Leaving Florida for Fairmont, WV

How a referral works

Before you go: the structural differences

• Licensing in this industry is granted state by state, not federally. A Florida licence carries no authority in West Virginia, and a West Virginia licence carries none in Florida — which is why an introduction, rather than representation, is the only honest offer on this page.
• West Virginia levies a tax on income; Florida does not. It is a change worth modelling against the housing cost before you commit to a price range, and it is a question for your own tax adviser rather than for any real estate agent.
• Expect an attorney at the closing table in West Virginia. Florida closings typically run through a title company instead, so the cast of characters, the fee structure and the sequence of the last two weeks will all look unfamiliar.
• Neither the homestead exemption nor the Save Our Homes cap travels with you out of Florida. West Virginia sets its own assessment rules, its own exemptions and its own limit on how fast a bill can rise — confirm the specifics with the local taxing authority rather than assuming a Florida analogue exists.

What this page is, and what it is not

Two closings in two states means two contracts, two sets of local custom and two lenders’ calendars, and no single person has authority over both. What can be arranged is that each side knows what the other is waiting on. If I am handling a Florida sale for you, I will tell your West Virginia agent what my dates look like and I will ask for theirs. Where those calendars are never introduced to each other, the result is usually a rent-back nobody planned for or interim financing nobody budgeted for.

Where I stop, on purpose

I will not answer a legal, tax, insurance or appraisal question in any state, including my own. I am a sales associate, not an attorney, a CPA, a lender, an appraiser or an inspector, and an honest version of this job includes knowing where its edges are. What I can usually do is tell you which of those people you actually need, which is a cheaper question to get right early than late.

The half of this I can actually do

If what you are leaving is a condominium or a house inside an association, the Florida side has a queue attached to it. Estoppel letters, association approval, and the building’s inspection and reserve documents where those apply — none of it moves at the speed of a buyer who wants to close in thirty days. Starting that paperwork while you are still deciding about Fairmont is the cheapest thing you can do for your own timeline.

What to ask the agent I introduce you to

• When an inspection turns something up, what is the local practice — a price reduction, a credit at closing, or the seller arranging the work — and who conducts that negotiation on my behalf?
• Which documents will you ask me to sign at the very start, what does each one commit me to, and how long does it run? Ask for them by email so you can read them somewhere other than at a kitchen table.
• How is a shortfall on the appraisal usually handled in West Virginia, and what do buyers here commonly write into the contract to deal with it before it happens?
• If the property is listed by your own brokerage, what happens to my representation, what does West Virginia law permit in that situation, and what exactly would you be asking me to sign?

Other cities in West Virginia

• Lewisburg
• Wheeling
• Weirton
• Princeton
• Morgantown
• Martinsburg
• Bluefield
• Huntington
• All of West Virginia