We Have Over 20 Years Experience Working With UK Buyers & Sellers
In the Disney World Area
We know you have questions
Buying and selling homes in the US is different than in the UK. Our system is less stressful according to most of our past UK clients. Our system is a co-broke system so we can show you any home for sale in Florida, just give us the details and we’ll email you some properties to look over that meets your criteria. In America 99% of the homes we show are not our own listings and that’s why it’s less stressful, we’re not hard selling you our own listings because we work for you as a buyer’s agent not the sellers of homes we have sent you to look over and what we’ll see.
Buyers
As Licensed Estate Agents, as a buyer you are our buyer and we work for you not the sellers of homes we show you or make offers on. We can show you any home for sale in Florida because of our co-broke system that’s been in place for decades but our expertise are homes for sale surrounding the Disney area. We’re not going to show you homes in Miami and pretend to be the Estate expert of Miami like many agents from Miami and other parts of Florida pretending they are the experts next to Disney. We are the Disney area experts, we know which neighborhoods to stay away from and which ones better fits your needs.
We never pressure.
The Day of showing is a Day of understanding where you are in proximity near Disney, liking or dis-liking the communities we see, what each community offers while picking our brains in between seeing the homes you chose for us to show you. It’s possible we could see 15 villas in 1 Day if you are up for it, Alan always is. The Disney area is condensed so there is not a lot of driving, we know the area like the back of our hand. Rule of thumb, if we enter a neighborhood or see a home that’s not your taste just tell us and we’ll move on to the next one. You will be well informed and probably exhausted before the Day is out. Don’t worry we keep mental notes of what you liked and dis-liked plus we always encourage our clients to see their top 2-3 choices a 2nd time because you will notice more flattering or un-flattering things about each home or neighborhood the 2nd time around. You’ll have a good Day, we promise.
Why Us?
Both of us have over 20 years experience working with UK families and investors and we’ve made a lot of good friends in the process. Just check out our testimonials and you’ll see the answer to why us?
Experience matters!
Our foreign national sellers have never lost money in penalties to the IRS because we’ve been doing this a long time, we walk our sellers step by step through the process avoiding delays and penalties. Because our home sales system is a co-broke system we’ll be dealing with other agencies, like any industry there are good players and not so good, this is another area where our 20+ years experience comes in. Who is representing the buyer? have they presented lame contracts to us before? is their agency reputable? Does the estate agent representing the buyer have violations? Are there holes in the contract because we’ll know in minutes from seeing it if there are.
hundreds of so-called estate experts
The internet makes it easy for rookies to look experienced & sloppy agents sound and look professional. Many of these agents pay internet real estate search engine Giants a lot of money to be the expert of areas they may have never seen. We see it all of the time on Zillow, you click on a listing you are interested in and all of a sudden you see 10-20 experts of that area, so-called experts we’ve never heard of or done business with in the 20 years we’ve been selling homes near Disney. They pay to play, they put up a website, borrow a suit and have pictures taken but most of them have to carry a 2nd job to pay their bills, that’s not an expert. We’re full time Estate Agents, our clients get our full attention at all times because this is our only job and we’re good at it.
101
USA Real- Estate
Real contracts
Serious contracts are written contracts by licensed Estate Agents, we won’t work with buyers who are not willing to put their offer in writing
We'll show you facts
Our MLS shows all licensed Estate Agents the recent sales history of every neighborhood right down to the street, both agents ( buyer & seller ) have this info right at their fingertips
Ernest Money deposit
When an offer has been accepted all buyers have to have skin in the game, a ernest money deposit will be due within 2-3 business Days of the signed agreement, more details at the bottom of this page.
Buyers have the right to inspect
Once a contract has been agreed to and signed by both parties the buyers will have usually 10-15 Days to have a survey of the property done. We recommend the sooner the better and we can set it up
CO-BROKE?
Real Estate Sales Commissions are split between buyer’s agents and seller’s agents and determined before a home is even seen
MLS?
Multiple Listings System, this is where we as licensed Estate Agents get the details as well as access to see every home that is for sale in the State we work in, in our case: Florida
from sale to sold
There are hacks in all fields of business, choose wisely
and we get the buyers attention as well
We have multiple billboards locally, we have a van with trailer wrapped marketing us and this website that can be seen by thousands who drive route 192 and 27 daily next to Disney.
