Estate Allegiance

Buying

Buying a house in Tallahassee

If you have never done this, the hard part is not finding a house. It is knowing who in the deal is working for you, what each step costs, and how long you are still allowed to walk away. This page covers all three.

Deep covered porch of a white Southern house, with green rocking chairs, square columns and shuttered doors opening onto a shaded lawn

Representation

The agent on the sign works for the seller

That is not a criticism, it is the job. A listing agent has a signed agreement with the seller and is being paid to get the seller the best price and terms available. If you call the number on the sign and let that person write your offer, nobody in the transaction is arguing your side of the price.

Florida also works differently than most people assume. Unless you sign something that says otherwise, a Florida licensee is presumed to be acting as a transaction broker: honest and fair with both sides, limited representation, no undivided loyalty to you. A single agent relationship is a different thing and it has to be established in writing. Ask which one you are being given, and ask before you tour a house.

You will also sign a written agreement with your agent before you start touring. Read the compensation section closely. It should say how much, who is expected to pay it, and what you owe if the seller does not cover it. If any of that is vague, get it rewritten before you sign it.

What representation buys you is easy to say and harder to do: someone who tells you when a house is overpriced, when an inspection finding is a real problem instead of a bargaining chip, and when the honest answer is to keep renting for another six months.

The process

How it goes

Six steps. The middle four are where the deadlines live, and the deadlines are what protect you.

  1. Get pre-approved, not pre-qualified

    A pre-qualification is a lender's guess based on numbers you read to them over the phone. A pre-approval means they pulled your credit and looked at your income and assets, and sellers here treat the two very differently. It also tells you the number you can actually spend, which is often not the number you had in your head. Talk to more than one lender inside the same two week window so the credit pulls count as a single inquiry, and compare the written loan estimates rather than the rates people quote you.

  2. Work out what you actually want

    Write down what is non negotiable and what is only nice to have, because you will be tempted to blur the two at 7pm on a Saturday. Think about the drive to work or campus at the hour you would really be driving it, the school zone, whether you can live with a septic tank or a well, and how much yard you are willing to mow. School assignment in Leon County follows the address and zones get redrawn, so confirm it with the district instead of trusting what a listing says.

  3. See houses

    Go in person. Photos hide slope, road noise, ceiling height and what the neighbors do with their yard. Look at the age of the roof and the HVAC, whether the floor gives near the bathrooms, whether the windows have been replaced, and where water goes when it rains, because plenty of lots here shed straight toward the house. Ask how many days it has been listed and whether the price has already been cut, since both tell you something the listing sheet will not.

  4. Make an offer

    Price is one line of it. The offer also sets your deposit, your inspection period, your financing and appraisal deadlines, who pays which closing costs, and the closing date. Those terms are the protection, so do not hand all of them over to win a bidding war. Read the seller's property disclosure before you sign. If there is an HOA, ask for the governing documents and the current dues in writing rather than taking a number verbally.

  5. Inspection and appraisal

    Two different things with two different purposes. The inspection is yours, you pay for it, and a licensed inspector goes through the roof, structure, electrical, plumbing and HVAC and hands you a long report. In Florida you should add a wind mitigation inspection, a four point inspection on an older house, and a wood destroying organism report, because insurers ask for the first two and termites are a live problem here. The appraisal is ordered by your lender to confirm the house is worth what they are lending on it. If it comes in under the contract price you renegotiate, cover the gap in cash, or walk, depending on what your contract lets you do.

  6. Closing

    You get a Closing Disclosure at least three business days before you sign. Read it against the loan estimate from the beginning and ask about every number that moved. Do the final walkthrough after the sellers are out and the house is empty, not before, and run the water and the air conditioning while you are standing there. Bring a government photo ID. Before you wire any money, call the title company at a number you looked up yourself and confirm the instructions out loud, because wire fraud at closing is common in Florida and that money does not come back.

Money

What it costs to buy

Nobody should meet a number for the first time at the closing table. Here is what each line item actually is. We are not going to print dollar figures or percentages, because they move with the price of the house, the lender, the insurer and the contract you sign. You get real numbers in writing from your lender and from us before any of them come due.

  • Earnest money. A deposit you put up once the offer is accepted, to show you are serious. It is held in escrow by a third party, not handed to the seller, and it is credited back to you at closing. You get it back if you cancel inside a contingency your contract actually gives you, which is exactly why the dates in that contract matter more than they look like they do.
  • Inspections. Paid out of pocket, usually within days of going under contract, and not refunded if you decide to walk away. Budget for the general home inspection plus wind mitigation, a four point inspection if the house is older, and a wood destroying organism report. This is the cheapest money in the whole process and the worst place to economize.
  • Appraisal. Ordered by your lender and billed to you, either up front or inside your closing costs. It exists to protect the lender's collateral, not to tell you whether the house is a good idea. You are entitled to a copy, so ask for one and read it.
  • Closing costs. Lender origination and underwriting fees, title search and title insurance, survey, recording fees, and the Florida documentary stamp tax and intangible tax on your mortgage. Some of these are negotiable between buyer and seller and the split varies by contract, so it is worth asking instead of assuming. Your loan estimate lists them early and the Closing Disclosure gives you the final version three business days before you sign.
  • Prepaid taxes and insurance. At closing you generally fund an escrow account for property taxes and homeowners insurance and pay the first year of the policy in advance. Property taxes are prorated between you and the seller for the part of the year each of you owns the house. The part people miss: the seller's homestead exemption and their Save Our Homes assessment cap do not transfer to you, so the tax bill the seller pays now is not the tax bill you will get. Ask the Leon County Property Appraiser what the assessment looks like after a sale, before you decide what you can afford.
  • Flood zone and windstorm insurance. Check the flood zone before you fall in love with a house, not after your offer is accepted. Parts of Leon County carry real flood exposure along creeks and low ground, FEMA maps get redrawn, and a house that has never taken water can still sit in a high risk zone. If it does and your mortgage is federally backed, flood insurance is required, and it is a separate policy from your homeowners coverage. Windstorm coverage and the hurricane deductible are also priced on their own, and roof age and wind mitigation credits move that price a lot. Get an insurance quote in hand before your inspection period closes, while you can still act on it.
  • Moving. Movers or a truck, deposits to turn on power, water and internet, and the repairs and furniture you buy in the first month. People leave this out of the plan and then put it on a credit card right after taking on a mortgage, which is the worst possible month to add debt.

Next step

Start with a conversation, not a house

Tell us your price range, your timeline and the part of this you are least sure about. We will tell you what the real next step is, including when that step is waiting, and including when it does not involve us.

Get in touch

561-627-8619 · estate@estateallegiance.com · Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Closed Saturday and Sunday.

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