[Karmanng]

Originally Posted by ron32162

There are NO Village Realtors only village sales people "Realtor" is a trademark and only can be used by members belonging to the NAR. Village sales people, their principal is the builder who they represent. A mls Realtor their principal is the customer That would be You.

VLS dont give you uch information on the homes either when you start asking questions they seem to blow it off

[Karmanng]

Originally Posted by Papa_lecki

When comparing price of new vs pre owned, you need to consider the after market upgrades the pre owned has. Things like painted/coated driveway.garage, water systems, screening, solar tubes, plantation shutters, etc.
That is one reason why pre owned are listed at a higher price.
Don’t forget to investigate the bond. New home are probably in the $30,000 ranges, pre owned may by in the 10,000 to 15,000 range or may be paid off.

Yes I think pre owned is better.......Everyone has the same landscaping when new and things are not established yet......did not like the new areas either such as Deluna its a swamp

[manaboutown]

Originally Posted by Karmanng

VLS dont give you uch information on the homes either when you start asking questions they seem to blow it off

When I asked about the bond when my first Villages agent was showing me a new spec home he looked at me as if he had never heard of such a thing! Lol. He was disingenuous. I never really got much of an answer or even a ballpark figure on how much the bond would be.

Villages agents represent the seller of new homes, The Villages, not the buyer!

[sbedell]

Like most posts, there is a lot of good information but also a lot of misinformation. I'm an MLS Realtor so I'm going to address some of the comments.

Properties of The Villages: If you want a new home, they are the only choice. They can also buy/sell pre-owned but ONLY in The Villages. They do NOT work with MLS agents at all, there are not 'some' that will. They are not Realtors, but that does not make them evil. They currently sell all new properties and about 50% of the pre-owned properties in The Villages. Since they are not in MLS, they are also not listed in Zillow, Redfin, etc online, only in The Daily Sun, their website and radio station. They have about 300 agents.

MLS: MLS agents and POV agents do NOT cooperate with each other, so if you see a property listed on MLS, Zillow, etc, you CANNOT use a POV agent. There are about 1,000 MLS agents in the greater TV area. MLS agents can buy/sell anywhere in Florida. About 50% of pre-owned properties are sold by MLS Realtors.

As you can see by the above, things work a little bit differently in TV compared to other places. That's why many people choose both a POV agent and an MLS Realtor when looking to buy. I hope this clears things up for you!

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by MrChip72

When we bought this past spring we were pretty much 90% set on pre-owned. We looked at several pre-owned and very quickly after checking out new homes after that we changed our minds to only want something new. The newer builds are generally better laid out, using more energy efficient everything, more modern kitchens and bathrooms, and seem to sell for around the same price as pre-owned. Not to mention, in the new areas the average age is closer to 60 than 80 like some of the original areas.

One thing about The Villages... There is constant turnover, with younger people moving in as the older people move on...

This goes for ALL areas...

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by Donaz1

In my experience working with both, I would never use VLS. You are not offered the protections that an MLS must adhered to. A friend recently bought an older home owned by the villages. They went ahead and hired their own inspector and gave her the report - unethical IMO.

What "protection" would that be?

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by Dilligas

If you want to see every house for sale in TV, then you will need both MLS & TV. TV handle about twice the sales of resales and 100% of new. The “line” about TV agents are not realtors is spun by MLS agents, because TV can not sell MLS and vice versa……BOTH are licensed by the state of Florida. Some of TV agents get along with MLS and can work together. You can only see MLS homes on MLS, and only see TV homes on TV website. As with any transaction, get agents you like and trust, there are good & bad in both organizations.

Correct. Our "Villages" Agent took us where WE wanted to go, and contacted one of her friends, who was an MLS agent to show us the few homes that we wanted to see that were not listed on TV website. We found them on Zillow and Redfin...

She made sure WE were happy... She was referred to us by friends, who had used her 3 times. If we ever decide to move, I would not hesitate to use her again...

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by joelfmi

Very important location! Location! and community travel if you cannot drive.

If you cannot drive, I would think TV is not the place for you, unless you move close enough to walk to any shopping, Dr's offices etc...

