Nobody
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Maybe you’re wondering if it’s best to pay with cash or get a mortgage or if owner financing is possible. What else can you do to make the payment lower? Maybe the seller might give you concessions. We can help you figure out the best way to get the best price.

Have you heard of assumable mortgages? We have, and we know how to find them.

You’ll want to know who is the best person or entity to handle your financing locally and if there are any issues that need to be addressed on your end. We can pinpoint the best mortgage brokers and walk you through analyzing whether a national firm would be better than a local one or if it’s critical to work with someone who has intimate knowledge of the area. It’s true that a local mortgage broker is almost always better than your bank! We can explain why.

Say the day before closing, someone with your exact same name files for bankruptcy but the creditor goes after you! The lender won’t fund, but you have to close. We can identify emergency private-money loans that can be obtained if a last-minute issue pops up.

Conventional, FHA, and VA loans, OH MY! A good buyer’s agent must understand the differences between loan products in order to be able to sell the property properly when presenting the offer. We can do that.

Never bought a home before? Seems daunting—but not for us! We’re aware of incentive programs and how to get you into your first-ever home like you’re already an old pro.

Florida takes care of its essential workers: teachers, medical workers, police, firefighters, and more all have special financial incentives when it comes to buying a home, and we know how to help.

We communicate robustly in the beginning with the mortgage broker because they need to be dialed into the deal—sometimes they can help cement it later on. We communicate with everyone who’s involved in the process.

Don’t buy a car—it will screw up your credit score just as you’re trying to purchase a home! That and getting any unwanted or accidental dings on your credit score is something else we can give you guidance about. We can explain how to handle your affairs if you must sell a big-ticket item and you don’t want the transaction to affect your credit rating.

No state has been hit harder with insurance premiums than Florida. Most buyers come down and think they can keep using their current insurance carrier, but unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. You’ll quickly find yourself wondering if it’s best to work with a local or a national company and what the heck “Citizens” is. Fear not—we have recommendations! We’ll share what to avoid and tips for getting the premium down. It’s true that some types of homes will have higher premiums. That’s because the construction type, the degree of hurricane protection, the overall security protection, and the location of a home will all impact its insurance policy.

You’ll need introductions to the right insurance carriers pronto! We get involved so that you have an idea of what your costs will be.

Each neighborhood has its own lifestyle and personality. What are the drawbacks to living in a gated community versus a non-gated one? What equestrian community options do you have? Do you have to be 55+ to buy in a 55+ community? Is there better resale in a condo on the ocean or one that’s on the Intracoastal Waterway? How about newer condos that have a direct view of the ocean and the Intracoastal? We help break down lifestyle possibilities and have the experience and knowledge to give you the answers.

So the subdivision is called Aquarius. Maybe that’s a good sign…or maybe it isn’t. What subdivisions are in play that fit your lifestyle expectations? From costs to features, from expenses to home choices to special assessments, we have a deep knowledge of what each subdivision offers.

Maybe you’re wondering what the difference is between CBS construction and frame construction or if it really matters if the roof is metal or shake or barrel. Does hurricane tint work? We can explain how the type of construction affects valuations and insurance costs.

North, east, south, west…each direction will affect your enjoyment of your home, whether it’s the presence or lack of natural light or if the sun ever hits the pool. Or maybe a certain direction is more affected by noise at various times of the day. We explain how the location affects your enjoyment of the house, its valuation, and its resale potential.

Are there new shops, schools, and roads coming to where you are considering? All of that can have a positive or negative impact. Being up to date on what’s coming to the county and city are vital when making decisions on where to live.

The type and age of the roof or roof style will affect the price, insurance value, and security of the home. We can explain how all of these factors will affect valuations and insurance costs.

One of the best things about living in Florida is the hurricane parties before the storms, but first you need to prepare to be safe. Protections vary from metal shutters to accordion shutters to impact glass. We can tell you all about the positives and negatives of each type.

If you’re thinking about joining a club, it’s important to understand how each membership differs from the next. Certain club memberships can be an advantage and make the property more valuable. Can you upgrade? Is there a waiting list? Then again, some memberships have the opposite effect. We make sure you understand the effects of club memberships in terms of resale and we make sure you’re not taken advantage of.

