Fort Lauderdale’s housing market has a specific problem most cash buyers won’t mention
Almost every buyer in Fort Lauderdale has a financing condition buried in their contract. That condition requires insurance. And in Broward County right now, insurance is the thing that’s quietly killing deals.
Citizens Insurance has been shedding policies since 2023. The private carriers that absorbed them are charging $18,000–$30,000 a year for older homes in AE flood zones — and those zones cover large sections of Fort Lauderdale: the Middle River corridor, Airport Creek, North Fork New River, and much of the area between Federal Highway and the Intracoastal. A financed buyer who can’t get insurance at a lender-acceptable rate can’t close. They walk. The deal dies.
We buy as-is, for cash, with no financing condition. Insurance is your buyer’s problem only if your buyer needs a mortgage.
TL;DR: We make a cash offer within 24 hours of getting the address. If it works for you, we can close in 7 to 14 days — or on your schedule. No repairs, no agent commission, no closing costs. We buy directly, and where we’re not the right buyer we’ll bring you one who is.
Why sellers in Fort Lauderdale call us
The reasons vary, but a few come up constantly in Broward County.
The April 2023 flood. Between April 12 and 14, 2023, more than 25 inches of rain fell on Fort Lauderdale in under 24 hours. The Middle River spilled into Tarpon River Drive. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport shut down. Cars floated on I-95. Thousands of homes flooded, including many that had never flooded before. Some of those sellers are still carrying that damage — or they received a FEMA Substantial Damage determination, which means the home can’t be repaired without first being elevated to the base flood elevation. That elevation work runs $50,000 to $150,000. A cash buyer can take a property in that condition. A conventional buyer cannot.
Condo special assessments. Florida Senate Bill 4-D (codified at F.S. §§ 553.899 et seq.) required buildings three stories and taller that are 30 or more years old to complete milestone structural inspections by December 31, 2024, and to fund a Structural Integrity Reserve Study. The SIRS results have produced special assessments running $20,000 to $80,000 per unit in some Broward County towers. Owners who can’t pay — or who simply want out — are trying to sell into a market where every buyer has already seen the assessment number. Cash buyers can absorb that; lenders often won’t underwrite the deal at all.
Insurance renewals that changed the numbers. After Hurricanes Ian and Milton, the Florida insurance market tightened in ways that hit Fort Lauderdale hard. Citizens depopulation pushed policies to private carriers at rates some Broward homeowners had never contemplated. A $2,400-a-year premium becoming $11,000 changes whether someone can afford to hold the property — and whether the monthly math still works as a rental.
Older housing stock. Progresso Village, Tarpon River, and the neighborhoods along Sistrunk Boulevard have 1950s and 1960s concrete block construction. Good bones, but those homes often have galvanized plumbing that FHA and VA lenders flag, aluminum wiring from the 1960s and 1970s that many insurers now surcharge or decline, and single-pane windows that won’t meet Broward County’s current wind mitigation requirements for insurance credits. A financed buyer runs into those flags at appraisal. A cash buyer doesn’t.
Three steps, and you can stop at any of them
Here is what happens after you give us the address.
- We look at it. We pull the Broward County property records, the flood zone designation, the permit history, and what comparable sales have done in the last 90 days. We call you — usually within hours of the address coming in.
- We give you a number. A cash offer within 24 hours. No obligation to accept. We’ll tell you how we got there — what we’re accounting for and why the number is what it is.
- You decide. If the offer works, we schedule a title search and set a closing date you pick. If it doesn’t work, you owe us nothing and we part ways.
Closing runs 7 to 14 days from acceptance. We use a licensed title company. No agent commissions — that’s 5 to 6 percent you keep. No repair requests. No contingencies that evaporate at the last minute.
What the Broward County foreclosure clock looks like
Florida is a judicial foreclosure state. That matters here.
When a lender files for foreclosure in Broward County, it goes through the 17th Judicial Circuit Court (browardclerk.org). You have 20 days to file an answer after the lis pendens is served. Uncontested foreclosures in Broward typically run 6 to 12 months from filing to final judgment. Contested cases can drag two to three years if there are title disputes or an active defense.
