[ladygolfer23]

Originally Posted by PuttLast

Recommendations please, looking the best Village sales person for pre-owned homes.
Thanks

We are also looking for motivated sales people to buy a 3 bedroom courtyard villa and to sell an Amarillo Ranch in Liberty Park. Please contact sdmt1@embarqmail.comwe are only interested in property south of 466.

[Mark1130]

Has anyone had any dealings with

WALTER COE, PH.D.
ERA Tom Grizzard Realtors

We are coming down next weekend and plan to meet with him.

[Iowa Hawkeye]

We are coming next week and meeting w/Walter Coe also. Looking for home with pool or room to add one.

[espulmano]

We just closed last week... Worked with Kay Salerno for a more than a year, before we sold our home until we were in a positon to buy. She went out of her way to show us as many homes as we wanted to see, knowing that we could not buy then. When we were ready, we called her again and looked until we found what we wanted. Her personality is wonderful and she's very easy to work with. If I had to do it all over again, I'd still choose her as my realtor.

352-753-2270
352-205-3381-Mobile

[robertj1954]

We purchased a pre-owned home here in The Villages and love it! Here are a few points to think about when looking for a pre-owned home based on our own experiences.

A good realtor (Debbie Gentry (ERA) 352-217-3179 was our agent), can show you what is out there. But have a good idea of what you want for your home (sq ft, #bdrms, location: Golf Front, water etc. The Realtor will put together a list and then you can spend a day viewing the homes meeting your criteria, this reduces wasted time. Ask a lot of questions, a good Realtor does not mind your questions.

Once you have made a selection, it is very important to have the home inspected. Here in Florida, Termites, wood rot from moisture and other issues could create serious budget issues. One thing we learned from our inspection was the vinyl siding was not installed correctly. It had gaps that could allow water to enter and cause wood rot. If you know about it and budget for it then it is not a big deal to fix. ($1,000 or less depending on severity) Our inspector told us this is a common issue with homes built with vinyl siding, it is one of those maintenance issues if ignored will haunt you later.

Check the roof. Roof replacement will be an issue for homes 15 years or older because they have to be replaced and that is a budget breaker if you have not planned for it. A good inspector will know how many years you have left before a new one is needed.

AC/Heat - Another critical part of your home. You cannot survive a Florida summer without AC. If the A/C unit is over ten years it will require replacing sooner then later. Make sure it does not leak; it is large enough to cool/heat your home without running 24/7. The inspector will tell you in their report the condition of the AC unit and the water heater another important appliance that has a life limit.

Flooring, carpet that is over ten years will probably need replacement. Many of the older homes have older tile, and the counter tops are dated. These are easily replaced but again can impact your budget. We had our Realtor negotiate replacement in our final purchase offer allowing for a very nice flooring allowance appliance replacement and the cost to fix the vinyl siding. If a seller is motivated and they know these are valid issues most will negotiate a price.

Hope you have a fun time looking for your new home. You have already done well by selecting TV as your new place of residence.

[pmealy]

Most definitely be sure to work with two sales reps - one from the The Villages and one from a company outside of The Villages. For Outside, we used Anna Brady of Realty Executives. She was wonderful - she took the time to find exactly what we were looking for and that was not easy! We now have a wonderful home and a friend for life!

[katezbox]

Originally Posted by robertj1954

We purchased a pre-owned home here in The Villages and love it! Here are a few points to think about when looking for a pre-owned home based on our own experiences.

A good realtor (Debbie Gentry (ERA) 352-217-3179 was our agent), can show you what is out there. But have a good idea of what you want for your home (sq ft, #bdrms, location: Golf Front, water etc. The Realtor will put together a list and then you can spend a day viewing the homes meeting your criteria, this reduces wasted time. Ask a lot of questions, a good Realtor does not mind your questions.

Once you have made a selection, it is very important to have the home inspected. Here in Florida, Termites, wood rot from moisture and other issues could create serious budget issues. One thing we learned from our inspection was the vinyl siding was not installed correctly. It had gaps that could allow water to enter and cause wood rot. If you know about it and budget for it then it is not a big deal to fix. ($1,000 or less depending on severity) Our inspector told us this is a common issue with homes built with vinyl siding, it is one of those maintenance issues if ignored will haunt you later.

