Southwest Florida Title Insurance & Real Estate Blog

It’s that time of year . . . you know . . . to be scared of scary things. We see a lot of scary things in real estate . . . a lot of scary things. But it’s our job to shield you from those menacing figures. If my 10 year old daughter were writing this, she would say that in Harry Potter terms, we are the Patronus that casts away real estate’s Dementors. The spell we’re casting here is to warn you about the pitfalls associated with purchasing a tax deed. Although tax deed sales can be lucrative investments, they bear with them a certain element of risk.

Tax deed sales in a nutshell:  Owner of real property fails to pay property taxes. Third party investors buy “tax certificates,” which they do so that they may collect a bit of interest on the payment. Those certificates, if not redeemed, can after time result in the investor’s application for tax deed. That application, under certain circumstances, results in a tax deed sale and the investor earning the “deed” to the property. Give us a call if you want more details. Again, nutshell version here.

The point of this post is to give you very useful insight into what tax deeds look like from our wizardly title insurance perspective. After all, if you purchase a tax deed, you’re likely interested in selling the interest in the property at some point. At that point, you’re going to have to jump through some hoops in order to do so in such a way that is acceptable or marketable, as we say, to a savvy buyer. Here are those steps and what they could mean to you or your investor clients.

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We are tremendously excited to announce that construction has begun on Winged Foot Title’s new home!

Winged Foot Title (well, a separate entity actually) purchased the old Palm Printing building, located at the corner of Jackson Street and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., earlier this year in March. With all the planning and permitting finally in place, the first hammer fell yesterday and the Winged Foot Title team took a field trip to snap some before pictures and to take the obligatory selfie.

At the corner of Jackson & MLK, Winged Foot Title will be a part of the revitalized and ever-growing Downtown City of Ft. Myers. This location also provides the utmost convenience for our southwest Florida clients, with easy access from Cape Coral, North Fort Myers, Lehigh Acres and points east like as well as points farther north and south because of our proximity to I-75. We’re already ALL SMILES about being here!

Our reception area will be at the northwest corner of the building, and two beautifully appointed, modern yet comfortable conference rooms will be nearby.

Our office hub will be located here (left). This picture was taken facing south. Ten private offices will line the periphery of the interior space. We have retained the center space for a flexible and open work space as well as a space to accommodate educational seminars and meetings for up to 50 guests very comfortably. Where the team is standing we’ll have a kitchen, bar (we are in the real estate business after all!!!) and dining area.

Of the almost 6,000 total square feet, Winged Foot will occupy about 3,950 on the north side. So, we’ll have another approximately 1,880 square feet for lease. This unit, like the rest of the building, will have newly cut windows and will have its own signage and entrance on the southwestern corner of the building.

It’s not much to look at at the moment. But everything’s coming out and the exterior will get a much-needed facelift, with new stucco, windows, aluminum awnings and cool entrance feature. One of the nicest things about the new location is the neighboring park.

To our east is Bennett-Hart Park, which our guests, clients and team members will get to enjoy.

We’ll look forward to continuously updating you on the project’s progress. Should you have any questions for us in the meantime, please don’t hesitate to call or email.