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Pablo Don't worry about my interests Pablo, do you think I paid for a 3 Bedroom Condo by selling two others before closing on them by getting in at the end of a boom??? Don't think so! Do you think I bought 20 acres of land for $49,000 and is currently worth $8 million by getting in during a boom??? No afraid not, was ahead of 95% people on that one. My money is made down there but thanks for your concern. I think it was Donald Trump once said .... "IF YOU WANT TO GET RICH, LOOK AT WHAT EVERYONE ELSE IS DOING, THEN DO THE OPPOSITE" I agree to a certain extent about Georgia, but guess what ..... I've land there too!!! As regards the owner/investor/AGENT in Florida I knew there was some reason for not liking the information I was providing. You didn't specify if you are still working in Florida? If so do you work in the areas I mentioned?? LOL! I would be pretty surprised if you were not making money off the very people I'm trying to inform a little better. Well if your pissed I'm glad, I'm sure there are many more agents/developers like you! You'd be surprised how fast this type of information gets around. Most people have some type of property investment somewhere in the world so property is a hot topic. THE JOYS OF THE WEB!

Pablo If $30,000 commission on a $300,000 property is not a rip-off to you, then I dont know what is. I have stated in my post that what they are doing is NOT ILLEGAL. This is not typical of how property is sold in the U.S. or Orlando for that matter. **ONLY VACATION AREAS.** I am not discussing whether its a great investment or not - just the technicalities of the process. Many of my wealthy friends have bought villas with straight cash not for the investment but for their families, it is a great place for vacation. Money is not an issue. Its the principal. I disagree with your opinion that purchases in Florida have never been a great investment. I have purchased three condos, sold two that paid for the third one! Not bad for a couple years work. Over the next 25 years U.S. population is going to increase by over 90 million. 47% of that growth is going to occur in three states alone - FLORIDA, CALIFORNIA & TEXAS. By 2011 Florida will pass New York as the third most populous state in the U.S. These are not my opinions - facts from the Brookings Institute in Washington, a government think tank. There is a massive population movement happening in America from the North to the South. You may want to revise your opinion!! Knowledge & due diligence - you'd be surprised how many people are not aware of whats going on. I'm just helping to inform people. If they already know, fine, if not I just saved them a bunch of money. By the way you don't seem too happy I'm divulging this information, or you seem to be making little of it. WHY??????????? I have several properties in Florida but lucky for me, my girlfriend works in the real estate and mortgage business. THE INSIDE TRACK!! No commission, no fees. By the way Pablo, judging by your analysis I'd say a lot more LEAD than SILVER! I'D PREFER YOU JUST SAID THANK YOU FOR THE INFORMATION AND WENT ON YOUR WAY.

HERE ARE A COUPLE YOU WOULD WANT TO RESEARCH VERY CAREFULLY: http://www.coldwellbankerteamrealty.com http://www.anarumogroup.com/ Basically stay away from any companies offering vacation/investment properties around that area. Commissions are very high, downpayments are very high (20-25% once you have your money down your screwed) and property is way over priced. What happened in these areas was investors flooded the market buying off plan and hoping to sell before they ever closed on the property. Now a lot of investors are stuck with properties and no buyers. I believe the very same thing is happening in Bulgaria, Dubai and many other countries - its the last ones in that get caught. Also the only real buyers are Europeans, US citizens tend to buy in more resendential rather than vacation areas. No U.S citizen is going to pay 7-10% commission and 20% downpayments!! So if you buy you are ruling out selling to the majority which are Americans, which is not a good way to maximise an investment. If you are considering purchasing, a quick way to scan companies: go to their website, pick a property and call the company. Ask them what the commission is and what the downpayment is. Don't get confused between the minimum required down payment for finance in the U.S (as a foreign investor) and the downpayment required by the contract for the builder/developer. If you are getting finance in the U.S. most banks need 20% down. All this means is that at closing they will only give you 80% finance. But if you purchase a property from a developer and one of the requirements of the contract is 20-25% down - RUN. They reason there is such a high downpayment is so that once you go to contract they have you locked and if you decide to pull out you'll lose a lot of money. Compare this with most resedential sales for U.S. Citizens - $1000 will open escrow and if you decide to pull out, that is the maximum you will lose and even that seldom happens. I know investors that pulled out and lost their 20% deposits rather than proceed on a property they believed was overvalued, hard to rent and will just cost them more money.

