Destination Florida: 1 Part Planning, 1 Part Adventure

Even though cross-country relocation is a life-changing event, it doesn’t have to be stressful or traumatic. With little experience, we arrived in Venice, Florida on March 13th, 1997. As we reflect on that 25-year anniversary, we counted our many blessings, successes, a few lessons learned—and absolutely zero regrets. 

The short version of the story is, we left our careers and our Dallas home behind to pursue our dream of coastal living. We had little money, no jobs, a daughter ready for kindergarten and no place to live. Sound like a plan? Well, if we can pull it off, so can you. But we’re going to help you put together a much better plan.

Relocation Hacks 101

One: Talk to people. 

If you’ve already explored the Suncoast (check out our Area Information link), you’ve likely had the opportunity to make wonderful new friends, meet up with long lost friends, or visit family during your adventure. These people are your boots on the ground and have invaluable local knowledge. Tap into it.

When we came to Florida, we already had family here, which provided a vital support network. We had made only one visit to Venice over the Christmas Holidays and were unloading our truck in Florida by March 13. Having eyes and ears at our destination provided us with a lot of shortcuts. 

Two: Find an experienced, Suncoast REALTOR® to get the process started.

It may seem premature, but we’ve worked with buyers who started the process many years in advance. It costs very little to plan and prepare, and we’re always ready to help.

Timelines can change and having a professional already dialed in moves the process along without delay. Conversely, work with a sales professional (start here) who is patient and understanding of your wants and needs. 

As fresh new Florida arrivals not yet in the real estate business, our first lesson learned was falling for the strong-arm tactic from a new agent eager to close a sale.  The home didn’t quite meet our needs and we sold it after a couple years.  

Your real estate pro is always on the lookout for homes and can quickly navigate you through the process when the “right one” comes online. This is no longer a “fly in for the weekend and buy a home” market. Here is just a sampling of Where To Live. 

We can build up and filter down a specific link to property closely matching your interests that is delivered to your inbox the moment a property hits the MLS. Forget surfing and scanning ads. Let the info come right to you.

But that’s not all we can do for you on your end of the process. RE/MAX has a global network of over 140,000 agents who closed over 2 million transactions in 2021. A first for any real estate firm. 

From here, we can help you find the highest-performing RE/MAX sales associate in your hometown and share our networked resources to coordinate your sale and purchase. This can be particularly helpful if the purchase of a new home here is contingent upon selling your present home. 

Three! Four! And Five!

Prove your interest and your buying power. We cannot emphasize enough the importance of being a prepared Buyer with a mortgage pre-approval for financing, or proof of funds letter for a cash purchase, in hand. The desirable properties are going under contract after 2, 3, 4 days at most on the market. This is no time to be fumbling around for paperwork. It’s like a passport. Get the documents and you’re good to go. We compel our Sellers to demand it with all offers. 

Cash offers, with minimal or no contingencies, are winning the day. That doesn’t mean offers with financing contingencies can’t win. It just means we need to get creative to make it work. We have a mortgage financing tool kit and a few tricks up our sleeve, but you’ll have to call us to find out more.

Remember:

1. Talk to people already here and get ideas and answers.
2. Pick the right professional to help you, and start the process early.
3. Get that proof of funds or pre-approval.
4. Call, text or email us with questions.

‍

Now get going!

‍