Questions
These are the questions that come up on real deals in Fort Myers and the rest of Southwest and West Central Florida. The answers are general. Your CPA and your attorney get the final word on tax and legal questions.
Investing
Yes. I represent investors buying and selling rentals, small multifamily, lots and teardowns, new construction, and commercial property across West Central and Southwest Florida. I have invested with my own money since 2006, so I underwrite a client's deal the way I underwrite mine.
An investor-friendly agent runs the numbers before the showing and tells you when a deal does not work. I check rent against what comparable units are leasing for now, get an insurance quote, estimate the property tax after the sale, and price the roof and systems by their real age. You see every input and can question it.
The assessment resets when the property sells. The county reassesses it at market value as of the next January 1, and the seller's homestead exemption and Save Our Homes cap do not carry over to you. After that, increases on most non-homestead property are capped at 10 percent a year, a cap that does not apply to school taxes. Underwriting on the seller's tax bill is a common and expensive mistake.
Insurance is often the line that decides whether a Florida rental works. Roof age, wind mitigation features, and the flood zone drive the premium, and old numbers on a listing can be far from today's quote. I get a real quote during the inspection period, before you are committed.
Sometimes, and the association documents decide it. Many condos limit or ban rentals, set minimum lease terms, or cap the number of units that can be rented. Florida also requires milestone structural inspections and structural reserve funding for condo buildings three stories and up, so I read the inspection report, the reserve study, and the rental rules before the inspection period ends.
I coordinate the real estate side of a 1031 exchange. The tax rules are your CPA's call and the money is held by a qualified intermediary, who has to be in place before your sale closes. The two federal deadlines are 45 days from the sale to identify replacement property and 180 days to close on it, and I plan the search around them.
Sometimes, and I do not promise them. Part of my land work is tracking which builders are buying lots and teardowns and what they pay, so some opportunities reach me before they are listed. Plan on buying listed property, where the work is underwriting it correctly.
Yes. I work on retail, office and medical, industrial and flex, multifamily, land and development, and mixed use and owner user property. My commercial investment companies focus on small retail, shopping centers, net lease outparcels, and industrial property across the Southeast, and Lineage Acquisitions is my multifamily company in St. Petersburg.
Before we tour, we sign a written buyer agreement that states how I am paid. The amount is negotiable and is agreed in writing before we start. In Florida, licensees are presumed to work as transaction brokers unless a single agent or no brokerage relationship is set up in writing, and I explain the difference before you sign.
Only if you choose it. I own part of 82 West Title, so a referral there is an affiliated business arrangement and you get a written disclosure with estimated charges at the time. You are never required to use it, and using another title company does not change how I represent you.
Buying a home
Yes. Since August 2024, agents working with buyers sign a written agreement with them before touring a home. It spells out what I do for you and how I am paid, and the terms are negotiable. I walk you through it before we go out, so there are no surprises later.
Plan for closing costs, prepaid insurance and taxes, and a cushion for the first repairs. The exact figure depends on the price, the loan and the county. Your lender has to give you a Loan Estimate within three business days of your application, and that form lists your closing costs line by line. I review it with you.
If you own the home and make it your permanent residence as of January 1, you can apply for the homestead exemption with your county property appraiser. The deadline is March 1. It can take up to $50,000 off the assessed value, and the Save Our Homes rule then limits how much the assessed value can rise each year to 3 percent or the change in inflation, whichever is lower. It applies to the home you live in, not to rentals.
If the home sits in a FEMA high-risk flood zone and you have a federally backed mortgage, your lender will require it. Outside those zones it is optional, but Southwest Florida floods outside the lines too. Before you write an offer, we look at the FEMA flood map, ask for the elevation certificate if one exists, and get a quote.
A full home inspection, a wind mitigation inspection, which can lower your insurance premium, and a wood-destroying organism inspection. On older homes, insurers often ask for a four-point inspection of the roof, electrical, plumbing and heating and cooling. Roof age matters a lot for insurance here, so we find it out early.
Yes. You receive the association's documents, and Florida law gives you a short window after you get them to cancel. Use it. For condos, also ask about the building's milestone inspection, the reserve study and any special assessments, because Florida's newer condo safety laws have raised costs at many older buildings.
With a loan, most purchases close in about 30 to 45 days. Cash can close faster. The contract sets the inspection period and the closing date, and I keep the lender, the title company and the inspector on that schedule.
Selling
Yes. A lease usually stays in force after the sale, so the buyer takes the property subject to it, and the tenants' security deposits move to the new owner at closing. I collect the leases, the rent roll, and the deposit records before we list, because investor buyers ask for them first.
It depends on what speed and certainty are worth to you. A direct cash offer usually trades price for a fast, simple closing. I pull the comparable sales so you can see what the property would likely bring on the market and decide whether the difference is worth it. Sometimes the cash offer is the right call.
Investor buyers price on income, so I price it on income and on comparable sales. That means the rent roll, the real expenses, the insurance quote a buyer will get, and the property tax after the sale. A price that holds up under a buyer's underwriting gets fewer surprises during the inspection period.
Then it is a land sale, and the buyer is a builder or a family building custom. The comparables are lot sales, and money spent on the house is usually wasted. I keep lot-value sales by zip code on the Builders page, from county records.
Talk to your CPA before you list. The timing of the sale, depreciation recapture, and whether you use a 1031 exchange can change what you keep. I am not a tax adviser, and I plan the listing timeline around what your CPA tells you.
I am based in Fort Myers and cover Southwest and West Central Florida on the Gulf coast: Lee, Collier, Hendry, Charlotte, Sarasota, Manatee, Hillsborough, and Pinellas counties. That includes Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach, Estero, Bonita Springs, Sanibel, Captiva, Naples, Marco Island, Port of the Islands, LaBelle, Clewiston, Venice, Sarasota, Tampa, St. Petersburg, and St. Pete Beach.
More on how I work with investors on the Invest page and the Investors in Fort Myers page.
Send me the property or the situation. I will give you a straight answer, whether or not you end up hiring me.
John Lee, licensed real estate agent · LPT Realty, LLC