Taking your call on a Saturday night at 8:15 p.m. while out with friends can be the hardest one. The rest of a real estate agent’s tasks involve skill, strategy, a deep knowledge of the inventory and contracts, reading people, negotiating, handling extreme stress, project management, juggling tasks, having a degree in psychotherapy, and putting in a ridiculous number of working hours that are rarely seen or appreciated. In short, an agent is in your court to protect you if things go bad. And agents provide all of that without being guaranteed they’ll be paid a single cent.
That’s Right.
Everybody.
Because the biggest, most important transaction you may
ever make calls for a little light reading.
So, the Major Points
(They’re All Major):
Open the Door
Of the hundreds of tasks our ECHO real estate agents do, opening the door is most polite one and the easiest.
Buying Smarter.
A lot Smarter.
Agents at ECHO are vetted to make sure they can handle all skills in the purchasing process -
but the most important quality ECHO agents have is that we truly enjoy opening the door. We still find that the easiest skill our agents possess should be the most fulfilling one. Opening the door and witnessing our clients smile as they enter their forever home is why we take the job in the first place.
Voted Best Brokerage 5 Years in a Row
2,020
Buyer Side Transactions
2020-Aug. 2024
308
Million Dollar + Sales
2020-Aug. 2024
$1,234B
Buyer Side Volume
2020-Aug. 2024
$64.5M
Highest ECHO Sale
How owning your own home just gets better.
Echo Fine Properties takes a revolutionary business approach to the purchase of residential real estate. Every industry today, other than real estate, utilizes specialist departments as a team. The day of the “General Store” with jack of all trades disappeared when Henry Ford came along. Echo Founder, Jeff Lichtenstein, instead uses a team approach. ECHO agents spend 100% of their time on what they do best. Help the customer!
At Echo, five client concierges respond to initial inquiries. They conduct interviews which are used to match the right Realtor to the right client who wants to purchase. Want a golf course property? There’s a specialist for that. Equestrian? Yup, we have experts who know horse farms. Seaside? There’s an agent who knows every inch of waterfront available at any given moment. Once a home goes under contract, our closing department team assists our agents with critical dates, timelines, and escrow coordination to ensure a smooth closing. Our agents are handpicked, have the finest professional credentials and know the area like the back of their hand. Echo’s client concierge job is to assist them so they can fully concentrate on you.
The name of our company describes us perfectly. On a cruise with his wife, Jeff watched dolphins play. Dolphins were cool, he thought, because of their pod structure, their interactions, and their reliance on echo communication to successfully work together to navigate a truly treacherous habitat.
We work as a team and use our Echo location advanced search methodology to locate every possible home for our clients.
Lichtenstein hires new members cautiously with just a few requirements:
"They have to be good people; someone you’d like to be around. They must have positive energy. And drive."
We are different from other firms in that we have 151 items we guarantee on the purchasing side for every client. It’s called our Home ECHOnomics Buyer Guarantee. Nobody can offer close to what we do because every agent out there doesn’t have the unique set up that we do. For four consecutive years, ECHO has been named Best Brokerage by the Palm Beach Post and two consecutive years for the Treasure Coast.
The costs.
The main ones.
Up front!
Owning a home is a great way to build equity. Here are costs that you should be aware of when closing.
Costs to Close:
Down Payment: Requirements are determined by the mortgage lender and are typically 3-20% of the purchase price. Interest rates and percentage down are key variables.
Closing Costs:
Figure 2-5% of the purchase price dependent on recording fees, title insurance costs, state documentary costs, attorney fees, escrow fees, recording fees, property taxes, appraisal, prepaid interest, and loan origination.
Home Inspection:
$500 or up dependent on size of the home. Property Taxes: 0.98% is the average property tax rate of the assessed new valuation.
Homeowners Insurance:
This will be dependent on type of housing construction, roof age, hurricane protection and the area property is located.
Costs After Closing:
HOA and Condo association fees, Moving expenses, maintenance and repairs.
Where’s this good stuff going?
