There are NO Villages Realtors. They do not qualify to be a Realtor. They are licensed real estate agents, but there is a huge difference.

Real Estate Agents are just sales people. Why the Trust?
 

Always require EVERYTHING a salesman tells you to be verified in writing. I can't believe the number of mature individuals who have posted on this site that they have made a significant $$$ investment without advice of attorney or doing their own due diligence.

Trust But Verify!!

I have to say that I have dealt with both MLS and Properties of the Villages salespeople. The perceived dishonesty seems to me to be coming primarily from the MLS folks. In my case I had been dealing with a realtor (MLS) that was recommended by a close friend and one I had used in the past. Unfortunately they are now saying that the listing agent did not do his job and verify the bond to have been paid off, and they have no responsibility. On several ocassions I asked my agent and even the homeowner if there was a bond and always, the response was no, in fact that is how the MLS listing read for the 6 weeks it was on the market.

Is there no public record of the bond balance owed on a particular house available to a potential purchaser?

Reading of all the posts on a thead often yields answers to questions.
See post #6 #10

yep
 

You are right. The message is don't trust realtors. Period

And I thought that this thread was about home sellers who don't know or wish to disclose the bond amount owed on there property.

Accurate disclosure of the bond amount is a significant issue in the sales transaction. I believe that it is the duty of the seller and his/her rep(sales agent) to make full disclosure , prior to a firm committment(contract) by the buyer. I suspect that lack of this disclosure would be grounds for action against the sales agent and the seller. It would be in many other states. I'm not sure about Fl.
Perhaps a RE attorney might comment and clarify the issue for us.

At a minimum I will be following up with a formal complaint to seniors vs crime and FREC. I believe this is far too prevalent to be a mere error, and the attitude displayed from these experts adds to the fire. As a layperson, I believe there is a minimum amount of professionalism and expertise that should be expected from them. In my case both the listing agents and the buyer's agents are extremely experienced and have been doing business in the Villages for years.

I have never been to a closing where the closing statement was not provided in advance. Likewise, I have never been to a closing where taxes and any other liens were not disclosed in the title work. There is a reason for Title Insurance.

I agree , however, the disclosures should be part of the listing information package available to the buyer even before the contract is signed. Those items are then again outlined in the closing statement as you have clearly stated.

I agree also. However, my experience has been that all too often real estate agents are not marketers, nor do they learn as much about their products as do other sales professionals. For example, equipment salesmen can usually even show a prospect how to perform maintenance on their products and demonstrate the specific mechanical advantages over the competition.

In a previous life I was the president of a condo association and had an opportunity to observe that virtually no real estate office in the county bothered to have on hand the condo rules and regulations or up to date association financials in spite of the fact that we made them available upon request.

Not all real estate agents lack professionalism, but all too many are lacking in basic training. Professional real estate agents do far more than driving prospects around and buying lunch.

Just hit "Tax Search" and put the address in on this link and you will see how much, if any, is being paid on the bond. You can search by name also.


Sumter County Tax Collector

Then you can use the link that I posted above, to get the payoff amount.

This is an excellent website. Thaks Rayschic.

I didn't realize I could pay our property tax online, using this website (with an electronic cheque from Citizens Bank). We saved time driving to the Tax Office and lining up. Easy peasy! And we saved $150 by paying our yearly taxes now and not in March!

Yes, you pay $1.50 convenience fee if you pay on-line. I always go to the tax office on 466. I see everyone grab a number and sit and wait. They have a box just inside the front door where you can just put your bill and check in an envelope. I just drop it in the box and go. I check online the next day and it's posted. Easy peasy !