Can You Really Afford Fort Lauderdale?


Today I’m talking with Karen “You Need Sneed” Sneed, a long‑time South Florida local who’s seen Fort Lauderdale grow from spring‑break town to global destination. We mix real estate talk with lifestyle, Las Olas stories, neighborhood vibes, and what it really feels like to live, work, and raise a family in Broward County.
This episode of Let’s Talk Lauderdale is straight South Florida: a little bit of real estate, a little bit of lifestyle, and a whole lot of “here’s how it really is.” I’m hanging out with Karen “You Need Sneed” Sneed, who came down for spring break 40‑plus years ago, never left, and has been helping people figure out where they belong in Broward County ever since.
We start with how Fort Lauderdale turned into a global destination, then slide into what life actually looks like in our different pockets – from Las Olas and Victoria Park to Coral Springs, Weston, Parkland, Boca, and everything in between. Karen shares stories from probate sales, condo buildings on the edge, and families trying to keep mom in her place as costs climb. Mixed into all that are restaurant shout‑outs, neighborhood love, and a bunch of practical tips for anyone trying to make South Florida feel like home.
=== Guest: Karen Sneed, PA
=== Highlights
- Karen’s origin story: from DC ice to spring break sun to full‑time South Florida life
- Why Las Olas is one of her favorite walkable neighborhoods and what she loves along the strip
- How different Broward and Palm Beach neighborhoods “feel” depending on your stage of life
- Real talk on costs: insurance, HOAs, assessments, and why not everyone can actually afford the South Florida dream
- Stories from probate deals and what families run into when there’s no will
- How luxury on the coast can be red‑hot while smaller condos sit on the market
- What locals need to think about before moving east, moving west, or leaving the area
- Why portals and pretty pictures will never replace a human who actually lives and works here
=== Timestamps (approx):
- (01:10) Karen’s 42 years in South Florida and 30 years in real estate
- (02:30) How Fort Lauderdale and Broward have changed over the years
- (04:00) Real estate as a lifestyle decision, not just a house hunt
- (06:00) Grandma’s condo, rising costs, and tough family choices
- (10:00) Probate, surprise relatives, and why every local needs a will
- (14:00) From spring break party to South Florida lifer
- (15:30) Las Olas, favorite restaurants, and local hangouts
- (18:00) Myths about moving to South Florida and the real cost of living
- (20:40) East vs west: beaches, boats, kids, and schools in Broward
- (23:20) Luxury coast vs “sitting duck” condos further inland
- (27:55) Renting first, buying later: Karen’s advice to newcomers
- (30:30) Why she still battles Zillow on almost every listing
- (33:00) The grocery‑store moment that created “You Need Sneed”
People, Places, and Events Mentioned
- Las Olas Boulevard: https://www.lasolasboulevard.com
- The Galleria at Fort Lauderdale: https://www.galleriamall-fl.com
- Anne’s Coffee Fort Lauderdale: https://www.annsfloristlasolas.com/
- Casa Menorca Fort Lauderdale: https://casamonarcafl.com/
- J. Alexander’s Restaurant: https://jalexanders.com
- Shooters Waterfront: https://www.shooterswaterfront.com
- Louie Bossi’s Ristorante: https://www.louiebossi.com/fortlauderdale
- Vinos on Las Olas: https://vinoswinebars.com/locations/fort-lauderdale
- Zola Keller (bridal/formalwear): https://www.zolakeller.com
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- Item ID: 195889930
- Publisher: Saowakhon Brown
- Composer: Saowakhon Brown
- License: Individual License, Commercial
- Stock Media provided by TheSaoLady / Pond5
Website: https://www.letstalklauderdale.com/
Let’s Talk Lauderdale is hosted by Marvin Bee & Jen Stewart.
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(0:11 - 0:40)
Hello friends, and welcome to Let's Talk Lauderdale, the show where we spotlight the people, places, and stories shaping life here in Fort Lauderdale and across South Florida. I'm your host, Uncle Marv. In each episode, we sit down with entrepreneurs, community leaders, creatives, and everyday locals who give our city its flavor.
(0:40 - 1:07)
So whether you're born and raised here, new to town, or just Lauderdale-curious, this is your backstage pass to the businesses, neighborhoods, and hidden gems that make our corner of the 954 so special. So settle in, turn us up in the car, or on that morning walk, because today we're talking Lauderdale. Well, my guest is a 40-year resident of South Florida.
