[Patents111]

When looking for a pre-owned house in the Villages I’ll likely be dealing with a Realtor or a Villages agent. There might be some advantages to having a Realtor buyer’s agent helping me. But is there any advantage/disadvantage to having a Villages buyer’s agent? If the Villages agents are all on the same “team,” might their help be influenced by loyalty to each other than the buyer (me)? The parallel situation would be using a Realtor buyer’s agent in the same firm as the listing agent of a particular house.
Thanks for your comments.

[dewilson58]

[retiredguy123]

In the legal sense, an agent is someone who represents you in a transaction for a fee. For almost every house listed for sale, there is an agent who represents the seller and is paid a commission, or fee, to find a buyer. You can find an agent who will claim to represent you as a buyer, but, if they do not charge you a fee, they are really representing the seller and being paid a commission by the seller. Every licensed agent must have a fiduciary relationship with both buyer and seller, but that is not the same as being a buyer's agent. I don't think you will find a real buyer's agent in The Villages. It would require that you create a unique contract and pay a fee for specific services, that would be separate from the sales commission in the listing contract.

[charlieo1126@gmail.com]

After owning 5 new homes in villages I bought my first preowned home in April , I had both my regular village agent and a non village agent working and in this hot market they both worked very hard for me the non village agent found a home for me at 8pm on a Sunday , I bought a lot of homes over the years , I don’t get to wrapped up in what teams of agents are doing or not doing , just know your market and put some trust in your agents especially here there not all out to screw you

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by Patents111

When looking for a pre-owned house in the Villages I’ll likely be dealing with a Realtor or a Villages agent. There might be some advantages to having a Realtor buyer’s agent helping me. But is there any advantage/disadvantage to having a Villages buyer’s agent? If the Villages agents are all on the same “team,” might their help be influenced by loyalty to each other than the buyer (me)? The parallel situation would be using a Realtor buyer’s agent in the same firm as the listing agent of a particular house.
Thanks for your comments.

A lot of people use both a Villages sales agent and a Realtor at the same time, especially when looking for a pre-owned home. This is because if a pre-owned home is listed with a Villages agent, it does not go onto MLS, and vice versa.
At least that's how it used to be several years ago.

[Laker14]

if you are buying a home listed on the MLS (these are the homes you can see on Trulia and Zillow) you can contract with an MLS agent, as long as he/she is not the listing agent of the home (in which case the agent is already contracted to be the sellers fiduciary ) and you can sign a contract with that person wherein that agent is YOUR fiduciary.
When you find your home, and buy it, your agent will be paid out of the sales commission.That is if, and only if, the home you buy is from the MLS.

If you buy a home listed by The Villages real estate (these are not on Trulia or Zillow, but can be seen on TheVillages.net), they share their sales commission with NOBODY.
However, you can contract with an agent, or an attorney, and pay them out of your pocket, as they will receive no sales commission, to have them look after YOUR interests, as opposed to the agent from The Villages Real Estate, who will be primarily obligated to look out for the sellers interests. Very often the buyer's and seller's interests don't conflict, but when and if they do conflict, the sellers agent must, by law, look after the seller's interests.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Laker14

if you are buying a home listed on the MLS (these are the homes you can see on Trulia and Zillow) you can contract with an MLS agent, as long as he/she is not the listing agent of the home (in which case the agent is already contracted to be the sellers fiduciary ) and you can sign a contract with that person wherein that agent is YOUR fiduciary.
When you find your home, and buy it, your agent will be paid out of the sales commission.That is if, and only if, the home you buy is from the MLS.

If you buy a home listed by The Villages real estate (these are not on Trulia or Zillow, but can be seen on TheVillages.net), they share their sales commission with NOBODY.
However, you can contract with an agent, or an attorney, and pay them out of your pocket, as they will receive no sales commission, to have them look after YOUR interests, as opposed to the agent from The Villages Real Estate, who will be primarily obligated to look out for the sellers interests. Very often the buyer's and seller's interests don't conflict, but when and if they do conflict, the sellers agent must, by law, look after the seller's interests.

