How Do Florida's New Condo Laws Affect Selling a Condo in Sunny Isles Beach?

Florida's condo safety laws affect your sale in two ways: you have to give your buyer your building's milestone inspection summary and its structural integrity reserve study (SIRS), and the buyer can cancel within 7 business days after getting them (Florida Statutes 718.503). In Sunny Isles Beach, where the median home took 186 days to sell, up from 148 a year earlier (Redfin, August 2026), a building with clean, current reports is a real advantage.

Most of the buildings along Collins Avenue are well over three stories, so these rules apply to almost every condo seller in the city. Here is what they mean for you, in plain terms.

What documents do I have to give a buyer when I sell my condo?

Under Florida law, a resale buyer is entitled to these documents at the seller's expense (718.503(2)):

• The declaration of condominium, the association's articles of incorporation, and its bylaws and rules
• The most recent annual financial statement and annual budget
• The inspector-prepared summary of the milestone inspection report, if your building has one
• The association's most recent structural integrity reserve study, or a statement that one hasn't been completed
• The turnover inspection report, if one was done on or after July 1, 2023
• The association's "Frequently Asked Questions and Answers" sheet and the state's governance form

The buyer can cancel in writing within 7 days, not counting weekends and legal holidays, after signing the contract and receiving these documents. Any waiver of that right has no effect. If the contract doesn't include the required disclosure language, the buyer can void it any time before closing.

What that means for you: order the documents from your management company before you list, not after you get an offer. If a buyer gets them on day one, their 7-day window starts right away, and you don't find out on day 20 that the deal is coming apart.

What is a milestone inspection, and does my building need one?

Any condo building three habitable stories or taller needs a milestone inspection by December 31 of the year it turns 30, and every 10 years after that (Florida Statutes 553.899). The local building department can move that to 25 years when local conditions, including closeness to salt water, call for it. That matters on a barrier island like Sunny Isles Beach.

Phase one is a visual check by a licensed engineer or architect. Phase two, with testing, is only required if phase one finds substantial structural deterioration. If your building's summary shows a phase two or a list of required repairs, a buyer will read that as future cost, and you should price with that in mind.

What is a structural integrity reserve study, and why do buyers care?

A SIRS looks at the big-ticket parts of the building, like the roof, structure, waterproofing, plumbing, electrical and windows, and sets how much the association has to save for them. Associations need one at least every 10 years. Associations that existed on or before July 1, 2022, had to complete their first study by December 31, 2025, with a final outside limit of December 31, 2026 (Florida Statutes 718.112).

For budgets adopted on or after December 31, 2024, an owner-controlled association that has to have a SIRS can no longer vote to skip or cut the reserves for those items. The main exception is a vote to terminate the condominium. Buyers know this, so they look at the SIRS and the budget together to see whether the monthly fee is likely to rise.

There is one temporary option. For budgets adopted through December 31, 2028, if the building finished a milestone inspection within the past 2 calendar years, the board can, with a majority vote of all owners, pause or reduce reserve contributions for up to two annual budgets to pay for the repairs the inspection called for. If your building did that, expect buyers to ask when full reserve payments start again.

How do these rules affect my price and time on market in Sunny Isles Beach?

This is a buyer's market right now. The median sale price in Sunny Isles Beach was $644,500, up 9.7% from a year earlier. Homes sold at 92.3% of list price, only 1.1% sold above list, and 30.0% had a price drop (Redfin, August 2026). When buyers have that much choice, they compare buildings, and the one with finished inspections, a funded reserve plan and no surprises in the paperwork gets the offer.

If your building has a special assessment coming or repairs underway, that doesn't mean you can't sell. It means the price and the paperwork have to tell the same story from the first showing. I market every listing the way I show neighborhoods on my YouTube channel: video tours of the home and the area around it (https://www.youtube.com/@miamifineliving). For more on listing in this city, see my page on selling a home in Sunny Isles Beach.

FAQ

Can a buyer back out because of the milestone inspection or reserve study?

Yes. Florida law gives a resale condo buyer 7 days, not counting weekends and legal holidays, to cancel in writing after signing the contract and receiving the required documents, including the milestone inspection summary and SIRS (Florida Statutes 718.503).

What if my association hasn't finished its structural integrity reserve study?

You still have to tell the buyer. The law lets you give a statement that the SIRS has not been completed in place of the study itself. Expect buyers to ask why, since the outside deadline in the statute is December 31, 2026.

Do these rules apply to every condo in Sunny Isles Beach?

They apply to condo buildings three habitable stories or taller. A low-rise building under three stories is not covered by the milestone inspection and SIRS requirements, but you still owe the buyer the other condo documents.

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Roman Ivanov is a South Florida listing agent with Miami Fine Living by Roman Ivanov (Real Broker, LLC), helping homeowners sell condos and single-family homes in Aventura, Sunny Isles Beach, North Miami Beach and Hollywood. 160 career sales, licensed in Florida since 2014, 5.0 on Google, and fluent in English and Russian. Free home value: https://www.miamifineliving.net/cma/property-valuation/ · (786) 909-4892