[NJblue]

Originally Posted by Irish Rover

Good luck and by the way, GO BUCKEYES.

Well, at least we agree on the pressure part.

[Hyacinth Bucket]

NJBlue,

We bought a resale, but I found what you wrote to be very informative. Thank you for taking the time to write it and high light the different points.

I agree with 12 about the positives about buying a resale.

HB

[macgolfnut]

We bought in April and had terrific sales reps - Jackie Murphy and Bob Knorr. I never felt any kind of pressure, but I had done a lot of my homework over the internet looking at both new and pre-owned homes. Plus, we visited here a few times over the past 4 years so we kind of knew how things worked. We bought a new spec house and we are thrilled with both the house and TV overall. I hope NJBlue and Irish Rover enjoy TV, but GO ILLINI!

[travelstiles]

re: efrahim's earlier post - We had a pretty bad experience with TV realtors (two who worked as a team).
Our house in NY was already sold, so we were able to close asap, all cash.
We bid on two separate homes in the same week and were told that the owner of one decided to RAISE the price by $25,000 (this was in December, so I wonder what ever happened, as our offer was within $3,000 of the asking price). We were also misled about the new floor in the house. I found out when I read the fine print in the written offer that it had been replaced because the roof had been destroyed during the tornado. That would not have mattered to us if the agent had been upfront, but she led us to believe the home was "updated with extras."
The second home was mysteriously taken off the market the day after we made an offer within 1% of the asking price! Then three months later it's been listed with TV again, for a lower price than our offer.
Things worked out better for us anyway, as Lyle Gant from ReMax found us a much nicer home, with no hassles.
The experience we had with TV realtors we were working with was too bizarre for me :

[colleenj]

I bought resale and I have two pieces of advice- do your "homework" first and remember that you are in the driver's seat for the transaction.
I came to TV in May and had done a ton of prep- I came with 14 print outs of different houses I wanted to see, along with a ton of other research I had done. My sales person said I was only 1 of 2 people who he had dealt with that was that prepared. When he did try to apply a little subtle pressure I just very nicely said "Please remember that I have the money, you want the sale, I think that means I am the one in charge of what happens". Any sign of pressure stopped immediately.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by macgolfnut

We bought in April and had terrific sales reps - Jackie Murphy and Bob Knorr. I never felt any kind of pressure, but I had done a lot of my homework over the internet looking at both new and pre-owned homes. Plus, we visited here a few times over the past 4 years so we kind of knew how things worked. We bought a new spec house and we are thrilled with both the house and TV overall. I hope NJBlue and Irish Rover enjoy TV, but GO ILLINI!

I agree with your post completely macgolfnut! When we felt drawn to TV, our friends who had bought a spec house and were very happy with it told us how it worked. Then I went home and worked the computer, made a notebook. etc.

If you doubted that house sold in two hours just look at Sumter county's site that tells when each house was sold.

We loved Jim McLaughlin, he was a great rep and no pressure AT ALL.

We have built houses many times, and it is not always possible to give precise prices because of the lot. If you notice that some Lanais are elevated and that extra bit costs more. There is a difference in cabinets, things like widening a room should be figured out in advance though.

I like the process of building, ( But I like to watch that process daily, which would not have been possible) so we bought a house already built and we love it. Even if it doesn't have the stainless steel appliances, and granite counter tops.

I really didn't think I would move again, but SO many people move so effortlessly in the Villages. We talked to many that had moved two or three times!! (Sold their old house themselves) I thought not everything had to be just perfect. We might just find another house someday. We might even sell our house up north someday.

Great possibilities, surrounded in Paradise!

Go Bucks.

[mzmom3]

Boy, oh, boy do I agree that Jim McLoughlin is a great Village Realtor. He is helping us now and I cannot recommend him enough. Thank you TOTV for giving us his name. This is a great board.

[NJblue]

Just to repeat it one more time - my comments concerning the pressure have nothing to do with the agent. No matter which agent you use, if you choose to use the Personalization Package as offered by TV, you will go through the steps and deposit/time requirements that I included in the original post as dictated by TV policy. If you choose an existing house, the steps may be a bit different, but there will be TV policy that must be adhered to. You may or may not feel pressured as a result of these policies but it is what it is and it is (in my opinion) one-sided in favor of TV and not the buyer. Hopefully, by understanding the policies ahead of time your feeling of pressure will be diminished.

We have decided that despite these policies, that the rest of the positives of TV prevail and are going forward with the contract. We have now received the contract and our agent has been very responsive in answering the numerous questions that we have been pestering him with concerning details.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by NJblue

Just to repeat it one more time - my comments concerning the pressure have nothing to do with the agent. No matter which agent you use, if you choose to use the Personalization Package as offered by TV, you will go through the steps and deposit/time requirements that I included in the original post as dictated by TV policy. If you choose an existing house, the steps may be a bit different, but there will be TV policy that must be adhered to. You may or may not feel pressured as a result of these policies but it is what it is and it is (in my opinion) one-sided in favor of TV and not the buyer. Hopefully, by understanding the policies ahead of time your feeling of pressure will be diminished.

We have decided that despite these policies, that the rest of the positives of TV prevail and are going forward with the contract. We have now received the contract and our agent has been very responsive in answering the numerous questions that we have been pestering him with concerning details.

And I say GOOD FOR YOU and your wife. It sounds like you are going to enjoy the rest of the process! Welcome and happiness to you. Can't wait to meet you. You are obviously intelligent, articulate and REASONABLE people. I hope I measure up. My husband Sweetie will at least because he is all of the above too. I am a chicken and not nearly as good at business and legal matters as my dear husband. (Much more emotional,) but a decent home maker and I also have the most beautiful grandchildren. (My husband will soon point out that they are his too)

When we were going through all this, I quickly decided that this was not your mothers 'buying a house experience'. Here in TV, you either wanted to do it (their way) or not at all.

It is also obvious that they call the shots and that it seems to be working.

[clekr]

We bought a home this week. I think the process, as you describe it, is right on point. However, I had spent a lot of time on this site and talking to the agent in the prior year and knew exactly what to expect. We really did not feel any pressure. I always felt if you did not like it you could just walk away. We did choose colors etc just as you describe.

Not that I'm defending them, but when we were here in April you did not get this many choices. The softening market is obviously causing changes. But, and I hate to use that word, contrast this with two years ago when they called you at home, following your visit, and you had six hours to decide to buy the house or not - sight unseen.

So we'll be moving to Hadley - October 28th.

[starflyte1]

clekr, Walk away is what we did in '05. When TV said they would call when they had a house plan finished that we wanted, and it had x color cabinets, y color tile, z color exterior, take it or leave it, we left. At the time, we were looking at spending quite a bit more than we are now, and I could not see their take it or leave it approach.

Three years later, we are considering TV again, and will buy a resale probably. And we know quite a bit more about TV and look forward to living there one day. No big hurry, because we still enjoy boating, but also look forward to TV. Pat

[JohnN]

hello NJBlue and welcome to TV, we're pretty new ourselves.

Regarding pressure, we bought a new finished patio villa, so no decorating issues,
however TV does have it's own unique real estate style and I think there is subliminal if not direct pressure between the time-frames and the down payments. Spending $$$ in the 6 digits always brings a lot of pressure on us regardless of the circumstances.

Best wishes