Every neighborhood has a vibe. You’re probably wondering what events happen in each community. Are there get-togethers? Do people really use the community pool? What’s it like on Halloween and other holidays? The questions about the plusses and minuses of individual neighborhoods are endless.

Can you change out the garage door to something more modern? Are you limited to three tones of paint color or two? Or maybe you want to put in stone pillars by the entry or install fountains or plant fruit trees. We can tell you whether Sylvester palms are allowed, if you can park in the street, and whether there are any landscaping restrictions.

Maybe you’re wondering if Brutus your therapy dog will be allowed. Maybe there’s a weight limit. If Brutus goes on a diet, then will he be let in? But say Brutus wants a friend and you rescue a cat. Are two animals allowed? We can help you sort out your pet puzzlings.

Rentals may or may not be allowed, or maybe they’re limited to a certain amount of times per year. (Or there’s a minimum.) Perhaps applications or fees are involved that could affect your homestead and taxes. Again, we can explain it all to you.

Sometimes you can’t find what you want or you need a rental because the home you’re waiting for is taking longer than you anticipated. If you get derailed and need a short- or long-term rental, know that we’re well-versed in searching for and contracting your rental.

You’ll want to know if you can sell right after purchasing if you want to. If you can’t, you’ll need to know how long you must wait. We can tell you about all resale restrictions, including whether or not there are any exit fees.

Florida schools were ranked #1 in the nation for 2023 and 2024 according to the U.S. News & World Report. Our public, private, charter, and choice programs give parents and students tons of options for their education. We can help you get to know what public and private schools are like and if there’s a waiting list for private schools. (We can also explain how to get in.) If your child has special needs, we can point you in the right direction. If they’d like to pursue a liberal arts curriculum or learn from good tutors, we can help you learn more about that, too. We can also explore Choice programs with you. Many of us have kids ourselves and know the schools backwards and forwards.

Do you know about the Florida law SB-4D and how it affects the condo market? Do you know how seasonality affects the purchase price? We do, because we know Florida!

If you have a boat, you’re probably wondering about water access. We can help you figure out if your boat will fit under the bridge or if entry to the ocean is blocked by fixed bridges. If you’re curious about slip or dock sizes or you’re wondering if you can remove mangroves, we can fill you in on that, too.

If a potential agent decides to get into the wonderful world of real estate, most brokerages will take them sight unseen. That’s because the agent pays the bills. But at ECHO, the company pays those bills. ECHO has more support staff, a higher degree of training, and mandatory accreditation schooling. We are more discerning and hire only approximately 10% of the agents we interview. All of that ensures that when you hire ECHO, you not only get a great real estate agent, you get a great team supporting them and ultimately you.

Quite honestly, it takes a bit of a rocket scientist mindset to set up searches. Let’s say you’re looking to set up a map search that includes gated communities but also two that are not. No country clubs. You want communities with pickleball courts that are within five miles of the ocean and within a two-mile radius to restaurants. Yeah—we know how to set up exactly that kind of search so that you never miss a listing. You may get an alert about a new listing before we even know about it! And while you’re busy going about your day, we’ll call you when the perfect home comes onto the market.

We have deep knowledge of the MLS system and how to set up searches using our proprietary website. MLS listings are tricky: RX is the Palm Beaches, FX is Fort Lauderdale, AX is Miami, MX is the Treasure Coast. The city of Palm Beach even has its own parameters! Sometimes a realtor in Miami lists a home in Palm Beach County. But because our website has multiple feeds, we don’t miss a beat when we’re searching for you.

We use the most sophisticated industry CRM (customer relationship management) to keep notes of all your likes, dislikes, searches, and critical dates. That means we connect on every little thing and never leave a stone unturned.

There are thousands of listings! And they aren’t so easy to narrow down. First, you must pick the ones that fit the right criteria. Which floors in a condo work? Is the home updated? How many bedrooms does it have and is there room for the BBQ pit you want? Maybe there’s a railroad just behind the ridge of the home that you can’t see. We help narrow down your choices to the best listings so that you aren’t overwhelmed.

We ask for data on listings to make sure they’re a good fit for you, and we also research pre-negotiation information. At that point, we might ask some questions that will give us an idea of how amenable to negotiations the seller is and if the home should be eliminated if it’s not the right fit for you.

