[Accidental1]

My wife and I are looking at homes in the Villages. Currently we've just been going to open houses on our own and looking mainly at listings offered by The Villages (not MLS listed). We were wondering how others have handled their purchase of pre-owned homes from the Villages. Did you get your own MLS realtor to assist you or did you deal only with The Villages sales representatives? It seems to me that dealing only with The Villages sales representatives (even if the person assisting you isn't the one who is listed as the rep for the home being sold) is risky. In that case is anyone really looking out for the buyers best interest? Would love to know other peoples experiences. If you've bought new homes your input would be appreciated too.

Thank you.

[John_W]

Originally Posted by Accidental1

Did you get your own MLS realtor to assist you or did you deal only with The Villages sales representatives? It seems to me that dealing only with The Villages sales representatives (even if the person assisting you isn't the one who is listed as the rep for the home being sold) is risky. In that case is anyone really looking out for the buyers best interest?
Thank you.

Villages agents are not Realtors, they may have taken the state exam and hold a real estate license and they may not. They are similar to a car salesman working for the dealer selling new and used cars. They cannot show homes on MLS because TV does not belong to the MLS and their agents are not all licensed as such.

Realtors are those who hold a Florida Real Estate License and have joined the Board of Realtors for their county and work under a set of code of conduct. They generally work for a broker who is part of the MLS system and can sell and list homes in that network.

To see all the resales in TV, you need both agents, at anyone time there are slightly more than 200 homes listed with MLS and 200 plus listed with TV Office. All Realtors unless designated a buyers agent, work for the seller whether they took the listing or another MLS agent took the listing. TV sales people generally operate the same, but don't have the same code of conduct.

[REDCART]

We used both an MLS realtor and a Villages sales agent at the same time. My wife thought it was wrong but I was ok with it. Between the two, we viewed close to 40 homes over a 3 month period. The Villages sales agent was busy with multiple buyers. By the time he scheduled an appt, it was often too late. The home was already in contract. We also went to open houses (pre Covid) on our own, and in fact purchased one that we saw at an open house. So I think you need both sales people for the best buying opportunities.

[bebemary]

In Florida MLS agents do not legally work for the seller . True in places up north but not here. Only the listing agent would represent the individual seller

[Mikeodonnell73]

I used both as well as a good friend of mine. In both cases we brought from the MLS. There was more choices and the problem with The Village group they were pushing new home down in the south section.

[Jayhawk]

Originally Posted by John_W

Villages agents are not Realtors, they may have taken the state exam and hold a real estate license and they may not. They are similar to a car salesman working for the dealer selling new and used cars. They cannot show homes on MLS because TV does not belong to the MLS and their agents are not all licensed as such.

Not correct.

"In addition to being licensed Florida real estate agents, our team of over 200 agents receives frequent, professional education beyond the state’s continuing education requirements on customer care, product knowledge, and the latest information pertaining to the lifestyle we all enjoy."


Meet Our Amazing The Villages(R) Sales Representatives

[manaboutown]

My big question is can Villages agents be buyer's agents as MLS Realtors can?

[eweissenbach]

Villages reps are licensed real estate sales people. You cannot sell real estate without a license. As a former Realtor (r) I can assure you it means almost nothing, other than you paid the dues to join the National Association of Realtors. Having said that, there is nothing wrong, unethical, or out of the ordinary to work with both an MLS realtor or a Villages rep., in fact a must if you want to see all available inventory.

[Malsua]

Originally Posted by Accidental1

My wife and I are looking at homes in the Villages. Currently we've just been going to open houses on our own and looking mainly at listings offered by The Villages (not MLS listed). We were wondering how others have handled their purchase of pre-owned homes from the Villages. Did you get your own MLS realtor to assist you or did you deal only with The Villages sales representatives? It seems to me that dealing only with The Villages sales representatives (even if the person assisting you isn't the one who is listed as the rep for the home being sold) is risky. In that case is anyone really looking out for the buyers best interest? Would love to know other peoples experiences. If you've bought new homes your input would be appreciated too.

Thank you.

I can only say that I bought one TV home from a MLS realtor and another TV home from the Villages both pre-owned. To me, the process was identical except on one, we looked at the Villages site, on the other we looked at Zillow.

In both cases, I feel like the agent was looking out for us. In both cases they negotiated our offers with the listing agent with no pressure for us to accept a counter or whatever. It was exactly the same thing and we feel like it was a win. The contract for the TV listing was a little more specific on some things but no show stoppers.

Good luck.

[vintageogauge]

We used both and ended up buying through TV. The MLS agent didn't seem to have what we were looking for and the TV rep. did. May have just been a matter of timing. They both seem to sell about an equal number of re-sales per year so I would advise using both. For a new home you have to use TV's agents.

[John_W]

Originally Posted by Jayhawk

Not correct.

"In addition to being licensed Florida real estate agents, our team of over 200 agents receives frequent, professional education beyond the state’s continuing education requirements on customer care, product knowledge, and the latest information pertaining to the lifestyle we all enjoy."

I didn't say they didn't receive and continue their education, that's something I would expect, however I don't believe it was a past practice to be a Florida Licensed Real Estate Agent. Is this something new for TV sales staff?

[Rrgolf]

What are you looking for? Our home just went up for sale with TV

[Toymeister]

Invariably this thread will morph into a MLS agent as some sort of superior real estate agent. In reality it won't matter if you use a Villages agent.

What will matter is where you are buying. All new and the majority of used but newer homes will be sold by Villages agents. As you get closer to the more established areas MLS reign.

I have used both. Both types did not have my interest in mind in the slightest. Both types had degrees of unprofessionalism.

One possibility that can work in your favor is a used but less than 12 month old home. No matter who sells it the owner cannot receive a profit. This is in place to discourage flippers. In a sought after location you can benefit from no appreciation and improvements that the original owner completed

[vintageogauge]

Originally Posted by Toymeister

Invariably this thread will morph into a MLS agent as some sort of superior real estate agent. In reality it won't matter if you use a Villages agent.

What will matter is where you are buying. All new and the majority of used but newer homes will be sold by Villages agents. As you get closer to the more established areas MLS reign.

I have used both. Both types did not have my interest in mind in the slightest. Both types had degrees of unprofessionalism.

One possibility that can work in your favor is a used but less than 12 month old home. No matter who sells it the owner cannot receive a profit. This is in place to discourage flippers. In a sought after location you can benefit from no appreciation and improvements that the original owner completed

Wrong, the owner can add the cost of improvements to the selling price to recoup the cost of those improvements. You will also have a lesser warranty when buying a almost new home vs a new home.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by vintageogauge

Wrong, the owner can add the cost of improvements to the selling price to recoup the cost of those improvements. You will also have a lesser warranty when buying a almost new home vs a new home.

Correct, 100 percent of the cost. And, they can also add the cost for the real estate commission.