South Florida Cash Home Buyers

Before anyone can price a South Florida house, someone has to find out which government holds its records, and each county answers that differently. Miami-Dade has two layers: the cities, each with its own building official, and a large unincorporated area that the county runs directly. The Property Appraiser’s folio number tells you which one you are in, because unincorporated folios begin with 30. Kendall has no city hall, so its permits and code cases are at the county.

Broward is almost entirely incorporated. The county’s own code officers cover only the Broward Municipal Services District, a handful of neighborhoods such as Broadview Park, Roosevelt Gardens and Washington Park; everywhere else the city is in charge. Palm Beach County has 39 municipalities, and its Code Compliance Division and Permit Center serve only the unincorporated land between them. In all three, the town printed on your mail is a postal name and may not be the government that issued your permits, so we confirm the jurisdiction from the parcel record before ordering any lien or permit search.

Condo owners feel the biggest difference. Miami-Dade and Broward each run a county building inspection program that is older and wider than Florida’s milestone law. Miami-Dade’s began in 1975 and is still called the 40-year recertification, though newer buildings now come due sooner. Broward’s Building Safety Inspection Program begins 25 years after the certificate of occupancy and repeats every 10 years. Single-family houses are exempt in both counties.

Palm Beach County has no county program of that kind. Its building officials apply the state milestone inspection in section 553.899, Florida Statutes, to condominium and cooperative buildings of three stories or more, and the same state law reaches the Treasure Coast. Wherever your unit is, ask the association for its inspection report and its structural integrity reserve study, because a buyer is entitled to both under section 718.503, and for any assessment the repairs have produced.

An estate or a foreclosure goes through a different circuit court depending on the county: the Eleventh for Miami-Dade, the Seventeenth for Broward, the Fifteenth for Palm Beach, and the Nineteenth, which also covers Indian River and Okeechobee, for St. Lucie and Martin. Miami-Dade probate is handled at the Osvaldo N. Soto Miami-Dade Justice Center, Broward’s at the Central Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, and Palm Beach’s at three courthouses, in West Palm Beach, Delray Beach and Palm Beach Gardens. Under section 732.901, whoever holds the original will must deposit it with the clerk within 10 days of learning of the death.

Each of the five clerks runs mortgage foreclosure sales online, but the calendars differ. Palm Beach’s are generally held Monday through Thursday at 10 a.m., and Martin’s on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. The docket in your case shows whether a sale date has been set. This is general information, not legal advice; talk to a Florida attorney or a HUD-approved housing counselor about your own case.

North of Palm Beach County we buy in St. Lucie and Martin counties from the same Hollywood office, and we book walkthroughs there ahead of time because of the drive. Port St. Lucie and Fort Pierce each run their own building and code departments, and in Fort Pierce the final water, sewer and power bills come from the Fort Pierce Utilities Authority, a utility the city created in 1972 that operates separately from city hall. Most of Martin County is unincorporated, so the county Building Department in Stuart issues most permits there; Stuart, Sewall’s Point, Jupiter Island, Ocean Breeze and the Village of Indiantown keep their own.

Many older homes on the Treasure Coast still use septic tanks. Port St. Lucie has been connecting them to city sewer since 1999, and Martin County runs its own conversion program, Connect to Protect. We buy septic homes as they stand, so you do not need to connect before selling; a sewer assessment recorded on the parcel is paid or carried at closing. Both counties were designated for FEMA individual assistance after Hurricane Milton in October 2024, and Florida’s flood disclosure, section 689.302, asks a seller whether they received federal help for flood damage.