Buying a condo in Florida: check the building before the unit

What the seller has to hand you

Once you have signed a contract on a resale unit, you are entitled to a current copy of eight documents, and the seller pays for them (§718.503(2)(a)):

1. The declaration of condominium.
2. The association's articles of incorporation.
3. The bylaws and rules.
4. The annual financial statement and the annual budget.
5. The inspector-prepared summary of the milestone inspection report, if the building has had one.
6. The most recent structural integrity reserve study (SIRS), or a statement that the association has not done one.
7. The turnover inspection report, for a turnover inspection done on or after 1 July 2023.
8. The "Frequently Asked Questions and Answers" sheet.

You are also entitled to the Division's governance form, which explains how the board works and what owners can do about it (§718.503(2)(b)).

The 7-day window

For a resale contract signed after 31 December 2024, where the association has completed a milestone inspection, a SIRS or a turnover inspection report, the contract has to carry two clauses in conspicuous type (§718.503(2)(e)). One says you received those reports more than 7 days before you signed. The other lets you cancel, by written notice, within 7 days after you sign and receive them. Weekends and legal holidays do not count toward the 7 days.

Three more things sit in the same clause. You can push closing back by up to 7 days, again not counting weekends and holidays, while you wait for the reports. A waiver of the right to cancel has no effect. And the right ends at closing.

If the association was required to complete one of these and has not, the contract must say so in conspicuous type. If the building is not required to have them, the contract says that instead. A contract that misses any of this is voidable by the buyer before closing. The declaration, bylaws, budget and FAQ sheet carry their own parallel 7-day clause (§718.503(2)(d)).

Four things to read before you offer

1. The milestone summary

If phase one of a milestone inspection finds substantial structural deterioration, a phase two report follows within 180 days, and repairs have to start within 365 days of it (§553.899). A phase two is the strongest early signal that a repair bill is coming.

2. The SIRS

The SIRS is a funding plan, redone at least every 10 years, for the roof, the structural systems, fireproofing and fire protection, and the other items the statute lists (§718.112(2)(g)). Associations have had to file a reporting form with the Division within 45 days of finishing one since 1 July 2024, and the Division publishes what was filed, exactly as submitted, in its SIRS reporting database.

3. The reserve line in the budget

For a budget adopted on or after 31 December 2024, the owners of a unit-owner-controlled association that must have a SIRS cannot vote to fund the SIRS items at less than the study recommends (§718.112(2)(f)2.b). There is a lawful pause, though. An association that finished a milestone inspection in the previous two calendar years can, with a majority of the total voting interests, pause or reduce reserve contributions for up to two annual budgets to pay for the milestone repairs. That option runs for budgets adopted on or before 31 December 2028 (§718.112(2)(f)2.e). So low dues can be legal and temporary. Ask which one you are looking at.

4. Special assessments

Before closing, the association issues an estoppel certificate, and it has to itemize every assessment, special assessment and other amount owed on the unit (§718.116(8)). That tells you what is owed today. Planned assessments show up earlier, in board meeting notices and minutes. More on that in condo special assessments in Florida.

Check the dates in two minutes

Two inputs produce that: the certificate of occupancy year and the number of habitable storeys. Floors used only for parking, storage or mechanical equipment do not count toward the three-storey threshold. Miami-Dade's coastal band and Broward use a 25-year trigger, which pulls every date earlier, and the calculator handles both. If the dates it shows have already passed and the seller's package has no milestone summary or SIRS, that is the question to ask before you sign.

Lenders and insurers read the same paperwork

Fannie Mae treats a project as ineligible if it failed a mandatory structural safety inspection or its inspection report shows critical repairs that have not been addressed (Selling Guide B4-2.1-03). That is how a building turns into a non-warrantable condo, and why some buyers find out about a building's problems from their lender first.

Citizens Property Insurance has required a copy of the milestone inspection report with new business for condominium and cooperative buildings of three or more storeys, more than three units and 30 or more years old, since 1 January 2025 (Citizens agent bulletin, 18 Nov 2024). That is an underwriting rule of Citizens, not a statute.