Selling and buying on the Space Coast — run as one coordinated transaction, not two. Same-day contingent closings, single move, no double mortgage.
The Brevard market right now favors this move.
| Submarket | Median | $/sq ft | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melbourne Beach | $658,000 | — | Barrier island, heavy cash share, thin comps |
| Indialantic | $603,000 | — | Affluent oceanside / riverfront |
| Merritt Island | $499,000 | $253 | KSC proximity, waterfront premium |
| Cocoa Beach | $475,000 | $350 | Condo-heavy — SB 4-D assessment risk |
| Satellite Beach | $450–575K | — | Top schools, tight family inventory |
| Viera | $439,000 | $239 | New construction competes with resale |
| Melbourne | $399,900 | $231 | Widest price band in the county |
| Rockledge / Suntree | $365,000 | $217 | Established, steady absorption |
| Palm Bay | $349,000 | $195 | Highest volume, most price-sensitive |
The asymmetry that makes this work. Single-family supply is down ~20% YoY at 3.7 months — you sell into scarcity. But median price is flat-to-negative and sale-to-list is 97–98%, meaning buyers still negotiate — you buy with leverage. That's an unusually friendly combination for a simultaneous move.
The one soft spot: condos fell ~8.5% in Q1 2026 on milestone-inspection and reserve-funding pressure. If either side of this move is a condo, the math and the diligence change materially.
Sell first on paper, close both the same day.
You go under contract on your home before you write on the replacement — then use that signed contract, not a contingency, as your strength. A seller will accept a "sale of buyer's property" contingency far more readily when your property is already under contract with inspection period expired.
| Your buyer is financed and clean Cash or conventional ≥20% down. Decline FHA/VA if you can — appraisal and repair risk cascades into your purchase. |
| Both closings at one title company Same escrow officer, same day, sale scheduled first. Non-negotiable. |
| A funded fallback exists before you list HELOC, bridge, or 60-day leaseback — established in advance, not scrambled for. |
| Rate lock covers the whole runway 60-day minimum, 75–90 preferred. Confirm extension cost up front. |
Fourteen weeks, two tracks, one closing day.
The quiet phase. Every item here becomes impossible or expensive once the sign goes in the yard.
Photos Monday, live Thursday, first weekend is the whole ballgame. Meanwhile you're touring — not offering.
The hinge. Accept on your home, survive the buyer's inspection window, then convert your shortlist into an offer.
Four inspections, two appraisals, two title searches, one insurance market that will decide whether any of it closes.
Underwriting silence is normal; unreturned document requests are not. Nothing new on credit, nothing moved between accounts.
Sale funds AM, purchase funds PM, keys same afternoon. Then the paperwork that saves you real money for a decade.
Getting your house sold at the top of its band.
Buying with leverage while your own sale is pending.
One profile. Every portal. No retyping.
Set your criteria once below and every link rebuilds itself. Each card says exactly which of your filters it carries through — where a portal can't take a filter in the URL, it's one click once you're inside.
Saved on this device. Change anything and the links below update instantly.
The portals are not where you'll find it first. Zillow and Homes.com pull syndicated feeds that lag the MLS by roughly 24–72 hours. Redfin and Realtor.com sit closest to real time because they take direct MLS feeds. In a market at 3.7 months' supply, waterfront under $1.2M with a pool and a 2010+ build is a thin slice — the good ones are gone before a syndicated feed refreshes.
So do this first: have a buyer's agent set you a Space Coast MLS auto-alert on these exact criteria, delivered instantly rather than daily. That's the only feed that's actually first. Use the portals to browse and to research, not to discover.
Waterfront on the Indian River, Banana River, or an interior canal carries a set of questions that never come up on a dry lot. Every one of these has cost someone six figures.
