[Leadbone1]

I was a realtor in Ohio for 12 years before I came here last year. I checked it out. The villages real estate people are not Realtors. They are sales people, but they do have a Florida real estate license. They cannot show multiple-listing homes like from Realty executives or Century 21. Conversely actual Realtors cannot show the Villages listings. Hope that clears it up

[redboat]

Not true TV sales associates can only show new and resales listed with TV and are not multiple listing members. In addition sales associates push buyers towards new construction. Resale through multiple listing Realtors is the best.

[stadry]

even i knew this part but thought it apparent to all & just confirmed in this thread,,, 'Realtors' of The Villages do NOT exist as they are NOT 'Realtors'l ( copyrighted word which can be used by only members of the Natl Assoc. of Realtors ),,, tv re brokers are licensed by the state as real estate brokers & sales reps but are not 'Realtors'
i wasn't asking for myself for for a friend who's selling her rental in tv & has a tv broker living next door.
understand re sales have plummeted in tv - they have too up here in atl
THANKS FOR THE CLARIFICATION - APPRECIATE YOUR HELP ! ! !

[Carolynphelps]

The Village realtors are licensed by the State. Please check your facts.

[ladyarwen3]

Originally Posted by BS Beef

So I’m cringing at the replies to what may to some seems like a dumb question. But are you saying it’s best or at least not unusual to have 2 separate agents for buying in TV?

That's what I did. I had a Villages agent and a multilist agent. Ended up buying through the multilist. If you want a new home however, you MUST use TV agent.

[mikeritz53]

Well said, but in addition the Village Sales people are just that. They are a Marketing staff employed by The Developer so they do not have to be and are not licensed. A Realtor has to take courses and a test to get Licensed, comply with a firm set of Ethics rules and take Continuing Education courses annually to maintain their License.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Carolynphelps

The Village realtors are licensed by the State. Please check your facts.

Can you please clarify? Are you referring to the agents who work for The Villages company? Because, when I search the "Find a Realtor" website, I cannot identify any of the well known Villages agents on the National Association of Realtors list. The term "Realtor" is not a generic term. It is a label provided by the NAR, which is a trade association, and they do not license people to sell houses. That is done by the State. You don't need to be a Realtor to sell houses in Florida, but you do need a Florida license.

[SnowflakeinDeLaVista]

It is my understanding that many of the people that show pre-owned homes for The Villages are called marketing agents or something like that. There are actual licensed realtors-and sometimes they do show houses- but the marketing agents are in effect representing licensed real estate agents when they show a house. At least that is what we were told a few years ago. It may have changed since then.

[merrymini]

When we looked, we had a villages rep and an outside realtor because they do not overlap and we wanted to see the entire market. We bought a resale, although through the villages. When we sold after buying a new house through the villages, we listed with the villages and were very disappointed. We eventually sold with Remax and an agent who was terrific. A lot of experiences have to do with the real estate PERSON you deal with. I would not list with the villages because their focus is on selling new properties.

[jonathanb]

I am a retired Villages real estate representative. We are all licensed Florida real estate agents. Because Properties of The Villages does not co broke with outside brokerages we cannot sell their pre owned listings and they cannot sell Properties of The Villages pre owned listings. Also, Outside brokers cannot sell new homes. Only Properties of The Villages reps can sell them. We are not realtors because our broker does not require us to be Being a realtor just means you paid dues to belong to the national association of realtors. It is not an added license. I know I was a realtor in Pa.

[jonathanb]

Originally Posted by BS Beef

So I’m cringing at the replies to what may to some seems like a dumb question. But are you saying it’s best or at least not unusual to have 2 separate agents for buying in TV?

Bottom line is The Villages reps are licensed by the state but The Villages does not co broke with MLS brokers. If you want to see a greater number of pre owned homes you will need to agents. One Villages agent and an outside agent. But for new construction only a Villages rep can show and sell them.

[Bobzlla]

We worked with a TV sales agent a couple months ago who showed us several new and previously owned homes from their inventory. We had
also viewed a few non- TV listings when there were open houses. As we had a good relationship with our TV agent, we approached him about seeing some other homes listed by outside agents. He advised he was happy to take us around and arrange appointments, however he receives no compensation if we do proceed with a purchase of one. There is no arrangement obviously to have shared commission.

[tophcfa]

We specifically wanted a pre-owned home with a private back yard, either a pool or room to build one, little to no remaining bond balance, and under a certain price point. We used both a VIllages Real Estate Agent as well as a Liscenced Independent Realator, with access to the Multiple Listing Service. This allowed us to search ALL pre-owned homes on the market (except for sale by owners) that appeared to fit our criteria. Our search criteria resulted almost exclusively in homes north of 466, which was our preference anyways. We were careful to select a Villages Real Estate Agent that was previously a licensed real estate agent, so we knew we would be working with someone who had prior experience working for buyers as well as sellers (Villages Real Estate Agents do not work for buyers). We made it very clear to our Villages agent we were not interested in a new home and she never once tried to push us in that direction. We must have looked at 50 houses, about 30 Villages listings and about 20 Multiple Listings by independent Realators. During our home showings we insisted on walking around each home before wasting everyone’s time going through the house. We walked away from about half the showings after seeing that despite the back yard having enough room to build a pool, there would be little to no privacy.

We really liked both our agents, but were hoping to buy a home through the independent Licensed Agent, who represented us. At the end, the home we decided on was a Villages listing. Five years later we have no regrets with our choice. T & D built us an incredible pool/birdcage in our back yard that abuts a beautiful preserve with fantastic sunsets, we came in just under our budget after building a brand new pool, our home has no bond, and we love living right between LSL and Spanish Springs. Hope things work out for the OP as well as it did for us.

[vintageogauge]

Originally Posted by redboat

Not true TV sales associates can only show new and resales listed with TV and are not multiple listing members. In addition sales associates push buyers towards new construction. Resale through multiple listing Realtors is the best.

That's not true either. We were not pushed towards buying new construction, after looking at used homes we were down to deciding between 2, our realtor asked (not pushed) if we were interested in seeing the new section of Fenney at the time and we said we would like to see it. She did not have to push us, we realized the huge savings that were available down here and bought a new spec. home immediately. We are very thankful to our Sales Agent Beth Pope.

[vintageogauge]

Originally Posted by merrymini

When we looked, we had a villages rep and an outside realtor because they do not overlap and we wanted to see the entire market. We bought a resale, although through the villages. When we sold after buying a new house through the villages, we listed with the villages and were very disappointed. We eventually sold with Remax and an agent who was terrific. A lot of experiences have to do with the real estate PERSON you deal with. I would not list with the villages because their focus is on selling new properties.

The Villages sells just about as many re-sale homes as all of the MLS companies combined. I'm not saying which way is better but numbers don't lie. Picking the right agent is more important than which way you go. With MLS agents there are top listers and top sellers if listing to sell I think you know which ranking to go with.