Maury Azerad has spent about a dozen years closing real estate deals in Sarasota, and on this episode, filmed while Brad is on vacation, he tells guest host Carolyn Corino that his approach to the business is simple: never say no as long as it is legal and ethical. As owner of Properties Title, he runs a full-service, attorney-based title company with four full-time closers, and he says his cell phone number sits on his business card because real estate does not stop at 5 p.m. or on weekends.
The conversation's most substantive stretch covers new condo safety laws passed after the Surfside building collapse in Miami. Buildings three stories and taller now face mandatory milestone inspections and structural integrity reserve studies, Azerad explains, which means condo associations can no longer defer maintenance the way some once did. He recalls a closing where a single special assessment hit each unit owner for 90,000 dollars, a number that illustrates why the new rules, however well intended, are pushing some buyers toward houses instead of condos and raising monthly dues for people who plan to stay put.
Azerad also breaks down a major class-action settlement against the National Association of Realtors, explaining how it upends the long-standing practice of sellers automatically covering a buyer's agent commission. He worries the ruling, still working through the courts, could actually hurt buyers who do not have extra cash on hand for their own agent's fee, even though it was framed as a consumer protection win. On a lighter note, he flags Wellen Park and the broader South County area as an emerging pocket of Sarasota real estate, still relatively affordable but growing fast around its new stadium and amenities.
Beyond the transactions, Azerad talks about growing up in Sarasota's Jewish community, co-founding Young Jewish Adults of Sarasota to connect newcomers and give them a social network beyond the area's older, more established circle, and chairing the board of Gulf Coast Hillel, which supports Jewish students at Ringling College and New College. On roundabouts, he is blunt: they are a great idea in theory and a mess in practice, since too many drivers still do not know who is supposed to yield.
What you'll take away
- New Florida condo laws require milestone inspections and structural integrity reserve studies for buildings three stories and taller, following the Surfside collapse.
- A recent class-action settlement against the National Association of Realtors is changing how buyer's agent commissions get paid, with Azerad warning it could disadvantage cash-strapped buyers.
- Properties Title offers to send a remote signing agent to a buyer or seller's location at no extra cost, a service Azerad says most competitors will not match.
- Wellen Park and the broader South County area are emerging as a fast-growing, still-affordable pocket of the Sarasota market.
- Azerad co-founded Young Jewish Adults of Sarasota to connect younger newcomers to the area's established Jewish community.
“I don't do gray. I'm a bright line, black and white type of guy.”
“You're only as good as your last deal.”
Places mentioned: Wellen Park, Northport, Rosemary and Thyme, Food & Beer, Long Boat Key