A Florida condominium is a form of ownership, not a building type. You own your unit outright and hold an undivided share of the common elements with every other owner. An association governs the property and levies assessments to maintain it.
Why the association matters more here than the unit
When you finance a condominium the lender underwrites the building as well as you. A unit can be immaculate and still be unfinanceable because of the project around it.
Project review looks at owner-occupancy levels, the share held by any single entity, the proportion of owners delinquent on assessments, litigation involving the association, insurance coverage and reserve funding. A project that passes is called warrantable. One that fails is non-warrantable, and conventional financing usually disappears with it.
Two Florida rules that decide financeability
After 2021 Florida added requirements that exist in no other state, and they now sit at the centre of condo lending here.
- Milestone inspection, under section 553.899 of the Florida Statutes. A building three storeys or more must be inspected by 31 December of the year it reaches 30 years of age, measured from the certificate of occupancy, and every 10 years after. If it sits within 3 miles of the coastline the trigger drops to 25 years. The association pays, a licensed architect or engineer performs it, and phase one must be completed within 180 days of written notice.
- Structural Integrity Reserve Study, under section 718.112(2)(g). A visual inspection that identifies the components the association must maintain and sets out a plan to fund their repair and replacement.
An association that has deferred either can fail lender project review even when nothing is visibly wrong. It can also face a large special assessment once the study lands, which is a real cost to a new owner.
What to ask for before you make an offer
- The completed condominium questionnaire
- The milestone inspection report, if the building has reached its trigger age
- The structural integrity reserve study and the current reserve balance
- Minutes showing any special assessment under discussion
Read warrantable versus non-warrantable condo for how each item is judged, and non-QM loans for the route when a building falls outside agency rules.
Definition reviewed by Renzo Johnson, Licensed Mortgage Loan Originator. Last updated August 2026.