Deltona buyers and sellers

What I watch for on a Florida contract

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 tends to decide a Florida closing

• 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.

Before you list, or before you offer

What I can offer in Deltona is availability and continuity: the person who took your first call is the person at the inspection, on the telephone to the lender, and at the closing table. There is nothing clever about that. It simply removes the most common failure in this business, which is a handoff to somebody you were never introduced to and cannot reach.

Other cities in Florida

• Coconut Creek
• Sanford
• Jupiter
• Doral
• Bradenton
• Pensacola
• Pensacola Beach
• Sarasota
• All of Florida