We get buyer's agents attention
In America we are in a co-broke system so it’s important to grab the buyer’s agents attention with sharp looking pictures and detailed verbiage on our listings so they can pass it on to their buyers
Marketing is the key for your home to be shown more
Your home needs to be seen to bring you the best price and we do the best internet marketing in the business.
drones
we'll set up and pay to have pro-pics & drone pics done on us!
You don't have to be here for the closing
Thanks to the internet closings can be done while you are in the UK, if you have personal items at the house we are happy to hold them for you until you get a chance to come out or ship them to you.
Bookings that arrive after the sale?
If your home is a rental, when you list your home with us we will get all of the details from you at the beginning, we do this all of the time so we know how to handle bookings during and after
Your property manager
If your home is a rental home near Disney we will work hand in hand with your PM so they don’t have to worry about us disturbing any guests
No solicitor needed
We’ve been trained in core law so we know what to look for in contracts plus the Florida FarBar contracts that is required to write offers on spell out all the legal details needed to complete the sales process
Title agency
Title agencies are the closing agencies in Florida, they do everything a Solicitors office does except advise. We are the advisors while the Title Agency in charge of the file follows the rule of the contract, ( what was agreed in writing to detail )
You have 15% of your sale at risk if you choose the wrong agent.
Meet Jane LaFrance
She's sold hundreds
She’s sold a lot of UK clients homes next to the mouses house on schedule and with no IRS penalties! She knows your home is more than just a structure, understands FIRPTA rules regarding foreign nationals selling their 2nd homes in the US. Choose Experience to avoid penalties and get the highest price, read what her past sellers said about her.
Tools
To all of our future owners & sellers, below is our van and trailer full of tools for you to use any time you like. Sellers if you list with us, maybe you need to power wash the pool deck or front of the house or need a ladder to alter something or do something larger to have your house ready to sell just let us know and we’ll drop it off to use the tools inside at your own pace. Buyers right from beginning we’re saving you money over the course of ownership, as you can see we wrapped the van with our business information on it so it’s marketing for us so we’re happy to drop the van and trailer off with you even if you only need a hammer.
More info to digest
USA Tax ID, you will need a U.S. ITIN because of a tax filing or tax reporting requirement. Individuals who are not eligible to receive a SSN may need to apply for an ITIN. This includes individuals: who need to file a U.S. tax return but live outside the U.S. No worries we will help you with that.
The UK and the U.S. have a tax treaty to prevent double taxation for Canadian residents earning U.S. income and U.S. citizens working and living in the UK.
Beer: In the US you can buy cold beer in most Grocery stores and self service mini mart gas stations up until 11:45 PM.
Property Taxes in Florida are paid in the rears meaning the taxes that are paid for owning a property in your County and the State of Florida goes to paying for municipals, roads, police, fire departments, schools etc..are paid at the end of the Calendar year not the beginning. If it’s 2024 you, won’t get your property tax bill until November 2024
Tax statements are normally mailed out on or before November 1st of each year. The gross amount is due by March 31st of the following year. The following discounts are applied for early payment:
- 4% discount if paid in November
- 3% discount if paid in December
- 2% discount if paid in January
- 1% discount if paid in February
- Gross amount paid in March, no discount applied
Taxes become delinquent on April 1st of each year.
Property tax prices are based on estimated value of the home times ( x ) millage rate set by the State, Counties and City. Osceola County is around .013 or 1.3%, if you have a $500,000 home your estimated taxes will be around $6,500.00 annually, if you pay it early in November it will be reduced to $6,240.00.
Closing Costs: ( the cost to purchase or sell ) are the same as they are in Canada, it’s title searches, legal and bank fees. For buyers if you are financing a property you may have to pay between 5-8% of the purchase price for closing costs all depending on your lender. If you are purchasing with cash it would be between 1.8% – 2.5% depending on the pre-payments such as HOA dues paid in advance & utility transfer fees to your name.
The closing Day goes to the buyer meaning even if you haven’t signed all of the paperwork yet the Day all signatures were sent out with the agreed Date to close will be presumed the Day you took ownership unless we have a delay of signing or funds were not transferred on that Day.