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Seawall age, material, condition | Replacement runs $40–150K and is never covered by a standard inspection. Get a marine contractor to look, separately. |
| Dock & lift permits on file | Unpermitted docks get removal orders. Verify with the county and the water management district. |
| Submerged land lease (FDEP) | Some docks sit on state-owned bottom land requiring an active lease that must be transferred at closing. |
| Riparian rights & boundary | Waterfront lot lines are not always where the seawall is. The survey settles it — order early. |
| Navigable depth at low tide | A canal that shoals to 2 ft at low tide won't float your boat. Check at low tide, not at showing time. |
| Manatee protection zone / no-wake | Affects dock permitting and how long it takes you to reach open water. |
| Flood zone + elevation certificateCost driver | Waterfront is usually AE or VE. VE zones carry construction requirements and materially higher premiums. |
| Wind exposure & insurability | Open-water exposure raises wind premiums. Get a quote before you offer, not during diligence. |
| Erosion & shoreline history | Compare county aerials across 10–20 years. Shorelines move. |
| Septic vs. sewer | Older waterfront often runs septic. Brevard has tightened rules near the lagoon — conversion can be mandatory and expensive. |
If you're buying land to build: the order that matters is soil/percolation test, then survey, then wetlands delineation, then utility availability, then setbacks and coastal construction control line. Make the contract contingent on all five. A waterfront lot that can't perc or sits partly in delineated wetland is worth a fraction of its asking price, and it will look identical to a good lot from the road.
Score them the same way every time.
After the fourth showing they blur together and you start deciding on the kitchen. Score each property 1–5 the day you see it. Weights are yours to change — total updates automatically and the list ranks itself.
| Address / link | Price | Water ×3 |
Condition ×3 |
Location ×2 |
Layout ×2 |
Insurability ×2 |
Lot ×1 |
Score |
|---|
Insurability is weighted as heavily as location on purpose. In Brevard it decides whether a deal closes at all — and unlike a dated kitchen, you cannot renovate your way out of it.
What you demand, what you verify yourself, and what should end a deal.
Due diligence in Florida is not a home inspection. It's four parallel investigations — physical, insurance, legal/title, and financial-obligation — and only one of them involves an inspector.
| Document | Timing |
|---|---|
| Seller's Property Disclosure Read the "unknown" boxes — they're the tell | With contract |
| Permit history Verify against county records; unpermitted work becomes your liability | Day 1–5 |
| Roof age + any warranty | Day 1–5 |
| 4-point & wind mitigation reports | Day 1–7 |
| Prior insurance claims history (CLUE) Two claims in five years can make a house uninsurable regardless of condition | Day 1–7 |
| Elevation certificate + flood zone | Day 1–7 |
| HOA docs, budget, rules, litigation disclosure | Day 3–10 |
| HOA estoppel letter10–15 days | Order Day 3 |
| CDD assessment schedule & payoff Viera, Suntree, newer builds — often invisible in the listing | Day 3–10 |
| Survey (existing) + any encroachment history | Day 3–10 |
| Condo only: milestone inspection, SIRS, reserves, 12 mo. minutesSB 4-D | Day 1–10 |
| Utility bills, 12 months A $600 summer electric bill tells you about the envelope and the HVAC | Day 3–10 |
Never take the seller's word on any of these. All are free or nearly free.
