Working in Apopka, Orange County

The practical version

There are things I will not do here either. I will not tell you a property is worth more than the evidence supports in order to win a listing, I will not agree a closing date the paperwork cannot support, and I will not answer a legal, tax or insurance question that belongs to somebody qualified to answer it. I am a sales associate of The Keyes Company — not an attorney, an appraiser or an inspector — and that distinction matters most at the moment you would rather it did not.

Practical things, in order of how often they bite

Where there is an association, the association sets part of the calendar and nobody can hurry it. Approval processes, estoppel letters and the fee that comes with them are all statutory or contractual, all predictable, and all capable of adding weeks when nobody orders them at the start. I order them at the start. It is not clever, it is just the difference between a closing that moves and one that waits.

What Florida adds to a transaction

• Windstorm and flood are underwritten separately from the main policy across much of Florida. Price them on the specific address before you are under contract, not after.
• For condominium buildings of three storeys or more at the relevant age, Florida requires milestone structural inspections and a structural integrity reserve study. Both change assessments and financeability. Read them before waiving anything.
• The homestead exemption reduces taxable value on a Florida primary residence, and the Save Our Homes cap limits how fast the assessed value rises afterwards. Portability may carry a benefit from a prior Florida homestead. Your county property appraiser is the authority, not your agent.
• Title in Florida is customarily handled through a title company rather than an attorney as a matter of course, which changes who you call when a question arises mid-contract.

Other cities in Florida

• Gainesville
• Miramar
• Coral Springs
• Clearwater
• Palm Bay
• Pompano Beach
• West Palm Beach
• Lakeland
• All of Florida