Selling a waterfront home in East Boca Raton in 2026 means selling into a market where three out of four buyers pay cash, half of sellers end up cutting their price, and the Intracoastal listings that do sell close at about 91 percent of asking, in a market where the average active listing has been on the market for 194 days. The homes that sell in 60 days instead of 190 are not luckier. They are priced to the water they sit on, inspected before the buyer’s engineer arrives, and marketed on a calendar that respects both the season and the storm map.
We are Steven, Elliot, and Wendy Koolik. Our practice has always leaned toward sellers, and over more than three decades we have listed and sold homes on the Intracoastal, on the canals, and on the ocean from Boca Bay Colony to Royal Palm Yacht and Country Club. This is the guide we walk every East Boca seller through: what the water is worth right now, what a buyer’s inspector will find before you do, what Florida law requires you to disclose, how insurance and hurricane season shape your closing, and how to market a property that most buyers will never see on a public portal.
The Quick Take
- Intracoastal, no-fixed-bridge homes in Boca Raton, twelve months to February 2026: 55 closed sales, median $6.3 million, average $7.6 million, range $1.58 million to $31.5 million, 75 percent cash, 51 percent of sellers took a price reduction, average discount 8.8 percent, sale-to-list 91.2 percent, average active listing time 194 days.
- The Boca Raton single-family record reset in May 2026: $75 million for 2500 East Maya Palm Drive in Royal Palm Yacht and Country Club, more than double the prior record.
- Florida law now requires a written flood disclosure at or before contract with three specific questions, and condo sellers must deliver milestone inspection and structural reserve reports before the buyer’s rescission clock starts.
- Get the seawall, dock, lift, roof, elevation certificate, and wind mitigation inspected before you list. Every one of them is a negotiation you can win only if you know the answer first.
- List for the season: local brokerages put buyers in market November through April, and the closing data agrees, with Boca Raton closings rising a third from the first quarter to the second in 2025. Insurers stop binding new policies when a named storm threatens Florida, and a financed buyer cannot close without a bound policy.
- Pre-market and Private Exclusive strategies are now formalized: Compass reports pre-marketed listings closed 4.6 percent higher and 34 percent faster, and BeachesMLS allows a 21-day delayed-marketing window. Both come with disclosures you should read.
What Is Your Waterfront Home Worth Right Now?
We price to your frontage, your dock, your seawall, and your route to the inlet, against the last comparable closings on your kind of water. Ask for the number before you set one.
Contact The Koolik GroupWhat East Boca Waterfront Is Worth in 2026
No official body publishes an East Boca waterfront index, so the honest picture is assembled from several sources with their windows and limits stated. The table below runs from the broadest market to the narrowest.
| Segment | Figures | Window and source |
|---|---|---|
| Palm Beach County, single-family | Median $700,000, up 11.8 percent year over year; sales up 25 percent; sales above $1 million up 57 percent; 3.9 months of supply; 42 median days to contract; cash share of all residential closings about 50 percent in the second quarter | June 2026, MIAMI Realtors and BeachesMLS release of July 17, 2026; Palm Beach Post cash-share data |
| Palm Beach County, $1 million and up | Single-family sales 2,534, up 24.2 percent, average $2.89 million; condo sales 770, up 26.6 percent, average $2.39 million | Q2 2026, Keyes Company and Illustrated Properties Luxury Market Report via RISMedia, July 22, 2026 |
| Boca Raton luxury single-family (top 10 percent, benchmark about $1.2 million) | Median $2,027,972; 94.56 percent of list; 54 median days on market; $612 per square foot, up 5 percent; 18 percent sales ratio, a balanced market. Luxury attached: median $1.06 million, 70 days, 8 percent sales ratio, a buyer’s market | January 2026 data, Institute for Luxury Home Marketing via Boca Raton Premier Properties, February 19, 2026 |
