Buying a Condo in Hollywood

Why building age is the first filter in Hollywood

Hollywood grew early. Much of its condo stock went up in the 1960s and 1970s along the beach, the Intracoastal and the main boulevards. A building from 1969 is well past the 30-year mark that triggers Florida's milestone inspection, and many have already been through their second inspection cycle under Broward County's older 40-year safety program.

Old is not automatically bad. A 1970s concrete building that has replaced its roof, balconies, windows and plumbing, and has the reserves to keep up, can be a solid purchase. A similar building that deferred that work is now facing it all at once under the new rules. The price tag on two such units can look the same while the five-year cost of owning them can differ by a wide margin.

Milestone inspections, SIRS and special assessments

For condo buildings three or more habitable stories tall, Florida requires:

• A milestone inspection by December 31 of the year the building turns 30 (25 if the local building official requires it), then every 10 years
• A Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) every 10 years, covering roof, structure, fireproofing, plumbing, electrical, waterproofing and windows
• Fully funded SIRS reserves for budgets adopted on or after December 31, 2024, with no owner vote to waive them

In older Hollywood buildings, the SIRS often shows reserve needs that were never funded. Associations close that gap with higher monthly fees, a special assessment, a bank loan repaid through fees, or some mix of all three. Ask directly which one your building chose and how much is still owed per unit. The seller should disclose approved assessments, but proposed ones show up only in board minutes.

Beach buildings versus inland complexes

Hollywood's condo market splits roughly in two. On the barrier island, buildings along the ocean and the Intracoastal sit near the Broadwalk and the beach. They cost more per square foot, carry higher insurance, and face salt air that wears concrete and steel faster. Inland, west of the Intracoastal and out toward the western neighborhoods, you find garden-style and mid-rise complexes with lower prices and usually lower fees.

Census data shows 9.5% of the city's homes are seasonal, much of it concentrated in beach-area condos. Buildings with many part-year owners can be slower to approve big repairs, so read how past votes went. In inland complexes, look for a high share of owner-occupants, which also helps with mortgage approval.

Rules matter here too. Some older Hollywood buildings are age-restricted 55+, some limit pets by size or number, and some restrict where you can park a work vehicle. Each rule shrinks the group of people who can buy from you later. Read the declaration and the current rules before you make an offer, and ask whether any amendments are on the next meeting agenda.

Price by size and the nearby condo markets

Zillow's bedroom data across all home types puts a typical one-bedroom in Hollywood at about $185,623 and a two-bedroom at about $368,872. The large jump to two bedrooms reflects that many two-bedroom homes in the city are small houses and villas, and that two-bedroom beach condos price well above inland ones. Most inland condos fall below the lower-third mark of about $238,358.

For comparison, Zillow's all-homes values in other Broward cities with big condo markets are lower: Pompano Beach about $350,137, Tamarac about $291,266, Deerfield Beach about $271,903 and Lauderhill about $211,924. Those figures include houses, so use them as a rough sense of where Hollywood sits rather than a direct condo comparison.

Insurance, flood and getting a loan

Ask the association for the master policy declarations page. You want the premium, the wind deductible and whether the building carries flood coverage. Many beach and Intracoastal buildings sit in high-risk FEMA zones, where lenders require flood insurance. Your HO-6 policy should include loss assessment coverage, which helps pay your share if the master policy's deductible gets passed to owners after a storm.

Lenders review the building before approving a conventional loan. Low reserves, high delinquency, litigation or an unfinished milestone repair can make it non-warrantable. That leaves cash or a portfolio loan with a larger down payment. Some older Hollywood buildings are co-ops rather than condos, which changes financing and ownership entirely, so confirm which you are buying.

Closing costs and timelines in Broward

In Broward County, the buyer customarily pays for the owner's title insurance policy, which uses a state-set rate. The seller usually pays the deed stamps at $0.70 per $100. With a mortgage, you pay note stamps at $0.35 per $100 and the 0.2% intangible tax. On a $200,000 loan, that is about $700 in note stamps and $400 in intangible tax.

Many Hollywood associations require buyer approval before closing, which can include an application and interview. Build that into your timeline. You have 7 days, excluding weekends and legal holidays, after receiving the association documents to cancel a resale purchase. Use them to read the SIRS, the budget and a year of minutes. A shortlist of buildings with finished inspections and funded reserves is the fastest way to narrow your search.