Q&A – How Much Florida’s New Condo Laws will Save You – Driven By Braman Motorcars
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Today’s Entry: Hi Brian: I listen to your show most mornings. Today's show, Wed. June 25, 2025, Q&A caught my attention. Can you tell me where you got the estimates for unit owner savings. I tried searching on the Internet and could not find anything. Are those estimates your own figures??? Thank you.
Bottom Line: So yes, in yesterday’s Q&A, which addressed the two new Florida laws aimed primarily at addressing Florida’s condo affordability crisis brought about in part due to new laws passed following the collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, I offered up this detailed breakdown of the laws...
For impacted condo associations, the range in potential savings is realistically between $1,750 to $4,900 per unit in year 1 with residual savings of $750-$3,700 per unit in subsequent years. This will figure to be substantive savings for owners in older condo buildings while providing a number of reforms for all condo owners regardless of the age of the building.
In answer to today’s question, the answer is that yes, this is my estimate. I’d considered breaking out the methodology yesterday, but realized that would be a ton of detail on top of what was already an info heavy breakout of the changes within the law... But since you asked and also because I’ve received multiple questions around this topic this week – I'm happy to break it out a bit more for you.
The key in this conversation is about potential savings is “impacted associations”. If you’re in a newer condo building, many of the new rules and regs apply, and from a cost savings perspective may be helpful, in time, however, its largely ineffectual financially right now (although there may be savings in the amount of reserve funds needed over the short term). The line of demarcation in this conversation is condo buildings that are 30 years old or older. This is the point of primary impact where buildings are subject to “milestone inspections” (which are major expenses for associations), commonly significant maintenance, repairs, etc. are ordered based on inspection findings which has not only led to high special assessments but also much higher overall assessments to account for rising reserves as well. Additionally, findings can impact insurance options/eligibility and cost. So, here’s the next thing. The cost savings apply to most local condo owners.
84% of Palm Beach County’s condo buildings are 30 years old or older. Notably, the average sales price for a condo in Palm Beach County that’s 30 years old or older is 15% lower than in newer buildings largely due to these factors – so it’s had an enormous impact on resale prices that’s well in excess of my savings estimates. But about those...
These are major cost saving aspects of the legislation:
- Extends the reserve study requirement for one year and allows for a 2 year pause in reserve fund contributions to prioritize funding critical repairs identified in milestone inspections (this is why cost savings is largest up front)
- Increases the replacement cost of repairs required to be reserved and considered in the Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) from $10,000 to $25,000 to prioritize critical repairs (this provides residual savings through lower mandated reserve levels)
- Provides additional funding options for associations to aid flexibility (allows for associations to pay for inspections and repairs through a loan or line of credit which can mitigate the need for special assessments)
But the biggest impact for many condo associations is the insurance impact. There’s been a cascading cost effect with the mandated SIRS, or Structural Integrity Reserve Studies for buildings 30 years old and older and milestone inspections for condo buildings every ten years.
The inspections are expensive to begin with - often resulting in an expense into the hundreds of dollars per unit for a building’s inspection (my mean calculation was $275 per unit). Approximately 80% of inspections result in recommended maintenance/repairs, about a third of which are determined to be “major” or structural concerns (concrete restoration, roof replacement, post tension cables, etc.). For the 47% or so of buildings that have “minor” repairs needed, the average cost per unit/increase in dues to support reserves has been approximately $3,500. For the average “major” finding it’s been approximately $15,000 per unit (you will find examples that have gone over $100k per unit).
And then there’s the insurance piece. Often inspections have led to higher costs to maintain insurance coverage or lost coverage if repairs aren’t made right away. For some associations, this has become the most expensive part of the process. Entering this year, fewer than half of condo associations of older buildings were in full compliance with the inspections process. This has contributed to many associations losing access to Citizen’s property insurance which has been an average of 20% cheaper for condo associations for buildings 3-miles or more away from the coastline than private market providers, and commonly half the insurance cost (with examples of up to 3x the cost) for buildings close to or on the coastline.
The estimate range I provided, is a blended number factoring in all of these dynamics. Obviously, the new law doesn’t make the inspections go away, or potentially needed repairs for that matter, but it does provide anywhere from one to two additional years to come up with funds to pay for inspections and to build reserves, while also permanently making the mandated reserve funds less burdensome. In the meantime, this also helps from an insurance eligibility perspective – with Citizens especially.