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by MSGirl

................. member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.

Which means NOTHING.

[Darield]

Originally Posted by KatieRN

My husband and I are coming for a lifestyle visit in October. I have 3 questions about realtors. 1)Why would someone list with MLS rather than a Villages realtor? 2)If I'm looking for a preowned home should I look at both? 3)Someone on this forum said a friend of theirs was paying 500.00 in amenity fees. Doesn't everyone pay the same? Thanks in advance for the info and advice. Excited to see all the Villages offers!

Village realtors do not have a realtors license.They are sales people for the Villages. Their focus is on new homes although they will show you homes that are listed with them. The best thing to do is use both. That way you have access to all homes for sale. As far as amenity fees, they go higher in the newer neighborhoods in the South. The bonds in the newer homes are also much higher. We bought an older home near the polo grounds and the bond had already been paid and we have one of the lower amenity fees. The homes and area have a very different feel South of 466A than the ones up North. Look at a variety of areas so you can determine what is best for you.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by Darield

Village realtors do not have a realtors license.They are sales people for the Villages. Their focus is on new homes although they will show you homes that are listed with them. The best thing to do is use both. That way you have access to all homes for sale. As far as amenity fees, they go higher in the newer neighborhoods in the South. The bonds in the newer homes are also much higher. We bought an older home near the polo grounds and the bond had already been paid and we have one of the lower amenity fees. The homes and area have a very different feel South of 466A than the ones up North. Look at a variety of areas so you can determine what is best for you.

Very true. I will add a one week lifestyle visit is not nearly enough time to decide where you might want to live. We did a month and could easily have done longer

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by msilagy

Remember you will have a BOND on new or newer construction. Paid with taxes. Many realtors never mention that important fact!

Well, considering it's listed on pretty much every single home posting, it's kind of hard to miss...

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive

We took the double-barreled approach when buying: working both with a Villages guy and an outside realtor. Both were excellent. Lennie Berger (the Villages agent) was outstanding. We ended up not buying from him (opting instead to purchase a home listed by an outside realty company) but we had no issues with either. If you're looking at new, however, as other posts indicate, you'll have to work with a Villages agent.

We chose pre-owned, for several reasons. More established neighborhoods, generally quieter (our village has only one way in and out so very little traffic), no bond (a biggie), and a whole lot closer to essential businesses and services that the new construction in the South seems to be (we're maybe 10 minutes by golf cart from Lowe's, Wal-mart, Publix, Aldi, Doctor, Dentist, Spanish Springs Town square, a couple of strip malls, etc.).

Enjoy your lifestyle visit! But be prepared for the lily to be heavily gilded. Back in the world I enjoyed woodworking. When discussing hobbies with our Villages "guide" during our lifestyle visit I mentioned that fact. He took us to the woodshop (only one at the time) and proudly showed how it worked, what was expected of the people using it, etc. No mention however that the waiting list was years long (and with the huge influx of people recently, probably approaching a decade). A few other such gildings, but really minor in comparison to what The Villages is, and has to offer.

Enjoy your visit and best of luck buying

Someone just posted (who is a member of the woodshop) that the waiting list is NOT 'years long"...

[chrissy2231]

Originally Posted by KatieRN

My husband and I are coming for a lifestyle visit in October. I have 3 questions about realtors. 1)Why would someone list with MLS rather than a Villages realtor? 2)If I'm looking for a preowned home should I look at both? 3)Someone on this forum said a friend of theirs was paying 500.00 in amenity fees. Doesn't everyone pay the same? Thanks in advance for the info and advice. Excited to see all the Villages offers!

Villages realtors only have access to the houses that home owners list with them. You would be limiting yourself if you don't use MLS. You're not the one paying the fee; the home owner is. $500 is untrue. I pay $173.50. When I first moved in 6 years ago, fee was $149. Extremely normal increase!

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by ron32162

There are NO Village Realtors only village sales people "Realtor" is a trademark and only can be used by members belonging to the NAR. Village sales people, their principal is the builder who they represent. A mls Realtor their principal is the customer That would be You.

Or the seller, who would be someone else...