| Boca Raton luxury single-family (Elliman top 10 percent) | Entry threshold $2,975,000; median $4.9 million; average $6.94 million at $876 per square foot; 106 days on market; 12.2 percent listing discount; 9.6 months of supply | Q2 2025, Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel Boca Raton report (the most recent edition we could verify) |
| Boca Raton Intracoastal, no fixed bridges | 55 closed sales; median $6.3 million; average $7.6 million; range $1.58 million to $31.5 million; 41 of 55 cash; 51 percent of sellers reduced price; average discount 8.8 percent; sale-to-list 91.2 percent; 194 days average active time; 55 active, 27 under contract | Twelve months to February 2026, one Coldwell Banker agent’s MLS pull; a single-source dataset, but the only waterfront-specific series published |
| Weekly $3 million-plus contracts, Palm Beach County | Week of June 22 to 28, 2026: 13 contracts, $114 million in asking volume, single-family average $8.9 million at $1,437 per square foot, 97 days on market; the top contract was a Royal Palm new build asking $17.8 million | Douglas Elliman Eklund-Gomes weekly via The Real Deal, June 30, 2026 |
| The record | $75 million, 2500 E Maya Palm Dr, Royal Palm Yacht and Country Club, closed May 20, 2026; listed April 30 at $80 million; the most expensive U.S. home sale that month | The Coastal Star, June 3, 2026; The Real Deal, May 20, 2026; CBS12 citing Redfin, June 19, 2026 |
Read those rows together and the 2026 East Boca waterfront market is clear: the county is tight and rising, the luxury tier is balanced, and the waterfront tier is a negotiated market where cash buyers take their time and expect a discount. That is not bad news for a prepared seller. It is a description of who is on the other side of the table.
Price to the Water, Not the Zip Code
East Boca waterfront is four different products, and a comparable sale from the wrong one will mislead you by millions.
| Product | What the buyer is paying for | What drives the spread |
|---|---|---|
| Direct Intracoastal and point lots | Linear feet of frontage, open-water view, dock length, depth at low tide, and the shortest route to the inlet | Royal Palm, Spanish River Land, and The Sanctuary’s Intracoastal lots run from about $10 million to $75 million. Frontage is the multiplier: the $75 million record had 292 feet and a 110-foot dock. |
| Deep-water canal lots | Protected dockage, no-wake water, no fixed bridges, and the lot width that sets the dock size | Golden Harbour new construction closed at $9.7 million to $10.1 million in 2026 on 85-foot lots; Bel Marra, Boca Harbour, and Boca Keys canal homes run from under $1 million to about $8 million |
| Oceanfront condominiums | The beach, the building’s age and reserves, the unit’s line and floor, and the association’s inspection history | One Thousand Ocean closings from about $4 million to $13 million; the 1960s and 1970s towers from the mid $600,000s. See our condo guide for the 2026 inspection rules that now shape these prices. |
| Dry lots in waterfront neighborhoods | The address, the neighborhood’s amenities, and marina or beach access | Sanctuary dry-lot homes in the $4 million to $6 million range; Boca Harbour originals from about $900,000 |
Is Your House Worth More Than Your Lot?
On East Boca’s deep-water streets, original homes increasingly trade as land. 541 Golden Harbour Drive sold as a $3.4 million teardown in August 2023 and resold as a new 7,898 square foot home for $9.72 million in April 2026. In Royal Palm, waterfront lots bought for $4.5 million and $5.5 million in 2019 and 2020 carried finished homes that sold for $25.9 million and $28.5 million in 2024. If your home was built before 1990 on a deep-water lot, get a builder’s lot bid alongside your residential valuation before you list, because a builder may be your best buyer and will not care about your kitchen.
The Waterfront Pre-Listing Inspection Set
A buyer of a $6 million Intracoastal home will send an engineer to your seawall, a marine contractor to your dock, an insurance inspector to your roof, and a surveyor to your elevation before the inspection period ends. Every finding they make becomes a credit request. The only way to control that conversation is to have the reports first.