Once you pick which listings you’d like to see, we have to email, call, and/or text to get you in. This involves lots of calls flying back and forth—after all, scheduling involves everyone’s schedule, including yours, the listing agent’s, the seller’s, and sometimes even the schedules of children, pets, and housekeepers!

Sometimes appointments are easy to set up…and sometimes they aren’t. Setting up appointments often involves multiple parties, and some of them are living their own life in the house. Resales are often not vacant, making them not simple to show. Sellers don’t want to be there and shouldn’t be there when you are. Lots of variables are involved in getting everything cemented down.

If you’re seeing more than one home, a route needs to be mapped out and ample time needs to be scheduled to show all of your options. (And then adjusted depending on how fast or how slowly you want to go through each home.) Every showing must be set up individually with the other agent. If you encounter traffic or rain, then sometimes adjustments need to be made on the fly. Luckily, we’re skilled jugglers!

We rack up the miles, not you! Our agents drive 30,000+ miles every year. Driving to lots of showings, inspections, and closings all takes time, wear and tear on the car, and lots of gasoline/electricity. Our insurance liability costs are also much higher. While we have a physical office, our second office is our automobile.

Our smartphones are practically glued to our ears, and not just from 9 to 5! People text us to confirm appointments to show properties at crazily inappropriate hours. Whether we’re at dinner with friends and family or we’re on vacation or it’s the weekend, there’s no putting-the-phone-down time. Deals are fragile, and we need to be available for you when they happen so that they do in fact happen.

Often, we take the time to travel and preview the property—we risk wasting our time to make sure that it’s not a waste of time for you.

We don’t tell our clients to go to the property on their own—we show up and walk you around the house. We take liability and responsibility for all security measures, including turning off all the lights, making sure all doors are closed properly, and preventing the owner’s dog and cat from running out of the house. And our eyes see both the positives and the negatives that will affect the value of the home.

When Mediterranean styling was dead, did your agent tell you that before you bought? Are pink houses coming back in style? How long will “modern” actually be modern?

Once upon a time, lots of buyers bought houses with popcorn ceilings and Formica® cabinets…and then cursed the realtor who let them make that purchase. We stay up-to-date on styles and help you understand the risks.

We know the contractors, pitfalls, and upsides of remodeling and renovation, and we’ll share the going construction costs with you and consult to get you the best people.

We have X-ray vision—we help you see things you cannot! We go through training to understand what you can do and to be able to help you visualize possibilities. Sometimes that’s moving a wall or helping you see the view that’s being blocked by the sofa in the living room.

We are your first defense if something is wrong. While we aren’t home inspectors, we often know what to look for—our noses sniff out various mold, water intrusion and other problems because we see/smell these things all of the time. Might the house be a different construction than what’s listed? We can find out.

You might be wondering if you can pump gas into a home if it doesn’t already have it, or maybe you’re questioning if you could get a better resale with a gas line. Does each county have its own gas regulations? We can explain it all in detail.

Tankless water heaters are the hot new thing in water heating. We can get into the weeds of whether or not you can install one, plus we can tell you if installing a septic system would be costly and/or difficult to do. And before you ask—yes, we know who the reliable plumbers are.

Energy is key! We can talk about whether or not a generator would be worthwhile and if there are any limitations when it comes to installing an EV with the appropriate voltage. Are you wondering how much will solar panels save and if they’re allowed? We can answer that, too.

Here’s a question for the ages: are guest houses an asset or liability? If a home doesn’t have a guest house, you might be wondering how expensive it would be to build one and if it would even be allowed. We can explore that with you.

A listing agent who doesn’t represent you may not tell you absolutely everything you should know about the property, like if there’s road noise, train whistles, or a smell coming from the dump when the wind blows in the wrong direction. But don’t worry—we have your caboose!

There are an estimated 1.5 million pools in the state of Florida. This begs the question of what’s the resale value like if your home doesn’t have a pool? What happens if the heater doesn’t work during inspection? It’s also worth considering if a spa adds value and what the cost of installing and maintaining one would be, including whether or not you need a heater for it. And then what about having a screen enclosure? You might be wondering what would happen if a hurricane were to rip it down. We’ve got the deets.

You want to make sure that the lot location is a good location. What’s the supply situation and should you choose to wait for the perfect lot? We can help you sort through your options.

