Rental / DSCR in Fort Lauderdale

Because the condo market is repricing on a legal deadline, not a taste change. Florida Statutes section 553.899 requires a milestone inspection at 30 years of age for any building of three or more habitable stories held as a condominium, and section 718.112(2)(g) required a structural integrity reserve study by December 31, 2025, with reserve waivers no longer allowed for the items that study covers. Broward has a very large stock of aging coastal condo buildings that fall squarely inside both statutes, and the market has already priced it: Broward condo values are down 19.6% from their January 2024 peak and still falling at 8.4% a year, versus single-family down just 2.9%, the widest such gap of the three South Florida counties. A building that hasn't cleared its inspection, is underfunding reserves, or is carrying an active special assessment can be ineligible for agency financing regardless of what the unit rents for. On a DSCR file we still qualify on the property's cash flow rather than your income, but we need the association's inspection and reserve status before we can size a condo deal. See the DSCR program terms for how we structure that review.

No, and that number is outdated. The three-mile coastal trigger was in the original 2022 legislation and has since been removed. Current law under Florida Statutes section 553.899 sets a single statewide clock at 30 years, with recurrence every 10 years, and gives the local enforcement agency the option, not the obligation, to require inspection at 25 years where 'environmental conditions such as proximity to salt water' warrant it. We don't have confirmation of which Broward jurisdictions, if any, have adopted that 25-year local option, so treat every Broward condo as being on the 30-year clock unless the association or the city tells you otherwise in writing.

More than almost anywhere else in the state, and it's the line that decides whether the deal pencils. As of March 2026, the average Broward homeowners premium including wind coverage was $6,136, and $3,008 excluding wind, versus $4,063 in coastal Pinellas County and $2,650 in inland Lake County. On a $2,794-a-month Fort Lauderdale rental, that premium alone runs about 2.2 months of gross rent a year. Part of the cost is structural: Broward and Miami-Dade are the only two counties in Florida's High Velocity Hurricane Zone, the strictest wind-design and product-approval standard in the state, and part of it is litigation risk, since South Florida property claims are litigated at 27.27% against 8.16% in the rest of Florida. Flood coverage adds to that bill: Citizens Property Insurance now requires a flood policy as a condition of eligibility, phased in by a home's dwelling replacement cost regardless of flood zone, at $400,000 and above starting January 1, 2026 and for every remaining eligible property starting January 1, 2027. With Broward single-family values averaging $536,965 countywide, a large share of Broward rentals are already past that line. Run a bound quote on the actual address before we lock the ratio on the DSCR calculator.

Yes, by nearly 7 mills, which is real money on a leveraged rental. Broward's 2025 final millage runs from 16.28 mills in Weston to 23.19 in Lauderdale Lakes, with Fort Lauderdale itself at 18.4464. A 6.9-mill spread on a $400,000 assessment works out to about $2,760 a year (6.9 mills x $400,000 / 1,000). Part of the swing is a hospital-district line: the North Broward Hospital District levies 1.2391 mills against 0.0805 for South Broward, which is why Hollywood, Davie, and Dania Beach each show two different totals depending on which half of the county the parcel sits in. And every investor purchase resets Florida's 10% non-homestead assessment cap to market value at closing, so the seller's current bill always understates what you'll actually owe in year one. Talk to your CPA about your own tax position.

Only once the property's registration is confirmed, and it doesn't come with the deal when you buy it. The City of Fort Lauderdale requires a mandatory vacation rental registration and certificate of compliance for any unit rented to transient occupants more than three times a year for stays under 30 days, and that registration is explicitly not transferable to a buyer under the city code and renews annually by September 30. Operating standards cap occupancy at two persons per sleeping room, require all guest parking on the property's own driveway, and set a noise standard measured at 25 feet between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. and 50 feet during the day. On top of that, a Broward short-term stay carries 6% state sales tax, Broward's 1% discretionary surtax, and the county's own 6% tourist development tax. We don't have confirmed rules for any other Broward municipality, so if the parcel sits in Hollywood, Pompano Beach, or elsewhere, that city's ordinance has to be checked on its own before nightly income goes into the file. See the DSCR program terms for how we structure STR income once the registration is in your name.

Because the two series are measuring different things, and a DSCR file benefits from both moving this way. Zillow's rent index for Fort Lauderdale proper hit $2,794 a month in June 2026, up 3.2% year over year, while the city's home value fell 3.1% over the same stretch to $511,582. A softer purchase price against a firmer rent line widens the yield on a new purchase, though it doesn't do anything for a deal you already own at last year's price. The pattern isn't uniform across the county: in condo-heavy inland cities like Lauderhill, rent is falling (-2.7%) at the same time values are dropping fastest, so the yield expansion belongs to the single-family, city-proper story, not to Broward as a whole.

640 is the floor on the credit side, and the building is the other half of the answer. DSCR files start at a 640 score and the ratio can run as low as 0.75, so a unit that nearly covers its own debt service can still work. What a score cannot fix is the association: a Broward condo building that has not cleared its milestone inspection or is carrying an active special assessment is a separate underwriting question from your credit. Get the association's status in hand before we size the deal. Subject to underwriting.

At least 20% of the purchase. Leverage runs up to 80% LTV, so on a $500,000 Fort Lauderdale purchase that is up to $400,000 from us and $100,000 from you (500,000 x 80% = 400,000). Budget the carry separately. Broward's average homeowners premium including wind was $6,136 as of March 2026, roughly 2.2 months of gross rent on a typical Fort Lauderdale unit, and it comes straight out of the ratio. Bring a bound quote, not a statewide average. Subject to underwriting.

Yes. $100,000 at the bottom and $3M at the top. Most Fort Lauderdale single-family deals sit inside that band, with the city's mid-tier value at $511,582 and Broward single-family averaging $536,965 countywide. The band is per loan, so a small condo unit can fall below the floor even when the ratio works. Term options run 30-year fixed or a 5, 7, or 10-year ARM. Subject to underwriting.

It depends on the structure you choose at closing. DSCR loans carry flexible prepayment structures, so a hold you expect to sell out of is priced differently from one you intend to keep for the full term. Tell us the real exit plan while we are sizing the file, not after the note is written. That matters here, where Broward condo values are falling far faster than single-family and your exit date is a genuine variable. Subject to underwriting.