With a single-family home, the building’s condition is mostly the seller’s problem until it’s yours. With a Florida condo, the building’s condition, and just as importantly its finances, are already partly yours the moment you close, shared with every other owner in the association. Post-Surfside reforms have made that reality unavoidable to ignore.
Everything in the the general Florida buying process, financing, insurance timing, closing mechanics, still applies here. What follows is what’s different on top of that.
Short version: Since 2022, Florida law requires milestone structural inspections and Structural Integrity Reserve Studies for condo buildings three stories and taller. For budgets adopted on or after December 31, 2024, associations covered by that requirement can no longer vote to waive or underfund those reserves, that’s already been the rule for roughly two budget cycles now, not something still coming. It’s driven real special assessments and made some buildings ineligible for conventional financing entirely. Before making an offer, request the milestone inspection report, the SIRS, the current budget, and confirm the building’s lending status, this is the due diligence that matters most, more than anything about the unit itself.
Milestone inspections and SIRS: what they actually tell you
A milestone inspection is a structural safety evaluation by a licensed engineer, required for condo and co-op buildings with three or more habitable stories once the building turns 30 (25 if it’s within three miles of the coast), and every 10 years after. It answers one question: is the building structurally sound right now. A Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) answers a different question: are the association’s reserves actually funded to cover the building’s eight critical structural components, roof, load-bearing walls, floors, foundation, fireproofing, plumbing, electrical, and waterproofing, over the long term. Read them together. A clean milestone inspection with a badly underfunded SIRS just means the bill hasn’t arrived yet.
Want to check a specific building’s timeline instead of just the general rule? The condo cost and SIRS calculator takes a building’s certificate-of-occupancy year and coastal distance and shows exactly when its next milestone inspection and SIRS are due, plus a true monthly cost comparison, mortgage, tax, HOA, and insurance together, against an equivalent single-family home.
Why special assessments have gotten real
For budgets adopted on or after December 31, 2024, associations required to have a SIRS can no longer vote to waive or reduce reserve funding for the building’s structural components, that option, which many buildings relied on for years, is gone, and has been for a couple of budget cycles already. Buildings that underfunded reserves for years were required to start catching up quickly, which is exactly why special assessments in the $10,000 to $100,000-plus per unit range have become common rather than rare. Associations are allowed to fund the catch-up through loans or lines of credit instead of an immediate lump-sum assessment, with owner approval, which can soften the immediate hit but adds a long-term debt obligation to the building’s finances either way. Ask specifically whether any assessment has been approved, voted on, or is under discussion, not just whether one currently exists.
Financing can fall through over the building, not you
This is the part that surprises buyers most: your own credit and income can be perfect and the loan can still be denied because of the building. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac maintain non-public eligibility lists for condo projects, and a building can be flagged “ineligible” or “unavailable” for reasons that have nothing to do with your finances, insufficient master insurance, incomplete milestone inspection or SIRS, deferred maintenance, or a pending special assessment. As of March 2025, roughly 1,438 Florida condo buildings were on Fannie Mae’s ineligible list, about 28% of all ineligible projects nationwide, with roughly 696 concentrated in the Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach tri-county area. These lists shift as buildings resolve or develop issues, so treat that figure as a sense of scale, not a current count. If a building is ineligible, conventional financing isn’t available at all, buyers are pushed into portfolio loans or non-QM products, usually at a higher rate. Ask your lender to check the building’s status through Fannie Mae’s Condo Project Manager or public Condo Status Finder tool before you get attached to a specific unit, this is a five-minute check that can save weeks of a deal falling apart in underwriting.
The estoppel certificate protects you more than it sounds like it would
Before closing, the association issues an estoppel certificate, a signed, dated statement of exactly what the unit owes and any pending special assessments. Florida law caps the fee at $250 (plus up to $100 for expedited delivery, up to $150 more if there’s a delinquency), and the association must deliver it within 10 business days of a written request. The real value: the numbers on that certificate are binding. If the association understates what’s owed by a mistake, it loses the right to collect the difference from you later. It’s worth requesting this early rather than treating it as a closing-day formality.
Your rescission right just got longer
For contracts signed after July 1, 2025, buyers of a non-developer resale condo unit have seven business days, up from three, to review the association’s disclosure documents (financials, budget, rules, and if applicable the milestone inspection summary and SIRS) and cancel the contract for any reason, no justification required. The clock starts once you’ve actually received the required documents, not just once you’ve signed, if the seller is slow delivering them, your rescission window hasn’t started yet either.
Two insurance policies, not one
The association’s master policy covers the building structure and common areas, but whether it covers your unit’s interior depends on whether it’s written “bare walls” (studs only, you insure everything inside) or “all-in” (covers original finishes too). Either way, you need your own HO-6 policy for your unit’s interior, belongings, and liability, most lenders require it to close. The coverage worth paying attention to is loss assessment, it reimburses your share if the association issues a special assessment tied to an insured loss, like storm damage exceeding the master policy’s limit. Standard HO-6 policies often default to just $1,000 of this coverage, worth raising to at least match the master policy’s deductible, which on a commercial building can run $25,000 to $100,000 split across all owners. For the broader 2026 insurance market context behind all of this, see where Florida homeowners insurance actually stands in 2026.
What to actually request before you make an offer
Ask your agent to request these before you’re in a contingency countdown, not after: the most recent milestone inspection report (or confirmation none is due yet), the SIRS and its funding plan, the last 12 months of board meeting minutes, the current budget and reserve balances, and written confirmation of any pending or approved special assessment. If you’re financing, ask your lender to run the building’s Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac status in parallel with your own pre-approval, not after you’re under contract.
This article is for general informational purposes only and isn’t financial, legal, insurance, or tax advice – for guidance specific to your situation, talk to a licensed professional.
Frequently Asked Questions
A required structural safety inspection by a licensed engineer for condo and co-op buildings three or more habitable stories, due when the building turns 30 (25 if within three miles of the coast) and every 10 years after.
Not for the structural components covered by a SIRS. As of January 1, 2026, that funding can no longer be waived or reduced by owner vote, which is part of why special assessments have become more common.
Yes. If a building is flagged ineligible by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, for reasons like insufficient insurance or incomplete inspections, conventional financing isn’t available regardless of your own credit and income.
Seven business days as of July 2025, up from three, starting once you’ve actually received the required disclosure documents, not from the date you signed the contract.
Yes. The master policy covers the building and common areas but usually not your unit’s interior, belongings, or liability. An HO-6 policy fills that gap and is typically required by lenders.
Yes, the condo cost and SIRS calculator on this site takes a building’s certificate-of-occupancy year and coastal distance and shows its actual milestone inspection and SIRS deadlines, plus a full monthly cost comparison, mortgage, tax, HOA, and insurance, against an equivalent single-family home.
Sources:
https://www.shumaker.com/insight/client-alert-condo-law-reform-what-floridas-hb-913-means-for-associations-and-owners/
https://singlefamily.fanniemae.com/condo-status-finder
https://www.gabrielmoyers.com/blog/florida-condo-estoppel-certificate-buyers-guide-2026