(1:08 - 1:23)
She is a realtor here in the South Florida area. I'm talking about Karen Sneed, and she's got a very cool business name called You Need Speed. You Need Sneed.
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So Karen, welcome to the show. Thank you so much, Marvin, for having me. I'm excited to be here.
(1:30 - 2:04)
I've been in the South Florida area for exactly 42 years, and 30 of those, I've been practicing real estate full-time. And what I do is I specialize in helping people not just buy and sell, but they really understand their lifestyles and what they're stepping into, because here, it's not just real estate, it's really a lifestyle decision. So when you say lifestyle decision, that is so true now more than ever, because you really got to think about where you want to live down here.
(2:05 - 2:20)
So over the years that you've been doing this, let's just start with the easy question is, how much change have you seen in the area over those years? Wow. Okay. Well, South Florida has really transformed into a global destination.
(2:20 - 2:44)
We're seeing CEOs, entrepreneurs, lots and lots of athletes from all over, and their families relocating here, not just to mention, you know, it's for the sunshine, but it's for the opportunity and the lifestyle. And that's basically, it's really changed, and it's more intentional living. People aren't just buying homes, they're choosing how they want to live every single day.
(2:46 - 3:00)
They don't, you know, they really don't move here by accident, they move here on purpose. Right. Now, you talk about some of the people moving in, a lot of international money has been coming in lately, but it seems to have slowed.
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Is that true? Or how is it, is that still gangbusters? Well, the whole market right now has slowed. But we're finding in the luxury market that it's really, it's gaining momentum. That is the market right now.
(3:14 - 3:34)
Yeah. We've talked on this show previously about all of the building that's happening, some of these luxury condos that are going up. Now I know that people are moving into South Florida, but are they actually able to afford all of this luxury housing? Well, we're seeing a lot of, we're seeing a lot of cash.
(3:34 - 3:52)
But what the buyers need to know before they come here, I always tell my clients that this is not a plug and play market. You need to understand that the insurance, it can actually make or break a deal. We have stricter condo financials and reserves that people need to be aware of.
(3:52 - 4:09)
And there's new laws starting January of 27, where you can no longer waive these condo rules and waive your reserves anymore. They're actually enforcing everything. So it's really not a matter of changing the laws, they're just going to be enforcing them in 27.
(4:09 - 4:33)
The building age is a really big deal, and you need to make sure you get all of those milestone inspections, especially if you're near the coastline. And lifestyle fit, it's the biggest one, because the wrong neighborhood can feel right online, but it's wrong in real life. So you got to make sure you get a really experienced, skilled real estate agent for these condos, because that's what it takes.
(4:33 - 5:28)
Now, I heard that there was a chance that there was going to be a big change to HOAs that apparently did not pass, so nothing's changing there, but you said that these laws that are coming in 27 are going to stay? Okay, so they made a whole lot of changes in 26 regarding milestone inspections, and if the condos are over two stories, and if they're over a certain age, over 30 years of age, then they have to go perform a series of inspections, including concrete restoration, milestone, and more, and electrical. And they have put these rules in place, but they're actually going to be enforcing them starting January of 27. Okay, but they're still leaving the power of the HOAs in place, so HOAs can still do their assessments, and they can still get away with a little money here, a little money there.
(5:28 - 5:52)
Sure. So one of the biggest questions if you're buying a condo, and it's got a little age on it, you want to make sure you get that budget, and you need to sit down with somebody that can actually read it to make sure you have plenty of reserves, because if something breaks, you want to have the money in that account to actually maintain it, or everybody is going to get an assessment. And they can pretty much nail it.
(5:53 - 6:20)
They can put whatever they want on there. All right. So these rules that are in place for the milestones and stuff, how much of this is based on those collapses that happened a couple years ago, and how much of that has kind of already been in the works just because of the way South Florida is? Okay, so when the Champlain Towers collapsed, and it killed over 100 people, okay, the whole industry changed in the condo market.
(6:21 - 6:33)
So we're starting to see the condos collapse. And it's not getting better. I saw one yesterday, and it's in Lighthouse Point, and the building was built in 1962.
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It's a two-story. So even though it's not a four-story, or above three stories, because it's on the coastline, the rules apply. So the budget, they don't have enough money in the budget, and cast iron pipes in those buildings is also an issue.
(6:51 - 7:01)
So they just got an $80,000 assessment for the pipes. So that's a lot for a condo owner. So buy newer.