| Item | What to do before listing | What it costs (2025 to 2026 Florida pricing) |
|---|---|---|
| Seawall | An above- and below-water inspection by a marine engineer or contractor, with photos and a written condition rating covering panels, cap, weep holes, soil loss behind the wall, cracking, bowing, and corrosion. Pull the city’s permit history for the wall. | Many contractors inspect free with a repair quote; repairs run about $100 to $250 per linear foot, up to $600 for severe damage; full replacement $150 to $600 per linear foot by material, with a typical residential replacement at $40,000 to $175,000 and most near $90,000 to $120,000 |
| Dock and boat lift | A lift inspection covering cables, motors and amp draw, sheaves, bunks, limit switches, and a load test; a licensed marine electrician for the dock circuit | Lift inspection about $150 to $350; electrical inspection priced separately |
| Elevation certificate | A current FEMA elevation certificate showing the lowest floor and equipment against the base flood elevation on the maps that took effect December 20, 2024. Under Risk Rating 2.0 it is optional for rating, but it is the document that lets a buyer’s agent quote flood insurance accurately and contest a high premium. | About $400 to $900, most $400 to $600 |
| Wind mitigation and four-point inspections | Order both. The revised Uniform Mitigation Verification form OIR-B1-1802 (Rev. 04/26) is mandatory for inspections on or after April 1, 2026. Many carriers require a four-point on older homes, commonly 20 years and up, though some relaxed that to 25 or 30 years in 2025 and 2026. | About $100 to $175 each in South Florida; bundled near $180 |
| Roof | Know the roof’s age and get a roofing contractor’s inspection if it is 15 years or older. Under Florida Statute 627.7011(5) an insurer may not refuse to issue or renew solely because of roof age if the roof is under 15 years, or if an inspection shows five or more years of useful life remaining. | Inspection cost varies; a documented five-year remaining life can be the difference between a buyer who can bind coverage and one who cannot |
| Flood zone | Look up the address on the City of Boca Raton’s flood-zone page and the Palm Beach County lookup tool. More than 16,000 county parcels saw a base flood elevation increase of a foot or more on the 2024 maps. | Free |
| Permits | Close any open permits and confirm the seawall, dock, and lift were permitted under Chapter 22 of the city code. Unpermitted marine structures surface at closing and stop it. | Search is free; remediation varies |
Sources: JKT Marine and Helicon seawall and lift cost guides, 2026; One and Done Prep seawall replacement guide, November 2025; Apex Surveying elevation certificate guide, March 2026; Kore Home Inspections pricing, 2026; Citizens Property Insurance form notice, March 19, 2026; Florida Statute 627.7011; City of Boca Raton Seawalls and Marine Structures page.
What Florida Law Requires You to Disclose
Florida has no state-mandated seller disclosure form, but it has a forty-year-old Supreme Court rule and, since 2024, a specific flood statute. Both apply with particular force to waterfront property.
The Four Disclosure Rules for an East Boca Waterfront Seller
- Johnson v. Davis (Florida Supreme Court, 1985): if you know of a fact that materially affects value, that the buyer does not know, and that is not readily observable, you must disclose it. A seawall that failed an inspection you commissioned, a dock permit that was never closed, and a canal that silts at low tide are all in that category.
- Flood disclosure, Florida Statute 689.302: created by House Bill 1049 effective October 1, 2024 and expanded effective October 1, 2025, it requires a written disclosure at or before contract stating whether you know of any flooding that damaged the property during your ownership, whether you filed an insurance claim for flood damage including with the National Flood Insurance Program, and whether you received federal assistance for flood damage including from FEMA. The form also carries the notice that a homeowners policy does not cover flood. The same rule now applies to leases of a year or more.
- The Florida Realtors Seller’s Property Disclosure (SPDR-4, revised 2025): voluntary but standard, and the place to state what you know about the seawall, dock, drainage, prior water intrusion, and open permits. An honest form here is your best defense against a claim later.
- Condominium resales, Florida Statute 718.503(2): at your expense, the buyer must receive the declaration, bylaws, rules, the latest year-end financials and budget, the FAQ sheet, the milestone inspection summary if one exists, the most recent structural integrity reserve study or a statement that none was done, and any turnover inspection report from July 2023 onward. The buyer’s rescission period, seven days excluding weekends and holidays for contracts on or after July 1, 2025, does not start until the last document is delivered, so request the package from the association when you list, not when you go under contract.