I agree, except that you don't need to sign a contract to have an agent act as your fiduciary. All licensed real estate agents must have a fiduciary relationship with both the buyer and the seller. It's required by law.

[Papa_lecki]

If you really want to be protected legally, use an attorney. The VLS Villages salespeople dont represent the buyer, they represent the Villages.

[vintageogauge]

Originally Posted by Papa_lecki

If you really want to be protected legally, use an attorney. The VLS Villages salespeople dont represent the buyer, they represent the Villages.

What is the difference who they are loyal to? In todays market whatever homes they have for sale will be sold in a day or two. The nice thing about buying a new one you don't have to worry about a bidding war, the asking price is the selling price, just got to get there first so use a great Villages agent like Beth Pope. They should be selling very soon in Hammock of Fenney, lots of homes nearing completion over there.

[DAVES]

Real estate agent CODE OF ETHICS. Long story short not in Florida. I had a documented breach of ethics. I contacted the realty board. They wanted me to appear. I asked them what would happen. Likely fines. The zinger who would get those fines-damages.
It does not go to the damaged party-ME. It goes to the realty board.

TRUST? It is a small group. They of course know each other.

[Patents111]

Great comments so far/ I look forward to reading any future comments as well. I also realize the benefits of self education by daily watching the listings of MLS and VLS. I notice some softening of price at the upper end of the market. THANKS ALL.

[vintageogauge]

Originally Posted by Patents111

Great comments so far/ I look forward to reading any future comments as well. I also realize the benefits of self education by daily watching the listings of MLS and VLS. I notice some softening of price at the upper end of the market. THANKS ALL.

If you noticed any softening i pricing on high end homes they are most likely on lower priced lots. Quite a few power lines running through Citrus Grove and that is where all the new construction is for sale currently. Wait until they open Hammock and see what the pricing is, the lots along the executive courses were in the 300's.

[Laker14]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

I agree, except that you don't need to sign a contract to have an agent act as your fiduciary. All licensed real estate agents must have a fiduciary relationship with both the buyer and the seller. It's required by law.

How can one person have a fiduciary obligation, without contract, to two different parties who likely have different interests?
For example, the seller would like to get as much money as possible, and the buyer would like to pay as little as possible. How can one person represent both of those interests honestly?
It would be in the seller's interest not to divulge the fact that nobody is interested in the property because the basement smells like dog poop. Divulging that to the prospective buyer, unasked, would likely be a violation of the fiduciary responsibility to the seller. Not divulging that, if known, would be a violation of the fiduciary responsibility to the buyer. One person cannot serve both parties in such a case.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Laker14

How can one person have a fiduciary obligation, without contract, to two different parties who likely have different interests?
For example, the seller would like to get as much money as possible, and the buyer would like to pay as little as possible. How can one person represent both of those interests honestly?
It would be in the seller's interest not to divulge the fact that nobody is interested in the property because the basement smells like dog poop. Divulging that to the prospective buyer, unasked, would likely be a violation of the fiduciary responsibility to the seller. Not divulging that, if known, would be a violation of the fiduciary responsibility to the buyer. One person cannot serve both parties in such a case.

Having a fiduciary responsibility and representing someone as an agent are two different things. Being a fiduciary only means that the agent must act in a person's best financial interest. So, they cannot lie to you or sell you something that is totally inappropriate for your situation. For example, they should not try to sell you a property that you obviously cannot afford, but they could sell you a property that you can afford, but may not be the best deal available. As a licensed real estate agent, they must treat both the buyer and seller as a fiduciary would. But, as an "agent" for the seller, they are obligated to drive a hard bargain and to get the best price they can for the property without violating their fiduciary responsibility to the buyer. These are two entirely different standards of responsibility.

[Robyn1963]

You need both to see all home available I am a licensed realtor. I also have a video about that subject on my YouTube channel. If you search MLS vs VLS On YouTube the video will come up. I can’t put the link in here the monitors will take down the comments because I advertise my real estate business on the video