How Do You Sell a Bonita Springs Home When You Are Not Living There?

Yes. You can list, show, negotiate and close on a Bonita Springs home without setting foot in it, as long as three things are in place before the first showing: someone local looking after the house, a clear plan for how buyers get in, and a title company ready to handle your signatures from wherever you are. Owners who split the year between Southwest Florida and somewhere else do this all the time, and the sale itself works the same way it would if you were down the street.

I am Kris Asquith, Broker Associate at Premiere Plus Realty, and I help sellers across Bonita Springs and eight other Southwest Florida markets. What changes when you are away is not the paperwork. It is the upkeep, the access and the timing, and those are what this article covers.

Line this up before you list, not after the first buyer notices something. A home that is empty for weeks needs regular eyes on it, and in Bonita Springs that means more than collecting the mail. The usual arrangement is a combination of the services you may already pay for and one person who walks through on a schedule:

• A home watch visit, on a regular schedule, to check for leaks, run the faucets, flush the toilets, look at the air handler and confirm the doors and windows are secure.
• Lawn and landscaping kept on a normal cycle. Buyers see the yard first, and many associations expect it maintained whether or not anyone is home.
• Pool service, if the home has a pool. Green water in a listing photo or a showing undoes everything else.
• Pest control on its usual schedule.

Give your agent the names and numbers of every one of these people. When a buyer's inspector finds something or a showing agent reports a problem, the fix should not have to wait for you to be reachable.

Yes. Leave it running and set to control humidity rather than to cool an empty house. Turning it off for weeks in this climate invites moisture, a musty smell and, in the worst cases, mold, and every one of those shows up on a buyer's inspection. Many owners who close a home up for part of the year also use a dehumidifier setting or a stand-alone unit, and some shut off the water at the main between visits.

Talk to your agent before you shut anything off while the home is listed. Buyers and their inspectors need the water, power and air conditioning on to test the home, and the appraiser and the buyer's final walk-through need them too. Plan to keep every utility connected until the day you close.

Through a lockbox and a showing schedule your agent manages. Buyers' agents request a time, the request is confirmed, and the agent lets the buyer in and locks up afterward. You can approve requests from your phone or let your agent handle them under rules you set in advance. Before you leave, take the things a stranger should not see or carry off: jewelry, firearms, prescription medication, papers with account numbers on them and anything irreplaceable.

If the home sits in one of the gated communities in Bonita Springs, add one more step. The gate has to know buyers are coming. Ask your association how it handles visitors for a home on the market, because the method varies from one community to the next: some use a call-in list, some an online visitor pass, some a staffed gatehouse. Many associations also have their own rules about yard signs and lockboxes, so check them before a sign goes up. My article on HOA and club questions in Bonita Springs covers the documents a buyer will ask about, and having them ready shortens the sale.

Plan for it if your home is listed between June 1 and November 30, which is the Atlantic hurricane season. Decide before you leave who will put up the shutters or close the storm protection if a storm threatens, who will take them down afterward so the home can be shown again, and who will look at the house once it is safe to do so. Leave the shutter panels labeled and the hardware with them, because the person doing the work may never have seen your house.

A storm during a pending sale also matters to the buyer. Most Florida contracts include a section on what happens if the property is damaged before closing, and that section decides what comes next, not the seller or the buyer on their own. If something happens, document it with photographs from your home watch visit and call your agent before anyone agrees to anything.

It can. Many homeowners policies treat a home that is vacant or unoccupied for a long stretch differently from one you live in, and some limit coverage after a set period. The wording differs from policy to policy, so read your own and call your insurance agent before you leave, tell them the home is going on the market, and ask whether anything changes while it sits empty. Keep the policy in force through closing either way.

Your insurance history also matters to the buyer, who will be shopping for their own policy during the sale. A current wind mitigation report and a clean record of roof and system updates help them get quotes quickly, which keeps your closing on schedule. If you replaced the roof, the air conditioning or the windows, put the receipts and permits where your agent can reach them.

Everything you know. Florida law requires a seller of a home to disclose known facts that materially affect its value and are not readily observable to the buyer, and being away part of the year does not change that duty. It does change how much you know, which is a reason to ask your home watch provider and your service people what they have seen before you complete the disclosure forms. Florida also requires a written flood disclosure at or before the contract is signed, and my article on Florida's flood disclosure law explains what that form asks.

Gather your paperwork early, too. Permits for past work, warranties, receipts for repairs and service records for the air conditioning and pool equipment all answer a buyer's questions before they turn into a delay. Buyers in Bonita Springs routinely look up a home's permit record by address, so anything that was done without a permit is better raised by you than discovered by them.

Through the title company, and the arrangement is settled well before closing day. The common options are a mail-away closing, where the title company sends you the documents to sign in front of a notary where you live and you send them back, and remote online notarization, which Florida law permits and which many title companies now offer, letting you sign by video with an online notary. Some sellers sign a power of attorney so someone in Florida can sign for them; if you are considering that, talk to a Florida real estate attorney and confirm with the title company first that it will accept the document.

Tell the title company early where you will be, whether you will be traveling, and how you want your proceeds sent. Sellers who are not U.S. persons for tax purposes should also know that a federal law, FIRPTA, can require the buyer to withhold part of the price at closing, and that question belongs with a CPA or tax adviser before you list. My article on how long a Bonita Springs closing takes walks through the steps between contract and closing.

Start with what the home is worth and when you want to be done. My Bonita Springs home valuation is a good first step, and my page on selling your home in Bonita Springs covers the full picture. You can also read how I approach every sale on my process page. If you are away and thinking about selling, get in touch or call (239) 300-1427, and we can plan the whole sale around your schedule.

This article is a general overview and is not tax or legal advice. Your contract, your insurance policy and your title company's requirements govern your sale, and questions about taxes or signing documents belong with a CPA and a Florida real estate attorney.