After the court enters final judgment, the clerk advertises the auction for at least 20 days. The sale happens. A Certificate of Sale is issued. There is a 10-day objection window. Then the Certificate of Title issues — and at that point, the homeowner’s right to sell is gone. The property belongs to the winning bidder.
The window to sell is between the lis pendens and the Certificate of Title. That window is real, but it moves. If you have received a foreclosure notice and want to know where you stand, call us at (615) 780-7349. For more on selling inside that window, see our pages on selling while in foreclosure and selling before foreclosure completes.
When you should not sell to us
Most cash buyer sites skip this part. We won’t.
If your Fort Lauderdale home is in good shape, has a clean insurance history, and you have 60 or more days before any deadline, you will likely net more listing with an agent. A well-priced move-in-ready house in Coral Ridge, Colee Hammock, or Victoria Park can attract competitive offers. An agent earns their commission in those markets. Use one.
Cash buyers make sense when the property has a condition problem that blocks financing — flood damage, a condo assessment overhang, a roof age the insurer won’t write, aluminum wiring — or when the seller is under a time constraint that a 90-day listing can’t accommodate. We’re the right call when certainty of close is worth more to you than the marginal difference in price.
We also buy directly — and where we’re not the right buyer, we’ll connect you with one who is. But be aware of how that works in this industry: some operators call themselves buyers and are actually marketers who assign your contract to a third party. That’s legal, but you deserve to know it’s happening. We disclose both models. Our terms page explains what applies in your situation.
Fort Lauderdale and Florida — specifics worth knowing
Florida law requires sellers to disclose in writing if the property is in a Special Flood Hazard Area (F.S. § 689.261, effective July 1, 2023). If you’re in an AE zone and haven’t disclosed it, a buyer’s agent will find out during due diligence — and the deal will adjust or collapse.
Florida has no state income tax, which simplifies the net proceeds calculation compared to states where sale gains get hit at both levels. Federal exclusions still apply: $250,000 per person ($500,000 for married couples filing jointly) under IRC § 121 if the home was your primary residence for two of the last five years.
For context on how Florida handles foreclosure timing and what the judicial process means for sellers, see our Florida state page. If your situation involves water damage from the 2023 storm or a subsequent hurricane, our water damage page covers what that does to financing, insurance, and your disclosure obligations under Florida law.
We also buy in nearby Florida markets
We work throughout South Florida and across the state. If you know someone in the area with a property to sell, we operate in Tampa and St. Petersburg as well.
Straight answers
Do you buy condos in Fort Lauderdale?
Yes. We’ve looked at units with pending special assessments, SIRS reserve gaps, and buildings where the milestone inspection found structural concerns. Those situations affect the offer. They don’t automatically stop the deal.
My home flooded in April 2023. Does that matter?
It affects the offer — we account for the condition. It doesn’t disqualify the property. If FEMA issued a Substantial Damage determination, we need to know that upfront because it affects the elevation requirement, the title, and what a buyer can legally do with the structure.
What if I’m already behind on my mortgage?
Behind on payments is different from a foreclosure case being filed. If the lis pendens hasn’t been served, you have full ability to sell. Even after it’s served, you can sell until the Certificate of Title issues after the auction. Call us — where you stand in the process determines the timeline.
Do I need to move out before closing?
No. We work around your schedule. If you need time after closing to move, we discuss that during the offer stage. It’s a conversation, not a condition.
How do I know the number won’t drop at the last minute?
We’ve bought more than 100 houses. The offer we give you is built on actual comparable sales in Broward County, not a number designed to get you to sign and then renegotiate at the title company. We’ll walk you through the comps if you want to see them.
Will I deal with you directly, or get handed off?
We buy directly — and in markets where a third-party buyer is a better fit, we tell you and make the introduction. We don’t run assignment chains without your knowledge. That practice is common in this industry. Ask any buyer you speak with whether they’re buying or assigning.