| Brevard County Property Appraiser — bcpao.us Assessed value, sales history, sq ft of record, exemptions, tax history |
| Brevard Building Department permits Open or expired permits transfer to you. Enclosed patios and re-roofs are the usual offenders. |
| Brevard Clerk of Court Liens, judgments, lis pendens, code enforcement, prior foreclosures |
| FEMA flood map + county flood viewer Zone AE vs X swings carrying cost $3–6K/yr and affects resale |
| Tax Collector — brevardtaxcollector.com Actual tax bill, not the seller's homestead-capped number. Yours will be higher. |
| Sex offender registry + call logs Sellers are not required to disclose. Check yourself. |
| Drive it at 7am, 6pm, and 10pm on a weekend Traffic, noise, flight paths, launch-viewing crowds, street parking |
| Neighboring vacant land zoning That view is only permanent if the parcel is zoned so |
| Finding | Exposure | Move |
|---|---|---|
| Roof >15 yrs, or 3-tab shingle at any age | $18–45K | Insurability question, not cosmetic. Price it in or walk. |
| Two+ insurance claims in 5 yrs (CLUE) | Uninsurable | No policy, no loan. Verify before the inspection money is spent. |
| Condo w/ failed milestone or unfunded SIRS | $25–80K+ | Special assessment risk. Demand reserve study before offering. |
| Polybutylene or cast-iron drain lines | $12–30K | Common pre-1990 Brevard. Many carriers decline outright. |
| Unpermitted addition / enclosed lanai | $5–40K | Sq ft may not appraise. Retro-permit before closing, at seller cost. |
| Sinkhole activity or prior remediation in the area | Resale drag | Pull the county record. Remediated ≠ marketable. |
| HVAC >12 yrs, R-22 refrigerant | $8–14K | Negotiate a credit. Not a walk-away. |
| Seawall / dock condition (waterfront) | $40–150K | Separate marine inspection. Never covered by a home inspector. |
| Active code enforcement case | Varies | Must be resolved and closed before closing, in writing. |
| Chinese drywall (2001–2009 builds) | Gut job | Rare but present in FL. Corroded copper coils are the tell. |
The tax trap almost everyone walks into. The seller's property tax bill reflects their Save Our Homes cap, sometimes built up over 15 years. On January 1 following your purchase, the assessment resets to market value. Your bill can be double what the listing shows — before portability offsets it. Always model taxes at ~1.05–1.30% of purchase price, never at the seller's current bill.
Two appraisals, two opposite jobs, one week apart.
With median price flat-to-negative YoY, appraisal risk is live on both sides. On your sale you're defending a number. On your purchase you're hoping it lands short.
You get roughly four minutes with the appraiser at the door. Use them. This is entirely legal — you may provide data, you just can't pressure a conclusion.
If it comes in low: request a Reconsideration of Value within 5 days with two better comps and a written factual error. Roughly one in ten succeeds — but it's cheap to try, and the alternative is a price cut.
A low appraisal is leverage — but it's leverage that costs time, and time is the one thing a simultaneous close can't spare. Decide the rule before the number arrives.
| Shortfall | Play |
|---|---|
| <$10K | Cover it in cash. Don't renegotiate — you'd risk the timeline over a rounding error. |
| $10–25K | Ask for a split. Most sellers take half rather than restart at 62 days on market. |
| $25–50K | Push for full reduction. Their next buyer's appraiser will likely land in the same place. |
| >$50K | Walk, or demand full reduction plus a re-inspection. Something is wrong with the property or the price. |
Write the gap clause with a cap. "Buyer will cover an appraisal shortfall up to $X" makes your offer far stronger than a bare financing contingency, without writing a blank check. Set X at what you can actually wire — remember it comes out of the same proceeds funding your down payment.
Enter a shortfall to see how it hits your cash and your loan.
Every FR/BAR deadline, counted correctly.
Florida counts calendar days from the Effective Date — day zero is the day the last party signs and delivers. Any deadline landing on a Saturday, Sunday, or federal holiday rolls to 11:59 PM the next business day. Time is of the essence: miss a date and you can lose your deposit or your remedy.
FR/BAR defaults are 15 days inspection and 30 days loan approval. A shorter inspection window strengthens your offer; a longer loan period protects you. Negotiate both deliberately.
| Milestone | Deadline |
|---|
Two dates that aren't in the contract but should be in your calendar. Order the HOA estoppel by day 3 — it takes 10–15 days and holds up closing more often than anything else. Bind insurance by day 20, not day 40; a carrier declination discovered in week 6 leaves no time to solve it.
What comes out, what goes in, what's left.
Every field is editable. Florida statutory costs — deed doc stamps (0.70%), note doc stamps (0.35%), intangible tax (0.20%), and the promulgated title premium — are calculated automatically, not estimated.
In Brevard, the seller customarily pays the owner's title policy.
Buyer pays note stamps, intangible tax, and lender's title in Brevard.
The loan decision is worth more than the price negotiation.
Rates are near a one-year high — 6.69% as of Aug 6, up from 6.66% the week prior. A quarter point on a $560K loan is roughly $90/month, $32,000 over the life of the loan. Worth more attention than haggling $5K off the price.
