[LB2848]

We intend to move to TV as soon as our house in Port Orange sells. Besides doing a 4 day lifestyle preview we have made a number of trips to TV to check it out. We like going to open houses to get a feel for what kind of home we want. So far the only way we have been able to find the open houses is to drive to TV, which takes about 90 minutes, and then buy a newspaper. I checked the Daily Sun online but can not find any real estate info. Is there any way to determine where the open houses are prior to making the drive?

[Pturner]

Hi LB,
Why not have a Villages real estate agent show you all of the model floor plans available in your price range, especially since you are interested in buying soon. If you are interested in a resale, use both a Villages and an MLS real estate agent. It is a much more efficient way to look, and they can answer any questions that you have. On one of our visits, we saw about 35 homes in one afternoon with an agent.

Best wishes in finding your dream home in TV. I know it's there waiting for you!

[golfnut]

wow pt, that's 1 house every 10 minutes for 6 hours, you go girl....gn

[Pturner]

Originally Posted by golfnut

wow pt, that's 1 house every 10 minutes for 6 hours, you go girl....gn

Oh my, you're right, GN. We had looked several times previously. By that day, we knew what we were looking for and were ready to buy. For one thing, we were looking for turnkey. We walked into some houses, didn't care for the furnishings, or how lanai was facing or something easy to spot after all the looking we had done previously, and just walked out. The house we ultimately bought was probably around the 10th we saw that day. After that one, we looked at the remaining ones on our agent's list to be sure... but we knew.

So, all that to say, LB probably won't see 35 houses in a day.

[LB2848]

Thanks PT. As people who are also in the process of selling, we know how much effort it is to get house ready for selling. We try to leave ours immaculate and then we make ourselves scarce so the broker can show the house without us around. At this point we don't have a contract on our house, so we don't want to put other people through that ordeal until we do have one. The TV agent did show us some new models, but we are not sure we liked the locations. I have also been checking the MLS, FSBO and TV sites. With the open houses, we don't feel like we are putting anybody out. Our broker says he thinks we will have offers soon. We will see. Thanks again.

[JohnN]

I don't know of a better way to find open houses.
Besides TV sales reps, there is also MLS, don't forget.

[oatmealgirls]

LB2848,

I understand what you're saying about having a heads up as to what type of open houses are available before driving over here. Have you asked at the TV Sales Office if there is a way to know what Open Houses will be coming up?

I recently noticed that RE/MAX had an insert in TV Daily Sun (I think on Saturdays) that shows Open Houses "Today." They appear to be mostly TV and a few Stonecrest homes. The format is somewhat similar to how TV advertises their Open Houses. Maybe you could contact them about it?

I would also say that Friday and Saturday seem to be popular days to see MLS agents list Open Houses in the paper.

Good luck with your search!!

[Allen]

Originally Posted by oatmealgirls

LB2848,

I understand what you're saying about having a heads up as to what type of open houses are available...

We find it akward to have to visit the houses with an agent (although the one we had during out visit was great). The difficult part is that I would like to be able to linger and think and measure, etc. Then go to the next house and do the same, or turn around and go back to where we just came from to compare something that we missed. Doing this for an extended period of time would rightly drive the agent nuts... but, it is how we like to look so we are sure we are making the right decision.

I wish they would have "open houses" or at least open access on a more regular basis.

[Pturner]

Originally Posted by Allen

We find it akward to have to visit the houses with an agent (although the one we had during out visit was great). The difficult part is that I would like to be able to linger and think and measure, etc. Then go to the next house and do the same, or turn around and go back to where we just came from to compare something that we missed. Doing this for an extended period of time would rightly drive the agent nuts... but, it is how we like to look so we are sure we are making the right decision.

I wish they would have "open houses" or at least open access on a more regular basis.

Lingering, measuring, going back and comparing, etc., with an agent wouldn't make me feel uncomfortable. A home is a major investment. Anyone buying a home should not be made to feel uncomfortable taking as much time and care as is needed to make a confident decision. Part of the agent's job, for which he or she is paid a percentage of the sales price, is to facilitate the purchase/sale. It seems that prospective home buyers would limit their options by looking only at homes that happen to be shown as an "open house" on a convenient date. Just my opinion, of course.

[graciegirl]

If you have a fax, your agent could fax the ad to you on the day you might be coming over. Then you can go to the Villages site and see where and how it is situated and go to sumterpa.com or one of the other two county sites and see when it was built and what they paid for it. Even if you don't have a fax, your agent could take a photograph of the ad after penning in the VLS number (bigger so you could read it,) and send the photograph via email. Or one of us could do it. I wouldn't mind.

[llaran]

unlike other areas - we have open houses every day- the villages does some and the outside realtors and by owner's do some! the houses are pretty much the same plans that have been here for yoears, they make a small change and put a new name on it. They have added some new plans in the real new section's . Be sure to find out about the Bond! Get a $5 map and the news paper every morning - Good Luck

[Allen]

Originally Posted by Pturner

Lingering, measuring, going back and comparing, etc., with an agent wouldn't make me feel uncomfortable. A home is a major investment. Anyone buying a home should not be made to feel uncomfortable taking as much time and care as is needed to make a confident decision. Part of the agent's job, for which he or she is paid a percentage of the sales price, is to facilitate the purchase/sale. It seems that prospective home buyers would limit their options by looking only at homes that happen to be shown as an "open house" on a convenient date. Just my opinion, of course.

Good points, PT. I guess I was just assuming you would be able to see all of the models during an Open House. Perhaps I was thinking back to "Street of Dreams" events that I attended in the past. I didn't think that only a few would be open at one time. Shows you what i know about Open Houses.

[LB2848]

Gracie what a nice offer. It's people like you that make us want to move to TV. I think asking the TV agent if he can give us a heads up would be a good idea. My wife couldn't go, but I went over today and looked around.