Off the charts
Florida Population
Projections are from Florida Economic and Demographic
Research Historical Data from macrotrends.net
Florida Avg. Sale Price
All property Types, All Price Tiers, All Sales Types
Past Sales & Future Growth:
Prices have gone up at a higher rate of inflation in South Florida. While there is never a guarantee; future population growth projections, a shortage of land, warm weather, lifestyle and a state with no income tax all point to an excellent place to be.
Build Equity:
Owners can solidly build their equity and create future capital as mortgages are paid off with tax write offs.
Safeguard From Inflation:
Past sales indicators, homestead tax increase protection, and fixed monthly mortgage rates that don’t fluctuate like rental rates curb a higher rate of price increases.
And So the Journey Begins...
1. Let’s Talk About You – The start of all Buyer consultations involves an in-depth question and answer period. Hobbies? Pets? What will like be like 5 years from today? We make sure to match you with the right neighborhood.
2. The Buying Process- We go over the state of the marketplace, the entire purchasing process from beginning to end and put together a bespoke game plan.
3. Product Knowledge – Which of the 10,000 neighborhoods and residences we service fit your lifestyle? The Vibe? How about the location? Club membership? State regs? Schools? Construction type? Rules & Restrictions? Assessments?
4. Set Up Searches – You want communities that have pickleball, within 2 miles of the ocean, not gated, no club and newer. Yeah- we do that and make sure you never miss a listing.
5. Financial Strategies – Cash, mortgage or is owner financing possible? What else can be done to make the payment lower? Are there concessions the Seller might give or incentives? We got you covered.
6. Insurance – No state has been hit harder than Florida with insurance premiums. We advise you on homes that will help qualify for better insurance rates.
7. Plan Showings – There are thousands of listings to consider. Narrowing those down, requesting information, going back and forth in setting appointments with all parties, planning routes.
8. We Do a Lot of “Road” – We drive miles and miles and miles. We are glued to our phone during office hours and after hours and weekends. From previewing, showings, liability to advising on exterior, interior, costs, visualization, and coaching our clients on how to act.
9. Unconventional Sale – Many buyers like the idea of getting a “deal” on a foreclosure, short sale or auction. Echo is well-versed in handling these tricky sales.
10. Adjustments – Often the first home is not the home you eventually buy. Sometimes you need to see 7 or 30 homes. Other times it takes years. There is lots of recalibrating, communicating regarding new listings, price changes, and off market parties.
11. Map Out Strategy – A great game plan starts with gathering information. Knowing what is most important to you, recognizing what is included, closing date preferences and preparing a solid comparative market analysis (CMA) are a few items we do.
12. Shark Negotiator – Write it up! That means diving into tax records, MLS, broker remarks. Then knowing the Florida contracts, permitting, title, deposit, e-sigs, offers, inclusions. And negotiate like a SHARK!
13. Need a Shrink? – Sometimes you need to get out of a deal with monies returned. While we aren’t licensed therapists, we are adept at supporting you through the emotional rollercoaster.
14. Deal Accepted! – Once a transaction goes solid new work begins! Inspections, first deposits, tracking dates, HOA/membership applications, financing dates, list of vendor names, reinspection and re-negotiation.
15. Pre-Closing – ECHO is your switchboard operator. Constant communication with the title company, mortgage, insurance and others. We prod everyone along collecting HOA/Condo documentation, application forms, fees, application approvals and deadline dates.
16. Walk-through – Echo coordinates the walk-through time. If there are issues, we go into emergency mode to solve problems, secure attorneys and draw up any addendums as needed.
17. Closing – Advising to make sure escrow dollars (fraud is real) arrive safely and the HUD is there for review. Now, we can open the door!
18. Post-Closing – “I need help with…”. Something always comes up. How do you turn on the water outside of the house. How does the bidet remote work? Who can install the blinds? Don’t worry, we’re here to service after the sale, too.
Fewer People Read This
For those who do, some rewards:
Fewer People Read This
For those who do, some rewards:
ECHO.
Fine Properties.
Fine People.
Visit our main site to learn more about our commitment to complete customer satisfaction and discover why Echo Fine Properties has been voted the Best Broker in Palm Beach and the Treasure Coast year after year.
Learn More
7100 Fairway Drive, Suite 44,
Palm Beach Gardens, Fl 33418
561.500.ECHO