Buyer guide
Your Blueprint to Buying in South Florida
Buying a home in South Florida is not difficult because the houses are hard to find. Every portal has the same listings we do. It is difficult because of what happens after you find one: financing, inspection, title, insurance, association approval, and a set of deadlines that do not move because you are busy.
We have deliberately left out predictions about prices or interest rates. Nobody knows, and a guide that tells you it is a great time to buy is selling you something.
Our brokerage relationship with you
Florida law recognizes more than one kind of brokerage relationship. PBP Real Estate works as a transaction broker in every transaction, with every client, without exception. Under Florida Statute 475.278 that means we owe you:
- honesty and fair dealing;
- skill, care and diligence in the transaction;
- disclosure of all known facts that materially affect the value of residential property and are not readily observable;
- accounting for all funds;
- presenting all offers and counteroffers in a timely manner;
- limited confidentiality.
The agreement you sign first
Since August 2024, a written agreement between the buyer and the brokerage is required before touring homes. Plenty of buyers meet it for the first time in an agent’s car, on a phone screen, minutes before walking into a house. That is not how this should happen.
- What it is
- A short written agreement between you and PBP Real Estate that sets out what we will do for you, how long it lasts, and how we are paid.
- How long it lasts
- For as long as you and we agree, and no longer. We are happy to start with a short term. If you are not satisfied with how we work, you should not be locked in.
- Which properties it covers
- The area and property type you are actually looking for. It does not follow you around forever or claim a house you found and bought years later.
- How we are paid
- The agreement states the amount, in writing, before you tour anything. In most transactions the seller has already offered compensation to the brokerage working with the buyer, and that offer covers it. Where the seller’s offer is lower than the amount in your agreement, you have three choices and we will walk through all of them: ask the seller to cover the difference as part of your offer, pay the difference yourself, or look at other homes.
How buying a home works in Florida
Eight stages. The order matters, and stage two is where most buyers lose a house they wanted.
01 Decide whether now works for you
How long do you plan to stay? Under three years, the transaction costs of buying and selling can outweigh the appreciation. We will tell you that honestly, even though it is not in our interest to.
02 Get pre-approved, not pre-qualified
A pre-approval means a lender has actually reviewed your income, assets and credit. In the South Florida market a seller will rarely take a financed offer seriously without one.
03 Define the search properly
Area, price, property type, association rules, insurance exposure, flood zone, school boundaries, and the things that only matter to you. This conversation saves months.
04 See homes, including the ones not on a portal
Showings are booked through ShowingTime, the system Florida brokerages use to schedule access, and our search runs against the BeachesMLS data our own website is built on.
05 Write the offer
Price is one term of several. Deposit size, closing date, financing and appraisal periods, inspection period, and who pays for what can matter more to a seller than the number.
06 Contract, deposits and the inspection period
Once signed, your escrow deposit goes to the title company or closing agent, and the inspection period begins. Florida contract deadlines are measured in days and they do not pause.
07 Financing, appraisal, title and insurance
Your lender orders the appraisal, the title company runs the search, and you bind insurance. In an association, approval runs in parallel and has its own timetable.
08 Final walkthrough and closing
You inspect the property in its delivered condition, then funds are wired and the deed is recorded. Never accept wiring instructions by email without telephoning the title company on a number you looked up yourself.
What your lender will ask for
Assemble this before you start looking, not after you find a house. Buyers who have it ready close on time; buyers who do not are the reason closings get extended.
Personal
- Full names of all purchasers as they are to appear on title.
- Social security numbers of all purchasers, provided directly to your lender. PBP Real Estate never collects social security numbers.
- Current address, and previous addresses going back two years.
Employment and income
- Present employer: name, address, and a contact for employment verification.
- Two years of employment history, with an explanation of any gap.
- Year-to-date pay stub and the last two years of W-2s.
- If self-employed: two years of signed federal returns, plus a profit and loss statement and balance sheet.
- If commission, bonus, overtime or interest income is being used to qualify: two years of signed returns and the supporting 1099s.
- Other income: rental (current lease), alimony or child support (ratified decree, only if used to qualify), notes held, retirement, Social Security or disability (award letter and latest payment).
Assets and liabilities
- Bank accounts: institution, account numbers, type and current balances, plus the two most recent statements for each.
- Stocks and bonds: certificates or a broker statement from the last 30 days.
- Other real estate: address and market value; payoff or release if owned outright.
- Gift funds: gift letter on the lender’s form. The donor’s capacity must be verified and the funds shown arriving in your account.
- Credit cards, loans and present mortgage: balances, monthly payments and months remaining.
VA loans
- Certificate of Eligibility. You will need a DD-214, or a Statement of Service signed by your commanding or personnel officer if you are still serving.
Every item on this list goes to your lender, not to us. We never need your account numbers, your balances or your social security number, and we will never ask for them.
During the loan process: do this, not that
Your credit, income and assets are usually re-verified shortly before your loan funds, sometimes days before closing. Everything here applies from application until the deed is recorded.
Do
- Keep every account current: mortgages, car loans, credit cards.