Full PITI, not just principal and interest — the number that actually clears your account. Florida taxes and insurance are the difference between an affordable house and a strained one.
| Rate | P&I | Full PITI | vs. today |
|---|
Highlighted row is today's market rate. Escrowed taxes and insurance are added at 1/12 of annual.
Several lenders extend physician mortgage programs to DDS and DMD holders, and a number of them write in Florida — Fifth Third, Regions, TD Bank, Truist, First National, Flagstar, BMO, Wintrust, S&T. The terms are unusual:
| Down payment | 0% to ~$1–1.25M · 5% to ~$1.5M · 10% to ~$2M |
| PMI | Waived across the board, even at 100% LTV |
| Loan ceilings | $1M–$3.5M depending on lender |
| Student debt in DTI | Modified or excluded entirely |
| Credit minimum | 680–720 |
Two gates to check first. Most programs cap eligibility at 10 years post-training — if you're beyond that, ask specifically whether the lender waives it for established practitioners, because some do. And as a practice owner you're self-employed for underwriting purposes, which means two years of returns, K-1s, and a current P&L rather than an employment contract. Start that document pull in week −4, not week 6.
Rates are at a one-year high and drifting up. In this environment you lock early and long; you do not float hoping for relief.
The four ways this breaks, and the answer to each.
Week 8, underwriting denies. Your purchase closing is in 3 weeks.
Answer: the HELOC opened in week −4 funds the down payment; you close the purchase, carry two properties briefly, and relist.
Screen for this up front — verify the lender letter by phone and prefer conventional over FHA/VA.
You've sold. You have nowhere to go.
Answer: the post-closing occupancy agreement negotiated into your sale contract — up to 60 days at a nominal daily rate.
Negotiate it when you accept the offer, when you have leverage. Not later, when you don't.
Median price is flat-to-slightly-down YoY, so this is live.
Answer: on the sale, hand the appraiser a comps packet at the door. On the purchase, keep an appraisal gap
clause with a defined cap — cover the shortfall in cash rather than renegotiating and losing the timeline.
Roof age, prior claims, or a carrier pulling out of the market kills the loan late.
Answer: quote insurance before you offer, not during diligence. Any roof over 15 years is a financing
question, not a cosmetic one. Have Citizens as a named backstop.
Rates are near a one-year high; a re-lock at market could cost real money.
Answer: lock 75–90 days, know the extension fee in writing on day one, and hold the closing dates in both contracts.
The paperwork that pays you back for a decade.
The accumulated gap between your assessed and market value moves with you — up to $500,000 of benefit. On an upsize, you transfer the full amount. On a downsize, it prorates by the ratio of new market value to old.
| Form DR-501T — portability transfer | With DR-501 |
| Form DR-501 — homestead exemption | New county |
| Filing deadline | March 1 |
| Window to establish new homestead | 3 tax years |
| Brevard property appraiser | bcpao.us |
Watch the calendar. You must be living in the new home by January 1 and file by March 1 to get the benefit that tax year. A December 15 closing captures it; a January 15 closing costs you a full year of the cap benefit.
| §121 exclusion — married filing jointly | $500,000 |
| §121 exclusion — single | $250,000 |
| Ownership & use test | 2 of last 5 yrs |
| Florida state income tax | None |
Gain is sale price minus selling costs minus adjusted basis — and basis includes every capital improvement you've made. Pull those receipts before closing; roof, HVAC, impact windows, and additions all raise basis and lower taxable gain.
Keep permanently: both closing statements, improvement receipts, and the final CD. Run the numbers past your CPA before closing, not at filing — this is information, not tax advice.
Who's on this. Click any cell to edit.
| Role | Name | Firm | Phone | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Listing agent | ||||
| Buyer's agent | ||||
| Loan officer | ||||
| HELOC lender | ||||
| Title company | ||||
| Real estate attorney | ||||
| Insurance agent | ||||
| Home inspector | ||||
| CPA | ||||
| Movers |