The pre-offer file
Every one of these is a building-level fact. None of them is visible from inside the apartment.
The most expensive mistake available in this market is a beautiful line-through unit in a badly governed building. These five documents are how you avoid it, and you should ask for all five in writing before you make an offer — not during inspection, when you are already committed.
1. The certificate of occupancy date
Not for nostalgia. The CO year determines the milestone inspection year: add thirty, or twenty-five where the local agency requires it sooner. That single piece of arithmetic tells you whether a structural inspection lands inside your holding period.
2. The milestone inspection report
If it has been performed, you want the report and what it found — not the summary and not the board’s characterisation of it. If it has not been performed and the deadline has passed, that is itself the finding.
3. The structural integrity reserve study
The SIRS is the document that converts the inspection into money. It scopes the work and puts numbers against components with defined useful lives. Without it, any statement about future assessments is a guess.
4. The master insurance policy and its per-unit deductible
Ask for the declarations page, not a summary. Compare the per-unit deductible against the $50,000 ceiling. Above that figure, financed buyers are excluded — which affects your resale, not just your purchase.
5. Three years of budgets and reserve balances
Measure them against the 15% minimum reserve allocation arriving on 4 January 2027. You are reading for trend. An association climbing toward the standard is managing it. One sitting flat and well below it has a decision coming, and owners will fund it.
How to read the response
A well-run association produces these quickly because it already has them. Delay, partial answers, or a suggestion that you can review them after going under contract are all information.
You are not being difficult. You are asking a building to demonstrate that it is what it is being sold as.
Frequently asked questions
What documents should I request before offering on a Miami condo?
The certificate of occupancy date, the milestone inspection report, the structural integrity reserve study, the master insurance policy declarations page, and three years of budgets and reserve balances.
Why does the certificate of occupancy date matter?
It determines the building’s milestone inspection year — CO year plus 30, or plus 25 where the local enforcement agency requires it sooner.
What if the seller will not provide these?
Treat it as information. A well-run association already holds all five documents and produces them quickly.
Sources and further reading
- Florida Statute 553.899 — mandatory structural inspectionsflsenate.gov
- Josh Stein Realtor — Miami Luxury Condos, building by buildingjoshsteinrealtor.com