Two condo-specific numbers to budget: the association estoppel certificate is capped by statute, adjusted by the state in 2022 to $299 standard, $119 extra for a three-business-day rush, and $179 extra if the account is delinquent, and it is valid for 30 days. And House Bill 913, effective July 1, 2025, changed the reserve rules your buyer’s lawyer will read: the structural reserve study deadline moved to December 31, 2025, the reserve-item threshold rose to $25,000, and associations that completed a milestone inspection may pause reserve contributions for two budget years to fund repairs. If your building did that, expect the buyer to ask what the repairs are and who pays.
Selling on the Water? Start With the Reports.
We coordinate the seawall, dock, roof, elevation, and wind inspections before your home goes to market, so the buyer’s inspector confirms what we already know.
Contact The Koolik GroupThe Insurance Reality Your Buyer Brings to the Table
Insurance is the part of a waterfront sale sellers control least and understand least, and it decides whether a financed buyer can close. The 2026 picture is better than it was, with specific limits.
| Factor | 2026 status | What it means for your sale |
|---|---|---|
| Flood coverage | National Flood Insurance Program policies cap at $250,000 for the building and $100,000 for contents, with a 30-day wait that is waived at a loan closing. Private flood carriers write dwelling limits above $10 million with 10- to 14-day waits. Risk Rating 2.0 prices each property individually with an 18 percent annual cap on increases. | Provide the elevation certificate and your current declarations page. A buyer who can quote private flood in a week is a buyer who can close on time. |
| Flood zone | Intracoastal and canal homes are generally in AE; oceanfront in VE. One Florida agency’s 2026 premium ranges: VE $4,000 to $15,000-plus, AE $1,200 to $6,000, shaded X $400 to $800. Boca Raton’s Community Rating System discount on NFIP policies rose to 25 percent on October 1, 2025. | Know your zone on the December 2024 maps and say so in the listing. Surprises here reopen negotiations. |
| Windstorm and homeowners | Citizens Property Insurance shrank from 1.42 million policies in October 2023 to about 395,000 in early 2026 and took its first statewide rate decrease since 2015, averaging 2.6 percent effective June 1, 2026. Seventy-three private carriers filed rate decreases in 2025. A policyholder loses Citizens eligibility if a private offer is within 20 percent of the Citizens premium. | The private market is back for well-documented homes. A current wind mitigation report and a roof under 15 years, or one with a documented five years of life, are what qualify a house for it. |
| Binding suspensions | Citizens may not bind new coverage or increases whenever the National Weather Service issues a tropical storm or hurricane watch or warning for any part of Florida; it did so on July 19, 2026 for Tropical Depression Two. Private carriers apply their own storm-in-the-box rules. | A financed buyer cannot close without a bound policy. Between June 1 and November 30, build slack into the closing date or require the buyer to bind coverage early. |
Sources: Harbour Insurance Agency flood guides, February 2026; National Association of Realtors on Risk Rating 2.0; Citizens Property Insurance rate and binding notices, December 2025 and July 2026; Lisa Miller and Associates depopulation background, January 2026; City of Boca Raton Insure Your Property page.
How Waterfront Homes Are Marketed in 2026
Rules that changed in 2024 and 2025 reshaped how a luxury listing reaches buyers, and the most valuable East Boca homes are increasingly sold in a first phase most of the public never sees.
