Start with probate, because that is where so many Palm Beach County leads begin. Florida requires whoever has the original will to deposit it with the Clerk within 10 days of learning of the death. The case lands at one of five courthouses depending on the attorney's ZIP code, or the decedent's if there is no attorney. The Clerk says orders typically take six to eight weeks after submission, and creditors get three months from first publication to file. Probate documents are not viewable online to the public, so you cannot verify much from your desk.

That last point matters more than investors think. In a county where the deceased owner lived in a Century Village condo and every heir lives in New York, New Jersey or Ohio, nobody local is minding the unit. The association keeps billing, the heirs pay from out of state, and the first person who calls with a clear plan usually gets the conversation. Summary administration can shorten the process for smaller estates, or when the owner has been gone more than two years, which is why we hear from heirs who sat on a unit for years.

Foreclosure here is judicial. The lender sues in the Fifteenth Circuit, and nothing sells until a judge signs a final judgment. Florida then requires the sale between 20 and 35 days later unless the plaintiff agrees to extend. Palm Beach moved those sales online in January 2010, when more than 53,000 cases were pending, and today they generally run Monday through Thursday at 10 a.m. The winning bidder puts down 5 percent. After the sale there is a 10-day objection window before the certificate of title, and any surplus over the judgment can be claimed by the former owner.

Tax deeds run through the Clerk too, online on designated Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m. Bidders advance the greater of 5 percent of their maximum bid or $200, and the balance is due by 2 p.m. the next business day. A certificate holder can apply for a deed two years after April 1 of the year the certificate was issued, and the owner can redeem any time before the Clerk receives full payment. Homestead property opens with half its assessed value added to the bid, so a homesteaded owner who is behind has more cushion than they realize.

Here is a call that comes up often. A man in Pennsylvania answers. The property is his mother's one-bedroom in Century Village; she passed last winter. He has been paying the monthly maintenance for months, the building is on the county's list for a late inspection report, and his sister wants to wait for a better market. Our caller confirms whether probate is open and who the personal representative is, the dues and any assessment, whether the unit has been cleaned out, and the number that gets both siblings to sign. All of that goes into the verification note.

Condition is the other thing to price in. Coastal condos from the 1970s and 1980s carry inspection and reserve costs that a buyer inherits. Lake Worth Beach cottages are charming and nearly a century old, which means wiring, cast-iron drains and roofs. Glades houses are mostly pre-1979 and sit in a farm economy where tenants are tight on money. Wilma in 2005 remains the costliest hurricane in county history, and plenty of owners still bring it up when they talk about the roof.