A discreet financing brief for executives purchasing a South Florida primary residence, separating condominium reserves from personal liquidity, project eligibility from preapproval, and review waivers from the obligations that remain.
For an executive establishing a South Florida primary residence, the financing brief deserves the same attention as the floor plan. A compelling address and a strong personal balance sheet do not resolve every underwriting question. The essential distinction is between borrower approval, condominium project approval, and compliance with applicable Florida inspection and reserve-study obligations.
Treat these as three separate workstreams. Borrower preapproval does not establish that a condominium is eligible for the proposed financing. State inspection compliance does not establish lender acceptance. A project-review waiver does not erase those distinctions.
For a Brickell search that includes 2200 Brickell, identify the financing category and review route before treating preapproval as transaction certainty. This is a diligence framework, not a statement about any named project’s eligibility. The standards discussed here are relevant to a 2026 purchase, but were not necessarily introduced in 2026.
The most consequential misunderstanding concerns the word reserves. Under the applicable Fannie Mae Full Review standards, a condominium budget generally must allocate at least 10% to replacement reserves for capital expenditures and deferred maintenance. That is an association funding requirement-not a requirement that the executive retain 10% of the purchase price after closing.
Personal post-closing liquidity is a separate underwriting calculation. Do not derive a required number of months or a dollar balance from the association’s budget allocation. Obtain the lender’s written borrower-reserve calculation for the actual loan program and transaction.
Ask the lender to specify the required amount, the assets it will accept, and how it will document their availability after closing. For an executive managing compensation, investments, and relocation expenses, that calculation should inform the closing plan-not remain an assumption until final underwriting.
The standard 10% calculation is not the only path under the applicable Full Review provisions. A lender may accept a qualifying reserve study instead, subject to the relevant conditions. These include adequate funded reserves that meet or exceed the study’s recommendations.
Possession of a study does not, by itself, establish that the alternative has been satisfied. The lender must evaluate both the study and the funding, then retain the study and its analysis in the project-approval file.
Special assessments cannot replace the required 10% budget reserve allocation under the applicable requirements. An assessment and a recurring reserve allocation must therefore be examined separately, not treated as interchangeable evidence of financial readiness.
When considering The Perigon Miami Beach as part of a Miami Beach search, request the project-specific documentation relevant to the proposed transaction. Do not infer reserve treatment or financing acceptance from an address, design pedigree, or asking price.
Before applying a Fannie Mae rule to the purchase, establish whether the proposed financing falls within that framework. A jumbo loan should not automatically be evaluated as though every Fannie Mae provision governs it.
Request a written financing brief identifying the loan category, maximum loan amount, borrower-reserve calculation, and anticipated project-review route. Ask the lender to distinguish applicable program requirements from any additional conditions it imposes. Those additional conditions are the practical focus of an overlay discussion.
Do not treat higher personal reserves, lower loan-to-value limits, or building-age restrictions as universal rules. The operative question is what this lender requires for this borrower, property, and loan product.
For a Fort Lauderdale search including Andare Residences Fort Lauderdale, use the same questions across competing financing proposals. A useful comparison identifies both borrower and project conditions, rather than presenting a rate without its approval assumptions.
Available project-review routes include Full Review, Limited Review, and the Project Eligibility Review Service, or PERS. The appropriate route depends on the project and transaction. Certain detached condominium units and qualifying small projects may not require a thorough project review, subject to applicable conditions.
A project-review waiver is not a blanket eligibility waiver. Applicable property-eligibility requirements remain. A project marked “Unavailable” in Condo Project Manager does not satisfy the waiver conditions. Those conditions also exclude condo hotels or motels, houseboat projects, timeshares, and segmented-ownership projects.
Nor is a project-review waiver an appraisal waiver. When an appraisal is obtained, applicable appraisal requirements remain relevant. Florida inspection obligations are also separate.
Ask the lender to identify the precise waiver or review route, the conditions supporting it, and the requirements still outstanding. Without that explanation, “review waived” is too broad to serve as a closing instruction.
Florida’s milestone-inspection requirements generally cover residential condominium and cooperative buildings with three or more habitable stories. The general schedule calls for an initial inspection by December 31 of the year the building reaches 30 years, measured from its certificate of occupancy, and every 10 years thereafter. Local authorities may require the first inspection at 25 years when local circumstances justify it.
A Structural Integrity Reserve Study, or SIRS, is generally required at least every 10 years for covered residential condominium buildings with three or more habitable stories. It identifies covered components, estimated remaining useful lives, and estimated replacement or deferred-maintenance costs to inform reserve funding.
For covered associations existing on or before July 1, 2022, the initial SIRS deadline was generally December 31, 2025, subject to exceptions and coordination provisions. Where a milestone inspection was required on or before December 31, 2026, applicable rules permit simultaneous completion of the SIRS and milestone inspection. This is not a universal extension.
For a West Palm Beach shortlist including Alba West Palm Beach, establish which obligations apply to the specific building. Do not assume a SIRS automatically satisfies the lender’s reserve-study alternative.
Before releasing relevant contingencies, obtain the association budget, financial statements, reserve study or SIRS, milestone and engineering documentation, insurance documentation, and assessment disclosures. Have the appropriate advisers reconcile those materials with the lender’s outstanding conditions.
Keep a concise written record of what is approved, what remains conditional, and which party must resolve each item. The objective is not simply to secure financing. It is to understand the residence’s funding obligations alongside the buyer’s own liquidity commitments.
For a discreet conversation about your South Florida primary-residence search, connect with MILLION.
If branded residences are on your mind — as a home or as an allocation — we would be glad to share what we are seeing, privately.
Begin a quiet conversationNo. The applicable Full Review requirement concerns the condominium association’s budget allocation to replacement reserves, not 10% of your purchase price held after closing.
Do not infer a personal reserve requirement from the association’s budget rule. Obtain the lender’s written calculation for your specific loan program and transaction.
A qualifying reserve study may be accepted subject to applicable conditions, including adequate funded reserves meeting or exceeding its recommendations. The lender must retain the study and its analysis.
No. Special assessments cannot replace the required 10% budget reserve allocation under the applicable Full Review guidance.
No. Borrower approval, project approval, and Florida inspection compliance are separate checks.
No. Confirm the financing category and applicable lender requirements before applying Fannie Mae standards to a jumbo transaction.
Routes include Full Review, Limited Review, and PERS. Availability depends on the project and transaction, with certain properties eligible for reduced review obligations subject to conditions.
It does not eliminate applicable property-eligibility requirements or Florida inspection obligations, and it is not an appraisal waiver. A project marked Unavailable in Condo Project Manager does not satisfy the applicable waiver conditions.
Covered buildings generally require an initial inspection by December 31 of the year they reach 30 years and every 10 years thereafter. Local authorities may require an initial inspection at 25 years when justified.
No. The general initial deadline for covered associations existing on or before July 1, 2022, was December 31, 2025, with exceptions and applicable coordination provisions allowing simultaneous completion with certain milestone inspections.
