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Planning to buy or sell property in Florida or emigrate? Case studies - where it went wrong. You are probably going to invest quite a lot of time and even more money – airfares – accommodation etc even before you make the final decision to buy or sell a property costing several hundred thousand dollars. Sometimes prospective buyers believe they don’t even need to fly over, they can purchase off plan from Britain - not a decision to be taken lightly in the present market and often fertile grounds for numerous problems and complaints at a later date. These are just a few of the typical cases we have encountered when undertaking trouble shooting work for clients.   The Dawson family.   The Dawson’s had visited Florida on holiday several times attracted by the sunshine, the cost of living, lifestyle and use of English. After checking out alternative locations they had decided that the Gulf Coast was the ideal location. Their key objective was to buy a property in Florida initially for their holidays and eventually for retirement in the winter.   The family had been very thorough in their research and followed the usual channels, hundreds of hours on the internet, all the guide books and felt they were well prepared to make the right buying decision.   They had also initially contacted a number of Real Estate Agents and discovered that as all properties in Florida are on the (Multiple Listing System) MLS they were being inundated with details of the same properties. They were beginning to feel pressurized with sales approaches from agents so they had decided to use the public MLS access for the area they were looking at and do their own research.   However the information that can be gleamed from 4400 miles away can only help you so far. Therefore having narrowed down the area they wanted to buy in, and feeling they had a reasonable knowledge of the buying procedures, locations, developments and properties they booked their holiday.   Once in Florida they walked into a reputable real estate agency near their hotel. They ran through their requirements with the duty agent they were introduced to – they wanted a property with good investment potential, flexible rental options and identified their price range. The agent showed them around the area for several days, took them around a number of houses and even bought them some lovely meals. At the end of their holiday they thought they had identified a property at an extremely good selling price for that area.   On their return home they decided to seek a second opinion with us before making an offer on the property. It became apparent in conversation with them that during their trip over they had been shown some properties offering very poor value for money. It also became clear that the agent’s level of expertise had simply not been suitable for their needs.   Although claiming the selected property could be rented out this was not as it appeared, there were also issues with the actual property value at the time and certain critical tax implications had not been pointed out. The family had not even been shown developments that were in the best investment areas, as the agent did not have a comprehensive enough overview of all the areas.   Conclusion. However much research you may do in Britain if you do not receive an independent expert briefing prior to going over to Florida you are at best facing a lottery once you walk into a Real Estate Office. There are over 100,000 agents in Florida all paid on commission - therefore no sale, no pay cheque.   Only a small minority of agents possess the necessary expertise and experience of working extensively with British clients a good knowledge of the wider area plus excellent negotiating skills.   To save you time and money you need briefing and advising on the process, what to look for and who those agents are at the start of the process. Not after spending weeks of abortive research and holidays, only to pay more than you need for a property that may not be a good investment, meet your needs or discover implications that only become apparent several months after you have bought it.   Given in the present buyers market there are some excellent properties available it’s worth making sure you are adequately briefed to identify them and put in touch with the most suitable agent.   Buying on your own.   A couple had been visiting Siesta Key for years on holidays and knew the area particularly well. They loved the area and on a recent visit had spotted an ideal property whose owner had listed a condo for sale. Given that the exchange rate was advantageous at that time they decided to move quickly, deal directly with the seller without any representation and make an offer which they put in writing on the forms provided by the seller which became a legally binding contract.   On their return to the UK they rang us for advice regarding mortgages and attorneys. During the course of our discussions it became apparent that the family had felt they had saved money, by dealing directly with a For Sale by Owner, known in America as a FSBO.   However on further examination it transpired the price comparables which had been included in the details were not representative and they had offered far too much.   To worsen matters they required a mortgage which was dependent on valuation and this was based on current prices so they could not obtain the amount required. Finally the wording on the sales details was phased in such a way that they could not get the owner to carry out the faults identified by the home inspector. This is to say nothing of the problems that had been identified with the implications of the property tax and forthcoming changes to the rental policy of the Condo association.   Taking all this into consideration they had to pull out with the loss of their 5% deposit. A more measured approach obtaining advice before they left Britain and an experienced agent representing them could have alleviated these problems.   Orlando problems.   Another family wanted a place in the sun and were persuaded that Orlando offered the perfect choice, particularly as they would need to cover their costs such as the mortgage with rental income.   After visiting various exhibitions over a couple of years, looking at videos and seeing the alternatives they flew over last year and decided they had identified the perfect development which had apparently increased in price  by 40% over the past year. Indeed they were so impressed by the presentation and the show house as well as the prices being way below what they would pay in Britain they decided to buy 3 properties there and then.    Problems arose a few months after completing; they were concerned about the viability of the properties as they were not attracting any rental bookings.    They then received a foreclosure notice from their mortgage company stating they had not made any payments. This seemed totally confusing as they believed they had paid the first 6 months mortgage payments at contract. It turned out what they had paid was commission fees and closing costs to the mortgage company who incidentally had been recommended by the developer   At this stage the couple decided they had had enough and wanted to sell, after listing the properties for 6 months with the same company they had bought it through and having absolutely no interest they approached us for advice.   There are a number of aspects to this case which could have been avoided with an initial briefing in the first place not least the implications in some specific situations of using the company one originally bought through to list property for sale. The key thing is these complications can have a huge effect on people’s lives.   Florida is generally is safe place to buy but perhaps because English is spoken many Brits planning to buy, sell or emigrate there do so without adequate impartial advice. which can be relatively inexpensive set against  the problems that can occur, guide books and research alone only go so far in briefing you for such a significant step. For further information on how to obtain specialist advice on relocating or buying property in Florida, the advantages and disadvantages of different locations, and importantly How to obtain details of  specialised fully licensed Real Estate Agents, experienced in explaining options from a British perspective click here.  If you would like details of the consultation service provided by Andrew Bartlett please Click here   Andrew Bartlett an acknowledged expert on property trends and relocation in Florida, writes articles and answers readers’ questions for several British publications including Florida Magazine, Escape Magazine, Place in the Sun, Homes Worldwide, Sunday Times, America, and The Red guide to buying Property in America   and is regularly consulted by journalists and broadcasters. His consumer web guides have received numerous accolades. Andrew was a Senior British Government Official for 20 years before relocating to Florida several years ago, where he was headhunted to set up specialist British property and relocation teams for America’s largest estate agents Coldwell Banker and Remax. He then established a uniquely impartial and independent relocation and property-briefing company working between Britain and Florida. He has written a number of watchdog style articles on overseas property and emigration selling techniques, and advises City investment companies on the Florida property market.