Home/Buyer guides/How do you know the building is sound before you buy?

Buyers · Broward + Palm Beach

How do you know the building is sound before you buy?

Short answer

You read the building’s own records before you write the offer, not during inspection. The reserve study or SIRS, the milestone inspection report, recent minutes, the budget, and the insurance position will tell you more about your future cost of ownership than the unit itself will.

Last verified August 4, 2026

The unit is the smaller half of the decision

Buyers spend their attention on the kitchen and the view. The cost that reshapes a budget usually arrives from the building: a reserve shortfall, an inspection finding, an insurance renewal, or an assessment the board has been discussing for two years.

None of that is hidden. It sits in documents you are entitled to read, and most of it can be reviewed before you commit.

If financing shapes the search, use the official FHA condo lookup or VA condo lookup, then ask which lenders can review the exact project issue. The Broward and Palm Beach FHA guide covers regional name matching, while master insurance can affect project eligibility separately.

What Florida law now puts on the record

Florida Statutes §553.899 requires a milestone inspection for condominium and cooperative buildings three habitable stories or more, by December 31 of the year the building turns 30, then every 10 years. A local enforcement agency may require it at 25 years where local circumstances such as proximity to salt water apply — a local determination, so confirm with the building department for the specific address.

Separately, a structural integrity reserve study establishes what the association must reserve for. Together these two documents tell you what the building knows about itself.

Read the minutes

Budgets tell you what was decided. Minutes tell you what is coming. A board debating a roof, a garage, or an insurance renewal across several meetings is describing your future assessment before it exists as a number.

A practical sequence

Minutes first, then the reserve study, then the inspection report, then the budget. Read in that order and the budget stops being a list of figures and starts being a story you already recognise.

Choose the next building-record question

Choose a city-specific buyer decision

Where Alexandra fits

She represents buyers as well as sellers, and she works in the price band where these questions decide the outcome — her published range is $70K–$570K. Having spent years on the listing side of condo documents, she reads them from the position of knowing which questions a seller may hope a buyer does not ask.

She does not provide legal, tax, engineering, or lending advice. Those decisions stay with the professionals who own them.

The co-op versus condo comparison identifies the ownership form before the broader building review.

What should I read before making an offer on a Florida condo?

Review the current budget and financials, recent board minutes, master-insurance information, assessment notices, reserve study or SIRS, and available milestone or engineering reports. Ask which documents are current and which remain pending.

Can I get a mortgage on any condo?

No. The lender evaluates both the borrower and the condominium project under the selected loan program. Insurance, repairs, reserves, litigation, and other project conditions can affect that decision.

Does a special assessment mean I should walk away?

Not automatically. Confirm why it was adopted, whether the amount and payment schedule are final, what work it funds, what remains unpaid, and how the contract allocates responsibility at closing.

Does a completed milestone inspection guarantee that a building is safe?

No. Read the signed report and any Phase 2 findings or repair recommendations; completion alone is not a guarantee of future condition or cost. Florida Statutes §553.899 defines the inspection's scope and requires Phase 2 when Phase 1 identifies substantial structural deterioration.

What is the difference between a milestone inspection and a SIRS?

A milestone inspection addresses structural condition, while a SIRS evaluates specified components, reserve balances, and a funding plan. Florida DBPR treats them as separate requirements even when an association coordinates their timing.

Evidence ledger

Read the sources.

Education only—not legal, tax, lending, engineering, or title advice. Association records, contracts, statutes, and professional guidance control the result.

Direct broker guidance

Bring the complication.
Build the sale plan.

Call (561) 929-5276 or email Alexandradupont7@gmail.com. You reach Alexandra directly.

Call (561) 929-5276 ↗Email Alexandradupont7@gmail.com ↗Talk to Alexandra ↗