CarolineFrancoeur

• Can I buy a home here without flying down first?

  Yes, and several of my clients have. I do video walk-throughs on my phone, in real time where the signal allows, so you see the traffic noise, the neighbor’s roofline, and the water stain in the garage rather than the listing photos. Florida also allows remote online notarization, so the closing itself can be done from where you live. What I will not do is let you buy something sight-unseen that I have not personally walked first.

• How do flood zones affect my insurance costs?

  The flood zone on a property drives whether flood coverage is required by your lender and what it costs, and two houses on the same street can sit in different zones. I pull the zone and the elevation certificate early, before you are emotionally committed, and I tell you what the current owner actually pays rather than what a rate estimator guesses. Get a real quote during your inspection period, never after.

• What is a CDD fee and will I have one?

  A Community Development District fee repays the bonds that funded a community’s roads, drainage, and amenities, and it is billed on your annual property tax bill on top of your HOA dues. Many Lakewood Ranch villages carry one; plenty of Sarasota neighborhoods do not. It materially changes your monthly cost, so I give you the CDD and HOA figures side by side on every home you seriously consider.

• How is an HOA here different from what I am used to up north?

  Florida associations govern more than most out-of-state buyers expect, from roof color and fence height to whether you may rent the home out and how soon. You get a window to review the association documents after going under contract. I read them with you and flag the provisions that would actually change how you live there, because that window closes fast.

• How do I time a move when I still have a house to sell?

  This is the most common relocation problem and it is solvable. Depending on your equity and your lender, the options are usually a sale contingency, a bridge loan, or a post-closing occupancy agreement that lets the seller or you stay on briefly after closing. Which one fits depends on your financing, so we work that out before we write an offer, not while we are negotiating one.

• What does the whole process actually cost a buyer at closing?

  Beyond your down payment, expect lender fees, title and settlement charges, prepaid taxes and insurance, and any inspection costs. In Florida, who pays for the owner’s title policy is negotiable and varies by county, and it is a real line item. I came to real estate as a closing coordinator, so I will give you a written estimate early and update it as the numbers firm up. Nobody I work with sees their closing figure for the first time on closing day.

• What are property taxes going to be after I buy?

  Do not budget from the seller’s current tax bill. If they held the home for years with a Florida homestead exemption, their taxable value is capped well below what yours will be, and the bill can rise sharply after a sale. I estimate your taxes from the likely reassessed value instead, and walk you through homestead and portability if this becomes your primary residence.

• Do I need to hire an attorney to buy in Florida?

  Florida does not require one for a standard residential purchase; a licensed title company can handle the closing. That said, I came from the legal side of these transactions, and there are situations where I will tell you to bring in an attorney anyway, such as an estate sale, a title defect, or a contract someone has heavily rewritten. I would rather send you to a lawyer than watch a deal go sideways.

Question not covered here? Call (941) 318-7116 or send it over. Caroline answers these personally.