[charlieo1126@gmail.com]

Originally Posted by Scorpyo

Maybe I'm missing something or I'm just ignorant but why are so people concerned whether the person showing you a house is a sales person, sales agent, real estate agent or real estate broker? Why are you arguing whether or not they're licensed by the state?
Who cares? Their job is exactly the same, namely get you to buy (or sell) a house so they can make a commission. Yeah, the Villages sales organization doesn't go on MLS and conversely the outside Real Estate companies don't go on the Villages site. So if you want MLS go to Remax. If you want to be listed on the Villages site, go through them. The sales representative, no matter whom they work for, will try to close the deal so they make money. The smart ones will do so ethically. They are the ones that list and sell the most homes and make the most money because of referrals. I've heard some very positive statements about the sales persons that worked with some of you on buying or selling your home. I will probably be buying a larger home in the not too distant future. You can rest assured I will be keeping those names for future reference. And, quite frankly, I couldn't care less (yesterday's post) whether they're licensed by the state or not. I just want them to, at least, seem to have my best interests at heart.

Speaks WISDOM THANKYOU

[charlieo1126@gmail.com]

Originally Posted by joedi

don’t trust the village real estate people, they do not follow ethics like professional realtors do. The are told to lie cheat or steal to make sale. These homes are put together with glue and cheap material be careful!

where ?????

[donfey]

Originally Posted by Hospes444

BEWARE
Those looking to buy a property from a Villages realtor; do your due diligence and don't trust the realtors to be forthcoming with important information
Those who are looking to buy a home without inspecting it themselves, or having a trusted friend take a look, you might be surprised at the cosmetic condition when you arrive for the closing.
Make certain to call the tax office in whatever county you are purchasing in. DONT trust the realtor to tell you whether or not the tax rate reflects "Homestead" discount...even if you ask.
These realtors are not looking out for you.
It's unfortunate that so many homes are listed in the Villages and are not a MLS.

The Villages real estate agents are licensed to buy/sell property in Florida, just like those who work for brokers use use MLS. And, just like any other cross-section of humanity, there are good ones and not-so-good ones. There are good, honorable people and, only a few we hope, some not so.

When looking to buy in The Villages we used both The Villages agents and "outside" agents. Both were very helpful to us, but The Villages agent, we felt, went above and beyond for us. We got the right guy, in out opinion - Michael Veri.

Good luck, especially if you expect someone else to do your research for you.

[Debbraham]

Originally Posted by Hospes444

BEWARE
Those looking to buy a property from a Villages realtor; do your due diligence and don't trust the realtors to be forthcoming with important information
Those who are looking to buy a home without inspecting it themselves, or having a trusted friend take a look, you might be surprised at the cosmetic condition when you arrive for the closing.
Make certain to call the tax office in whatever county you are purchasing in. DONT trust the realtor to tell you whether or not the tax rate reflects "Homestead" discount...even if you ask.
These realtors are not looking out for you.
It's unfortunate that so many homes are listed in the Villages and are not a MLS.

Village people are agents not realtors...realtors must sign and commit to a standard of practice and truthfulness and can be sued for lying and lose their license. Agents (village people) are not held to the same standards and follow what the owners tell them to say and do.

[KRM0614]

Originally Posted by Hospes444

BEWARE
Those looking to buy a property from a Villages realtor; do your due diligence and don't trust the realtors to be forthcoming with important information
Those who are looking to buy a home without inspecting it themselves, or having a trusted friend take a look, you might be surprised at the cosmetic condition when you arrive for the closing.
Make certain to call the tax office in whatever county you are purchasing in. DONT trust the realtor to tell you whether or not the tax rate reflects "Homestead" discount...even if you ask.
These realtors are not looking out for you.
It's unfortunate that so many homes are listed in the Villages and are not a MLS.

They have meetings every week on their dialogue they don’t care they just need the sale there is no ethics or morals ! It took a year to fix the defects they lied said it was a new spec house not true it was a year old and it was the most expensive mistake of my life. They don’t use MLS because they don’t want to pay for the fee.

[newgirl]

They are NOT realtors! They work for the developer

[newgirl]

No, if you are a Realtor by law you have to be trained and live up to mls standards. If they worked for the mls as a realtor they could not do or say what they get away with now. When I was looking I was beyond shocked at how things are done here, even title companies do things that they would have on the low end fined $10.000 to shut down. It is scary buying in Florida from a legal standpoint.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by Debbraham

Village people are agents not realtors...realtors must sign and commit to a standard of practice and truthfulness and can be sued for lying and lose their license. Agents (village people) are not held to the same standards and follow what the owners tell them to say and do.