| Channel | What it is | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Private Exclusive | Compass’s in-network listing: visible to the firm’s 340,000 agents and their buyers, not on the MLS or public portals, with no days-on-market or price-history record. Compass’s analysis for the twelve months to March 31, 2026 reports pre-marketed listings closed 4.6 percent higher, went to contract 34 percent faster, and were 29 percent less likely to take a price reduction. | Compass’s own required disclosure states that a Private Exclusive is not distributed to other brokerages or public sites and “may limit the number of potential buyers,” reduce showings and offers, and could affect the final price. You can move to the MLS at any time. For a $10 million-plus Intracoastal home whose buyer pool is small and private, this phase often is the market. For a $2 million canal home, exposure usually wins. |
| Delayed marketing exempt listing | Created by the National Association of Realtors’ Multiple Listing Options for Sellers policy, effective March 25, 2025: the seller directs the broker to hold the listing out of IDX feeds and syndication for a set period. BeachesMLS caps it at 21 days in Coming Soon status; showings and open houses are allowed, and a written seller disclosure is required. | Use it to finish photography and staging and build a showing calendar before the days-on-market clock starts on the portals. |
| Office exclusive | Held within one brokerage with no public marketing of any kind, including signs, ads, and social posts. | The most private path, and the narrowest. Appropriate when discretion outranks price discovery. |
| Buyer-broker compensation | Since August 17, 2024, offers of compensation to a buyer’s broker cannot appear in the MLS, buyers sign written agreements before touring, and compensation is negotiated as a specific amount. | You decide whether and how much to offer toward the buyer’s broker as part of the deal. Treat it as a negotiating term, not a fixed cost. |
| Media and placement | Twilight and drone photography that shows the water, the dock, and the route to the inlet; video; a floor plan; and paid placement in the Wall Street Journal and Mansion Global, where a homepage hero runs about $2,200 to $2,650 a month and the weekly real estate newsletter about $3,500. | Buyers from the Northeast, Illinois, and California, whom Royal Palm’s longest-tenured broker describes as the bulk of out-of-state demand at the top of the market, find these homes in national luxury media before they land at the airport. |
Sources: Compass Private Exclusives page and May 28, 2025 disclosure release; National Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Options for Sellers policy; BeachesMLS delayed marketing rules; Florida Realtors NAR settlement FAQ; Dow Jones luxury rate card.
When to List, and When to Close
The Boca Raton luxury calendar has two clocks. The first is the season: local brokerages describe buyers arriving from November through April, concentrated December through March, and the hard evidence is in the closings, which land in the second quarter. The Elliman Report shows Boca Raton single-family closings rising from 443 in the first quarter of 2025 to 588 in the second, and luxury closings from 46 to 59. According to one South Florida brokerage’s 2026 analysis of statewide MLS data, luxury homes have taken a median of 60 days to contract above $1 million, 72 days between $3 million and $5 million, and 132 days above $10 million.
The second clock is hurricane season, June 1 through November 30, with a climatological peak on September 10 and most activity from mid-August to mid-October. Insurers suspend binding when a storm threatens, so a financed closing scheduled for the second week of September carries real risk of a delay. Cash buyers, who are three of every four on the Intracoastal, close in 21 to 30 days on a standard contract with a 10-day inspection period; financed buyers need 30 to 45.
A Seller’s Calendar for East Boca Waterfront
- Summer: commission the seawall, dock, roof, elevation, and wind inspections; complete repairs; order the survey; close permits; assemble the condo document package if applicable.
- September to October: photograph at twilight and by drone while the water is calm; open a Private Exclusive or Coming Soon phase; set the price to the last three closings on your kind of water.
- November to April: full exposure; expect 60 to 130 days to contract depending on price tier; negotiate the buyer-broker term with the offer.
- Closing: cash in 21 to 30 days, financed in 30 to 45; require the buyer to bind insurance early if the contract runs into hurricane season.
Taxes at the Closing Table
Florida has no state income tax, and your capital gain on a primary residence is a federal matter to plan with your CPA. Three property-tax facts matter to the negotiation itself. First, your buyer’s tax bill will not be yours: when a property changes hands, the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser removes the exemptions and reassesses at market value as of the following January 1, and the Save Our Homes cap restarts from there. A buyer who models the sale on your bill will be surprised by theirs, so provide the assessed and market values from the appraiser’s site and let them run the number. Second, if you are buying another Florida homestead, you can port up to $500,000 of your accumulated Save Our Homes benefit to it, provided you establish the new homestead by January 1 of the third year after leaving this one. Third, the total millage inside the City of Boca Raton runs about 16.9 to 17.0 mills, including the city’s 3.6476 operating rate for fiscal 2026, which the city describes as the lowest of any full-service city in Florida for the eighth consecutive year.
The Seller’s Checklist
Before Your East Boca Waterfront Home Goes to Market
- Seawall inspection report and permit history, with any repairs done or priced.
- Dock and lift inspection, marine electrical inspection, and the permits for both.
- Current elevation certificate on the December 2024 flood maps, plus your flood declarations page.
