Miami, Florida — this is my market

Price these before you commit

• 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.

What to expect from me

The parts of this job that matter least are the ones marketing is loudest about. What decides whether a Miami transaction closes on time is whether somebody is chasing the association for documents, whether the lender’s conditions were read the week they arrived rather than the week they were due, and whether the survey was ordered early enough to be useful. None of that photographs well. All of it is the work.

What actually decides a Florida closing

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.

Other cities in Florida

• Daytona Beach
• Tamarac
• Ocala
• Fort Pierce
• Wellington
• North Miami
• Margate
• Coconut Creek
• All of Florida