Are you confused by all the different Florida homes & villas for sale, or by how the buying process works here? Try these top ten tips that might help you.
There are literally thousands of Florida homes for sale that you can find by checking out the Internet, but how do you decide which one is right for you? And when you’ve found the right one, what do you need to focus on then?
Well, we’ve helped many clients over a lot of years to figure out their priorities and to understand how things work here so that they can find the house that they want and then buy it at the best value for money. We think that this experience might be valuable to you too, so we’ve summarised a few thoughts here for you to consider.
Obviously, each buyer has his or her own priorities, but the tips below are a good general framework to start with. What do you think? Please let us know if you have anything to add to this list from your experience:
- Do your research – use the vast resources of the Internet, but bear in mind that much of the information is either out-of-date or over-hyped marketing. Avoid any firm conclusions until you visit to review homes here.
- Understand the buying process right at the start – it differs in some very important aspects from the UK.
- Decide at the beginning why you’re buying – for example, if you and your family want to use the place for several holidays a year, you probably need a property in one of the limited areas zoned for short term rental.
- Buying off-plan from the UK before making a Florida visit is high risk and has caused subsequent heartache for many buyers!
- Don’t forget that buying real estate in Florida brings legal and other costs in addition to the property price.
- Raising mortgage finance in the USA is likely to cost more than in the UK.
- Avoid making any up-front payments – for deposits, seminars, whatever – until you understand everything about costs, timing and your liabilities.
- Use a Licensed Realtor, one who lives close to the area you plan to buy in, as your Buyer’s Agent. It’s free (the Seller pays, that’s how things work in Florida!!), any Realtor can show you any listed property and the professional help is impossible to over-value.
- Figuring out who you can trust to take care of your property while you’re not using it is almost as important as finding the right place to begin with – you must be able to have lots of trust whether it’s a management company, an acquaintance or whoever.
- You must personally confirm that payments for key expenses (utility costs, property taxes, insurances and any home-owners association fees) have been made, especially if you don’t write the cheques yourself – failure to do so can be an expensive mistake!
Inevitably, this is a very brief summary of complex and important issues. Even though Florida homes and villas for sale are less expensive than in the UK, a purchase still represents a sizable commitment and so we recommend using the best help that you can do. So please use the Contact form shown on the right or click here and fill in the form that you reach so that we can provide you with the appropriate advice.