On a Florida condo, the lender underwrites the building too.
Since Surfside, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the State of Florida have all rewritten the rules for condo buildings — reserves, inspections, deferred maintenance. Plenty of Cape Coral and Fort Myers projects pass. Plenty don't, and the loan still happens with a different lender. Knowing which is which before you write the offer is the entire game.
Two approvals: you, and the project you're buying into.
A condo mortgage is a conventional, FHA, VA, or jumbo loan like any other — with one extra layer. Because your unit's value depends on a building you don't control, the lender reviews the condominium project itself: its budget and reserves, insurance, owner-occupancy mix, litigation, and physical condition. If the project fails, your loan can't be a standard conforming loan no matter how strong your credit is.
The rules got materially stricter after the 2021 Surfside collapse. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac now exclude projects with significant deferred maintenance, unfunded structural repairs, or reserves below their threshold, and Fannie maintains a list of projects it won't finance. Florida added its own requirements for older multi-story buildings: milestone structural inspections and a structural integrity reserve study, with reserves for structural components that associations can no longer vote to waive. Both sets of rules show up on the condo questionnaire your lender sends the association.
A project that passes is "warrantable" and gets normal financing. One that doesn't is "non-warrantable" and needs a portfolio or non-QM lender at different terms. As a broker we have both kinds, which is the point: the building decides the lender, and we know which lender before you're under contract.
Condo financing at a glance
- Loan types
- Conventional (most common), FHA and VA in approved projects, jumbo above the conforming limit, portfolio/non-QM for non-warrantable projects.
- Project review
- Lender sends the association a condo questionnaire; a limited review applies with larger down payments on primary residences, a full review otherwise.
- Warrantable tests
- Adequate reserves, no significant deferred maintenance or unfunded structural repairs, owner-occupancy and investor limits, limited commercial space, no disqualifying litigation, not operated as a hotel.
- Florida-specific
- Milestone inspection and structural integrity reserve study status for buildings three or more stories past the statutory age threshold; special-assessment disclosure.
- Insurance
- Association master policy (wind, and flood where required) reviewed by the lender; HO-6 walls-in policy on your unit.
- Non-warrantable
- Still financeable through portfolio lenders — expect a larger down payment and different pricing.
Rules summarized from Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac guidelines and Florida statute and subject to change; lender overlays vary. Not a commitment to lend or legal advice.
What we check on a Lee County condo before you fall in love with it.
Waterfront mid-rises along the Caloosahatchee, older Cape Coral canal condos, Fort Myers Beach rebuilds, 55+ communities. Each has its own way of tripping a lender review.
Milestone inspection and reserve study status.
Florida now requires older buildings of three or more stories to complete a milestone structural inspection and a structural integrity reserve study, and to fund structural reserves rather than waive them. A building that's behind on either, or facing a large repair from the findings, is exactly what the agencies' deferred-maintenance rules screen out.
We ask the association for the reports and the current budget before you offer. Fifteen minutes of reading tells us which lenders are in play.
Special assessments — and the insurance behind them.
Post-Ian roof and structural repairs, reserve catch-up, and steep master-policy premium increases have produced special assessments across Lee County. A pending or recently levied assessment shows up on the questionnaire, and your share of it counts in qualifying.
Your own HO-6 walls-in policy and any flood requirement on the unit are priced in too, so the payment you're approved for is the one you'll live with.
The HOA is the slowest party at the table.
The condo questionnaire and document package is the number-one delay on Lee County condo closings. Small self-managed associations and seasonal boards can take weeks. Florida's resale contract gives you a short rescission window after you receive the condo documents, which is your protection — and your deadline.
We send the questionnaire the day you go under contract, or earlier, and chase it daily.
First-time buyers, seasonal owners, downsizers — and anyone told "that building won't finance."
Condos are the entry point to waterfront in Cape Coral and Fort Myers, the natural second home for snowbirds, and the right-size move for a lot of downsizers. They're also where buyers get told "no" by a bank that only has one condo program. Non-warrantable doesn't mean unfinanceable. It means the wrong lender was asked.
Condotels, short-term-rental buildings, and brand-new projects still in developer control each have their own path. Ask; we'll tell you straight.
- Building check before the offer.Send the address. We check the FHA and VA approved lists, look for the project on the agencies' ineligible lists, and ask the association for the milestone, reserve study, and budget.
- Ten-minute pre-qualification.No credit pull to start. We price the loan with the actual HOA dues, HO-6 and flood estimates, and any assessment built in.
- Condo questionnaire out on day one.The lender's project review runs alongside your approval, not after it. We chase the HOA daily.
- Lender selection and lock.Warrantable: standard conventional, FHA, or VA lenders compete. Non-warrantable: portfolio lenders. Either way you see real terms and we lock in writing.
- Appraisal, underwriting, closing.Four to five weeks is realistic on a condo; the HOA package drives the timeline more than anything we control.
What Cape Coral and Fort Myers condo buyers ask us.
If yours isn't here, text (239) 790-PURE and we'll add it.
Why is it harder to get a condo loan in Florida now?
What is a warrantable vs. non-warrantable condo?
What does a lender ask the condo association for?
Can I get an FHA or VA loan on a Cape Coral or Fort Myers condo?
What insurance do I need on a Florida condo?
What happens if the building fails the lender's review after I'm under contract?
Send us the building. We'll tell you if it finances — and with whom.
Ten minutes, no credit pull. Address first, application second.