BUYING FLORIDA PROPERTY- HERE COMES THE SUN

THERE’S A PLACE: BUYING PROPERTY IN FLORIDA WITH A DIFFERENCE!

You’re considering spending a substantial amount of money when buying a holiday home in Florida, so if you value advice and expertise, without the bias of pushy marketing and sales people, then we’d like to give you some suggestions on how to find the best place that you can.

My wife and I moved from the UK to Florida about twenty years ago and I’ve worked with a US business partner in the property sector for the last fifteen of those years.  In that time we’ve bought, owned, sold, managed, rented, built and renovated property in Florida.  We use that experience to help people who want to find the right property for their circumstances.

Of course, the Internet means that it’s possible to simply search property listings online.  In fact, you can use such a search facility for properties in Florida on this very site!  But we believe in combining the advantages of technology with good old-fashioned service and experience to get the best results. There are still some things the Internet can’t tell you!

DO YOU WANT TO KNOW A SECRET?

Back to those differences?  Well, to begin with, the Florida property market is very unlike the UK in many ways

You may already know for example that all properties are entered onto a single computer system (the “MLS” – Multiple Listing System) which is made available to all agents (Realtors) to view.

Each property is entered onto the MLS by a Listing Agent, similar to a UK Estate Agent, and you can contact him or her directly to find out about the home. Those are the points of contact that you frequently see when you look at Rightmove.co.uk, Realtor.com and all of the other websites.

However, that’s where technology can only lead you to part of the complete picture.  Talk to those Listing Agents and you’ll learn just as much as they want to tell you – they work for the seller. But by engaging an agent on your behalf as a buyer, one who is not the Listing Agent, you may be surprised about the extra information you learn.  Your own Agent can give you a wider view of the latest data and broader knowledge about the pros and cons of different Florida homes for sale and different communities, so you get “insider” expertise to cover the areas that technology simply cannot reach.

Another major difference is that our services are free to you as the buyer. Yes, free. That’s not some gimmick we’re offering – when you’re buying property in Florida, you pay no agent fees to us at all. Instead, we receive a share of the commission paid by the seller. So you get our impartial experience and expertise for nothing. Nada. Not a dollar, nor a pound.

There is more and we know it can be scary when you’re buying in an overseas market you have no experience of; we’ve been there ourselves. Our goal is to make sure that you have no need to sing “I Should Have Known Better” after you’ve made a commitment to buy your dream home.  We’ll walk you through the whole buying and ownership process step by step, as much or as little as you require. And it won’t cost you a penny.

HELP!

To get the best advice on finding your perfect property in Florida, you need people who understand both the US and the UK way of doing things.

And that’s exactly what we offer, because we have spent more than twenty years in helping clients from the United Kingdom to realise their dreams of owning a Florida property. Our understanding really does help.

This broad appreciation of how things work on both sides of the Atlantic gives you the best possible guide through each step.

For example, we can give you help with:

• Background information on properties that interest you
• Realistic numbers about buying and ownership costs
• Suggestions on how to resolve challenges on financing
• Details of key steps in the buying process
• An outline of the relevant taxation issues
• Home furnishing and set up options
• Property management and bookings options

The result is that you will have a specialist on your side to explain and guide you from beginning to end.

WE CAN WORK IT OUT

Some people buying property in Florida from the UK come to us with a clear idea of locations they like.

Others have a budget and a list of criteria for their home.

We’re equally comfortable with either and are able to provide assistance in nearly any circumstance.

We can work with you from searching available properties to creating shortlists, advising you on particular communities to setting up viewings when you visit.  We’re happy to pick you up from the place that you are staying and to drop you back there after the viewings, if that works better for you. If you want some guidance on securing the best price and on what to offer, we’ll advise you on that too.

Because we have the practical experience as well as the professional ability to supply the information and help that you need, we don’t just adopt the strict sales approach that you get from others who disappear once you have signed a purchase contract. We support you throughout the buying process and beyond, focusing on saving you as much money as possible. We actually enjoy that last part of our work!

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS

Our experience means we can answer most queries immediately; but when you require a specialist, we can connect you with the people you need. They include:

• Financing for overseas buyers
• Tax and accounting
• Property management
• Furnishing and specialty upgrade projects
• Home inspection
• Closing specialists

WE’LL HELP YOU TO FIND THE RIGHT PROPERTY IN FLORIDA

Think of it as our Florida Property Concierge service.  And so if you believe that you can benefit from our experience, or if you have questions about Florida villas for sale, then please get in touch.

How you do it is up to you: you can either go to this page and send us some answers to the questions accessible via the link at the foot of the page.

Or complete this Contact Form (“Get free & impartial help . . . “) to send us whatever information or questions are most important to you.  We can either e-mail, phone or video-call you in response.

We’ll do more than just say Hello, Goodbye . . . and we won’t include any more Beatles references, we promise!