commission based on sales price and normally a bonus to sell a new home. It's 1000 times easier to sell a new home then it is a preowned because it seems nobody thinks a Home Inspection is necessary on a new home, there are no negotiations on price and the developer sets the closing date with no contingencies allowed! The one thing that most people do not realize is all sales representatives and the developer always represents the seller in a single agency position. Which means a buyer has no representation and is on his own to figure out what reality might be sitting near the house. Have you ever wondered why people sell right after a year of being in a home? You may want to ask! By the way on the new home you do have a one year resell restriction to be able to make any profit on the home sale!

As far as a Realtor they also are licensed in the state of Florida and are independent contractors and also get paid a commission based on the sales price. Their commission split is determined by the broker that they work for and their experience level! 99% of them work as a transaction broker which means they have responsibilities both to the seller and the buyer. All material facts have to be disclosed by the seller to the buyer! Just ask and they will be glad to show you a form that shows what the responsibility is to you the buyer or seller! All realtors also can work as an exclusive buyers agency which means they can represent the buyer as a single agent. Just ask and they will show you how!

The comment about a preowned being more expensive can be true! But it is generally based on physical location, what is behind the house meaning privacy or another house, what upgrades have been installed in the home and the square footage! The most expensive homes are located within 5 to 10 minutes of Lake Sumter Landing since in a preowned home situation that is the most demanded area! Most new homebuyers find that they spend at minimum $50,000 to add all the upgrades that they want either at the time of build or after build. There are a lot of upgrades that the developer will not install and you will have to do after-the-fact like laminate flooring. A lot of folks figure out being near Lake Sumter Landing is a good thing based on where the majority of the major shopping/restaurants are currently located!

But you definitely need to work with both because at any given time it's about a 50-50 split on the preowned homes available between the two groups!

[vintageogauge]

We just purchased a new home in Fenney. The prices are quite a bit lower than comparable re-sales. We took into consideration the added items on the used homes we looked at and they didn't come close to the cost savings on a similar new home. We also got a new home warranty and can decorate and landscape the way we want. We already had gutters and down spouts put on and the cost on our model, a designer Ivy, was under $700.00. At first we were a little leery of Fenney based on what had been posted here but it really is nice down there. The only deficit we could see was the temporary inability to get a golf cart to the villages north of 468 but that will soon change. It's less than 10 minutes to Brownwood square and 15 minutes to Lake Sumter, plenty of nearby shopping on 44 as well as 301, less than 15 minutes to the Leesburg hospital as well as Leesburg shopping. Take a look down here, quite a few homes to choose from that are priced right.

[OldManTime]

Keep in mind, the TV sales people answer to the developer, and do not abide to the "Realtor" code of ethics. Also the TV salespeople will not provide you with the deed restrictions on your specific property (is online) which can cause big problems down the road.

[John_W]

Originally Posted by Villageswimmer

Would you know what the "senior" additional exemption of $15 k is? I'd like to know what the criteria is to qualify for it. I assume it's some income limit but can't find info on it. I've seen is on Sumter County properties but it may be available in the other counties as well. Properties I've seen it on are not lower end ones.

I don't see anyone posts that answer your question, so here is what I know. You would need to file form DR-501SC. I believe it has to be filed by March 1st and you would need to include a copy of your federal income tax return. This year the income limit is $28,841, it changes yearly by usually going higher. However the deadline has passed for this year. You can receive a discount up to $50,000 off your home's value. In Sumter County take the completed 501sc and a copy of your tax return to the 'Gold Dome' building, inside go to the right, and it's the last office on the left before the driver's license waiting area. It's a small office shared by the VA.

Here is the form:

http://floridarevenue.com/dor/proper...nt/dr501sc.pdf

Here is the income chart, it's the last group, fourth down:

FL Dept Rev - Florida Property Tax Valuation and Income Limitation Rates

the legal requirements:

An exemption not exceeding $50,000 to any person who has the legal or equitable title to real estate, maintains permanent residence on the property, is 65 or older, and whose household income does not exceed the household income limitation; 2017 - $28,841