FL Real Estate cheat sheet

Brokerage is compensated activity that brings parties together or negotiates a real estate transaction for another; Florida requires a license for it.

A sales associate works under an employing broker and may not receive brokerage compensation directly from a client.

Florida's default brokerage relationship is transaction broker unless a single-agent agreement is signed.

Real estate is heterogeneous, immobile, and relatively illiquid, so each parcel must be analyzed on its own.

Local supply and demand set price direction; increased demand with fixed supply tends to raise prices.

A CMA uses recent comparable sales and is prepared by a licensee; an appraisal is a value opinion by a licensed or certified appraiser.

Property types include residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, and special-purpose.

A brokerage must keep transaction records and handle trust funds according to Florida rules.

Florida sales associate prelicense education is 63 hours; broker prelicense education is 72 hours.

Applicants must be at least 18, honest and truthful, and not disqualified by specified criminal history.

A sales associate must be registered with an employing broker before performing brokerage.

A new sales associate must complete a 45-hour post-license course before the first renewal.

License renewal is every two years; after the first cycle, 14 hours of continuing education are required.

A licensee may not pay brokerage compensation to an unlicensed person.

The DBPR Division of Real Estate administers licensing; FREC adopts rules and decides disciplinary cases.

License statuses include active, inactive, suspended, revoked, and expired; only active licensees may perform brokerage.

A broker is responsible for supervising associated sales associates and for trust-fund handling.

Fiduciary duties include loyalty, obedience, disclosure, confidentiality, accounting, and reasonable care.

Single agency represents only the buyer or only the seller and creates full fiduciary duties to that principal.

Transaction broker is Florida's default; it provides limited representation and no fiduciary duty of loyalty.

Florida does not recognize dual agency; a brokerage can serve both sides as a transaction broker with disclosures.

A transaction broker must deal honestly, disclose known material facts, present offers, and account for funds.

A single-agent relationship is created by a written agreement, not by first contact or a showing.

Confidential information learned in a single-agent relationship may not be disclosed without authorization, except as required by law.

The broker, not the sales associate, is the agent; sales associates act on the broker's behalf.

Agency is created by consent and agreement, not by the source of compensation.

Contract essentials: competent parties, lawful object, consideration, offer and acceptance, and writing when required.

Florida Statute of Frauds requires land sale contracts and leases over one year to be written and signed by the party to be charged.

A deed transfers title; a contract to sell creates equitable title in the buyer before closing.

Earnest money is evidence of good faith and is credited to the buyer at closing.

Liquidated damages clauses must be reasonable and are not punitive.

An option is unilateral; the optionee has the right, not the obligation, to buy.

Contingencies such as financing, inspection, and appraisal must be satisfied or waived by stated deadlines.

Remedies for breach include damages, specific performance, rescission, and forfeiture of a deposit under contract terms.

Assignment transfers contract rights; novation substitutes a new party and releases the original party.

Fee simple absolute is the largest estate; it is perpetual and inheritable.

A life estate lasts for a measured life; the future interest is a remainder or a reversion.

Leasehold estates include tenancy for years, periodic tenancy, tenancy at will, and tenancy at sufferance.

Tenancy in common has no right of survivorship; joint tenancy has survivorship and requires unity of time, title, interest, and possession.

Tenancy by the entirety is available to married couples and includes survivorship.

Florida homestead protects a qualifying home from forced sale except for taxes, mortgages, mechanic liens, and other specified claims.

An easement appurtenant benefits a neighboring parcel; an easement in gross benefits a person or entity, not a parcel.

A license is revocable permission to use land; an easement is a nonpossessory interest that can be permanent.

Condominium owners own a unit plus an undivided share of common elements; cooperative owners own shares in a corporation with a proprietary lease.

A valid deed requires a grantor, grantee, words of conveyance, legal description, signature of grantor, and delivery with intent to convey.

Consideration is not required to make a deed valid, although it affects recording and title protection.

General warranty deed warrants title against defects arising before and during the grantor's ownership.

Special warranty deed limits warranties to defects created by the grantor.

Quitclaim deed transfers whatever interest the grantor has and carries no warranties.

Recording gives constructive notice; Florida's notice statute protects a later bona fide purchaser without notice.

Title insurance protects against covered title defects; owner's and lender's policies are separate.

Deed restrictions, zoning, easements, and liens are encumbrances that can limit ownership.

Marketable title is title reasonably free from doubt and acceptable to a prudent buyer; insurable title is title a title insurer will insure.

Metes and bounds uses a point of beginning, courses, distances, and monuments.

Lot-and-block descriptions rely on a recorded subdivision plat.

The rectangular survey system uses principal meridians and baselines to create townships and ranges.

A township is six miles square and contains 36 sections; each section is one square mile.

A section contains 640 acres; a half-section 320, a quarter-section 160, and a quarter-quarter section 40 acres.

Township lines run east-west; range lines run north-south.

One acre equals 43,560 square feet; one square mile equals 640 acres.

In survey interpretation, natural monuments control over artificial monuments, which control over courses and distances.

A street address or tax parcel number is not a legal description unless it references a recorded legal description.

The note is the borrower's promise to repay; the mortgage gives the lender a lien on the property as security.

LTV equals loan amount divided by the lesser of sale price or appraised value.

Down payment equals purchase price minus the loan amount.

Interest equals principal × rate × time; monthly interest is annual interest divided by 12.

One discount point equals one percent of the loan amount and is paid to reduce the interest rate.

PITI includes principal, interest, taxes, and insurance.

An escrow or impound account collects funds for taxes and insurance.

Florida documentary stamp tax on a mortgage is generally $0.35 per $100 of the mortgage amount.

Florida intangible tax on a new mortgage is $0.002 per $1, or $2 per $1,000.

Market value is the most probable price in an arm's-length sale after reasonable exposure.

The sales comparison approach adjusts comparable sales to the subject property.

If a comparable is superior, subtract value; if inferior, add value to reach the subject.

The cost approach adds land value to replacement or reproduction cost minus depreciation.

The income approach uses value = net operating income ÷ capitalization rate.

Gross rent multiplier = sale price ÷ gross rent; value = gross rent × multiplier.

Depreciation includes physical deterioration, functional obsolescence, and external obsolescence.

Highest and best use must be legally permissible, physically possible, financially feasible, and maximally productive.

Reconciliation weighs the approaches and selects a final value opinion based on reliability.

A closing statement debits the buyer for the price and credits the seller for the price; other items are prorated or charged as agreed.

Proration for an annual item: annual amount ÷ 365 × days allocated to the party.

Proration for a monthly item: monthly amount ÷ 30 × days allocated.

Florida documentary stamp tax on a deed is generally $0.70 per $100 of consideration, rounded up; Miami-Dade rates differ.

Florida documentary stamp tax on a mortgage is generally $0.35 per $100 of the mortgage amount.

Florida intangible tax on a new mortgage is $0.002 per $1, or $2 per $1,000.

Commission equals sale price × commission rate; a split divides the commission among brokers.

Loan origination points equal loan amount × point percentage.

One acre equals 43,560 square feet; one section equals 640 acres.