Arcadia, Florida — licensed statewide

The parts that go wrong, and when

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.

The Florida-specific list

• 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.

Where I actually add something

Much of this site is written for people leaving Florida. This page is the opposite case: Arcadia is in Florida, so the licensing question does not arise at all, and the only live issue is a practical one about distance and presence. Distance is not always a problem — a great deal of this work now happens by telephone, email and document portal — but it is a fact, and you are better off holding it before you decide rather than after.

Other cities in Florida

• Lakeland
• Davie
• Miami Gardens
• Boca Raton
• Sunrise
• Plantation
• Miami Beach
• Deltona
• All of Florida