A SOURCE FOR REAL ESTATE & TAMPA BAY INFORMATION

Can you sell or buy a Tampa Bay home with open permits or unpermitted work? Yes — but not without dealing with them. Open and expired permits surface in the municipal lien search most Tampa Bay title companies order before closing, and most lenders won't fund until they're resolved. Florida sellers

How does FIRPTA withholding work when a foreign seller closes on a Tampa Bay luxury home? When a foreign person sells a U.S. real property interest, federal law (26 U.S.C. 1445) requires the buyer to withhold 15% of the gross sale price and remit it to the IRS using Form 8288, generally within 20 da

Can you sell a Tampa Bay condo with a special assessment? Yes — a levied or pending special assessment doesn't stop a Florida condo sale, but it changes the mechanics. Under the current FR/BAR Condominium Rider (revised June 2025), a special assessment levied as of the contract's effective date defa

How do Tampa Bay homeowners protect themselves from deed fraud and title theft? Every Florida clerk of court now offers a free recording notification service — required by state law since July 1, 2024 — that emails you within 24 hours when a deed, mortgage, or lien is recorded under your name. Hills

What is an estoppel certificate, and what does it cost in Florida? An estoppel certificate is a legally binding statement from an HOA or condo association listing everything owed on a property — regular assessments, special assessments, fines, and other charges — so the buyer takes title without inh

Why do home sales fall apart between contract and closing? Most contract failures trace back to financing, appraisal, insurance, or inspection issues. In the Tampa Bay market, insurance and lender requirements are the most common late-stage deal killers — and both are solvable with the right team in

How does a corporate relocation package affect buying or selling a home in Tampa Bay? Most corporate relocation packages take one of three forms: a lump-sum payment, direct reimbursement of approved expenses, or a full home-sale program run by a relocation management company (RMC). Home-sale program

What happens to a lease when a Tampa Bay home is sold? In Florida, a written lease survives the sale. Under long-standing Florida law, the buyer takes title subject to the existing lease and steps into the seller's shoes as landlord — same rent, same term, same obligations. The seller must transfer

How do you price a home when there are no comparable sales in the neighborhood? When a home sits far above its neighborhood’s price ceiling, there are no comparable sales to price against — so we built the value case two ways: an expanded comp search across Tampa’s adjacent premium markets, and a co

What should you check before buying a Tampa Bay home with a pool? Before buying a Tampa Bay home with a pool, order a dedicated pool inspection with leak detection, confirm the pool and any screen enclosure were permitted, verify the pool meets Florida's Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act (Chapter

How Do Backup Offers and Kick-Out Clauses Work in Florida? In Florida, a backup offer becomes a binding backup contract through the FR/BAR Back-up Contract Rider (Rider W): the seller accepts a second buyer's complete offer, contingent on the primary contract failing, and the backup buyer moves into

Should you install impact windows or hurricane shutters on a Tampa Bay home? For most Tampa Bay luxury homes, impact-rated windows are the stronger long-term choice: they protect every opening without deployment, qualify for Florida's mandated wind-mitigation insurance credits, and carry real weight

Can you sell a Tampa Bay home off-market — and should you? Yes. Stellar MLS, the listing service covering Tampa Bay, gives sellers three private-sale paths: an office exclusive, an office exclusive with temporary exclusion, and a delayed distribution listing. Each requires the seller's signature on

How do you read a Tampa Bay flood zone before buying a home? Start with the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM): zones AE and VE are Special Flood Hazard Areas where flood insurance is mandatory on a federally backed mortgage, while Zone X carries no federal requirement. The Base Flood Elevation (B

What is the FEMA 50% rule for Tampa Bay homes? The FEMA 50% rule — formally the substantial improvement and substantial damage standard under 44 CFR 59.1 — says that when the cost of repairing or improving a home in a Special Flood Hazard Area equals or exceeds 50% of the market value of the structu

Do you have to replace an older roof before selling a Tampa Bay home? No — Florida law protects roofs under 15 years old from age-only insurance denial, and a roof 15 years or older can stay insurable with an inspection showing at least 5 years of remaining useful life (F.S. 627.7011). What roof age

What does a boundary survey catch before a Tampa Bay closing? A boundary survey maps your legal property lines, plots every recorded easement, and flags encroachments — fences, driveways, pool decks, or docks that cross a line in either direction. In Florida, the buyer typically orders and pays for

What does Florida's Seller's Property Disclosure have to reveal, and what does Johnson v. Davis require? Florida's Seller's Property Disclosure is the seller's written statement of known defects that materially affect a home's value — structural and roof issues, water intrusion and drainage, floodin

Can you sell a Tampa Bay home without being in Florida? Yes. Florida law fully supports remote real estate closings, and out-of-state sellers close Tampa Bay transactions every week without setting foot in the state. You have three paths: remote online notarization (RON), legal in Florida since Janu

Should you take a cash offer over a financed offer on a Tampa Bay luxury home? Not automatically. Cash removes the two contingencies that most often kill a deal — financing and the lender's appraisal — and can close in as little as one to two weeks instead of the 30–45 days a mortgage usually needs.