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So what happens to those people if they can't pay? The association can foreclose you. They can take your condo away. Okay.
(7:12 - 7:35)
You know what's funny is I... So we bought in a residential area that has an HOA, but it's a volunteer HOA. So no rules apply. So I don't really pay attention to the rules, except when you hear people on the neighborhood app and everybody complaining about all the rules and stuff like that.
(7:36 - 7:48)
I guess I never really thought about the fact that they can foreclose on you. I've heard of them imposing fines, and then you get in battles with the city, is the fine legal, and stuff like that. But they can literally kick you out of your house.
(7:49 - 8:06)
They can put you out. A lot of times what they did was, years ago, they brought grandma here and put her in a beautiful condo for $35,000, life is good. And then her social security check was $900 to $1,000 a month, still everything was good.
(8:06 - 8:18)
And now the HOAs, I've seen them upwards of $2,000 to $3,000. So it's not good. So now they're having to move mom out because the taxes and insurance, we just can't sustain this.
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No, we can't. No. Well, let's kind of piggyback off of that because a lot of people talk about, you know, the value of my house has doubled or tripled, so maybe I should just sell.
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But when I've looked at it, yeah, I can sell, and I can make some good money on the house, but where am I going to go? Where do you go? Where do we go? You also have to worry about insurance. Right. Insurance.
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Insurance is a big thing here. Well, insurance is killing us now as it is. Yes.
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Our insurance, I think, has doubled since we bought the house, and that was 12 years ago? It can make or break a deal, the insurance. Yeah. So the great thing about condos is that you don't have so much the insurance issue to worry about as much as you have the HOA or the condo association fees.
(9:07 - 9:19)
Right. So I know we talked a lot about condos, which apparently is one of your big things. What other areas do you specialize in? I believe I've heard probate from time to time.
(9:20 - 9:34)
I handle a lot of probate deals. So when someone passes away, if they die without a will, it's called dying in testate. So those deals, we try to find their attorney steps in or the next of kin.
(9:34 - 9:44)
We try to find the next of kin, and those deals can take anywhere from six months to two years to close, depending. Yeah. So they have to contact all the heirs.
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And that's if everything is nice and all the kids don't fight, right? Right. Because everybody becomes an heir. It's amazing.
(9:51 - 10:07)
It's amazing, all these people. Now, if somebody dies without the will, how much does the state step in? Oh, if you die, if you die without a will, you're telling the state you didn't handle your affairs and they become, they become the executor. They're all, they're all over it.
(10:08 - 10:12)
So they make your decisions for you. All right. Yeah.
(10:12 - 10:28)
So everybody get a will. Any, any crazy stories you can share? Well, I, I've got a lot of them. We're doing one right now in the, in the mainland s of Tamarac, and the lady passed away.
(10:28 - 10:36)
She didn't have a will. And she has, I've known her for about 14 years. I never knew her to have any of these relatives.
(10:37 - 10:47)
And now all of a sudden, she's got all of these relatives that are coming forward. People coming from Louisiana, out of state. Arizona, California.
(10:47 - 10:57)
I never heard of these people. So, so yeah, get, get your will in place, put it down, talk to an attorney. You need a really good family law attorney for this.
(10:57 - 11:03)
And there's, we got a, a group of great attorneys here. All right. There's a bunch of them.
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I was going to ask you what some of the common mistakes are when, you know, somebody dies and the family has to, you know, come in. Usually it's just to sell the house and stuff. And there are certain things to look out for and not to look out for.
(11:16 - 11:37)
So how do you deal with that a lot of times? Do you have to guide the families a lot? A lot of times, sure. The first thing I like to do is I like to get them in touch with a really good attorney. Because there's a lot of things legally that we as agents, we're not, we're not even supposed to be in the property without permission.
(11:37 - 11:47)
So there's a whole lot of things that come into play. So the attorney steps in and takes over and they do a really good job. And, and, and I deal with this really great attorney.
(11:47 - 11:52)
He's in, he's in Fort Lauderdale in Miami. He's Gawain Kelly. He's wonderful.
(11:52 - 12:06)
He steps up and he goes in and does his thing and it makes it, it makes it look easy, but it's really not. You've got the contents you've got to get rid of. You've got to, you've got to look through all this stuff for their passwords so you can see if there's anything in their internet.
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It's a lot. It is. It's a lot.
