Every conversation about buying an older condo in Miami now runs through two words that did not exist in the market’s vocabulary five years ago: milestone and reserves. Since the Surfside tragedy, Florida has rewritten the rules for how condo buildings are inspected and funded, and those rules are now repricing buildings across Miami. If you are buying, selling, or holding a condo here, this is the framework you need to understand.
What is a milestone inspection?
Florida law now requires condo buildings of three stories or more to undergo a structural milestone inspection when they turn 30 years old, and earlier, at 25, in many coastal areas. An engineer examines the building’s structural condition; if problems surface, a deeper phase-two inspection follows, and required repairs are no longer optional. The report becomes part of the building’s official record, which means buyers can and should read it before making an offer.
What is a structural integrity reserve study?
The second requirement is the SIRS, a structural integrity reserve study. Associations must now study what the roof, structure, waterproofing, plumbing, and other major systems will cost to maintain, and, critically, they must actually fund reserves for that work. The old practice of waiving reserves to keep monthly dues artificially low is gone for structural items. Buildings that deferred maintenance for decades are now being forced to catch up, all at once, through higher dues and special assessments.
What this is doing to prices
The market is splitting in two. Newer buildings and well-run older ones, the ones with clean milestone reports and funded reserves, are holding value. Older buildings with deferred maintenance are seeing price cuts that look like bargains and often are not, because the discount reflects an assessment that has not landed yet. A unit priced $150,000 below its neighbors is not a deal if the building is about to levy exactly that. This is a large part of why I focus my building guides on newer, design-led buildings: the carrying-cost math is knowable.
The questions to ask before you buy an older condo
Before you fall in love with a view, ask for the milestone inspection report, the SIRS, the current budget, the reserve balance, the assessment history, and the master insurance policy. Ask what percentage of reserves is funded and whether any special assessment has been discussed, not just approved. Sellers must disclose much of this, but the timing matters: you want it before you negotiate, not after. This due diligence is exactly where my valuations start, whether for Brickell or South Beach.
The honest bottom line
None of this makes older buildings unbuyable. Some of Miami’s best addresses are decades old, structurally sound, and honestly funded, and the new transparency actually makes them easier to buy with confidence. What the law has ended is the era of not knowing. The buildings that were quietly deferring their problems now have to show their math, and buyers who read that math carefully, or work with someone who does, are the ones who win in this market.
Barbara Gretsch · Miami Real Estate
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Barbara Gretsch is a REALTOR® with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices EWM Realty, serving Miami and South Florida’s $1M+ residential market, including Coconut Grove, Coral Gables, The Roads, Brickell, Key Biscayne, and Miami Beach. barbaragretsch.com