Real Estate in The Villages and Why Deal with a REALTOR®
The Villages is an interesting story when it comes to real estate. In 2004, a disagreement between the developer of The Villages and the local MLS led to the developer pulling all the listing within The Villages and starting their own MLS system. The agents at the time no longer belonged to the local Association of REALTORS®, Florida Association of REALTORS® or the National Association of REALTORS® so since then they cannot be called REALTORS® rather only licensed sales associates. REALTORS® are pledged to a strict Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice plus must attend 14 hours of continuing education every 2 years on Code of Ethics and Florida Real Estate Law. Most REALTORS® will continue their education to achieve even higher designations offered by the National Association of REALTORS®.
According to the National Association of Realtor®, REALTORS® epitomize community giving, volunteering at nearly twice the rate of the general population. Another NAR survey revealed that 82% of REALTORS® regularly donate to charity (compared to 56% of the general population), while 80% of the NAR’s members say community involvement is an important part of their business.
That is why Dick Betts is proud to say he is a Full Time REALTOR®
The Facts about Buying and Selling Real Estate in The Villages
The licensed sales association works for the developer, the same developer who is building 1,000’s of new homes on the south side of The Villages. People moving to The Villages can either buy preowned or new, if buying new you could be many miles from the heart of The Villages, when we first meet I will help you understand.
If you are looking at preowned you have 3 scenarios and I want to help you as much as I can. First its estimated up to 40% of the homes listed for sale in The Villages are offered by REALTORS®, that’s the easy part and together we can find you a home in the area you would like to live, yes location!
Next scenario is For Sale by Owner (FSBO) and that number is estimated between 5% to 10%. It is very difficult to find an exact number as FSBOs as they advertise in many different ways. A REALTOR® can help you with a FSBO, that decision is up to the buyer and the seller. If you do decide to use a REALTOR® Florida Real Estate Law requires the following 3 duties, account for all funds, deal honestly and fairly and disclose all known facts that materially affect the value of the property. Not a bad idea to have a REALTOR® by your side when making a large investment.
Finally dealing with a licensed sales associate managed by the developer. New homes are nice but many times a preowned has been over improved which simply means the owner cannot recover some of the upgrades. New homes are nice but being built maybe miles from the area you would like to access for golf, dining, entertain and many other reasons. REALTORS® in The Villages like myself specialize in preowned and finding an area you want to call home.
The licensed sales associate does have preowned homes available and you can work with them but not with a REALTOR® at your side. If you are coming to The Villages I hope you consider starting your search with me as we explore estimated 50% of the preowned homes in The Villages. We together will do everything we can to help you find a home!