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And then you got to get, then once we get permission, we have to get rid of all those contents and then we have to label it, sell it, give that money back to the estate. It's a lot. It is.
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Now, I imagine that a lot of people that start out thinking that they'll experience the glory of real estate don't think about all the backside stuff that has to be dealt with it, right? Well, sure. I mean, we don't, we don't take vacation. We do it full time.
(12:37 - 12:57)
At least I don't take vacation. It's really hard to take vacation when you have nine, nine listings at one time or 10 listings at one time. And there's a lot of handholding because this is your single most, uh, well, it's the largest investment that most people do, right? So people have questions and you have to be there for them.
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So, um, now part of that, Karen, from what I understand is that you work very hard to be one of the top sellers every year. Yes. So part of that, not taking a vacation is that drive to be top seller.
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So what drives that? What motivates you to do that? Why do you work so hard? I enjoy it. Um, I really, I really love the relationships. Um, this is a relationship business.
(13:25 - 13:37)
It's not about, believe it or not, it's not about money. Money makes it great, but the relationships make it real. So I have lasting, um, relationships and friendships over this and, um, and it's, it's fabulous.
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I mean, this is my home and it's really great when you go into a grocery store, you go into a shoe store, you go into the mall and you run into three people, you know. So I really, I really, um, I'm, I'm driven by the, um, by that. Speaking of relationships, what brought you to South Florida? Um, okay.
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Didn't think we were going there, did you? Oh, you're going to go there. Okay. So I came to South Florida many, uh, 42 years ago for a spring break party.
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That's the truth. And um, and I decided that, wow, here it is. It's a, you know, it's, we're going to go out on the boat, look at this.
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It's in the spring time. And I came from the ice. So I came from the DC area.
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So it was very, very cold there. And I thought it was really great. So after about three days, um, after I sobered up, I decided that this is really where I wanted to live my life.
(14:40 - 14:45)
So here I am. Either that or you didn't have money to get home. Well, that, yeah, that was true too.
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We, we, we went through a stack of cash, but we had a great time. Wow. Okay.
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So you decided to make South Florida your home. Yes. Interesting.
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Yes. Um, so I'll ask this now, since we went the personal route, when you're not working, what do you do? Oh, well, um, that's a good question because I'm always working. I'm stuffing envelopes or I'm, I'm doing door hangers or even if I'm setting, watching television, I'm a diehard, I'll be stuffing envelopes or putting magnets on calendars, um, or, and, and I love to cook.
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So I'm doing a lot of that and, um, just, uh, or shopping. I do love to shop. Okay.
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Yeah. I love to shop. I love to decorate.
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All right. Um, any places you like to hang out? Are there, uh, restaurants you like to visit? Cause you can't be down here and not get out. So Las Olas is one of the finest walkable neighborhoods in the entire world.
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I think in my, in my world anyway, in my, in my heated up world in Fort Lauderdale. Um, there are all kinds of shops. Uh, there's a Anne's coffee that's on Fort La, in Fort Lauderdale.
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They make the best cappuccino in the world. I love them. Um, I like Casa Menorca if you like Mexican food.
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Um, there's, uh, I like, you know, I just, I, I love food. I mean, J. Alexander's is great. Um, there's shooters.
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On US1 there? Yes. Okay. I like, um, I know there's a lot of them not there.
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Um, and I, you know, I like some of the fine dining and, um, it's really great, but you kind of, a lot of the, uh, uh, Louie Bossy's on, uh, Las Olas is really good if you like Italian. Uh, Vino's is good on Las Olas. So every two stores is a restaurant.
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That's true. And they're delicious. It's, it's five star restaurants.
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Yeah. When I used to go down there, when I first got here, you know, they had the mangoes was there. Oh yes.
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And, um, now while the Cheesecake Factory is there now. Love that. And, uh, a couple other places, you know, that they're going to redo Las Olas.
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They're going to redo the tree lines and widen the sidewalks and all of that. Well, they need to, there's so many people. The parking is, is a little bit of a challenge, but it's a, it's a wonderful place.
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I mean, a lot of, a lot of people live close by, so it's a very walkable neighborhood and it's a Victoria Park is right there. Um, it's close to the beach. It's close to shopping.
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It's close to, I mean, they even have exclusive, uh, dress stores there. I got my daughter's prom dress on Las Olas at Zola Keller. It's one of the finest, uh, bridal shops around.
