Last updated September 2, 2026
Who Handles Probate and Inherited Property Sales in Fort Lauderdale?
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 is different about a probate sale 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 6.1 months of single-family supply and 13.9 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.
| Fort Lauderdale, current market | Single-family | Condominium |
|---|---|---|
| Active listings | 786 | 1,448 |
| Median asking price | $1,000,000 | $539,000 |
| Median closed price, year to date | $700,000 | $450,000 |
| Median days on market to contract | 51 | 69 |
| Months of supply | 6.1 | 13.9 |
Based on information from BeachesMLS for August 2026 and for January 1 through August 31, 2026, retrieved 2 September 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 Fort Lauderdale estates take longer, and what to do about it
The numbers above are the ones that surprise personal representatives most. A median 85 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 13.9 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 enquiries in parallel with the petition. Not after a contract is signed. This single sequencing change is worth more than any marketing decision.
Waterfront property in an estate: the extra due diligence
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.
The opinion of value an estate actually needs
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 we work with the estate
- Confirm who has authority to sign. Usually the personal representative appointed by the court. Nothing can be listed before that exists.
- Written date-of-death opinion of value for the estate file.
- 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.
- Coordination with the attorney on court authority, beneficiary consents and timing.
- 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 the probate part takes
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 1 July 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
Do you handle probate and inherited property sales in Fort Lauderdale?
Yes. PBP Real Estate handles probate and inherited-property sales in Fort Lauderdale and across Broward County, working alongside the estate's attorney. Gia Freer, our Broker of Record, has been licensed in Florida since 2000 and prepares the written date-of-death opinion of value estates need for their filings. We provide real estate services only, not legal advice, and we work with the estate's own attorney rather than in place of one.
What is an inherited property in Fort Lauderdale worth?
For a sale, what matters is today's market: the median active single-family asking price in Fort Lauderdale is $1,000,000 and the median condominium is $539,000, with medians of 58 and 83 days on market respectively. For the estate's filings, what matters instead is the value as at the date of death, which is a separate calculation using comparable closings from before that date. Gia Freer prepares that document by hand from our own BeachesMLS data.
Where is probate filed for a Fort Lauderdale property?
In the probate and guardianship division of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, at the Broward County Central Courthouse, 201 SE 6th Street in Fort Lauderdale. That is a different court and a different set of local procedures from Palm Beach County, so if your attorney is based to the north it is worth confirming they practise in Broward. Your probate attorney handles the filing; we provide real estate services only.
Why is the Fort Lauderdale condominium market slower for an estate?
Because supply is deep. Fort Lauderdale currently has 1,448 active condominiums against 786 houses, with roughly 13.9 months of condominium supply against 6.1 months for single-family homes, and a median 69 days to contract. On top of that sits the association's buyer approval process and, in older coastal buildings, the milestone inspection and structural reserve position. An estate should price to that reality rather than to what the unit would have fetched at the top of the market.
Can the Fort Lauderdale property be sold before probate is complete?
Usually yes. The estate normally has to be opened and a personal representative appointed with authority to sign, but the sale itself does not have to wait for the estate to close. Depending on the will, the letters of administration and whether the beneficiaries agree, the property can often be marketed while the administration continues. Your attorney will confirm what authority the estate has.
What extra due diligence does an inherited waterfront property need?
The condition and permitting of any seawall or dock, dockage rights and any lease attached to them, bridge clearance for buyers with larger boats, and the flood insurance history. None of these prevent a sale, but each one slows a sale down if it surfaces during a buyer's inspection period rather than before the property goes on the market. Establishing and disclosing them up front is also the safer position for a personal representative.
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.
See what the property is worth
Gia Freer, our Broker of Record, prepares a written opinion of value from our own BeachesMLS data. No automated estimate is published on this site and no price here is produced by software.
Request an opinion of value or call 561-395-8418.
Probate in nearby cities
probate real estate in Boca Raton · probate real estate in Delray Beach · probate real estate in West Palm Beach
For the process, the $150,000 summary administration threshold and the paperwork an estate needs, see our probate real estate hub for South Florida.
Who you are actually 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 the broker-owners, not a team or a call center.
- 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 trained; member, BeachesMLS. Fluent in English and Spanish. Brokerage license CQ1064615.
- Track record: 759 closed transactions representing $201,574,127 in volume across Palm Beach and Broward County (BeachesMLS production report, all-time through 22 August 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.
Families we have helped
PBP Real Estate holds 94 Google reviews at an average of 5.0 out of 5. Every quote below is a verbatim excerpt from a public review on that profile, shortened only where marked.
Gia and John from PBP Real Estate exceeded expectations in selling my mother's Delray Beach condo, which had previously failed to sell with another firm. Despite being in New York, I experienced excellent communication and responsiveness via phone, text, and email, making the remote process, including the closing, stress-free.
★★★★★ Robert S. · Google review, December 2024
I needed to sell my mothers home from out of state and Gia made the whole process very easy. She helped me getting the right people to get the house emptied and cleaned.
★★★★★ Roger D. · Google review, December 2024
We live in Ohio and had to sell a home in South Florida that needed a lot of work. She is extremely knowledgable and very helpful when it came to what should be done and what could be left alone to get us the most profit. Gia has a large network of reliable contractors.
★★★★★ A Google reviewer · Google review, April 2020
Read all 94 reviews on Google or see more on our about page.