Utilities: We will make sure you have all of the utility companies info you will need to have them scheduled to be turned on on the Day of closing.
Property Insurance: Once you are under contract and the inspections met your approval and we are moving forward we will send you who we think the best insurance companies to contact for the type of home you are purchasing so it will be in place on the Day of closing.
Home Inspections: We work with 2 very good inspectors, they will usually fit our clients in within 1 – 2 Days from the time both parties have signed the purchase agreement. The typical time period for an inspection to be done is 10 Days, we encourage our buyers as well as our sellers to get it done sooner. Contracts are subject to inspections so if the inspector finds something wrong with the home you are not comfortable with it we can walk away with only the cost of the inspection which the cost ( based on 2024 ) usually is between $400-550 depending on the size of the home. You can choose any inspector you wish but ours will call us to look at something important while they are at the property for us to see in person, other inspectors we’ve worked with simply write stuff down on a report and take pictures, pictures are fine but unless they put their thumb up next to a stress crack for example you won’t know how big that crack really is or how serious it is. Most of the time there are too many pictures of non-serious things on an inspection report, even the inspectors we recommend take too many non-issue pictures to show they have done their job. We’ve been doing this for 20+ years so we are well versed on what is serious and what is cosmetic. In short we can set up the inspection for you if you wish.
Appraisals: If you are financing a property your lender will require an appraisal to be done at your expense ( unless you have a certain credit status with a lender ), appraisals usually cost between $400-550 ( based on 2024 prices ) depending on your lender, we’ve heard from some of our buyers it can be negotiated with certain lenders.
Mortgage Lenders: Very few Banks and Mortgage Companies in the UK will write a mortgage for a USA property, it changes all of the time so check around to see who does but know we do have quality lenders we’ve worked with for years that will finance UK buyers, you may get a better rate or closing fee if the bank you do business with in the UK has USA programs. We have no part of finance but I’m told by our finance people they have competitive rates but I do know it changes all of the time. I believe in 2024 you can finance 80% Loan to Value on Foreign National Mortgages, but again like gas prices it changes all of the time.
Property Management: If you plan on renting your new home to vacationers we can point you to a few property managers to interview, we recommend the property management company who is one of the experts in the community you buy in. There are over 200 property managers next to Disney, many are good, many are not so good and many should be locked up, we can help make the right choice. Check out our short term rental 101 page for more info.
2nd Home Owners not renting to vacationers, we have a home watch service for non-rental homes we’re proud of, it’s a practical service for a practical monthly price.
New Home Purchases: The good news is the State of Florida has state inspectors on the development more than most of the States in the union checking on the workmanship and making sure no corners are being cut. Most of the builders have been in business for years if not decades so they know the importance of doing the job right or be fined or loss of license to build. Where we as Realtors come in is knowing the right communities to buy in, the build will be good but it’s the defining HOA rules as well as the builders contracts is what a purchaser of a new home has to look out for. We know what new communities to stay away from because verbiage in a contract or in the HOA rules, if you buy in the wrong development it will hurt you to re-sell the home when it’s time. Some trial lawyers may fraise it “ it may hurt you” we’ve seen it many times and we’re confident enough to say “ it will hurt you” regarding the amount of time to sell or the $ amount you will receive on the re-sell based on what you purchased the home for,. This is very very important and why you need someone like us, new is perfectly fine while structures and functionalities of new homes are warrantied but it’s the legal verbiage that is the problem and why we recommend staying away from certain projects. This is 1 of several examples, buying a home in a nice looking resort or community and find out after every home has sold the clubhouse in it will be sold to a private management company and owners or guests will have to pay a daily rate to use the community facilities. It’s written into certain builders sales contracts and thousands have bought unknowingly, we know the existing ones and we will never take our clients to them.
Theme Parks Annual Pass: Once you take ownership of a home you will be given proof of home ownership so you can get a Disney, Universal or Sea World annual passes with discounts. You’ll need to provide proof of a Florida residential address that will be given to you on the Day of closing in order to purchase a Florida Resident park ticket or annual pass.
You’re in good hands because they are the true experts
List your home with Jane & Alan LaFrance
Get the maximum amount of the sale, close on schedule without IRS penalties and avoid the stress of selling your home next to Disney World.