We Buy Houses in Aventura, Florida

Florida’s milestone-inspection law, section 553.899 of the Florida Statutes, covers condominium and cooperative buildings three or more habitable stories tall. The first inspection is due by December 31 of the year the building turns 30, then every 10 years, and the local building official can move it to 25 years based on local conditions such as nearness to salt water. Phase one is a visual review by an architect or engineer; phase two, which can include testing, is required only when phase one finds substantial structural deterioration. Within 45 days of receiving the report, the association must send every owner the inspector’s summary.

Miami-Dade County’s building recertification runs alongside it. The county program now starts at 30 years and repeats every 10, and condo and co-op buildings three or more stories tall within three miles of the coast that were built in 1998 or later start at 25. In Aventura, the city’s Community Development Department handles recertification questions, and a city ordinance requires residential building associations to share structural engineering and life-safety reports with the city, which posts them in its online document center.

In July 2026 the Legislature’s research office, OPPAGA, published Report 26-04 on milestone-inspection data for 2024 and 2025. Building officials statewide reported 24 buildings deemed unsafe or uninhabitable by 2025 phase two inspections, 23 of them in Miami-Dade County. The City of Aventura reported that 19 condominium and cooperative buildings were determined unsafe or uninhabitable by 2025 phase two milestone inspections, and did not answer OPPAGA’s question about whether any were vacated.

Read that number with care. The statute does not define unsafe or uninhabitable, and OPPAGA found that building officials used different approaches, from the Florida Building Code’s definition of unsafe to local ordinances to the inspecting engineer’s judgment. Statewide, officials said most buildings reported this way were not vacated. What the finding does tell an Aventura owner is that phase two repair work is under way in a number of buildings, and associations often pay for it with special assessments or loans. Ask your association for its milestone summary and repair schedule before you set a price.

Under section 718.112(2)(g), a residential condominium association must complete a structural integrity reserve study at least every 10 years for each building three or more habitable stories tall. It covers the roof, structure, fireproofing and fire protection, plumbing, electrical, waterproofing and exterior painting, and windows and exterior doors. For budgets adopted on or after December 31, 2024, an owner-controlled association that needs a study generally cannot vote to fund less than required for those items, which can mean higher monthly dues.

At a sale, the estoppel certificate shows what has been levied and what is owed, and the contract decides who pays installments that fall due later. We go through the milestone report, the reserve study, the budget and recent board minutes along with the estoppel before committing to a number, and our purchase does not depend on a lender approving the building. This is general information, not legal advice; talk to a Florida community-association attorney about your building.