You might be wondering if there’s a difference between southern, western, northern, and western exposures. (Spoiler: there is.) We can delve into how the exposure will affect how you live in the outside of the house and in the inside of the house.

If you’re looking to do a 1031 exchange, you’re in luck, because we know how to execute them and explain to the seller why they should sign off on a 1031 exchange.

Let’s say you’ve heard of FIRPTA. What’s the withholding tax for it? Is there a minimum? How long does it take to get it back? If you’re not a foreign buyer but the seller wants you to sign off on a FIRPTA form, is it okay to do so? You’re probably screaming “Help!!!” right now. Well, FIRPTA, shmirtpa. We’ve done this hundreds of times.

Maison douce maison. We speak Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, French, Arabic, Farsi/Dari, Italian, Turkish, and Jersey.

If you’re a foreign buyer and you put money and a contract down on a place that’s prohibited for people of certain nationalities, lots of dollars are at risk. We are aware of how to handle these restrictions.

Hmm…was there enough room in the primary closet? You want to get back in to see a finalist for the second or third time. We set up these appointments and accompany you there, plus we coordinate with any necessary vendors.

If you’re out of town, we’ll drive to the property and conduct live FaceTime video showings with you. We’ll give you our opinion of the property and point out the good, the bad, and the ugly! We also own our own Matterport equipment and can do an entire walk-through tour with the floor plan.

Part of our job is gathering information from the listing agent or owner. This could be anything from finding out why they’re selling to what the price is and how they came up with it. How old is the roof? We let the listing agent talk and see if we can get any clues about how they priced it.

Shhhh! Don’t say that you love the house in front of the owner. Zip the lip! Stop jiggling the keys in your pocket! We coach you on what to do during showings and negotiations.

We are trained to have no mouth and two ears! The most important part of our job can be listening to you. Listening during showings means adjusting to things you thought weren’t important in the beginning but then realized were important later on. Then we use our knowledge to bring other homes into play that you might have otherwise missed.

We take responsibility for handling all of the feedback from every showing with every listing agent. Each one will contact us to find out what happened, and we often use that time to get more information and see how desperate (motivated?) the seller is.

Most clients want more information from the homeowner about things they’d need to know more about if they were genuinely interested in a property, like the seller’s disclosures, floor plans, and the ages of the appliances. Gathering all of that information takes time. Our time, not yours!

While short sales don’t come up often, they still do from time to time. These are complex, time-consuming sales with boatloads of paperwork. Short sales often need a multitude of third-party approvals and loan forgiveness from debtors. Can you keep shopping once you’ve put a short sale under contract and then can you cancel it? Do you have the right to cancel it and get out of the contract once you’ve been approved? We are experienced and well-versed in handling these potentially tricky issues.

Many buyers like the idea of purchasing a foreclosure, but often foreclosed homes can be the worst buys. Or the best buys! We can help you determine whether a foreclosure is just fool’s gold or a true treasure.

Going once! Twice! Sold! Yes, we understand the auction market and how to win and not get played for a sucker.

The first home you see is usually not the home you’ll eventually buy. Sometimes we can show you seven homes and one of them will be perfect; other times, finding the perfect home takes 30 tries. Maybe it even takes years as plans change. Someone may think they don’t want to be in a country club and then they do. Price ceilings sometimes go up and sometimes go down. Sometimes a potential buyer changes their mind entirely and they don’t buy at all and we don’t get paid a dime for countless hours of work. That’s okay—it just goes with the territory. We adjust with you as your wants and needs change.

As new properties pop up and price adjustments occur, we make sure you’re aware of them.

So much information is needed from the owner and listing agent! You want to know not only things about the house but why they’re selling.

Does the subdivision pressure-clean the driveways? Do they paint the home? Is roof maintenance included? We can give you a full list of what’s included.

You’ll have questions for us about anything and everything! We’ll answer those questions and we’ll ask a ton of important questions of our own before we write up the offer.

Some states have “on or about” clauses in their contracts. Others have different definitions of when the closing must take place. Maybe you’re wondering what happens if you want to change your closing date in Florida—will you lose your deposit or wind up closing on a date you didn’t want to? Worse yet, will you wind up buying a home by accident? No matter where you live now, we can explain the Florida contract to you.

