The condo document stack, decoded
- Estoppel certificate: what's owed on YOUR unit — assessments, balances, violations, transfer fees (Florida caps the fees and binds the association to its answers)
- Budget & financial statements: is the building funding its future or deferring it?
- Reserve schedule: post-Surfside law pushes buildings toward funded reserves — underfunded reserves forecast special assessments
- Milestone inspection status: buildings of statutory age must complete structural inspections; the findings are diligence gold
- Declaration, bylaws, rules: rentals, pets, renovations — the private law you're agreeing to live under
- Meeting minutes: where next year's special assessment is discussed this year
Your statutory review window
Florida gives resale condo buyers a document-review right with a short cancellation window after receiving the governing documents and financial disclosures. It is one of the strongest buyer protections in Florida real estate and most buyers waste it. We make sure the documents actually reach you and flag the deadline; read them (or have counsel read them) while the exit door is still open.
Approvals and logistics
Many associations require buyer applications, interviews, and approval certificates — with fees and timelines that belong on the closing calendar from day one. We calendar the approval path at file opening, coordinate the estoppel, and make sure closing day doesn't collide with an association's board-meeting schedule.