How to Search and Sale the perfect homes South Florida - Fort Lauderdale Real Estate

You have heard and read about prices coming down and real bargains available in houses and condos in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. You probably also have heard about Fort Lauderdale’s foreclosures, short sales in Fort Lauderdale, REO, bank owned properties and other terms that intuitively you understand but might not know the implications. Well, it's a thriving buyer's market right now, but it still isn't that easy to find the perfect home in Fort Lauderdale Real Estate. Finding it takes some work, eye balling options and keeping a close watch on prices. Now with South Florida Homes saturated with foreclosures, homes have become much more affordable.

However, you need to be patient, since the house that you want is out there. Narrow your focus to an area where you would like to live and start doing your homework. Most of it can be done online by using property search tools that allow you to search specifically for short Florida Homes for Sale in Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale REO’s, Fort Lauderdale Florida foreclosures or simply properties that meet your criteria.

Here are some tips to help you get started.

Get an agent - Since many of the properties you will be looking at will be Fort Lauderdale short-sales or bank-owned South Florida Homes in Fort Lauderdale, getting the help of a Fort Lauderdale Real Estate agent is probably more important than ever. If you want to exclude Fort Lauderdale, Florida foreclosures and short-sales from your search, which would seem unlikely since that's where bargains abound, a real estate agent will be able to eliminate those using the MLS data base. Also, if your agent is being a little clingy, don't be shy about suggesting you limit your discussions to once a week or every two weeks.

Get prequalified - Getting a loan is tricky business these days because banks have significantly tightened their underwriting standards, making it a time consuming and cumbersome process. By getting prequalified, you will not only find out how much home you can buy but you also might gain a negotiating edge because sellers know you can close a sale. Many agents handling foreclosures are swamped managing properties and want to know they're dealing with a serious buyer before extending the time and effort needed to close a sale.

Make a reasonable offer - Clients can lose out on smoking deals because they make unreasonable offers on homes already priced to sell fast. If it's a fantastic deal, do not try to make it a super fantastic deal. Premium foreclosures will sell in seven days with multiple offers, so don't assume that the bank will give the home away for peanuts.

Beware of short-sale listings - Don't get over-excited when you see a staggeringly low price for a short-sale listing. In a short sale, a lender must agree to allow a buyer to sell a home for less than the amount owed on it. But usually a lender doesn't approve until there is an acceptable offer, so any listed short sale price is usually an agent's guesstimation of what a bank is likely to accept. Some agents list short sales at excessively low prices just to get the bids coming in and increase the odds of finding a buyer acceptable to the bank.

Constec Realty is real estate brokerage firm that works exclusively with prospective buyers looking to purchase a condominium or house in Fort Lauderdale. We have access to practically the entire inventory of short sale and bank owned Fort Lauderdale condos and houses available for sale in Florida. Again, we represent the buyer and have their best interest in mind.

Tag: Florida Homes for Sale, South Florida Homes, Fort Lauderdale Real Estate
1 Response
  1. John Says:

    We should find the most reliable agents. They won't just go for the money of buyers but for the buyer's sake.
    Realtors