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Yeah. It's amazing. Amazing.
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They do a lot of custom. Okay. It's awesome.
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And, um, you've run into a lot of celebrities too. You get a lot of the, the athletes that run up and down, uh, the Las Olas and, uh, Jeeps and stuff and screaming and having fun and the air and sea show during that time. It's really fun.
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So it's, uh, it's, it's a great place. All right. So you do get out and about.
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Nice. A lot. Okay.
(18:05 - 18:22)
Um, so back to real estate, I'm going to ask this question here. What are some of the biggest myths that you hear about buying and selling in South Florida? Because everybody has their different views and opinions. And, you know, we talked about, you know, international money coming in.
(18:22 - 18:36)
Uh, we see building going up. We wonder where all the people are coming from, but in terms of what it's actually like to buy and sell here, what are some myths that are happening right now? Um, some of the myths are, is that everybody can afford it. That's the first thing.
(18:36 - 18:57)
This is, this is, uh, this is, uh, it'll shock you, but not everybody can afford to live here. Um, a lot of people think that they're going to come here and, um, get a job right away and work in sunshine. And you'll find that the wages are a little less than they are up North, but you, the livestock quality is so much better.
(18:58 - 19:10)
So it's, it's, it's right off. It is. Um, the insurance is a lot more than they've probably experienced anywhere because we have the coastline, we have the global, you know, the global water and, and things happening here.
(19:10 - 19:33)
But, um, it's, uh, it's more expensive than one might think. Yeah. Now I know that the city is trying to do more and even, um, I forget the name of the, uh, the complex that's going up at the old Galleria area where they're going to put up the five towers and they designated a bunch of those units to be, you know, workable.
(19:33 - 19:49)
You know, uh, units for workers and stuff like that. I wonder how much, do you keep track of any of that information? Well, it changes all the time, so, so right now we don't have our finger on that pulse because it's changed like four times. So we're just watching it.
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We're sad to see the Galleria mall closed because that's our mall. It's been there forever. It's been there forever.
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It's a landmark and now it's, you know, it's going away and they're going to put some new stuff there and some of the people aren't happy about it. One of the best things about that area wasn't even the mall, it was the Borders bookstore that used to be there. Remember that? Yeah.
(20:11 - 20:19)
There's a lot of good things that are, you know, they're moving around, but you know, a lot of its new and this new generation, they want new. Of course. Yeah.
(20:19 - 20:29)
They want new and modern and yeah. Yeah. They, they can't, who wants a junker car and a starter house, you know? It's true.
(20:29 - 20:39)
It's very, very true. So speaking of, so when you, you know, I know that you work pretty much all over South Florida. We've talked about Fort Lauderdale in particular.
(20:40 - 21:01)
So with all the different neighborhoods, I know everybody's trying to make their mark right now. So, you know, you've got downtown Fort Lauderdale, you mentioned Las Olas, you've got Delray, Atlantic Avenue, you've got, you know, Miami, it's his own little beast down there. What's unique about each of these areas and which, who's making the best moves right now? Okay.
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So it depends on what your lifestyle is. If you're a family and you have children, then West is probably your place because West is best for that. So you have a lot, it's like, it's like Disneyland out West.
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It's like you have a huge cities out there that have everything in it. You don't have to leave the zip codes. They've got A plus schools.
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You got, it's filled with soccer moms and basketball coaches. Is that the same for all the counties? I know, because I know Lauderdale, we have our West. I know that Palm Beach, you know, with Wellington and Royal Palm, they're starting to do that stuff out here.
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So Coral Springs has always been the big one. Yeah, it's the same. Weston.
(21:45 - 21:52)
Yeah. And then Weston, yeah, Weston and Parkland and Boca, they've got amazing schools. And then Boca's in Palm Beach County.
(21:52 - 22:08)
And then you have, you have like in the middle where kids are like teenagers and they're being shipped out to like, you know, academies and so they can live wherever. And then you've got the East folks. These are, these are people that want those walkable restaurants.
(22:08 - 22:13)
They want the beach. They want a two minute ride to the beach. They want to be trendy.
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They want to, you know, enjoy their lifestyle and the way they live their lifestyle. And some people don't want to be surrounded by little kids, although we do have them here. But the best, it's, you've got three sections.
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You've got the East for the, for the beaches and the boaters and a lot of the athletes out here. And then you've got West for the kids. Okay.
