Florida Condos, Decoded.
The questions every condo buyer is afraid to ask — answered straight, by a broker who sits in the insurance-committee chair of a large Gulf-front association and reads these budgets for a living.
Get the Condo Interrogation List →Talk it through with MikeWhat actually changed after Surfside
In 2021, Champlain Towers South collapsed in Surfside. Florida responded with the strictest condo-safety laws in America, phased in from 2022 through today: every residential condo and co-op building with three or more habitable stories now gets a structural milestone inspection by a Florida-licensed architect or engineer when it turns 30 — a local building official can require it at 25 where coastal conditions justify it — and associations must complete a Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS): a professional answer to “how much money should this building be putting toward the concrete, the roof, the waterproofing.”
The era of waiving reserves to keep fees artificially low is over: for budgets adopted after December 31, 2024, associations can no longer vote away funding for the structural items. In 2025, lawmakers passed HB 913, which kept the safety spine intact but added financial flexibility — associations can now fund reserves with loans or lines of credit, and a building that just passed its milestone inspection can, with majority owner approval, temporarily moderate reserve contributions through 2028.
The six questions buyers actually have
Is it safe to buy a Florida condo in 2026?
Structurally, there is more oversight than there has ever been — buildings with three or more habitable stories are now inspected by Florida-licensed architects or engineers on a legal schedule, and the results become association records. The real risk in 2026 is financial surprise: buying into a building that has not funded the repairs its own inspections call for. Most of that risk is readable before you close: much is discoverable up front just by asking, and once you are under contract Florida law guarantees you the documents — with a cancellation window after you receive them. Read the milestone report, the SIRS, and the budget. If a building’s paperwork is honest, the fear is manageable. If a building can’t produce the paperwork, that IS the answer — just first confirm whether it is exempt or operating under a later lawful deadline.
What is a milestone inspection, and does my building need one?
A structural evaluation by a Florida-licensed architect or engineer, required for condo and co-op buildings three or more habitable stories tall — first at 30 years of age (a local building official can require 25 where conditions justify it), then every 10 years. Phase 1 is a visual assessment; if it finds substantial structural deterioration, Phase 2 goes deeper, and required repairs must begin within a year of the local agency receiving the Phase 2 report. Ask any building you’re considering: has your milestone been done, what did it find, and where does the repair plan stand?
What is a SIRS, and why did condo fees jump?
The Structural Integrity Reserve Study is a professional study of the building’s structural elements — roof, load-bearing walls, foundation, waterproofing, and more — that recommends a funding schedule for their repair and replacement. Since HB 913, that funding can come from regular assessments, special assessments, a loan, or a line of credit — not only cash savings. Most owner-controlled associations that existed before July 2022 had to complete their first SIRS by the end of 2025; a building whose milestone inspection is due by the end of 2026 may complete both together by that date. Fees jumped across much of Florida largely because decades of artificially low fees ended at once — with insurance, construction costs, and deferred maintenance adding their own pressure. The counterintuitive truth: a building whose fees rose to fund a credible plan is often a safer purchase than one whose fees stayed suspiciously low.
Will I get hit with a special assessment?
Maybe — and you can usually see it coming. A special assessment is a one-time bill to owners when reserves can’t cover a required repair. Before you buy, read three documents: the most recent milestone report (what work is coming), the SIRS (what should be funded), and the current budget (what is actually being funded). The gap between the second and third numbers is your assessment risk — not a guarantee, but the best early signal there is. Also ask for board meeting minutes — boards discuss looming projects long before the bill arrives. And since January 2026, associations with 25 or more units must post their official records online, which makes this homework easier than it used to be.
What does condo insurance really cost — and is it getting better?
Here’s the answer almost nobody gives straight: there are two different insurance markets, and they are not moving in the same direction. Your personal HO-6 policy rides the homeowner market — where 2026 brought real relief, including Citizens’ first personal-lines rate decrease since 2015. The association’s master policy rides the commercial market, and there the picture is uneven: Citizens’ condo-association rates still rose for 2026, while private carriers came back competing hard — Florida’s largest condo-association insurer reported its pricing down sharply year over year. From the committee chair: the buildings winning in this market are the hardened ones — impact glass, doors, and documented wind mitigation earn real credits and attract the competing carriers first. One more honest note: flood insurance is its own policy, and it is still trending up for many coastal properties. When you evaluate a building, ask when its replacement cost was last determined — Florida requires that at least every three years, through an independent appraisal or an update of one — what the deductibles are, and whether the wind-mitigation credits are documented. A well-run building wears its insurance file proudly.
What questions should I ask before buying any Florida condo?
Eleven of them — the ones I’d ask because I sit on the other side of the table. Get the Condo Interrogation List below. The short version: milestone status and findings, SIRS funding level versus budget, assessment history and anything pending, insurance appraisal date, and whether the reserves are actual cash, committed funding — approved assessments or signed financing — or just a plan nobody has voted on.
Three lessons the brochures won’t teach you
The Condo Interrogation List
Eleven questions to ask about any Florida condo before you offer — the ones I ask because I sit on the other side of the table. Tell me where to send it and it’s yours instantly.