You might not know if 30 days is still the norm for mortgage acceptance or not or what the standard timeframe is for an appraisal. Perhaps you’re thinking, “If I’m purchasing with cash, is there still an ‘out’ of the contract?” In a must-have-the-house situation, even if you are getting a mortgage, we’ll explore whether or not you can make the offer contingent on cash. We’ll also talk to the mortgage broker to understand what we can and cannot do in the offer. For example, we’ll see if we can time the mortgage acceptance with the inspection period to be on par with a cash deal.

Maybe it would be best to put down a 10% deposit, or maybe you can get away with less—after all, there are second deposits, too. It’s wise to know if you would get that money back or if it would ever be in danger. We know all about the strategies to utilize and the pitfalls to avoid to keep your money safe and win you the deal.

We sometimes take for granted what addendums to use in various situations, but there are actually plenty of variables, like potentially needing an attorney review or being able to use another mechanism that would do the same thing without being confrontational. Another variable is knowing whether lead-based paint and mold addendums are necessary in Florida; yet another one is if you need to have a kick-out clause. We know the 100+ addendums to use and when to use them to your advantage.

We bet you’ve googled “Is it okay to close on the last day of the month?” and “Are there drawbacks to closing on a Monday or Friday?” Maybe you’ve searched for “Do weekends count?” We give you sound advice about closing date strategies to avoid mishaps and stress.

Perhaps you or the seller need temporary housing options if the closing date doesn’t work for one party. We can help you with that.

Inspections can be a quagmire. How many days should you request for one? Is 15 days okay or could that be a turnoff to the seller? Maybe you don’t have enough time for an inspection or maybe you need inspectors for specialty items. How about reinspections? Here’s a humdinger: what happens if you do an inspection and then a tropical storm occurs after the inspection but before the closing? Fortunately, we’re experts when it comes to inspection introspection.

The standard amount of time to give the seller when presenting the offer is two days, but you might be wondering if that’s too much time or too little time…and then of course there are counteroffer strategies. Various advantages and disadvantages can make the difference in price and winning the deal. We’ll walk you through them all!

If you haven’t received the disclosure and it’s past the loan or inspection contingency time period, you might be wondering if the seller still has to give a disclosure. We can figure that out! We can also find out what happens if their property is under contract.

Some buyers rely on Zillow Zestimates to come up with the value of the house. The problem is that Zillow’s figures can be off by as much as plus or minus 30% because Zillow doesn’t know if the roof or kitchen was recently redone (or wasn’t). Some buyers simply rely on getting a big discount off the stated price. But what if the house was overpriced by 20% to begin with and you took 5% off that? You’re still overpaying.

A good CMA brings comparables into play. In order to arrive at a solid analysis, though, you have to understand how to work the MLS computer system to do some deep research and then dig into the fine-point details, including looking into off-market properties and talking to other realtors to really find out the skinny on a given deal and how it’s structured. This is critical to be able to negotiate wisely and pay the right price for a property.

How does each “extra” not only affect the CMA value but the resale value and a property’s real value? Would you actually get your money’s worth out of a generator or an EV port? A third garage? How do you even place a value on a southern exposure versus a northern exposure? We help you sort through all of these potential “upgrades.”

We network! Mortgage brokers, surveyors, neighbors, and other realtors all give us clues to help us put together the best possible deal for you.

Because we talk to everyone, our team is aware of properties that aren’t yet on the market. We make you aware of them. Because ECHO works together as a team, that means everybody on our 100-plus-person team is working for you! Our proprietary Home ECHOnomics methodology of team-sharing information in our CRM lets us identify homes not on the market yet that others agents won’t be aware of. That matters, because we have access to more off market listings than anyone else.

We stay on top of what’s coming next, how it’s being received, and any zoning issues you need to be aware of in terms of how they could affect the value of your home.

Oftentimes legal experts need to get involved. Sometimes it’s providing verbiage for an addendum; other times, it’s dealing with a very complex problem, especially if a legal dispute happens. We know who can help at a moment’s notice including weekends to keep things on track.

If your current agent doesn’t know the answer to your question of “Is there a local expert?” know that the answer is yes! ECHO’s owner is also the broker—Jeff Lichtenstein has sold thousands of homes, received multiple Best Brokerage of the Year awards, been an expert featured on a multitude of national press panels, and completed thousands of deals. When a second expert opinion is needed, Jeff is by your side! Not only that, some of the experts on our team have more than 25 years of experience and are happy to lend a hand.