- Make all payments on or before the due date, even on an account that will be paid off with your new loan.
- Get any lender-required funds to your loan officer promptly.
- Return calls from your lender, the title company or us the same business day.
- Ask questions the moment something is unclear.
Do not
- Do not quit or change jobs. If it is likely, tell your loan officer and us first.
- Do not apply for credit anywhere else, or let anyone but your lender pull your credit.
- Do not change bank accounts or move money between existing accounts.
- Do not co-sign for anyone, for any reason.
- Do not buy a car, furniture or appliances on credit before closing. This is the single most common way an approved loan falls apart.
Where the homes come from
Every buyer can see the MLS. Zillow, Realtor.com and Trulia all show you the same inventory we do, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. The difference is what sits either side of that list.
- Everything in the MLS, the moment it is listed. Your saved search runs against the BeachesMLS data our own website is built on, so you hear about a new listing, a price change or a home coming back on after a failed contract from us, not three days later from a portal that bought the lead.
- Our own listings, before the rest of the market. When one of ours is coming to market and fits what you are looking for, you will know as soon as we are permitted to market it.
- Expired and cancelled listings. Homes that were on the market recently and did not sell. Many of those owners still want to move and have no wish to relive a six-month listing.
- Owners who reach us directly. We publish a great deal about selling in Palm Beach and Broward, and owners thinking about it find us.
- Our own database of past clients and owners who know us and who, in the right circumstances, would sell.
Five kinds of seller, five different negotiations
Who owns the house changes the timeline, the paperwork, the flexibility on price and what happens if the inspection turns up a problem. Knowing which one you are dealing with before you write is most of the advantage.
- An owner with equity
- The overwhelming majority of South Florida sales. You negotiate with the seller through their listing agent, and closing normally lands 30 to 45 days out, or sooner for cash.
- An estate or a probate sale
- Far more common here than a distressed sale. The seller may be a personal representative with court timetables to respect and several heirs to satisfy. Condition is often as-is and the timeline is less flexible than it looks. It is a large part of our practice.
- A seller who owes more than the home is worth
- A short sale. The lender has to approve the price, which takes months and can change. Uncommon in the current market, and our brokerage has specialist experience in them.
- A bank-owned property
- Also uncommon now. The lender sells on its own paperwork and addenda, on its own timetable, usually as-is with limited disclosure.
- A new-construction builder
- The builder’s contract, not the standard Florida contract. The terms are drafted for the builder and the deposit is often non-refundable at a defined point.
The questions buyers actually ask
Do I have to sign an agreement before an agent can show me homes?
Yes. Since August 2024 a written agreement between the buyer and the brokerage has been required industry-wide before touring homes. It sets out what the brokerage will do, how long it lasts, which properties it covers and how the brokerage is paid. It should be read before the day of a showing rather than signed in an agent’s car minutes before walking into a house.
What is a transaction broker in Florida?
Under Florida Statute 475.278 a transaction broker provides limited representation to a buyer or seller without acting as a fiduciary for either. The brokerage owes honesty and fair dealing, skill, care and diligence, disclosure of all known facts that materially affect the value of residential property and are not readily observable, accounting for all funds, and limited confidentiality. PBP Real Estate works as a transaction broker in every transaction, with every client, without exception.
Who pays the buyer’s agent in Florida?
The amount is stated in the buyer’s written agreement with the brokerage before any home is toured. In most transactions the seller has already offered compensation to the brokerage working with the buyer, and that offer covers it. Where the seller’s offer is lower than the agreed amount, the buyer has three choices: ask the seller to cover the difference as part of the offer, pay the difference themselves, or look at other homes.
Will getting pre-approved hurt my credit score?
Almost certainly not to any meaningful degree. A mortgage inquiry typically costs a few points and often less, which will not change loan terms unless the borrower is sitting exactly on the boundary between two credit tiers. Multiple mortgage inquiries made within a short window, commonly 45 days depending on the scoring model, are bundled and counted once, so comparing several lenders does not stack up damage.
What should I avoid doing between mortgage application and closing?
Do not quit or change jobs, apply for credit anywhere else, let anyone other than your lender pull your credit, change bank accounts or move money between existing accounts, co-sign for anyone, or buy a car, furniture or appliances on credit. Credit, income and assets are usually re-verified shortly before the loan funds, sometimes days before closing. Anything that alters your credit profile can put you in default of the purchase contract and put your escrow deposit at risk.
What documents will my mortgage lender ask for?
Expect to provide identification and addresses for the last two years, two years of employment history with a year-to-date pay stub and two years of W-2s, or two years of signed federal returns with a profit and loss statement if self-employed; two months of statements for every bank account, plus statements for stocks and other assets; balances and monthly payments for every loan and credit card; and a gift letter on the lender’s form for any gifted funds. All of it goes to the lender, never to the brokerage: PBP Real Estate does not collect social security numbers or account numbers.
Start with a conversation, not a house
Tell us what you are trying to do and we will tell you honestly whether now is the right time for it. If it is not, we will say so.