No Referral Needed
Working in Pembroke Pines, Broward County
Ask the awkward questions on the first call. I would rather answer them then than at the inspection.
Direct representationWhat to expect from me
I work under The Keyes Company, which has been a Florida brokerage since 1926. That matters less for the marketing and more for the boring parts — a broker to escalate to, compliance that is somebody's actual job, and a referral network for the occasions when the right answer is someone other than me.
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.
The parts people underestimate
- 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
Questions people actually ask
Do I need to worry about the flood zone and elevation?
Look both up before you are under contract rather than after. The flood zone determines whether cover is required by a lender, and on an older property an elevation certificate can move the premium substantially. That certificate is a surveyor’s document rather than an agent’s opinion, and the seller may already hold one. Ask for it early — it is one of the few pieces of paper that can change the arithmetic of a purchase by a large amount.
What is an estoppel letter and why does it hold things up?
It is the association’s written statement of what is owed on a unit — dues, assessments, transfer fees — and a Florida closing involving an association generally waits for it. The association has a statutory period in which to produce it and charges a fee for doing so. It is ordinary and entirely predictable, and it delays closings only when nobody ordered it early. Ask for the association’s governing documents in the same breath.
Who handles the closing in Florida?
Customarily a title company rather than an attorney as a matter of course, which differs from practice in a number of other states. The title work confirms the seller can convey what they are selling and turns up the things nobody mentioned: an old lien, an open permit, a boundary that does not match the fence. You may still want your own attorney, particularly on an estate sale or anything unusual, and I will say so when I think it is warranted.
What do I have to disclose as a seller in Florida?
Florida sellers are required to disclose known facts materially affecting the value of the property which are not readily observable — the rule from Johnson v. Davis — and it is broader than most sellers expect. The practical version: if you know about it and a buyer would not see it on a walkthrough, disclose it. Where the boundaries of that duty are genuinely unclear, that is a question for an attorney rather than for me.
What are the four-point and wind mitigation inspections?
Insurance documents rather than buyer protections. Insurers commonly ask for a four-point report on an older property — roof, electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling — before they will quote at all, and a wind mitigation report records construction features that can reduce a premium. Neither replaces a full home inspection. Order them early enough that a refusal to quote is not what you discover a week before closing.
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Jacob Campbell · Florida Real Estate Sales Associate, license 3623732 · The Keyes Company · 561.301.7130