Real estate in Estero, Florida

What to expect from me

Most of what decides a Florida transaction is not the house. It is insurance, the condition of the association if there is one, what the survey shows, and whether the closing timeline survives contact with a lender. Those are the things I spend my time on in Lee County, and they are what I would want to talk about first.

Practical things, in order of how often they bite

The survey is where the story of a property is usually kept. Encroachments, an easement nobody mentioned, a fence that has been in the wrong place for twenty years, an addition that crosses a setback — none of that appears in the listing and all of it can affect title, insurance or your ability to do what you were planning to do. Order it early enough that its findings can still be negotiated.

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.

Other cities in Florida

• Pensacola Beach
• Haines City
• Coral Gables
• Tampa
• Aventura
• Fort Myers
• Destin
• Pompano Beach
• All of Florida