- Wind mitigation on the 04/26 form and a four-point inspection; roof age and, if 15 years or older, a contractor’s remaining-life letter.
- Survey, open-permit search, and the flood disclosure form completed truthfully.
- For condos: the full 718.503 package including the milestone summary and reserve study, requested from the association at listing.
- A builder’s lot bid if the home predates 1990 on a deep-water lot.
- A pricing memo built on the last three closings for your water type, not the neighborhood average.
- A marketing phase decision: Private Exclusive, delayed marketing, or full MLS from day one, with the disclosures signed.
- A closing calendar that accounts for the season and for insurance binding during storms.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best time of year to sell a waterfront home in Boca Raton?
List in the fall so the home is fully exposed when buyers arrive. Local brokerages put Boca Raton’s luxury buyers in market from November through April, with the heaviest activity December through March, and the closing data supports it: Boca Raton single-family closings rose from 443 in the first quarter of 2025 to 588 in the second, and luxury closings from 46 to 59, according to the Elliman Report. Use the summer for inspections, repairs, and photography while the water is calm, open a Private Exclusive or Coming Soon phase in September or October, and go to full market by November. Avoid scheduling a financed closing in the September peak of hurricane season if you can.
How long does it take to sell a waterfront home in East Boca Raton?
Longer than the county averages suggest. Palm Beach County single-family homes went to contract in a median of 42 days in June 2026, and Boca Raton’s luxury tier in about 54 days as of January 2026, but the Intracoastal segment behaves differently: over the twelve months to February 2026, Boca Raton’s no-fixed-bridge Intracoastal listings averaged 194 days of active time, 51 percent of sellers reduced their price, and closings averaged 91.2 percent of asking. One South Florida brokerage’s 2026 analysis of statewide MLS data puts homes above $10 million at a median of 132 days to contract. Correctly priced homes with clean inspection reports sell inside a season; overpriced homes wait for the next one.
Do I have to disclose flooding when I sell a home in Florida?
Yes. Florida Statute 689.302, created by House Bill 1049 effective October 1, 2024 and expanded effective October 1, 2025, requires a written flood disclosure at or before the contract is signed. You must state whether you have knowledge of any flooding that damaged the property during your ownership, whether you filed a claim for flood damage with any insurer including the National Flood Insurance Program, and whether you received federal assistance for flood damage, including from FEMA. The form also notifies the buyer that homeowners insurance does not cover flood. Separately, under the Florida Supreme Court’s Johnson v. Davis rule, you must disclose any known fact that materially affects value and is not readily observable, which covers seawall, drainage, and water-intrusion issues you know about.
Should I repair or replace my seawall before selling?
Inspect it first, then decide with numbers. A marine contractor or engineer’s inspection, often free with a repair quote, will rate the panels, cap, weep holes, and the soil behind the wall. Repairs in Florida run about $100 to $250 per linear foot, up to $600 for severe damage; full replacement runs $150 to $600 per linear foot depending on vinyl, steel, or concrete, with a typical residential job at $40,000 to $175,000 and most near $90,000 to $120,000. If the wall has years of life left, sell with the report and price accordingly. If it is failing, a buyer’s engineer will find it, and the credit they demand will usually exceed the cost of doing the work yourself on your own schedule. Either way, the city’s Chapter 22 permit history for the wall should be in your listing file.
What inspections should a waterfront seller get before listing?
Six. A seawall inspection by a marine engineer or contractor; a dock and boat lift inspection covering cables, motors, sheaves, and a load test, about $150 to $350; a licensed marine electrician’s check of the dock circuit; a current FEMA elevation certificate, about $400 to $900; a wind mitigation inspection on the OIR-B1-1802 form revised April 2026 and a four-point inspection, about $100 to $175 each in South Florida; and a roofing contractor’s inspection if the roof is 15 years or older, since Florida Statute 627.7011 lets an insurer decline solely on age only if the roof is 15 or older and an inspection does not show five years of remaining life. Add an open-permit search and a survey. Every one of these is a report the buyer will otherwise commission and use against your price.
Is an off-market or Private Exclusive sale better for a $10M+ waterfront home?
