Lindsey Zalnoski, LZ Developments

Lindsey Zalnoski, LZ Developments The Bridge To All of Your Home Solutions

My team and I provide turn-key solutions that meet the nee

Lindsey Zalnoski brings extensive experience as a real estate professional in Brevard County. She is organized, professional, and driven to meet the expectations and desires of homebuyers, sellers, and investors.

Everyone's got a contractor horror story. Here's how I stopped collecting them.On deposits: with someone new, I don't pa...
09/08/2026

Everyone's got a contractor horror story. Here's how I stopped collecting them.

On deposits: with someone new, I don't pay more than 10% to 20% upfront. Once there's a real track record, that changes. Until trust is built both ways, I protect my leverage.

Get everything in writing. Scope, timeline, payment schedule, what happens with change orders. Verbal agreements in construction are just misunderstandings with a delay on them. Pay by milestone, not by the week. Tie money to completed work. Framing done, payment. Rough-in done, payment. Keeps the job moving and keeps you in control. Never stop watching the budget. The minute you assume it's on track without checking is the minute it isn't.

This one's cost me more than I'd like to admit. Know the difference between slow and dishonest. Slow I can plan around. Dishonest, someone taking your money and not delivering, you cut fast and know your options.

For finding the good ones: the best referrals I've ever gotten came from people I already trusted who'd actually used them. Not an app. Not a review site. A real person saying "here's what to expect."

Get this relationship right and everything moves. Get it wrong and it's all you think about.

Save this for the next time you're hiring one. Or DM me, happy to point you in the right direction.

I've been on the buyer's side of more home inspections than I can count. I've used what they flag to negotiate hard. So ...
09/04/2026

I've been on the buyer's side of more home inspections than I can count. I've used what they flag to negotiate hard. So here's what comes up almost every time, and what you should deal with before you list.

The roof. Age and condition. Over 15 years old? Expect it to come up. Buyers and their lenders will make it an issue.

The electrical panel. Older panels, double-tapped breakers, aluminum wiring. Not always deal killers, but always negotiating points. I've used them to negotiate well on plenty of buys. Know about yours before the report does.

Water and moisture. Ceiling stains, soft spots, musty closets. Inspectors have moisture meters and they use them. What you stopped noticing, they'll find.

The HVAC. Age and condition. Have the service records ready or get it serviced before you list.

Plumbing. Slow drains, weak pressure, corrosion under the sinks.

And the cheap stuff that punches way above its cost: clean the gutters, fresh caulk around tubs and showers, fix the dripping faucet, replace the broken outlet covers, sort out the door that won't close right. Pennies, really. Together they say "this home was taken care of," and that's worth more than the fix.

Bottom line: I'd rather find the problems before the inspector does.

Better to know now than at the table.

HGTV shows you the before and after. Nobody shows you what it actually costs. Here's the full picture.The renovation bud...
09/01/2026

HGTV shows you the before and after. Nobody shows you what it actually costs. Here's the full picture.

The renovation budget is just the start:

The purchase, plus closing costs to buy. Title, lender fees, inspection. Add 1 to 3% on top of the purchase price.

The renovation, plus a contingency. I use 10 to 20% depending on scope. Light cosmetic gets 10, full gut gets 20. I learned this one the hard way and haven't skipped it since.

Carrying costs. This is the quiet killer. Every month you own it: taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance, and interest if you've got a private or hard money loan. On a $400k purchase at 10%, that's $3,300 a month. A four month reno that slips to seven just cost you an extra $10k before you touched a tool.

Selling costs. Commissions, closing, doc stamp tax, title. Budget 6 to 8% of the sale price off the top.

Taxes. Flips held under a year are taxed as ordinary income. This one surprises people every time.

All in, on a typical flip, you're looking at 15 to 20% of the purchase price in costs before profit.

The math can absolutely still work. Going in with the real numbers instead of the optimistic ones is the difference between a business and an expensive lesson.

Save this before you run your next deal.

DM me if you want to run your specific one through the real numbers.

08/28/2026

Most people pick a real estate agent backwards. They go with whoever quoted the highest list price, or whoever's been around longest, or whoever their neighbor used. Then they wonder why it didn't go how they hoped.

Here's what I'd actually look for:

Do they tell you the truth before you list, or just what you want to hear? Someone who walks your home and gives you honest, specific feedback before you go live is worth it. Someone who just validates your number to win the listing will cost you later.

Do they have a real marketing plan, or is it "we'll put it on the MLS"? In 2026, how a home shows up online before anyone walks through the door matters enormously.

Photos, positioning, timing. That's strategy.

How do they communicate, and how often? Sounds basic. It's also the number one thing sellers complain about after the fact.

What's their plan if the home isn't getting showings? You want a real answer, not "we'll drop the price."

Do they understand what buyers are calculating when they walk through? Not what buyers say. What they're actually thinking. Someone who's been on the buying side of real deals reads a listing completely differently.

The right agent isn't the one telling you everything you want to hear. It's the one who's straight with you from day one.

Save this for when you're ready to interview agents.

I've heard stories of sellers nearly falling out of their chair at the closing table. Not because anything went wrong. B...
08/25/2026

I've heard stories of sellers nearly falling out of their chair at the closing table. Not because anything went wrong. Because nobody walked them through this before they listed.

So let me fix that. Here's what closing costs actually look like for a seller in Florida:

Agent commissions. Usually the biggest line item. It varies.

Title insurance and closing fees. In Florida it's customary for the seller to pay for the buyer's title insurance. Yes, you read that right.

Documentary stamp tax. Florida taxes the deed transfer, and it adds up faster than most sellers expect.

Prorated property taxes. You owe for the portion of the year you owned the home. Settled at closing.

HOA estoppel fees. If you're in an HOA, expect a fee for the letter confirming your account is current. Some charge several hundred dollars for that alone.

Repairs and credits. Whatever came out of inspection negotiation lives here.

Total? Usually 6 to 9% of your sale price depending on the situation. On an $800k home, that's $48k to $72k leaving the table before you walk away with your check.

Nobody should be surprised at the closing table.

DM me and I'll show you what you'd actually net on your home.

08/21/2026

A contractor's "two weeks" and my "two weeks" are not the same unit of measurement.

Mine has 14 days in it. Theirs is more of a vibe.

I'm half joking, and I love my good contractors. But the timeline slips, the subs get pulled to another job, the material is backordered. It's the most predictable unpredictable thing in this business.

The lesson I paid for: the schedule IS the budget. Every extra week you own a property is another week of taxes, insurance, and interest stacking up while nothing sells. So I build a 5 to 15% time buffer into every deal, and I pay by milestone, not by the calendar, so the work and the money stay tied together.

Hope is not a project management strategy.

Ever been promised "two weeks" and learned what that really means?

08/18/2026

Pricing your house too high is just like leaving your dating profile up for nine months.

Day one: everybody's interested. Week two: "wait, why's it still up?"
Month three: people quietly assume something's wrong with it.
Nothing's wrong with your house.
You just scared off the good ones by pretending you had options you didn't.

Here's the part sellers don't want to hear.
The market doesn't negotiate with your feelings. It negotiates with the last three houses that sold down the street.

An overpriced listing doesn't "leave room to negotiate." It teaches buyers to wait you out, and the longer it sits, the weaker your hand gets.

Price it like you actually want it gone. Watch how fast it goes.

Who's overpriced right now and not ready to admit it?




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201 N Riverside Drive, Ste. A
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32903

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