Im in realestate also. and currently own 2 properties in florida. On in south beach miami and the other very close to orlando. The prices in lorida have come to a stand still and are dropping slowly. But Florida is holding up better than most of the rest of the USA. If you want to buy property there I would wait 24 months. Most say that is when they are going to hit rock bottom because they just began to fall recently. After they hit rock bottom they will stabalize and stay there for 12 to 24 months then they will start going up again. But my advice to you is not to buy anthing for at least a year i would wait 2 years. at that point you will be buying low. Then hold onto it for a while and sell it at a profit.

Thanks DINANM3 that great info!! I actually received some documents on new developments in Orlando which look amazing and was planing on taking atrip out to get some knowledge of the area etc. I have been before a few couple of years ago and was very impressed.

Orlando is a good area to buy realestate. Over the last 10 years especially the area has grown in huge proportions. If you bought something there in 1990 for 100k. last year at is peak it would have been worth 700k. No exagerating. I currently only own 2 properties down in florida right but i had many more that i sold with in the last cople of years. I tripled my money on some of them. I have som stuff in Ny and CT also. But right now my next big venture is to build a 250 unit apartment complex. Im actually looking for partners now and hopefully can get some shovels in the ground within 12 to 18 months

On speaking to a real estate agent based in the U.S. I was told that property can not be purchased off the plans from the developer??? Is this true? Because here in the UK/Ireland/Europe I have purchased many properties this way as investments with no problems!!

Im not sure exactly what yo mean by that. Did you mean you can not buy property a developer already has plans for. Please expain and i will try to help.

What I was told was. I cannot buy a property direct from the developer I have to use real estate agent (middle man) to buy in U.S!
e.g If I found a developer in Florida that was developing a new site and was building say, 200 villas, I could not go along and speak to the developer and buy direct from them.

Depends upon the developer and situ, but you may be a
tad confused: yes, most "developers" will be the "seller"
but will have licensed agents, either "in-house" or hired guns.

Somewhere in the selling price is money to cover or pay
for that selling person, whether the "agent" is an employee
or contracted outside agent.

Not an expert, but few US citizens "drive by" or, become
aware of a new or ground floor residential development and
"drop in" either in person or by net, and buy a parcel or a pre-
construction condo/villa/house, without having to deal with
that developer's "agent" or representative.

There are thousands of "pre-construction" deals available in
FL and any other US state. Those tend to be "better deals",
price-wise, but you are betting on many things as the community
comes closer to fruition. Hope this helps; I am a little confused as
to your question(s).
BR,mD

That is bullshit. It is up to the developer. But most developers do make you go through a realestate agent. And it depends what type of agreement he has with the agency once he signs the agreement they may not let him sell on his own. But the agent just told you that because they want there comission. There is no rule or law that says you have to go through a realestate agency.

Thanks for clearing that up DinanM3!! I thought what they were telling me was quite strange as I'm also a Developer here in the UK and Europe and have no such policy. Do you think there is much of a saving by going direct and cutting out the real estate agency??

there is definately a savings. Every agency is different though. I have seen there commissions as low as 2 to 3 percent and some as high as 10 to 15 percent. But you being from out of the country. It will be alot more difficult for you to find a developer and buy directly. If it was me and I live here i would certainly try to buy directly from a developer.