Your first Florida condo: reading the building before you buy the unit

The condo rules changed, and buyers benefit from reading them

After the 2021 collapse in Surfside, Florida rewrote the safety rules for condo buildings in 2022 and adjusted them in 2023, 2024 and 2025. For a first-time buyer, the effect is simple to state. The building's health now shows up in documents you can read, and in fees you'll pay.

That's a good trade. A starter condo in Fort Lauderdale, St. Petersburg or Sarasota can still be a smart first home. You just need to read the association's paperwork as carefully as the unit's floor plan.

Milestone inspections: the building's checkup

Condo and co-op buildings three or more stories tall must get milestone inspections. The rules, per the Florida Legislature's research office and Palm Beach County's building division:

• When: by the year the building turns 30, then every 10 years. Local building officials can require it at 25 years based on local conditions such as proximity to salt water.
• Phase one: a licensed architect or engineer does a visual exam of the major structural components.
• Phase two: required if phase one finds substantial structural deterioration, and can include destructive testing.
• Repairs: must begin within 365 days after the phase two report.

The association pays for the inspection, and it must give owners a summary, post it on the property and put the full report on the association website if it has one.

How common are problems? For 2024 and 2025 combined, building officials reported 8,736 completed phase one inspections and 1,575 phase two inspections. Thirty buildings in 2024 and 24 in 2025 were deemed unsafe or uninhabitable, according to a 2026 report by the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability. Most phase two inspections were in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.

The structural integrity reserve study

The second big piece is the structural integrity reserve study, or SIRS. Think of it as a savings plan for the parts of a building that keep it standing and dry: the structure, roof, waterproofing and similar items.

• It applies to buildings with three or more habitable stories.
• The 2025 law, HB 913, extended the deadline to December 31, 2025.
• Budgets adopted on or after January 1, 2025 must be based on the most recent SIRS.
• The study must include a baseline funding plan that keeps reserves above zero.

HB 913 also gave associations some breathing room. The threshold for individual reserve items rose from $10,000 to $25,000, and an owner-controlled association that just finished a milestone inspection can vote to pause or reduce reserve contributions for up to two budgets, adopted by the end of 2028, to pay for required repairs.

For a buyer, the question isn't whether a building has expenses. It's whether the association is paying for them through fees, through a loan, or through a special assessment that lands after you move in.

What you're entitled to see

A resale condo buyer gets a stack of association documents. Florida law now adds safety items to that stack:

• A copy of the inspector-prepared summary of the milestone inspection, if one applies
• A turnover inspection report completed on or after July 1, 2023, if one applies
• The association's most recent annual financial statement and budget

Per the Florida Senate's 2023 bill summary, a contract that doesn't meet these notice requirements can be voided by the buyer before closing. HB 913 also lengthened the buyer's cancellation period on resale contracts from 3 days to 7 days, per the Senate's 2025 bill summary. Use those days.

How the rules hit your budget

Lenders count condo association dues in your monthly payment, just like taxes and insurance. If reserve funding pushes dues up, it shrinks your buying power. If an assessment is already approved, ask how it's being paid and whether the seller is covering it in the contract.

Hometown Heroes allows condos that meet agency guidelines, and your lender reviews the project as part of underwriting. A building with major unfinished repairs or unresolved problems can be harder to finance, so get the lender's project answer early. Your lender confirms which loan types the building qualifies for.

One bit of good news on insurance: Citizens' flood requirement exempts condo unit-owner policies. You'll still need a unit policy, and the association's master policy shows up in your dues. Our insurance guide has the details.

Ten questions for the association or listing agent

1. How old is the building, and when is or was its milestone inspection?
2. Did phase one call for a phase two?
3. Are any repairs required, permitted or underway?
4. Has the SIRS been completed? Can I see it?
5. Are reserves funded at the level the SIRS recommends?
6. Has the board paused or reduced reserve contributions?
7. Are any special assessments approved or under discussion?
8. Is the association borrowing to fund repairs?
9. When did dues last change, and by how much?
10. What does the master insurance policy cover, and what is its deductible?

Smaller buildings and townhomes

Not every condo falls under these rules. Milestone inspections apply to buildings three or more stories tall, and the reserve study rules exempt small dwellings with three or fewer habitable stories. Two-story garden condos and many townhome communities have lighter requirements, though they still have budgets, reserves and insurance to review.

Compare the costs side by side, and run cash to close with our closing cost guide. Then check your eligibility.

Questions we hear

Keep reading

• Your first Florida homestead: the exemption, the cap and the new rules
• Florida homeowners insurance, explained for a first-time buyer
• The wind mitigation report: Florida's most useful one-page inspection
• Flood insurance and your first Florida home: what to check before you sign
• Doc stamps, intangible tax and the rest of a Florida closing statement
• SHIP down payment help: Florida's county-by-county second chance
• Hometown Heroes has two versions. Here's how to tell which one fits
• Florida's down payment second mortgages, sorted by what you'll owe later
• From pre-approval to keys: a Florida timeline for Hometown Heroes buyers