Titusville, Brevard County — the honest answer

What I watch for on a Florida contract

The appraisal decides what the lender will lend against, not what the property is worth to you, and the two are not obliged to agree. What matters is what the contract says happens when they do not — who may walk away, who may make up a difference, and by when a decision has to be made. Read that clause before you need it rather than on the day it becomes relevant.

The practical version

The Keyes Company has been a Florida brokerage since 1926 and has agents in places I am not. That is the practical answer to a page like this one. The question is rarely whether the firm can serve Titusville; it is which person within it ought to. I am happy for that to be me and equally happy for it to be somebody else, and I will tell you which I think it is on the first call rather than after you have signed something.

What Florida adds to a transaction

• 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

• Winter Springs
• Bradenton
• Hollywood
• Clewiston
• Altamonte Springs
• Boca Raton
• Ellenton
• Marco Island
• All of Florida