Lori Suarez has a healthy future in real estate—literally. The 33-year-old periodontal therapist, who began investing in condo conversions nearly two years ago, regularly doles out advice on a local radio station’s real-estate talk show and will soon launch Eco Properties, a firm that helps people build prefabricated “green”—or eco-friendly—homes. Suarez, a native of Baltimore, Maryland, graduated from the University of Maryland and relocated to Fort Lauderdale in 1999. After watching home values ascend for years, she finally found her own viable niche—condo conversions—and dove in. In 2004, she found a can’t-lose deal in Delray Beach, put down a few thousand dollars that September, and closed the following May. “I have a big mouth, so I’d buy something, tell 15 people about it, and then watch them all buy in the same building,” she explains, realizing she missed out on commissions she could have had if she were licensed to make the sales herself.

So she got her license, began seeking out additional condo conversions, and started spreading the word. “At first, they weren’t easy to find because they aren’t often advertised,” she says. “But there are so many advantages to buying this type of real estate, including picking when you close, putting very little money down, and getting in on preferred-lender mortgage deals offered on-site from the developer. Plus, you don’t have to worry about what’s going to happen to the realestate market two years from now—these projects always close within the year.” After officially establishing her business, floridacondoconversions.net, Suarez was approached by representatives of 1230 AM’s Your Friendly Mortgage talk show. On the series, which airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 1 to 2 p.m., she advises listeners on good deals and the best mortgage options. And when she’s not searching for the next great condo-conversion deal anywhere from Palm Beach to Naples, she’s planning a prefab eco-property in North Eleuthera, Bahamas, and
studying naturopathy—a system of therapy and treatment that relies exclusively on natural remedies.

“Here in South Florida, everyone is so healthy—they’re eating organic foods, taking vitamins and staying well. And helping people stay that way—be it through medical, dental or total well-being—has always been an important part of my life. I wanted to combine that, my first love, with helping people find the perfect ecologically correct place to live to suit their lifestyle.”

—Suzy Buckley, OceanDrive Magazine