Non-Negotiables Worksheet
The exact framework I walk every first-time buyer through. Print it, fill it out, bring it to our call.
A calm, structured approach to buying or selling in Ocala & Marion County — led by a Ph.D. behavioral psychologist who happens to be a REALTOR®.
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Dr. Matt Maher is a Ph.D. behavioral psychologist, Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Florida and New York, and a relocation-focused REALTOR® with Boffo Real Estate Group in Ocala, FL.
He helps Northeast-to-Florida movers and overwhelmed buyers turn the home-buying decision into something structured, clear, and unhurried. The "Doc" is earned — and it's the moat.
No generic five-step process. The work is shaped to your situation — but the underlying rhythm is consistent. Here's what to expect, in plain English.
We talk about your situation, your timeline, the parts that are clear and the parts that aren't. No tour scheduling, no contracts. If we're not a fit I'll tell you in this call and refer you to someone who is.
"I've talked to four agents who jumped straight to showings. Matt was the first to actually ask what I was trying to figure out."
We complete the non-negotiables worksheet together. We map your real timeline against insurance, school calendars, mortgage rate windows, and Northeast-side logistics. The goal is a clear-headed plan before either of us drives to a single property.
"By the time we toured houses, I already knew what I was looking for. The trip wasn't overwhelming — it was efficient."
Curated showings (or staged listing). Honest debriefs after each one. You'll never get the "what did we love about it?" pressure tactic — you'll get the question of whether it actually fits the framework. The Ph.D. shows up most here, quietly.
"He told me to walk away from the third house we saw. I would have made the offer. He was right."
Most agents disappear at closing. I check in at week two, month one, and month three — because the hardest part of relocating isn't the paperwork. It's the Tuesday you realize you don't know where the urgent care is. You'll know.
"Six months in, I still get the occasional 'how's it going' text. That meant something."
"We came down for one trip thinking we'd see ten houses. Matt walked us through three. We made an offer on the second."
"He told me to walk away from a house I was ready to buy. Saved me from a 20-year mistake. That's not how agents usually act."
"Six months in I still get the occasional 'how's it going' text. I've never had a realtor follow up after the keys were handed over."
Drop your email — your PDF arrives in under a minute. No follow-up sequence, no spam.
What Northeast movers don't expect about Florida — insurance, property tax, vehicle registration, school timing, and the tradeoffs nobody warns you about. Forty-eight pages, written by a Ph.D. who's actually licensed in both states.
The exact framework I walk every first-time buyer through. Print it, fill it out, bring it to our call.
Twelve things to do — and twelve to avoid — in the 30 days before your home hits the market.
Two of Marion County's most-asked-about master-planned communities, broken down side-by-side.
Property tax, insurance, daily life math. The honest version — not the snowbird brochure version.
Decision fatigue, anchoring, sunk-cost thinking. The traps that cost buyers tens of thousands.
One page. Every line item explained in plain English. Updated for 2026 Florida transactions.
Whether you're moving up, downsizing, or relocating out of Ocala — selling is a decision before it's a transaction. Same calm, evidence-based approach. No pressure tactics, no inflated comps.
A home priced wrong on day one rarely recovers. We price based on what's actually moved in your market in the last 60 days — not what your neighbor wishes they'd gotten.
You'll get a prioritized punch list — what's worth doing, what's not, and what buyers in your specific neighborhood actually care about. No "renovate the whole kitchen" advice.
Multiple-offer situations are where the Ph.D. earns its keep. Decision frameworks, not panic. We pick the offer most likely to close — not just the highest one.
Forty-five minutes, no pitch. Bring your questions. Recording sent if you can't make it live.
Yes — Licensed Mental Health Counselor in both states. The Florida real estate license is SL3647019, held with Boffo Real Estate Group in Ocala. The dual-state mental health licensure is what makes the NE → FL relocation work different — I genuinely understand both ends of the move.
Ocala and the broader Marion County market — including The Villages overflow, Dunnellon, Belleview, Silver Springs Shores, and the master-planned communities (OTOW, Calesa Township, Stone Creek, JB Ranch, and similar). For relocation discovery calls, geography doesn't matter — we can talk before you've decided where in Florida makes sense.
Honestly, that's the best time to call. The clients who get the cleanest outcomes are the ones who started the conversation 9–18 months out — long enough to align school calendars, sell the Northeast house in the right season, and avoid the rate-window panic. There's no clock starting on a discovery call.
Yes — particularly Ocala-area sellers preparing for a downsize, a relocation, or estate transition. The pre-listing protocol (free PDF in the Tools section) is what every seller starts with. Listings get the same behavioral lens: pricing strategy, photography, staging, and offer-decision framework.
No — to be unambiguous, the real estate practice is real estate. The Ph.D. and clinical licensure inform how I structure decisions and conversations; they don't turn showings into therapy sessions. If you do need a referral for an actual mental health provider in Marion County, I keep a list and will share it.
Thirty minutes. No pressure, no pitch. We'll talk through your situation and figure out whether working together makes sense — or whether the answer is something else entirely.
Drop your email — your PDF arrives in under a minute.