I like the Villages Agents better. They never hound you or pressure you and perhaps even their standards are higher. Jim McLaughlin is a very nice man. A good person. A decent soul with good common sense and he frequently says; "I don't know Gracie. You will hear it the same time I do".

He doesn't have to do anything. People are lined up to buy new homes and used here. The real estate market is up 9% over last year. We bought in Bridgeport at Laurel Valley when it took a few hours until the view lots were sold out. When we bought in Hadley we saw a house we loved and it was off the market and I thought they were trying to fox us. Nope. We bought the one next to it and in the house we missed out on, there lived who became our treasured friends, Norman and Ruthie. I painted a large painting of an Egret in her memory and it hangs in the front hall of this house.

I miss you Ruthie and your beautiful face at my door saying; "Come on Gracie, let's go shop for accessories. She said it so "Chicago".

[rrb48310]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

Why would you buy a house if you do not have it

?

Taxes are taxes. Thought I knew all my costs but found a couple we were not aware of. Whose fault is that other than mine?

Realtors are sales people working for commission and what do you expect from them?

As Ronald Reagon said Trust but verify especially when dealing with sales people.

“inspected by outside inspector”. I’ve had been involved in two inspections done by two different inspectors on The Villages list and they both have missed things, some minor some not.

So true, Trust but Verify.

[ChaRobPhe]

I am planning on selling my home in the Villages and unsure as to whether I should list with a Villages Realtor or go to one of the real estate companies outside of the Villages.
Your thoughts and suggestions appreciated.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by newgirl

No, if you are a Realtor by law you have to be trained and live up to mls standards. If they worked for the mls as a realtor they could not do or say what they get away with now. When I was looking I was beyond shocked at how things are done here, even title companies do things that they would have on the low end fined $10.000 to shut down. It is scary buying in Florida from a legal standpoint.

Realtors are members of the National Association of Realtors, a private trade association. The Multiple Listing Service is a private database. Neither of these organizations make or enforce any laws.

In Florida, you must be a licensed real estate agent to sell houses, and you must comply with Florida laws. But, you don't need to be a Realtor or an MLS member to be a licensed agent.

[Roron123]

I am realtor with MLS and we tend to have more information at our fingertips than those Associates with the Villages (Builder).

[Laker14]

My friends bought a place in TV last winter and they used two agents. One was from one of the MLS companies, and the other was from The Villages. They did this so they could see the houses they were interested in whether they were listed through the MLS, or TV. They wound up buying a house that was listed through TV, but they were equally happy with both agents. It just turned out that the house they wanted was listed that way. They were pleased with the way they were treated.

[jklfairwin]

I don't believe this is true of all realtors or all businesspersons. But it is true that "greed is good" has been adopted by far too many over the last 40 years and that "buyer beware" is much more appropriate now than it was 40 years ago.

[Marty94]

Originally Posted by Hospes444

BEWARE
Those looking to buy a property from a Villages realtor; do your due diligence and don't trust the realtors to be forthcoming with important information
Those who are looking to buy a home without inspecting it themselves, or having a trusted friend take a look, you might be surprised at the cosmetic condition when you arrive for the closing.
Make certain to call the tax office in whatever county you are purchasing in. DONT trust the realtor to tell you whether or not the tax rate reflects "Homestead" discount...even if you ask.
These realtors are not looking out for you.
It's unfortunate that so many homes are listed in the Villages and are not a MLS.

My realtor/Villages sales agent was Chris Hallmark. He is just amazing and extremely knowledgeable. He has been selling homes in TV for many years. (His license information is provided below.) And even though my home was fairly new, I still paid for an inspection as termites are fairly prevalent in the south and I really didn’t want to walk up on the roof to check for weather damage or loose shingles. Chris set that up and the cost was reasonable.

Concerning exemptions, I wouldn’t expect a realtor to know this as that’s getting into tax law. You can easily look up tax information though on the county’s website. Prior to moving to Florida, I did my own due diligence and looked up what I needed to do to apply as I am also a veteran and many states have additional property tax exemptions (Florida among the most generous toward veterans).

Real Estate Broker or Sales HALLMARK, CHRISTOPHER PA Primary SL700267
Sales Associate Current, Active