The Appraiser’s Edge for Home Buyers in Southeast Florida

Buying a home is one of the largest financial decisions most people make. The asking price is only one number. The bigger question is whether the available market data supports it.

I bring a different background to buyer representation.

I am Tom Dunphy Realtor (Fulton Grace Realty) and also Thomas J. Dunphy III, State-Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser RD8755.

I entered the residential appraisal profession in 1998 and have completed approximately 19,000 residential appraisals — and counting.

I also obtained a real estate sales license in Pennsylvania around 2010. Residential appraisal remained the focus of my career, however, and I did very little selling. I relocated to Florida in 2023 and began completing residential appraisals throughout Southeast Florida. In 2024, I obtained my Florida real estate sales license and began bringing that appraisal experience directly into real estate sales and buyer representation.

Today, when I represent a home buyer, I approach the property from two perspectives: as a Realtor representing my client and as someone who has spent more than 26 years analyzing residential real estate.

Before You Make an Offer, Know What the Market Data Says

Looking at homes is only the beginning.

After inspecting and walking through properties with my buyers, once they decide on the property they want to make an offer on, I physically measure the property and prepare a Measure & Grid analysis that includes a property sketch, comparable-sale grid, and a supported adjusted value range.

I research the available market data, select relevant comparable sales, and analyze the differences between the property my buyer wants to purchase and the comparable properties.

I don't simply pull a few nearby sales and rely on price per square foot.

The analysis considers the characteristics that buyers may be reacting to in that particular market, including living area, design, condition, quality, site characteristics, location, pools, garages, renovations, views, waterfront and dockage characteristics, community characteristics, HOA influences, competing listings, and current market activity.

The result gives my buyer something more than an asking price.

It gives them market evidence to consider before deciding what to offer.

Relocating to Southeast Florida?

If you're moving to Southeast Florida from another state, you may be looking at properties in communities and neighborhoods you don't know yet.

I understand that firsthand. I relocated to Florida myself in 2023.

You may know exactly what you're looking for in a home, but you may not yet know the differences between Stuart, Palm City, Jensen Beach, Hobe Sound, Port St. Lucie, Jupiter, North Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, or other Southeast Florida communities.

You may also be unfamiliar with how different property characteristics are viewed within individual markets.

A waterfront home can involve considerations that don't exist with an inland property. A gated community can behave differently from a non-HOA neighborhood. Condominiums, 55+ communities, CBS homes, frame homes, renovated properties, properties requiring significant work, boating communities, and homes with unique views or site characteristics can require different considerations when analyzing comparable sales.

My analysis gives my buyers information they can use to approach an offer with confidence in the market evidence behind their decision.

Just as importantly, it can help us recognize the point where we say:

The price exceeds what the available market evidence supports. We're out.

What If You Still Want the Property?

Market value isn't the only reason someone buys a home.

You may find a property with an unbelievable view. It may have the exact waterfront location you've been looking for. Maybe it's the lot, the neighborhood, the floor plan, or simply something about the property that makes it the one you want.

You may decide you're willing to pay more for that property than the available market evidence indicates.

That's your decision.

My responsibility is to make sure you know it.

If my analysis indicates that the price exceeds the market value supported by the available evidence, I will tell you.

Then you can decide whether to walk away, negotiate further, or knowingly pay more because that particular property has additional value to you.

There is a big difference between knowingly making that decision and finding out afterward.

Why 26+ Years of Appraisal Experience Matters

For more than 26 years, my work has centered on residential property valuation.

I've spent my career examining questions that become extremely important when someone is considering buying a home.

Which sales are actually comparable?

Proximity alone doesn't necessarily make one property comparable to another.

What differences between the properties matter?

Living area, condition, quality, design, location, site characteristics, renovations, pools, garages, views, waterfront characteristics, and other features can influence how buyers react to a property.

What is happening in that particular market?

Settled sales are important, but so are current listings, competing properties, marketing times, available inventory, buyer activity, and changing market conditions.

What does the available evidence support?

That's the question I've spent my career analyzing.

And today, it's an experience I bring directly to my real estate buyers.

Southeast Florida Buyer Representation

My buyer representation extends throughout Southeast Florida, with a particular focus on Martin, St. Lucie, and Palm Beach counties, along with buyer representation in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

That includes communities such as Stuart, Palm City, Jensen Beach, Hobe Sound, Port St. Lucie, Fort Pierce, Jupiter, Tequesta, North Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, and surrounding Southeast Florida markets.

But the important point isn't simply knowing a list of cities.

It's understanding that real estate is local.

Even within the same county, two communities can have different buyers, different housing characteristics, different inventory, and different market behavior.

The same is true within individual neighborhoods and developments.

That's why I analyze the property my buyer actually wants to purchase and the market in which that property competes.

Knowing What to Offer — and When to Walk Away

Negotiating a home purchase isn't simply about getting money off the asking price.

A seller can reduce an asking price and the property can still be priced beyond what the market evidence supports.

Conversely, another property may be priced at or near its asking price and the available evidence may support it.

The question isn't simply:

“How much can we get the seller to come down?”

The better question is:

“What does the market evidence tell us about this property?”

Once my Measure & Grid analysis is complete, my buyer can see the comparable sales, the adjustments, the property sketch, and the supported adjusted value range.

Then we can discuss the offer.

If the evidence supports the price, I'll tell you.

If it doesn't, I'll tell you that too.

And if we reach the point where the numbers no longer make sense, you'll have the information necessary to decide whether it's time to walk away.

Tom Dunphy Sells Real Estate. Just Does More.

I didn't spend the last 26+ years selling homes.

I spent them valuing them.

Now I bring that experience to the sales side of real estate.

I help my buyers search for properties, walk through them, understand what they're buying, analyze the comparable sales and market evidence, determine what the data supports, negotiate the transaction, and recognize when the numbers may no longer make sense.

For buyers relocating to Southeast Florida, I also bring the perspective of someone who made that move himself.

Approximately 19,000 residential appraisals — and counting.

That's The Appraiser’s Edge.

And that's why:

Tom Dunphy Sells Real Estate. Just Does More.

Tom Dunphy Realtor (Fulton Grace Realty)
Licensed Florida Real Estate Sales Associate

Thomas J. Dunphy III
State-Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser RD8755

THE APPRAISER’S EDGE. THE RELOCATOR’S INSIGHT.

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Learn more about my path from residential appraising to real estate sales, why approximately 19,000 residential appraisals shape the way I approach buyer representation, and how I bring that valuation experience to my clients today.