The rules, exemptions, and permits that come with buying, building, or renting in Florida – explained plainly, with a nod to when it’s time to call an actual professional.
Airbnb and Short-Term Rentals in Florida
Florida Short-Term Rentals: Licensing, Local Rules, Taxes, and HOA Limits Central Florida, and especially the area around Kissimmee and the theme parks, is one of the busiest vacation rental markets in the country. That’s partly because Florida’s rules are unusual: the state limits how far cities and counties can restrict short-term rentals, while private associations ... Read more
Renting in Florida: A Tenant’s Rights and Responsibilities
Repairs, Deposits, Lockouts, and Retaliation The same law that governs landlords, Florida Statutes Chapter 83, Part II, reads very differently from the tenant’s side. Florida is generally seen as landlord-friendly on procedure, but the protections tenants do have are real and enforceable. They’re also often broken by accident, by landlords and tenants alike who simply ... Read more
Becoming a Landlord in Florida
Florida Landlord Basics: Deposits, Disclosures, Notices, and the Homestead Trap You might buy a property as a rental, keep a home you’re not ready to sell, or rent out a room in the house you live in. Any of these makes you a Florida landlord, and the state’s rules apply the same way whether you ... Read more
Evictions and Foreclosures in Florida
How the Process Works for Renters, Landlords, and Homeowners Losing a home, whether because rent fell behind or a mortgage did, moves fast in Florida once the legal process starts. Evictions for unpaid rent can move from notice to sheriff in a matter of weeks. Foreclosures take longer, but they have their own hard deadlines. ... Read more
Eminent Domain in Florida
What Happens When the Government Needs Your Property Central Florida keeps growing, and growth means new roads, interchange rebuilds, toll lanes, drainage projects, and utility lines. Sometimes a project needs private land, either a whole parcel or a strip along the front of a lot. Eminent domain is the government’s power to take that property ... Read more
Florida Zoning Explained
Codes, Land Use, and What Buyers Should Check Anyone shopping for land or a home in Florida eventually sees a zoning code on a listing, something like A-1 or RSF-2, and assumes there’s a statewide key that decodes it. There isn’t. Each county and city writes its own zoning code, so the same letters can ... Read more
Florida Homeowners Insurance in 2026
What Changed, and How to Pay Less Most Florida homeowners only read their policy after something goes wrong. That’s the worst time to learn that the hurricane deductible is $14,000, that the roof has its own deductible, or that the claim deadline already passed. Florida law gives homeowners more protections than most people realize, and ... Read more
Home EV Chargers in Florida: Everything to Know Before You Install One
Most EV owners do most of their charging at home, overnight, for a fraction of what gas costs. Getting there in Central Florida involves more than buying a charger. You’ll deal with the electrical code and a permit, possibly your condo association, your utility’s EV programs, and, because this is Florida, a plan for hurricane ... Read more
Tiny Homes, Cabins, and Kit Homes in Central Florida: What’s Legal to Live In
Tiny homes look like the simplest answer to Florida’s housing costs: buy a cheap lot, put a small house on it, and live with no mortgage. In practice, it’s one of the most misunderstood topics in Florida real estate. Whether you can legally live in a small home depends on what the state calls it, ... Read more
What Florida HOAs Can (and Can’t) Control
Homeowners association authority in Florida comes from the association’s own governing documents, but state law sets hard limits on what those documents are allowed to say, and several of those limits surprise people who assume the HOA has the final word on everything. Short version: Florida law overrides HOA rules on several specific points, including ... Read more
Flood Insurance in Florida
Updated 09.19.2026 What It Covers, and the Trick Most Buyers Miss Standard homeowners insurance, in Florida or anywhere else, doesn’t cover flood damage. Not partially, not under some conditions, not at all. It’s always a separate policy, and understanding how that separate policy actually works, and the one real move that can save a buyer ... Read more
Florida Homestead Exemption: What It Is and How to File
Updated 09.14.2026 Florida’s homestead exemption is one of the more meaningful tax breaks available to homeowners in the state, and one of the most commonly misunderstood, partly because it’s actually two exemptions stacked together, not one flat number. Short version: The homestead exemption reduces the taxable value of a primary Florida residence by up to ... Read more
Running a Short-Term Rental in Central Florida: A Host’s Guide
Running a good short-term rental has less in common with being a landlord than most new hosts expect. The legal relationship with a guest is fundamentally different from the one covered in becoming a landlord in Florida, and understanding that difference changes how you should actually handle problems when they come up. Short version: Florida ... Read more
Staying in a Florida Vacation Rental: Your Rights as a Guest
Booking a week in an Orlando-area vacation home feels similar to renting an apartment, pay money, get a place to stay, but legally it’s a genuinely different relationship, and knowing that changes what protections actually apply if something goes wrong. Short version: A short-term rental guest in Florida is a “transient occupant” under the state’s ... Read more