A real estate contract is a legally binding contract. At the end of the day, a judge will look at the contract to enforce or settle any dispute. We know the 14-page, 7,000-word-plus FAR contract inside and out, along with countless addendums that can be used and how to interpret them.

When it comes to contracts, there’s an As-Is contract and a Purchase and Sale contract. Both offer advantages and disadvantages. Both have meanings that are difficult to understand and both can be interpreted differently by a layperson. We cut through all of the confusing language and explain these contracts to you so that you can decide which one is best for you.

Writing up a contract is easy for us! We know exactly what we can and cannot do. It’s second nature for us to fill out a contract, dive into the tax records and the MLS, and utilize all of the special fields and broker remarks. What would take a layperson forever (or what would be done by lawyers in other states) is something we can usually do within a few hours.

You want to be sure that you have all of the appropriate documents in front of you and that your agent has read all of the broker remarks. Do any documents still need to be downloaded, reviewed, or executed? What happens if something is missed? We can make sure that you have everything you need to make your deal a done deal.

Proper permitting is crucial—you want to make sure the seller never bought a “hot” air-conditioning unit. You need to know if an addition was constructed in accordance with building codes and if a permit was pulled for the gas line. You want to live safely! And you want to not wind up with a nightmare cost on your hands later on.

Different counties within Florida have different customs, especially with respect to who pays for the title. We know what’s acceptable and we’ll make sure you don’t get taken advantage of.

Properly gathering signatures, initials, and dates within the time constraints of the contract is like herding cats: one mistake, and holes pop open for the other party to escape through. We know how to document properly and make sure the deal is locked down.

Once a contract is written, it needs to be “presented” to the other side. Like any profession, who you have in your corner is important when it comes to negotiations. How did the seller arrive at the purchase price? What is their motivation for selling? You want to present your offer in the best light so that the seller accepts it.

There are countless strategies for negotiating a real estate deal. Sometimes speed can prevent a competitor from swooping in; other times, it’s best to slow down and play hard to get. Figuring out the ideal way to handle inspection periods, the closing timing, escrow amounts, and how low to go without losing the deal is what a great realtor does best.

Seller concessions can be a good deal if you know what to look for and how to put them in the contract. We can make sure you get the best outcome possible by maximizing “the ask.”

We present your point of view and advocate for you in order to put together a deal that’s in your best interests and terms. We showcase you and explain why your deal in particular is a great one and why the seller should accept it.

When counteroffers come through, we help interpret what in the counteroffer makes sense for you and what should be rejected. Then we rewrite the changes and get all new signatures.

We don’t want you to have problems at closing because of a rug! Getting the furniture inventory and/or a list of what’s included in the sale (with attachments or exclusions) is critical. And making sure it’s written up legally is just as important.

You need to know if light fixtures are included, or built-ins, or pool equipment. If you want some of the furniture to be included, that needs to be in writing. And of course you’ll want to know how inclusions could affect your property taxes, insurance, and mortgage. We can wade through all of these details with you, including figuring out if pictures of the items are sufficient or if you should have a written inventory. Documentation is key!

The devil is in the details! Is anything currently under warranty? Are past warranties still applicable? They may need to be written into the contract. We can make sure nothing is omitted or glossed over, including whether or not you can convey any exiting warranties if you sell the house.

We can give you advice on what to counter back with and how. Terms, price, whether it’s a good deal or a pass… Say the seller flat-out rejects the deal. Is that the end? We’ll figure it out together. (Hint: It’s never the end!)

In real estate, having a sense of urgency is…well…urgent! We make the time to get a deal done when time is of the essence, and we offer bespoke problem-solving options that will finalize the deal for you.

Sometimes a client has a change of heart during the process. In that case, speed is of the essence if the deal is still in flux! We can help you get out of a deal if you need to.

Your father visits the house and doesn’t like the elevation. Then your spouse gets anxiety over the granite color and wants to rip up the entire budget. We may not be licensed therapists, but we aren’t far from it! It’s okay to talk to us about these kinds of issues. Buying a home is #3 on the stress list after death and divorce. It’s our job to make sure that it stays at #3 and doesn’t become #1 or #2.

