Florida note holders are often retirees who sold a house, a condo or a building lot with owner financing. We take your note to competing buyers and show the worksheet behind every offer.
What a Florida note holder runs into before the payer is even looked at.
The same worksheet comes with every offer.
| Remaining balance | $129,400 |
|---|---|
| Payments left | 168 |
| Buyer’s target yield | 8.0% |
| Purchase price | $115,000 |
| Discount from balance | 11.1% |
| Our fee | shown on every offer |
| Sell the whole note | Sell 60 payments | Keep it | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash today | $115,000 | $56,200 | $0 |
| Payments still coming to you | None | 108 payments of $1,140 | 168 payments of $1,140 |
| Total you receive | $115,000 | $179,320 | $191,520 |
| What you give up | Every future payment | The next five years | A lump sum now |
Illustrative example. Totals add up the payments as scheduled; they assume the payer keeps paying and are not adjusted for the value of money over time.
The promissory noteThe mortgage or deed of trustA payment historyThe closing statement from the saleOwner financing in Florida follows people moving in and moving on. A retiree sells the house in Sarasota or The Villages to downsize and carries the loan. A snowbird sells a Fort Myers condo to a buyer the banks turned down. An investor in Miami, Tampa, Orlando or Jacksonville sells a rental on payments to spread out the gain.
Then there are the lots. Cape Coral, Lehigh Acres, Port Charlotte and the country around Ocala were platted into building lots by the thousand, and a great number were sold on monthly payments. Manufactured homes on owned land are common in the central counties and the Panhandle. Buyers do not treat these alike: a note on a lived-in house with a real down payment draws the widest interest, while a lot note is judged by the rules that apply to vacant land notes.
Florida is generally a mortgage state. Your payer signed the note, which is the promise to pay, and a mortgage, which ties that promise to the property and is recorded in the county. Foreclosure, the legal process for recovering the property after a default, is generally judicial in Florida: the holder files a lawsuit and a court oversees the sale.
Some sellers used an agreement for deed, Florida’s name for a land contract, under which the seller keeps title until the last payment. Florida generally treats these much like mortgages when a payer defaults, though the wording of the document matters, so have a Florida attorney or title company read yours before you rely on that.
For pricing, the court route is the part that counts. A buyer decides what return they want on the money they pay you, and the more return they want, the lower the price. Recovery through a lawsuit generally costs more time and legal expense than a sale outside the courts, and a buyer of Florida paper sets that return with the cost in view.
Because the property is the buyer’s security, a Florida file gets questions about wind and flood cover that a file from an inland state may not. Expect to be asked for a current policy, and for flood insurance where the property sits in a flood zone. If the policy has lapsed, read what to do when a borrower lets the insurance lapse before you ask anyone for a price.
Condo and homeowner association dues are the other local check. Unpaid dues can become a claim against the property, so a buyer will confirm that your payer is current with the association. How such a claim ranks against your mortgage is a legal question for a Florida attorney.
The payment history and the equity, meaning the gap between the property’s value and the balance owed, still move the price more than location does, in Florida as in any other state. A payer with a clean record on a property worth well above the balance gives a buyer of Florida notes little to mark down.
With those in hand, send us the details of your Florida note and include the county, since that is where the buyer’s title search starts.
Florida is generally a mortgage state. Your payer signed a promissory note and a mortgage that was recorded in the county where the property sits. When you sell, the note is endorsed to the buyer and the mortgage is assigned by a recorded document.
Yes. A note sale follows the property's location, wherever you live now. The closing can be handled by mail through a title company or closing attorney, and the assignment is recorded in the Florida county where the mortgage was filed.
It can. The property is the buyer's security, so a buyer wants proof it is insured against the risks common to its location. A current policy that names you as the lender helps. A lapsed policy is something to fix or disclose before you ask for offers.
Often, yes. An agreement for deed is Florida's usual name for a land contract, where you keep title until the payer finishes. Buyers generally expect it to be enforced much like a mortgage, so they price it in a similar way. Ask a Florida attorney how yours would be treated.