7 Reasons Your Florida Condo Isn't Selling

Is your building on a list your lender can see and you can't?

Fannie Mae keeps an internal report of condominium projects that are ineligible for agency financing. Loans on units in projects flagged "Unavailable" in Condo Project Manager cannot be purchased by Fannie Mae. The report circulates to lenders — it is not published for owners or associations, and lenders have been instructed not to share it.

Florida carries a disproportionate share. Data obtained by the law firm Allcock Marcus and reported in spring 2025 put Florida at 1,438 ineligible buildings, with 696 of those — nearly half — in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, roughly double the South Florida count of two years earlier. The database is confidential and updated continuously, so treat that as a point-in-time snapshot rather than a live count. The direction is what matters: post-Surfside structural and reserve requirements pushed the number up sharply and it has not come back down.

This is why the pattern looks so strange from the seller's side. Three qualified buyers, three dead contracts, vague feedback each time. Nobody is lying to you. Your agent may not know either.

Do the association's reserves clear the bar?

Fannie Mae currently requires reserves of at least 10% of the association's annual budgeted income. Under Lender Letter LL-2026-03 that threshold rises to 15% for loan applications dated on or after January 4, 2027 — so an association clearing the bar today may not clear it in eighteen months.

Under Florida law, associations can no longer waive reserves for the mandatory structural components: roof, load-bearing walls and primary structural members, fire protection, plumbing, electrical, waterproofing, windows and exterior doors, and any item with a deferred maintenance or replacement cost over $10,000.

One piece of good news, because most guidance still circulating is out of date on it: the separate 50% investor-concentration cap was retired effective March 18, 2026. A high share of tenant-occupied units in your building is no longer, by itself, a Fannie Mae disqualifier. Two related tests still apply — 15% or more of units 60 or more days delinquent on assessments, and any single entity owning more than 20% of units in a project of 21 or more.

Is a rumored assessment costing you more than a real one would?

Buyers price the unknown at worst case. "There might be an assessment coming" is far more damaging than a documented $28,000 assessment with a payment schedule and a scope of work, because the first has no ceiling and the second is just math.

As of January 1, 2026, Florida associations with 25 or more units must provide owners access to governing documents, budgets and reserve studies through a dedicated website or app, and owners are entitled to view completed structural integrity reserve study and milestone reports within 30 days of completion. You have a right to the number.

Is the milestone inspection done — and what did it find?

Under Florida Statute 553.899, milestone inspections are required for residential condominium and cooperative buildings three or more habitable stories in height. Phase 1 is a visual structural examination by a licensed engineer or architect; Phase 2 follows if substantial structural deterioration is identified.

Consequences for missing a deadline escalate quickly and can include daily fines, referral for an unsafe building determination, and in serious cases a vacate order. Any of that will stop a loan.

Is it the price, or is it the payment?

The buyer's qualifying payment includes your HOA dues. Add a special assessment, a reset tax bill and Florida insurance, and a unit priced perfectly well can still be unaffordable to the person standing in it.

Dues themselves are under pressure. The building's master policy must carry replacement-cost coverage, and effective July 1, 2026 the per-unit deductible is capped at $50,000 — a change some associations are absorbing through higher premiums.

A $15,000 price cut may move the monthly payment less than a seller-paid concession would, at a higher cost to your net.

Are you priced into a bracket that hides you?

Listing at $299,900 to look sharper than $300,000 removes you from every buyer searching the $300K–$325K band. In a market where the financeable buyer pool is already narrowed, cutting your visible audience in half is an expensive way to be clever.

Are your comps from a market your buyers can't access?

A closed sale from two years ago in your building may have used a review process that no longer exists. If your building's financing status has changed since then, those comps describe a market your buyers cannot reach.

Comp against recent sales in comparably situated buildings — same age band, same inspection status, same financing reality — not against the county average or your own building's history.