What happens if you get escrow instructions and the entire amount disappears into cyberspace thanks to fraud—do you get your money back? That’s a scary thought. Or maybe you’re fretting about what could happen if you miss the date or time or you’re wondering if weekends count. If the escrow is sent after the deadline, is the deal solid or is your money at risk? We can guide you through these difficult scenarios

One missed date can spell disaster! The cost can be an “out” from the contract for the seller, the loss of your deposit, or even the loss of money or items that are owed to you. Now for the good news: we keep track of everything so that you don’t have to worry about what day it is.

ECHO employs a full-time transaction and closing coordinator to help you keep track of critical dates. This coordinator assists all of our agents with date-tracking so that nothing falls through the cracks. This keeps things smooth and helps avoid unwanted litigation and costs and mistakes if a date is missed.

Inspection date deadlines get tricky—for one thing, sellers generally want inspections done quickly if they’re in an As-Is contract. You not only need to have relationships with the inspectors to bump you up in line, you also need to know your dropdead
dates. And that’s not all! Sometimes items from the inspection come up that require an
additional inspector or a reinspection is required. All of this may be prompting you to wonder if weekends matter in the timeline and whether or not agreeing on a compromise means you’ll lose other contingency rights. We can shepherd you through the inspection process and ease your worries.

Handling money with the utmost of care is one of the most sensitive things we do. Clients are oftentimes working or have other pressures in their day-to-day lives. We can help you understand what happens if you’re late with a payment and whether or not physical checks are accepted or if you need to pay in cash. If the money was sent but not received in time, we can answer the crashing question of who’s going to be liable for that.

We’re used to dealing with “condo commandos.” You need to have current and up-to-date bylaws in your hands. Applications need to be prompt. Meeting dates happen when they happen, often without exception. Dealing with HOAs/COAs/clubs can be a nightmare if you don’t have ECHO in your corner.

Coordinating financing concerns can be a monster! You need to keep track of everything that can go wrong: surveyors, credit checks, applications, inspection reports, personal financials, homeowner’s associations, and appraisals all come into play. Miss a date or don’t communicate, and escrow deposits and the entire deal can be in jeopardy. Luckily, we’re here to handle all of that for you.

We have a guy! You need inspectors, movers, insurance agents, and handymen? We have a guy! (Or gal.) You found bats in the roofline? Yup, we have a guy! Who’s good at IT repair? Yup, we have a guy!

Need help finding a mover who won’t break your valuables and who operates at a reasonable price? We know good movers.

Mortgage lenders are critical to getting the deal done. We know local mortgage brokers who can help you and who will be active participants not only in terms of having the resources to get you the best deal but also in terms of understanding the local HOAs/COAs and getting on the phone to present your case to the listing agent. Having the right broker matters.

Sometimes post-occupancy scenarios are planned and sometimes they happen at the last second. Either way, we can help you draw up post-occupancy and hold-harmless agreements.

It goes without saying that you’ll need inspections, but we’ll point it out anyway. Along with general inspections that cover aspects like termites, pools, and roofs, you might need specialty inspectors for mold and other issues. You’ll also potentially need roofers and A/C contractors. But don’t worry—we’ve got you.

Want to get your homeowner’s insurance lowered? Of course you do! Are there special inspections that can help accomplish this? Let us help—we know all of the tricks to get your costs down.

Need an expert on mangroves or boat lifts or garage doors or floor bonding specialists? You’ll have endless needs and we’ll have endless answers.

Once inspections are done, you’ll need to get quotes on what things cost and then make sure repairs are done properly by licensed individuals. Often that requires recruiting a myriad of professionals and arranging multiple dates to get people into the house. We can arrange all of that for you!

Once you understand what things cost, you must decide whether or not to go forward with the transaction. We help you determine what should be the seller’s responsibility to repair. (By hiring licensed contractors!) Then the negotiation starts all over again. Keeping the deal intact while getting what’s fair for you becomes our goal. Our agents attend the inspection with you so that they have a thorough knowledge of what may come up in the report.

Once inspections and negotiations have been settled, we write up any necessary contract addendums to make certain that the seller does what they need to do and that any credits owed to you do indeed come your way.

Along the way, most buyers will want to get back into the house to see the closet, take measurements, bring in vendors, show off the home to family and friends, etc. Setting up times to get back into the house need to be coordinated and negotiated. We help arrange those visits and spend time with you there.