Check the roof. Roof replacement will be an issue for homes 15 years or older because they have to be replaced and that is a budget breaker if you have not planned for it. A good inspector will know how many years you have left before a new one is needed.

AC/Heat - Another critical part of your home. You cannot survive a Florida summer without AC. If the A/C unit is over ten years it will require replacing sooner then later. Make sure it does not leak; it is large enough to cool/heat your home without running 24/7. The inspector will tell you in their report the condition of the AC unit and the water heater another important appliance that has a life limit.

Flooring, carpet that is over ten years will probably need replacement. Many of the older homes have older tile, and the counter tops are dated. These are easily replaced but again can impact your budget. We had our Realtor negotiate replacement in our final purchase offer allowing for a very nice flooring allowance appliance replacement and the cost to fix the vinyl siding. If a seller is motivated and they know these are valid issues most will negotiate a price.

Hope you have a fun time looking for your new home. You have already done well by selecting TV as your new place of residence.

IMO this is excellent advice. You hit the nail on the head about the cost of ownership. Wise buyers will look at the overall total cost of ownership (or TCO in financial slang. Looking at new vs. resale, focusing on the price of the bond, etc etc. is leaving yourself open to a bad decision.

Ideally I think it makes sense to put together a spreadsheet with costs over a five year period to arrive at TCO. Many of these can be estimated based on postings here in TOTV. This spreadsheet would include the following:

1. Initial home cost

2. Cost of improvements at purchase
a. if new adding an attic ladder, landscaping, garage floor finish solar tubes etc.
b. if resale - cost of carpet change, appliance changes, re-painting, etc.

3. Cost of bond and mortgage interest

4. Cost of projected improvements over the five years - i.e. enclose lanai, add cage, driveway pavers, remodel kitchen, etc.


If you do your homework, you can figure out the cost of the types of models you are interested in from the TV website and begin to create the model.

If you know just what improvements matter to you (pavers, attic fan, etc), you can easily replicate the model for several houses that you like and make a good financial decision. This will allow you to use your head to a certain degree in addition to your heart.

[Schaumburger]

Originally Posted by robertj1954

We purchased a pre-owned home here in The Villages and love it! Here are a few points to think about when looking for a pre-owned home based on our own experiences.

A good realtor (Debbie Gentry (ERA) 352-217-3179 was our agent), can show you what is out there. But have a good idea of what you want for your home (sq ft, #bdrms, location: Golf Front, water etc. The Realtor will put together a list and then you can spend a day viewing the homes meeting your criteria, this reduces wasted time. Ask a lot of questions, a good Realtor does not mind your questions.

Once you have made a selection, it is very important to have the home inspected. Here in Florida, Termites, wood rot from moisture and other issues could create serious budget issues. One thing we learned from our inspection was the vinyl siding was not installed correctly. It had gaps that could allow water to enter and cause wood rot. If you know about it and budget for it then it is not a big deal to fix. ($1,000 or less depending on severity) Our inspector told us this is a common issue with homes built with vinyl siding, it is one of those maintenance issues if ignored will haunt you later.

Check the roof. Roof replacement will be an issue for homes 15 years or older because they have to be replaced and that is a budget breaker if you have not planned for it. A good inspector will know how many years you have left before a new one is needed.

AC/Heat - Another critical part of your home. You cannot survive a Florida summer without AC. If the A/C unit is over ten years it will require replacing sooner then later. Make sure it does not leak; it is large enough to cool/heat your home without running 24/7. The inspector will tell you in their report the condition of the AC unit and the water heater another important appliance that has a life limit.

Flooring, carpet that is over ten years will probably need replacement. Many of the older homes have older tile, and the counter tops are dated. These are easily replaced but again can impact your budget. We had our Realtor negotiate replacement in our final purchase offer allowing for a very nice flooring allowance appliance replacement and the cost to fix the vinyl siding. If a seller is motivated and they know these are valid issues most will negotiate a price.

Hope you have a fun time looking for your new home. You have already done well by selecting TV as your new place of residence.

RobertJ1954 -- Thank you for the excellent list of items to look for in a preowned home. I think some people up north may not realize how much of a workout A/C units must get in Florida -- kind of like the workout furnaces get up north...some summers I have turned on my A/C unit 5 or 6 times the whole summer. Last year I ran the A/C a lot. But never as much as an A/C unit would run in Florida.

[harbor53]

Thanks for this very wise advice!