Often, with the trade-off stated. Compass’s Private Exclusive program exposes a listing to the firm’s 340,000 agents and their buyers without the MLS, public portals, or a days-on-market record, and Compass’s analysis of the twelve months to March 31, 2026 found pre-marketed listings closed 4.6 percent higher, went to contract 34 percent faster, and were 29 percent less likely to take a price cut. Compass’s own required disclosure also says the approach may limit the number of potential buyers, reduce showings and offers, and could affect the final price. At $10 million and above on the Intracoastal, where the buyer pool is small, private, and largely cash, a first phase in this channel frequently is the market, and you can move to the MLS at any time. For a canal home at $2 million to $4 million, full exposure usually produces the better result.
How does hurricane season affect closing a waterfront sale?
Through insurance. Hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30 with a peak around September 10. When the National Weather Service issues a tropical storm or hurricane watch or warning for any part of Florida, Citizens Property Insurance suspends binding of new policies, as it did on July 19, 2026, and private carriers apply their own storm-in-the-box moratoriums. A buyer with a mortgage cannot close without a bound homeowners and flood policy, so a closing scheduled during a storm threat can slip by days or weeks. Cash buyers, who make up about three of every four Intracoastal purchasers, are not affected by the lender requirement. Build slack into any closing date between August and October, and require financed buyers to bind coverage early in the contract period.
What documents must a condo seller provide in Florida in 2026?
Under Florida Statute 718.503(2), a resale seller must deliver at the seller’s expense the declaration, articles, bylaws, and rules; the most recent year-end financial information and the annual budget; the governance form and the Frequently Asked Questions sheet; the milestone inspection summary if the building has had one; the most recent structural integrity reserve study or a written statement that none has been completed; and any turnover inspection report from July 1, 2023 onward. For contracts signed on or after July 1, 2025, the buyer may cancel within seven days, excluding weekends and holidays, after receiving the last of those documents. The association’s estoppel certificate is capped at $299, plus $119 for a three-day rush and $179 if the account is delinquent. Request the full package from the association when you list so the buyer’s clock can start at contract.
Why will my buyer’s property tax bill be higher than mine?
Because Florida resets the assessment on a sale. Under the Save Our Homes amendment, a homesteaded owner’s assessed value rises by no more than 3 percent a year or the change in the consumer price index, whichever is lower, so a long-time owner’s assessed value can sit far below market. When the property changes hands, the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser removes the exemptions and reassesses at full market value as of the next January 1, and the cap restarts from there. On a home bought decades ago, the buyer’s bill can be several times the seller’s at Boca Raton’s total millage of roughly 16.9 to 17.0 mills. If you are moving to another Florida homestead, you can carry up to $500,000 of your accumulated Save Our Homes benefit with you under the portability rules.
How much will my roof age affect my buyer’s insurance?
It can decide whether the buyer gets coverage at all. Florida Statute 627.7011(5) prohibits an insurer from refusing to issue or renew a homeowners policy solely because of roof age when the roof is less than 15 years old. For a roof 15 years or older, the insurer may not decline solely on age if an inspection shows five or more years of useful life remaining, and since 2024 a licensed roofing contractor may perform that inspection. Many carriers also require a four-point inspection on homes 20 years and older. A seller with a roof past 15 years should get the remaining-life inspection before listing; without it, a financed buyer may be pushed to Citizens or lose the ability to bind, and a documented five-year letter removes the objection before it is raised.
Sell Your East Boca Waterfront Home With the Team That Prepares It First
4,800+ homes sold across South Florida. We price to the water, inspect before the buyer does, and market to the people who actually buy here.
Contact The Koolik GroupSelling in Boca Raton
- How to Sell a $10M+ Home in Boca Raton
- What It Actually Costs to Own a $5M+ Home in Boca Raton
- Boca Raton Real Estate Market Report: August 2026
East Boca Waterfront
Market figures, costs, and legal requirements are drawn from the sources cited above as of August 24, 2026. Statutory summaries are for orientation and are not legal advice; confirm disclosure, condominium, and tax questions with a Florida attorney and CPA, and confirm insurance figures with a licensed agent for the specific property.
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