Hello Buyer/Investors If you are thinking of buying property in vacation areas in Florida, particularly Orlando & Miami, BEWARE!! I'm advising mainly European, British & Irish buyers as they are the main vacation home buyers. Agents commissions on these properties are horrendous. I've seen commisions starting from 7% and up to 10%. Therefore if you buy a $300,000 home, its possible that $30,000 of that will be commission. Standard commission in the U.S. is 3% each side of the deal. Therefore if you are selling a home you pay 3% to your agent (SELLERS AGENT) and 3% to the buyers agent. HOWEVER, if you are buying a new property there is only one side (BUYER) and it therefore should only be 3%. Therefore its possible that you could be overpaying on a $300,000 property by $21,000! IS THIS ILLEGAL? The answer is NO. What happens is you approach an agent and he/she helps you find properties that you are interested in. He will tell you that he is a BUYERS agent and he is solely looking after your interests. He/she will say that the cost to you is zero, that the builder/developer pays his commission. This is true and here lies the problem. If a builder is paying him 10% commission and you are paying him zero, who do you think he is looking after? Himself and the builder of course, you will be shown the properties with the highest paying commissions. HOW TO AVOID THIS RIP-OFF? When you are looking at properties ask the agent what is the commision on the property. If he talks around it and doesn't say ask him again. If he refuses to tell you......RUN.....and I mean literally, you are going to get ripped off. If you close on a property in Florida you will see the commission on the Closing Statement or HUD Statement anyway, so you will find out at some stage. They may also tell you that the property will cost the same, for example $300,000, whether you use them or not. This is also true, so bypassing the agent and going straight to the builder will not get you anywhere. THE SOLUTION? Talk to different agents and ask them if they will work for 3%. If you cant find any, email me and I will put you in contact with reputable real estate agents. Then what happens is you purchase the property through the 3% agent for the same price, $300,000, BUT, he will credit you back the balance of the commission in closing costs, which could be up to 7% or $21,000 or you can ask your agent to negotiate upgrades on your property from the commssion. I know so many people that have been ripped off by this scam on international investors into Florida. They prey on your lack of knowledge of how the real estate system works in the U.S. You think they are working for nothing, that the builder pays them. At the end of the day it comes out of your pocket. Also beware of closing costs, most foreign investors end up paying their portion (BUYERS) and the sellers portion (SELLERS). This can be up to $15,000, on top of the sales price. Have your agent negotiate that you only pay the BUYERS portion and no more. Also, it will cost you probably another $1000 or so, but get a real estate attorney to read over all contracts and have the closing process go through them. It will be worth every penny. AREAS: The main areas where this rip-off is going on are around Orlando and Davenport (area close to Disney) particularly and anywhere close to Disney. Also beware of condos etc. in Miami. DEVELOPERS/PROPERTIES: Be very careful with an Irish developer (who shall remain unnamed but gets lots of publicity in Sunday Papers, Sunday Business Post etc.) that owns a US real estate agency not far from Disney World. You will not be shown one property with just 3% commission. This developer/estate agent also offers LEASEBACK PROPERTIES. This is where the developer signs a contract with the buyer to leaseback the property over maybe a two or three year period and will pay the buyer a monthly return. This is very attractive as it means the buyer does not have any rental or other worries for a couple of years. HOWEVER, in most cases the leaseback is included in the purchase price of the property therefore you are giving the developer the money so he can pay you back monthly over a two year period! Please email me or post replies if you have any other queries. I've seen agents making $100,000+ per month on these excessive commissions. Dont let them STEAL your money. Please forward this page or make a link and send it to EVERYONE you may know that bought or is thinking of buying in Florida.