(22:35 - 23:02)
So it all works. So the village area that they're redoing in Fort Lauderdale is going to be one of those walkable areas where they're building up all of those, I guess it's a combination of condos, townhouses, apartments, and they're redoing all the streets, you know, that U.S. 1 alley from, I guess, Broward to Sunrise and all of that stuff. Have you had any people looking in that area? Not yet.
(23:02 - 23:09)
No? Okay. Not yet, but it's also not public. The more, the more it's out there, the more you're going to see more people wanting it.
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But right now it's not being, not really being talked about that much. Interesting. Yeah.
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It's coming though. Yeah. It's coming.
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What's the hottest area right now? Even though it's slow, there's still got to be a hot area, right? It's still that luxury market. It's Fort Lauderdale. It's the beaches.
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It's Boca Raton, Hillsborough Mile. Those areas. Really? Hillsborough Mile? Hillsborough.
(23:34 - 23:44)
Okay. Atlantic, anywhere on the Ave is really nice. It's pretty much from Federal Highway, which is U.S. 1, all the way east to the ocean.
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That's really, really hot. And yeah, so most of your coastal beach properties, that's what we're selling right now. 3 million, 5 million, 10 million.
(23:54 - 23:58)
That's hot. The little condos? Setting ducks. Wow.
(23:59 - 24:07)
Yeah. We have thousands of them on the market. At some point, there's got to be a drop, right? Yes.
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Because those, I'm trying to think. I remember when we were looking, we saw a 800 square foot bungalow on the market for 1.2, which is a lot. But it wasn't that far east.
(24:30 - 24:50)
So I can understand if it was east on the canal or something like that, but that's happening midway, west of 95 and not far west as those cities you talked about and stuff. So at some point, that's got to really drop off, right? Oh, I think so. Right now, we're in a buyer's market.
(24:50 - 25:10)
So we just came off of a really strong seller's market where we were putting houses on the market and within three to five hours, it was off the market. We had multiple offers. We were having realtors coming in with iPhones and videotaping to their clients in New York or their clients that couldn't make it to the showing, and they were writing offers.
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Now, we're seeing condos and houses even set on the market 150, 160 days with no offers. So now, it's either price or it's condition. You're going to have to lower those prices.
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All right. You talked about the way that houses are being sold, and you mentioned online with the iPhones and stuff. So of course, the virtual tours came a while ago, but now there's AI.
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Have you tapped into that at all? Oh, sure. I'm AI certified. So I don't think AI is going to take my job or anybody that goes and gets their certification because it is a great tool for us.
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These are great things at our disposal, but I think it's going to take the job away from people that don't sharpen their skills. You got to know your skill. So go out and take these classes.
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If you're not selling, you need to be learning this stuff because it's here and it's not going anywhere. I heard a story. I don't think it was here.
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I think it was another city, another place either outside of Florida where somebody sold a home and they used AI to enhance the pictures, and it looked really nice and slick in the pictures, and the person that bought it wasn't local. They bought it sight unseen based on the pictures and the listing, and then they got there and it was not what they had seen in the pictures. I imagine that that's the type of thing where AI is going to have to have some guardrails put on it.
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We're seeing that a lot, actually. I work with buyers and sellers, and we actually have spent the last two weeks looking for property. We finally settled on a property, but the properties we were looking at, they were enhancing these photos, and we would show up and they looked nothing like the pictures.
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I don't think there's anything wrong with enhancing it, but you're supposed to disclaim it in the MLS that these pictures have been virtually enhanced to present our property. You're supposed to disclose everything. They're coming up with some new MLS rules regarding that.
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It's going to stop that. I was going to say, at some point, somebody's got to do something because people are going to wonder why their house isn't selling, and it's because if you stop lying in the pictures, that would help. That's right.
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Very interesting. I just had another thought pop up about AI. Oh, well.
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We'll come back to it if it comes back. If a listener called you today and said, I'm renting in Fort Lauderdale, not sure if I should buy right now, how would you walk them through the decision? Okay. That's a good one.
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I would first, you sit down and you meet with the client. If they're calling me over the phone, is that what they're doing? Okay. Yeah, because kids, that's how they do things.
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They text or call, right? Yes. I would definitely, if you're not familiar with our neighborhoods and our prices, I would definitely recommend that you rent first. You get to know the neighborhoods and you get to know where you want to live and the proximity of where you're living to where you're going to work.
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You have to be comfortable with our traffic. We do have some traffic. That's what I would recommend.
