[Reezie]

I'm hoping someone can answer my questions. We'll be coming back to TV in 2 weeks, this is our third time, looking for a place. My questions are regarding realtors. We have a Villages realtor we have been working with. She's really great, but my question is, can she show us a house that is not listed with TV realty. We saw some great ones that are listed with ReMax. Can anyone that has purchased a home with an outside realtor tell me if the procedure would be any different. We are probably going to use Citizens Bank for the small mortgage we will probably have. Does it make a difference to them as to who we used to buy a house with. I know they are owned by The Villages.
I do have to say I find this web site so informative. If you want answers you go to the people who know. And that seems to be the case with this site. So I'm hoping for some great answers from "TV experts".
Thanks in advance to any help anyone can give us.

[JohnN]

TV sales reps cannot show you MLS homes, you have to find another realtor.

One of those mystical things about TV

[Barefoot]

It is a strange situation, but there are two parallel real estate systems running at the same time and each is independent of the other. To get the best selection, most purchasers work with two agents. It's a very common practice. Each system seems to have about one-half the inventory of listings.

Agents employed by The Villages can show only VLS (Village) Listings. They do not have access to MLS listings and they are not members of the MLS service.

Agents who belong to MLS can show you MLS listings, but they do not have access to the Village VLS System.

I have dealt with excellent agents from both systems and have some recommendations if you want to PM me (I don't think we're allowed to "advertise" agents on TOTV).

Good luck with your house hunting.

[ijusluvit]

It's true there is no mixing TV realty and MLS. Get a rep from each to see all possible sales. I think MLS may be the better route with the "buyers market". Villages properties and their agents seem less flexible on price and other aspects of the sales contract. And believe it or not, there are actually foreclosures in TV! In the case of friends of ours who were negotiating purchase of such a property, the MLS agent really knew what she was doing. This was a month or so after an MLS company picked up the listing which previously had been under contract with TV for 6 months.

Also, why not shop around for a mortgage? We naively thought that since we had to do the details from afar, going with Citizens would make it simple. It was such a disaster that a VP eventually called us to apologize for all the mistakes made by bank staff. She said our case was the most mishandled she had ever seen. Maybe I should be happy to be #1 in something...

[Lucko]

We just bought our second home in TV (Duval/Hemingway) and checked a loan each time through Citizens. Each time is seemed convenient, but our local mortgage broker was a half percent cheaper and had much lower loan costs. A penny saved Etc.... Shop your loan. At any rate, you will love The Villages.

[kerry]

crap crap i have bought 3 villas in he villages. all fsbo and Had no hassle and i am going down next to buy my forth fsbo.

[rshoffer]

Originally Posted by kerry

crap crap i have bought 3 villas in he villages. all fsbo and Had no hassle and i am going down next to buy my forth fsbo.

Do you buy these as rentals? If so, do they rent easily aand do you use a rental agency?