[jim@jedward.com]

I would never use a Villages “sales agent” to resell a Villages home. Of course there are exceptions, but overall Villages reps have little to no experience negotiating because they’ve never had to negotiate anything, Second, they know little about creative marketing in a tough market. What they know is VLS and doing open houses.

IMO, get an experienced professional Realtor. When you list on MLS, dozens of other pros are made aware of your house. Your home will likely be marketed using all the internet has to offer not just VLS (Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com, etc).
Also when pricing your home, Realtors have access through MLS to a broad set of real comparables sold in an open market not just those sold on VLS.

Finally, when you get an offer, a Realtor knows to handle the nuances of a real contract (concessions, contingencies, counter offers, etc). Good luck.

Yes, I know your Villages sales agent was “sooo nice”. So was mine when I bought my Villages new construction house.

[Franee621]

The Villages do not put your listing on realtor.com Zillow.com or Trulia.com. So if you live say across the country and hear about the villages how would you even know they have their own real estate company

[daca55]

I would definitely go with an MLS realtor. VLS agents don’t care about you. All they care about is making the sale. Check what it’s going to cost you with both and I’ll bet you will see a big difference in the fees they charge with MLS being much cheaper.

[Susan1717]

Hands down use an mls agent!!! I made this mistake of listing with LVS agent and all they did was try to sell the new homes and when they did show my house, they actually talked to people about a comparison of how much of a better deal they could get a new home! Then it was a nightmare trying to get out of the listing, it is impossible. And, if anyone looks at your house while it was listed with them and comes back even months later, they will come after you for commission. It was a nightmare, the other thing to consider,many people look for their own homes now and that’s in MLS listings online! Unless if they are looking to buy a new home, they will go to the MLS listings online .

[Andyb]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Personally, I would give VLS the first chance to sell my house, but I would not give them a six month listing. It would be 90 days max and I would reserve the right to fire them at any time that I lost confidence in them. After 90 days, I would switch to an MLS agent for another 90 days. For any listing, I would use a very experienced agent and they would need to provide a written plan for marketing the house. I would never sign a boilerplate listing contract without reading it and negotiating terms that I did not like. Too many people think they need to sign whatever listing contract the agent presents to them. Also, whenever I have sold a house, the agent would ask me how much I wanted for the house. My answer was always, "you are the professional, you tell me what it is worth."

Exactly what I’m doing now. Village realty is missing the boat not using MLS services.

[Andyb]

Originally Posted by Sportster

Getting close to making a decision and we're curious as to what folks are thinking and doing given all the changes in the real estate business.

Who sells more existing homes VLS or MLS?

Success rate (and time on market) is key if you are using funds from one home to complete the next.

Depends on your house, if you think an existing villager is more apt to buy your house, use VLS, if say, if you think a new villager, use MLS. Most new clients don’t know about VLS, but they sure know Zillow, Redfin and other MLS sites.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by jim@jedward.com

I would never use a Villages “sales agent” to resell a Villages home. Of course there are exceptions, but overall Villages reps have little to no experience negotiating because they’ve never had to negotiate anything, Second, they know little about creative marketing in a tough market. What they know is VLS and doing open houses.

IMO, get an experienced professional Realtor. When you list on MLS, dozens of other pros are made aware of your house. Your home will likely be marketed using all the internet has to offer not just VLS (Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com, etc).
Also when pricing your home, Realtors have access through MLS to a broad set of real comparables sold in an open market not just those sold on VLS.

Finally, when you get an offer, a Realtor knows to handle the nuances of a real contract (concessions, contingencies, etc). Good luck.

Yes, I know your Villages sales agent was “sooo nice”. So was mine when I bought my Villages new construction house.

The Villages has a lot of agents with extensive experience negotiating and selling resale houses. You really need to evaluate their individual experience before deciding between VLS and MLS. Note that you can hire any VLS or MLS agent you want. I would not hire an agent because they are nice.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by thevillages2013

VLS basically you have no representation in a sale because the buyer’s agent and the seller’s agent work for the same company AKA the Developer . If you choose to list MLS make sure you designate the buyer’s agent commission in your listing. Your property will be shown much more than if the buyer has to pay the agent. Things have changed in the R E biz.

You don't need a buyer's agent to buy a home. Having a buyer's agent wasn't even a "thing" until the 1980s and didn't really catch on as a trend until well into the 1990's. Up until then, the ultra-wealthy employed "people" to "handle" these things for them because they were too busy counting their millions to be bothered with all the running around. The peasant stock handled the process of finding a home themselves, and secured a lawyer to work out the sales details.

Just because a buyer's agent is now all the rage, doesn't mean it must be assumed. You can pick out and arrange to buy a house all by yourself, just like people used to do before 1993.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Franee621

The Villages do not put your listing on realtor.com Zillow.com or Trulia.com. So if you live say across the country and hear about the villages how would you even know they have their own real estate company

If you're across the country and you've heard about the villages, you'd look up "the villages" on the internet. Then you'd click over to the website that shows up in the search. And then you'd click on "homes" on the very top of the website, and then "search available homes," and VOILA - you discover all the homes that The Villages is offering for sale. New, pre-owned, and even just vacant lots waiting for someone to buy and build! With an easy-to-read map, lots of pictures, tons of filter options to narrow down what you want to look at.

[Lisanp@aol.com]

The top top producing VLS agents every year don’t get there by selling new homes - they are almost exclusively resale agents and don’t spend their time driving prospective buyers around. Yes, there is an incentive to sell the new construction. It is the exact same incentive as selling their own listings. I would try VLS first but your listing needs to be more attractive than the other thousand listings with location, features, or if none of the above then price.

[merrymini]

I would use MLS to sell. Buyers looking for a new home would go to the villages agents because they have to and that makes sense. Every office has real estates agents and they are all of varying capabilities so picking one that is right for you is a task. Every agent is solely worried about making their commission unless they are your mother. I make upgrades to my property for my own comfort not to collect on resale since every improvement enhances a property but is common knowledge that it does not give you all your money back so best to not get carried away. Zillow and the like are not dependable sources of information as there is a great deal of information about every house they do not know about. Real estate agents do their job but you sometimes do not know how good or bad they are until you use them.

[DrMack]

MLS because there is more flexibility and word goes further.

[gldfin]

You are not allowed to show buyers agent commission in the listing.

[jimhoward]

Do VLS and MLS agents typically get the same percent commission from a seller? Are both negotiable? I have wondered that, and that factor would influence me if I were deciding between the two.

[lpkruege1]

Originally Posted by Sportster

Getting close to making a decision and we're curious as to what folks are thinking and doing given all the changes in the real estate business.

Who sells more existing homes VLS or MLS?

Success rate (and time on market) is key if you are using funds from one home to complete the next.

I know people on here try to talk to out of upgrades. Worn and dirty paint, stinky carpet, or an old/tired roof will make the difference how much you will lose on your house and how long it takes to sell. I walked into a house that should have sold for a lot more and sat through 2 realtors. It's problem? It stunk, old dirty carpet that couldn't be cleaned. You walked into the house and knew some person had bladder control issues. As far as a roof? I wouldn't buy any house that had a 12 year old or older roof. Would you?