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It's a big step. You get one chance to really buy your house right or sell it right, you got to do it right. It's not always the fast deal.
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It's the right deal. Now, we're going to end up here in a couple of minutes and I did not disclaim where you were working or anything on purpose because I'm not always sure where you're working. I'm everywhere.
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Because basically, I mean down here, there's a lot of realtor companies and things change but for the most part, it's you. That's right. Even if you are associated with these organizations, it's still you.
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You're still independent, right? That's correct. Yes. Okay.
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Is it okay to tell everybody where I work? Sure. Okay. I work for REMAX Services.
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My office is located at 5820 North Federal Highway in Boca Raton. I love the company. I've been with REMAX a long time.
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I stepped out a couple of times and went to a couple more brands and I found my way back to REMAX. Oh, the grass wasn't greener, was it? It was not. It was not.
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Yeah, I love the balloon. It's a nationwide brand. People feel very comfortable.
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I found out that in Israel, it is known as the top brand for my Canadian clientele and I do have a lot of Canadian clientele. They love the name REMAX. It's a very big name in Canada.
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Yeah. It's great. They treat their agents right and I'm pleased as punch.
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Nice. Let me ask this off the wall question. You can choose not to answer if you want, but a lot of times people down here will do the for sale by owner and they think now that Zillow is going to be their answer to how they do that and stuff.
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I know it's been around. I know it's not going away, but is that anything that is going to become big? Okay, no. Zillow can't really show your house or sell your house.
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I mean, it's just a portal. They attach everybody's listings to their MLSs and they turn around and sell the agent's information to agents that pay them big money to market their properties. That's what that is.
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Zillow, they can't show you your lifestyle. That's for sure. It's odd because that's where everybody goes to find out what their home is worth.
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Yeah, because a lot of times these MLSs and so on, some of the websites are unfriendly, so it's hard for them to attach to that. It's just an easy way for them to pull up the inventory, but Zillow, that's not the portal. A good agent's going to hook you up with a link to the MLS so they can feed you the listings based on what your capability and your needs are.
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Okay. Makes it easy. I shouldn't believe what Zillow says my house is worth? No.
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I probably spend on a listing presentation, I probably spend a third of the time trying to deprogram them from Zillow. I have to take facts and figures and analysis and I'm happy to bring my laptop and my iPad and I sit there and I show them. Right.
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Yes. Sometimes they're off like 30%, 40%. It's ridiculous, some of these numbers.
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It's like, where do they get it? Well, it's probably AI generated, right? I'm not sure about that. I'm not sure about that one. All right.
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Well, Karen, thank you very much for coming on the show. Wow. Thank you for having me.
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This was amazing. Yeah. Not as bad as you thought, was it? Oh, it's not bad at all.
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I guess there are people out there that need Sneed. You need Sneed. There you go.
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Let me ask you about that. Yes. How did you come up with that? Okay.
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That is a married name. It's an acquired name. I had an Italian last name before that.
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I chose to take my husband's name when I married him and there was nothing. There were no jingles. One day, I was standing in a grocery store line and there was a man.
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He was not even paying attention and I'm talking to someone and I said, well, you know, I said, I'm Karen Sneed and I hear him say, you need Sneed. I went, oh my God, that's it. I wrote it down and I said, I don't want to forget this.
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I got back to the office and I started playing around with it and running it through some people's ideas and that's where it came up with. The guy didn't even realize what he was saying to me. All right.
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It's not a Top Gun reference. I feel the need for Sneed. For Sneed and I've used it for 25 years coming this Saturday.
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All right. Nice. Yes.
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All right. Once again, Karen, thank you very much. For listeners, her information will be in the show notes.
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She will have a bio page on the website that you can go check her out. And listen, if you need just information in general, that's a good place to start, but she will work her butt off to find you the house that fits your needs and your lifestyle. For sure.
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I'm your girl. All right. Thanks for hanging out with us, folks, on Let's Talk Lauderdale where we celebrate the people and stories like we just did with Karen that helped keep Fort Lauderdale and South Florida moving.
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If you enjoyed this conversation, share it with a friend, a neighbor, or even a co-worker that's asking you what's really going on around town. Follow the show in your favorite podcast app so you don't miss an episode. Until next time, keep supporting local, keep exploring your amazing city, and as always, let's keep talking Lauderdale.
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Let's Talk Lauderdale.
