FHA Approved Condos Florida

How to check if a Florida condo is FHA approved

HUD keeps a public search of approved condominium projects on its website. You can search by state, county, city or project name. The result shows the project's status and the approval expiration date.

• Approved: FHA loans are possible on units in the project, subject to the borrower and appraisal.
• Expired or withdrawn: the association let the approval lapse, or HUD withdrew it. A lender may be able to help the association renew, or use a single-unit approval.
• Rejected: the project didn't meet the requirements when last reviewed.
• Not listed: the association never applied. Many Florida buildings fall here.

Project approvals generally last three years, so a building approved in the past can easily be expired today. Search the exact legal name of the condominium as it appears on the declaration, because marketing names and legal names often differ.

Single-unit approval when the building isn't on the list

Since 2019, FHA has allowed single-unit approval, sometimes called spot approval, for a unit in a building without project approval. The lender reviews the project and the unit for that one loan.

Limits apply. FHA caps how many units in a building can carry FHA loans under single-unit approvals, the project has to meet owner-occupancy and financial standards, and new construction or recently converted buildings generally don't qualify. Not every lender offers single-unit approvals, and those that do need the association to complete a questionnaire and provide its budget, insurance and other documents.

Ask your lender up front whether they do single-unit approvals and how long the review takes. Then ask the association's manager whether they've completed FHA questionnaires recently. A responsive manager makes this route work; a slow one can push you past your loan approval deadline.

VA loans work on a separate list. A building can be FHA approved and not VA approved, or the reverse, and conventional loans follow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rules that are separate again. If you're a veteran, check the VA's condo search too. If a building fails every agency review, the remaining options are a non-warrantable condo loan, usually with a larger down payment, or cash, and that also shapes who can buy the unit from you later.

What usually keeps Florida buildings off the list

FHA reviews the building as a borrower would review a business. Common reasons for rejection or no approval in Florida:

• Owner-occupancy too low: FHA generally wants at least half of units owner-occupied. Seasonal and investor-heavy buildings can miss this.
• High delinquency: too many owners behind on dues.
• Weak reserves or budget: the budget has to fund reserves at an adequate level.
• Structural issues or deferred maintenance: critical repairs, unsafe conditions or pending major work. Since Florida's post-Surfside law, milestone inspection and Structural Integrity Reserve Study findings have pushed more buildings into this category.
• Litigation: certain lawsuits involving the association, particularly over construction defects or safety.
• Commercial space above FHA's limits, or a single entity owning too many units.
• Insurance gaps: inadequate master hazard, liability or fidelity coverage, or no flood coverage when the building is in a high-risk FEMA zone.
• Restrictions on sale: rules like a right of first refusal that FHA doesn't accept, depending on how they're written.

Some boards simply don't apply, because the application costs money and time. That alone can keep an otherwise healthy building off the list.

The money: down payment, mortgage insurance and closing costs

FHA allows 3.5% down with a credit score of 580 or higher, and 10% down for scores from 500 to 579. Some examples using Zillow's typical condo values:

• Florida statewide, $262,592: 3.5% down is about $9,190; 10% is about $26,259.
• Ocala, $120,270: 3.5% is about $4,209.
• Daytona Beach, $153,811: 3.5% is about $5,383.
• Orlando, $170,712: 3.5% is about $5,975.
• Tampa, $194,297: 3.5% is about $6,800.

FHA loans carry an upfront mortgage insurance premium of 1.75% of the loan, usually financed into it, plus an annual premium paid monthly. On a $262,592 condo with 3.5% down, the upfront premium is about $4,435.

Florida closing costs add to that: the doc stamp tax on the note is $0.35 per $100 of the loan, and the intangible tax is 0.2% of the mortgage. Your monthly payment also includes the condo fee, which FHA counts in your debt ratio, so a building with a high fee can limit how much you qualify for.

Florida condo law and FHA: what changed for buyers

Florida's condo safety laws passed after the 2021 Surfside collapse affect FHA buyers in two ways. First, buildings three or more habitable stories need milestone inspections and a Structural Integrity Reserve Study, and for budgets adopted on or after December 31, 2024, owners can't waive or cut those reserves. Buildings that were underfunded are raising fees or levying special assessments to catch up, and lenders now look at those reports.

Second, a building in the middle of major structural repairs may not qualify for any agency financing, FHA included, until the work is done. That can make an otherwise attractive unit cash-only for a period.

On the positive side, a building that has completed its milestone inspection, funded its reserves and finished its repairs is in a stronger position to get or keep approval, and its units are easier to resell to the next FHA buyer. As a resale buyer you have 7 days, excluding weekends and legal holidays, after receiving the association documents to cancel, so read the inspection reports and budget in that window.

A practical order of steps

• Get preapproved with a lender who does FHA condo loans and, ideally, single-unit approvals.
• Check each building on HUD's list before touring units. Note the expiration date.
• For unlisted buildings, ask the lender whether a single-unit approval is realistic and what the association must provide.
• Ask the association for the budget, reserve study, milestone report, insurance certificates and owner-occupancy figure.
• Write the offer with a financing contingency and enough time for the condo review.
• Order an inspection of the unit and get an HO-6 insurance quote.

If you send me your budget and target area, I'll put together a shortlist of buildings with current FHA approval and flag the ones where approval is about to expire.