Relocation · Florida, Ohio & Texas
I am from Columbus, I started in real estate in Austin, and I live in Fort Myers. Most of the relocation problems I see are sequencing problems, and sequencing is fixable.
Chris Ailes, mortgage broker, Fort Myers · NMLS #2485778 · About 4 minutes to read
Every relocation has two transactions and one calendar. The house you are leaving in Westerville or Frisco has to sell, the house in Cape Coral or Venice has to close, and the days between them are where the stress lives. Here is how I sequence it.
Sell first, then buy. The cleanest financially: the equity is in the bank, the old mortgage is gone, and you qualify for the Florida purchase without the old payment. The cost is a gap, which means a short rental or a lease-back from your buyer. Many Ohio buyers do exactly this and treat the gap as a scouting trip.
Buy first, then sell. Faster and more comfortable, but you have to qualify carrying both payments, or use a bridge structure against the equity in the old house, or a contingency in the Florida contract that many sellers will not accept in a competitive market. It works when the numbers work, and I will tell you plainly whether they do.
Buy a second home first, move later. The favorite of people a few years from retirement. You buy in Florida as a second home while you still live and work up north, use it in season, and convert it to your primary residence when you move. Second-home loans have their own occupancy, down payment and reserve rules, and the homestead exemption only starts once you actually live there.
Because I am licensed in Florida, Ohio and Texas, I can look at the sale and the purchase together. If you need a home equity line on the Ohio house to fund the Florida down payment, that timing has to be right. If the Florida contract has a contingency on the Ohio sale, the dates have to line up with the buyer on the other end. When the two sides are handled by two lenders who have never spoken, that coordination falls on you. When it is one desk, it does not.
One clarification I make up front: Florida and Texas loans run through Anchor Mortgage Funding, and Ohio loans run through Loan Factory. Same person on the phone, different entity on the paperwork, and I explain it before anything is signed.
Property taxes reset on your purchase price. The tax line on the listing is the seller’s bill, often protected by years of the Save Our Homes cap. Yours will be recalculated, and the homestead exemption only applies to a primary residence once you have made it one. I estimate the real number rather than copying the listing.
Insurance is a separate conversation. Roof age, hurricane protection and a four point inspection on older homes drive the homeowners premium, and flood insurance is required by the lender in any A or V zone. Newcomers who budget the Ohio insurance number get a shock. Get the quotes in week one.
Community assessments. Many newer Florida communities, from Estero to Wellen Park to Babcock Ranch, carry Community Development District or similar assessments on the tax bill for the infrastructure. They are counted in your qualifying payment. And in Naples and along the coast, condominium reserves, milestone inspections and golf club dues can all matter to the lender.
None of these are reasons not to move. They are reasons to run the Florida numbers before you pick a house.
Relocation often means a new job, a transfer, or retirement. A transfer within the same employer is usually straightforward with a letter. A new job in Florida needs an offer letter and, for most programs, a start date that fits the closing. Retirement income, whether Social Security, a pension or documented withdrawals from retirement accounts, can all be used when it is set up correctly, and some programs qualify on assets instead. The earlier I know which of these you are, the smoother the file.
You do not need to be in Florida for any of this. Applications, documents and signatures are electronic, the appraisal and inspections are handled locally, and the closing can be done with a mobile notary or remote online notarization where the title company allows it. Plenty of relocation clients never sit across a desk from me until they are already living here.
A Texas seller has a few Texas-specific things to remember. If you pulled cash out of the Texas house under the state’s home equity rules, that affects how the payoff works. Property taxes in Texas are high relative to most states, so the Florida bill may look reasonable by comparison, but the insurance will not. And if you are keeping the Texas house as a rental, a DSCR loan or a conventional investment refinance can restructure it while you buy in Florida with a primary residence loan.
Sometimes. You either qualify carrying both payments, use a bridge structure against the Ohio equity, or write a Florida contract contingent on the Ohio sale. I run the numbers on each and tell you which is realistic.
Yes. I am licensed in Ohio, with Ohio loans originated through Loan Factory, and in Florida and Texas through Anchor Mortgage Funding. Same person, and I explain the difference up front.
Second-home loans carry their own occupancy, down payment and reserve rules that differ from a primary residence. It is routine when it is set up correctly from the start.
After the home is your primary residence, on the schedule the county sets. It does not apply to a second home or a rental, so budget the full tax figure until then.
Chris Ailes, NMLS #2485778. Florida and Texas loans originated through Anchor Mortgage Funding Inc., NMLS #236419; Ohio through Loan Factory. This article is general information, not a commitment to lend and not advice about your specific situation. All loans subject to credit approval and underwriting on a complete file. Guidelines change. Equal Housing Opportunity.
