Sell a House That Needs Repairs in Florida

The four-point list is the real gatekeeper

Most Florida carriers require a four-point inspection on older homes, covering roof, electrical, plumbing, and HVAC. Each has known disqualifiers: a roof at or past its expected life, cloth-insulated or aluminium branch wiring, a Federal Pacific or Zinsco panel, polybutylene supply piping, cast iron drain lines, and mechanical equipment beyond its service life.

Any one of those can mean a declination or a requirement to repair before a policy will bind. Cosmetic condition — dated kitchens, worn flooring, tired paint — affects price but does not stop a loan. That distinction is the single most useful thing for a Florida seller to understand.

Roof age above everything else

Roof age is the biggest single factor in Florida insurability. Florida law prevents a carrier from refusing coverage solely because a roof is 15 years or older where the insurer allows an inspection and that inspection shows at least five years of remaining useful life — but if it shows less, the carrier can decline.

So the practical question is not how old the roof is but what an inspection would find. A tile roof can last far longer than a shingle roof; a shingle roof that has been through two hurricanes may be finished at twelve years. If nobody has looked, nobody knows — and that uncertainty is what kills financed contracts.

What we buy

• Roofs at or past their life, with storm damage, or with denied claims
• Cloth-insulated and aluminium branch wiring, and Federal Pacific or Zinsco panels
• Polybutylene supply piping and failing cast iron drain lines
• Failed or missing HVAC, and houses with no central air
• Original jalousie and single-pane windows with no opening protection
• Concrete spalling, seawall problems, and settlement on waterfront property
• Original kitchens and baths, damaged flooring, and pet or smoke damage
• Houses stripped mid-renovation when the money or the permits ran out

You do not need estimates

Owners often think they should get bids before they can sell. That spends money and time to produce a number the buyer will form their own view on anyway. We look at the property, form our own assessment, and explain the offer.

If you already have reports — a roof inspection, a four-point, a wind mitigation report, a plumbing camera scope — send them. Documentation makes an offer more reliable, not less. Our repair cost worksheet also separates the items that actually block a mortgage from the ones that only affect price.

Why as-is often beats repairing first

Repairing to list assumes you can fund the work, manage the contractors, and recover the cost in the price. On a Florida house needing a roof plus a repipe plus a panel, that rarely holds — and partial repairs done without permits can make the next inspection worse rather than better.

Selling as-is trades some price for certainty. Whether that trade is right is your decision, and it is worth comparing against a real estimate rather than a hopeful one.

Frequently asked questions

This page is general information about selling property in Florida, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Laws change and every situation is different, so talk with a qualified Florida professional about yours.