The incredible level of demand has spawned an entire industry that makes its living selling Florida property to the Brits. Unfortunately, the quality of advice and information given to these buyers isn’t always what it might be, and it is all too common for the outcome to be unsatisfactory when buying property in Florida.
Talking of advisors, prepare to be surprised by the sheer number of different people who are likely to be involved in buying a property in Florida. Buying property in Florida can be simple and straightforward – if you have the right people to guide you through the process and arm yourself with some basic information in advance. Unless of course you have sensibly enlisted the help of someone who is specifically experienced in the exact business of helping British people buy property in Florida. It isn’t enough to work only with people who understand the Florida system – if they don’t also have some understanding of the system you are familiar with they will not know what they have to focus on to help you with the critical differences between the two.
One big difference that is often the first surprise for British buyers is the business of finding properties to look at. In Florida, you do not have to trudge around dozens of estate agents as virtually every property is listed on a central database system that is available to all Real Estate Agents (Realtors). Agents tend to work as “seller’s agents” or “buyer’s agents” and you should recruit the services of a buyer’s agent who has good experience working with British buyers. Better to seek out specialised agents beforehand who understand your situation.
The real beauty of a buyer’s agent is that you don’t have to pay them! The system works by having the seller pay their agent a commission for selling the property – and the seller’s agent shares that commission with the buyer’s agent. There really is no excuse for buying from a seller’s agent as they have absolutely no loyalty or legal responsibility towards you – recruiting a buyer’s agent who has a legal responsibility to advise you professionally can save you a fortune and doesn’t cost a penny.
Not only does the agent on a new development have loyalty only to the developer, they are only selling one set of property and so will not give you any useful guidance concerning value for money, market values and so on.
Once you have found a property that is of interest, there are Florida-specific factors to be aware of in the contractual procedure to be followed from the first expression of interest through to completion of the sale.
Something that catches out a few British buyers every year is the critical importance of date milestones in the process.
Don’t let the potential problems scare you off buying property in Florida – simply make sure you enlist the help of people who specifically understand what British people need to know about the process.
They will work with you at every stage – until you achieve your dream and are a property owner in the Sunshine State!
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