Last updated October 18, 2026

Short answer: Yes — PBP Real Estate handles probate and inherited-property sales in Fort Lauderdale, working alongside the estate’s attorney, and our Broker of Record Gia Freer has been licensed in Florida since 2000 and prepares the written date-of-death opinion of value estates need for their filings.

What makes a probate property sale different in Fort Lauderdale?

Fort Lauderdale estates are administered in a different court from our Palm Beach County work. Broward probate runs through the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, at the Central Courthouse at 201 SE 6th Street in Fort Lauderdale, with its own local procedures and its own filing practice. If you have inherited property here and an attorney in Palm Beach County, that difference is worth raising with them early, because the procedural details are not identical.

The property side has its own character. Fort Lauderdale carries a large share of waterfront and near-waterfront housing, and it is a slower, deeper market than the cities to the north: roughly 6.2 months of single-family supply and 11.5 months of condominium supply. For an estate, slower means more months of carrying cost, and that changes what the right asking price is on day one.

Based on information from BeachesMLS for September 2026 and for January 1 through September 30, 2026, retrieved October 18, 2026. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Listings permitted for internet display.

We publish these figures because an estate pays insurance, taxes, association dues and maintenance for every one of those days on market, and that cost comes out of what the beneficiaries receive.

Why do Fort Lauderdale estate sales take longer and what helps?

The numbers above are the ones that surprise personal representatives most. A median 75 days to contract on a condominium, on top of the association’s buyer approval process, on top of the time it takes to obtain authority to sign, is most of a year. Three things reliably shorten it.

• Establish the association numbers before pricing. The estoppel figure, any open special assessment, the reserve funding position and the milestone inspection status. In Fort Lauderdale’s older coastal buildings these are the first questions a serious buyer’s agent asks, and an estate that cannot answer them loses weeks.
• Price to 11.5 months of supply, not to memory. Condominium inventory here is deep. An estate that prices against what the unit was worth at the top of the market will spend the difference in carrying costs and then reduce anyway.
• Start the association inquiries in parallel with the petition. Not after a contract is signed. This single sequencing change is worth more than any marketing decision.

What extra checks are needed for an estate waterfront property?

A meaningful share of inherited Fort Lauderdale property touches water, and waterfront introduces questions an inland sale never raises: the condition and permitting of a seawall or dock, dockage rights and any lease attached to them, bridge clearance for a buyer with a particular boat, and flood insurance history. None of these stop a sale. All of them slow one down if they surface late. The estate is better served by establishing them up front and disclosing them, which is also the safer position for the personal representative.

What price documentation does an estate actually need?

Estates usually need value as at the date of death, not value today. Comparable closings are drawn from the six to twelve months before the date of death, and sales after that date are not used simply because they exist now. We state the effective date of value on the face of the document so the historical cut-off can never be mistaken for the preparation date. Your attorney and your CPA will both want it in that form.

No automated estimate is published on this site, and no price we give an estate is produced by software.

How do real estate agents work with an estate?

1. Confirm who has authority to sign. Usually the personal representative appointed by the court. Nothing can be listed before that exists.
2. Written date-of-death opinion of value for the estate file.
3. An honest condition and repair assessment. Most inherited properties need clearing, cleaning and two or three specific repairs rather than a renovation. We will tell you which, and which are not worth doing.
4. Coordination with the attorney on court authority, beneficiary consents and timing.
5. A real launch, and weekly reporting to every beneficiary who wants it, so nobody is left guessing.

Once the court authority is in place, the sale itself follows the same disciplined process we use for every seller in Broward County. You can read exactly how we prepare, price and market a home for sale before you commit the estate to anything.

How long does the probate process take to complete?

Formal administration typically runs nine to eighteen months and summary administration usually closes in one to three, and the summary threshold rose to $150,000 of non-exempt value on July 1, 2026, which moved a lot of estates into the faster route. Those timelines are statewide in structure but local in practice, and Broward’s probate division sets its own procedures — ask your attorney what the current practice is at the Seventeenth Circuit. Our county-level timeline detail is on how long probate takes in Palm Beach County.

Related: our South Florida probate hub · information for probate attorneys · seller closing costs

Questions and answers

Real-estate process only. This is not legal advice and it is not tax advice. Ask a Florida probate attorney about the estate and a CPA about anything to do with money, including the step-up in basis. We work alongside probate counsel, never in place of counsel.

Who are you hiring for a Fort Lauderdale probate sale?

Personal representatives and estate attorneys are not looking for a brokerage, they are looking for a named broker who has done this before. At PBP Real Estate you work directly with Gia Freer, Broker of Record, and Grant Freer, Owner and Broker Associate.

• Gia Freer — Broker of Record, licensed in Florida since 2000 (broker license BK689801). Probate and inherited property is one of her core specialties, and she prepares the written date-of-death opinions of value estates need for their filings.
• Credentials: REALTOR; SFR (Short Sales and Foreclosure Resource), National Association of REALTORS; CDPE designation in 2012 (earned with Grant Freer); member, BeachesMLS. Fluent in English and Spanish. Brokerage license CQ1064615.
• Track record: Gia and Grant Freer have closed 764 transactions and $203,032,127 in sales volume since 2000 (Flexmls, October 1, 2026).
• How we work with the estate: alongside the estate's own attorney, never in place of one. PBP provides real estate services only — not legal or tax advice.

Fort Lauderdale sits inside a wider county picture. For the Broward-wide figures, the Seventeenth Circuit timetable and the association checks an inherited condominium needs before pricing, see probate and inherited property in Broward County. If the estate property is worth less than what is secured against it, the route is different again: see short sales in Fort Lauderdale.

The same Broward County process, with each city's own house and condominium figures: probate real estate in Margate; probate real estate in Deerfield Beach; probate real estate in Pompano Beach; probate real estate in Coral Springs; probate real estate in Tamarac; probate real estate in Hollywood.

Published by Gia Freer, Broker of Record, PBP Real Estate, LLC · Florida broker license BK689801 · brokerage license CQ1064615. Last updated October 18, 2026.