Deadlines and contingencies need to be met. They also need to be coordinated and communicated with clients, other agents, and vendors. It’s like having to operate a switchboard! But you don’t need to be sitting by the buttons—we spend countless hours making sure that everything is coordinated smoothly and properly.

If there’s a second inspection, we ensure that the work that was done is satisfactory and is accompanied by the proper addendums and communications. This includes making a reinspection appointment to verify that the work was done and gathering all relevant receipts to verify that the work was handled by a skilled, licensed contractor and not by the owner wielding a pair of pliers.

There needs to be constant communication with the title company and all of the pertinent players, including communications regarding client contact information, dates, vendors, and all additional paperwork. Is there a need to disclose? We dig into that, too.

Once again, we act as the switchboard operator! We email, text, and make prodding calls to make sure everything is moving along.

When you’re purchasing a condo, we need to get your documentation in immediately as it cuts into your right of rescission. You also want to be sure that you receive the HOA bylaws, rules, and regulations before any rights you have to cancel the deal dissipate. We get those to you promptly.

Most subdivisions, developments, condos, and equity memberships have applications and deadlines. If you miss one, that puts the deal in jeopardy because the contract states that submitting applications on time is your responsibility. We make sure you’re on track all the way through the process.

There’s nothing like getting into a house and finding out that the A/C was never turned back on! Or that the gas and cable don’t work. We help you enjoy your home from the moment you move in.

We are licensed and we have the know-how. When someone who isn’t licensed tries to carry out real estate transactions on their own, they risk losing giant sums of money because they don’t have any liability insurance to cover possible errors and omissions.

Someone has to set up a date and time to do the walk-through. That’s us! We negotiate to get you in with enough breathing room to make sure everything that’s supposed to be there is there. If isn’t, we deal with any last-minute problems so that you don’t have to.

The walk-through itself is to make sure that everything that’s supposed to be there is there. We want to be certain that no surprises—damage, leaks, etc.—might have occurred when the seller moved.

If there are any issues at the walk-through, we report them and deal with them. This can include making sure that the escrow company does not release funds and that a new addendum is drawn up to remedy any outstanding issues.

Once you’re getting close to closing, you might be wondering if it’s best to do a mail-away, pre-close, or in-person closing. We can help you choose which method suits you best. After all, our job is to make the closing as seamless as possible!

Money will need to be sent for closing. Oftentimes, it comes from multiple sources. We assist you with getting the money over properly and avoiding cybercrime. If the money is not there in time, the closing agent and seller will hold up the closing and stop entry to the house. In short, the deal and your escrow dollars will be in jeopardy. Pro tip: When you’re sending money, always, always call the wire provider to confirm the routing and account information. Those stories of scammers getting their hands on wired funds are true!

The HUD statement lays out tons of credits and debits. Putting you in touch with the right person to interpret them and making sure that you see all of the figures before closing is part of what we do.

It would be hard to get into a house without the keys! We make sure you have the door keys, garage door clicker, clubhouse key, and any other keys you may need. We also make sure you’re equipped with any and all pertinent instruction manuals.

Real estate agents are not lawyers. However, if a curveball does happen, we can often get help without incurring legal fees if the situation is small. If a bigger issue arises, we have contacts who can swoop in at a moment’s notice (including on weekends!) to diligently solve the most stressful problems.

We hate to have shocks right before closing, and so do you. Fortunately, doing our job ahead of schedule most often limits any surprises. Still, with so many personalities and moving parts between the seller(s), lender(s), closing agent, insurance agent, inspectors, shippers, and others, life happens. We’re here to help, including securing legal assistance if a delicate situation should arise.

Now we can open the door!

Something always comes up. How do you turn off the water outside of the house? How does the bidet work? What’s the garage code? Who can install blinds? What’s the number of the homeowner’s association? The transaction never just immediately ends! But don’t worry—we’re here to help after the sale, too.

Clients need and want to think ahead for the long term and therefore need advice regarding valuations, vendors, prior paperwork, and figuring out if putting money into the house will give them a positive return on their investment. If you’re pondering what the future may hold, know that we’re here for you for the long haul!

We keep you updated on your neighborhood on a monthly basis! And we’re always just a call away for any questions you may have or friends and family you would like us to assist