Fix and Flip in Fort Lauderdale

Check the flood map before you count on it. Florida's HB 803, effective July 1, 2026, requires local governments to exempt work valued under $7,500 on a single-family dwelling from needing a building permit. But the exemption's own text carves out "work on a property that is partially or entirely located in a flood hazard area as defined by the Florida Building Code," and it never applies to electrical, plumbing, structural, mechanical, or gas work on a single-family dwelling regardless of value. Broward is a low-lying, canal-drained county, so the flood-hazard-area exclusion is a real constraint here, not a footnote. It's also not automatic: you or your contractor still have to submit a written exemption request to the local enforcement agency with documentation of the work's scope and value. Pull the parcel's flood zone before you plan a rehab scope around this exemption, and run your numbers through the fix and flip calculator either way.

Every opening and every roof detail gets the strictest code in the state. Broward and Miami-Dade are the only two counties in Florida's High Velocity Hurricane Zone, defined in Florida Building Code Section 202 as covering exactly those two counties. Windows, doors, shutters, and roofing all have to meet HVHZ wind-design and product-approval standards on new work and on replacement work alike, whether the property is beachfront or well inland in Broward. We don't have a verified dollar or percentage premium for HVHZ construction versus standard Florida code, so budget your rehab scope with your contractor rather than a rule of thumb, and build the extra lead time for HVHZ-approved products into your 6-month term.

Price to the city, not the county median, and plan for a longer hold than most Sun Belt metros. Broward's countywide median list price gets pulled down by condo-heavy inventory, so use values by city instead: Zillow's June 2026 mid-tier figures, which blend house and condo stock, run from $272,664 in Deerfield Beach and $293,570 in Tamarac up to $520,975 in Miramar, $518,236 in Davie, and $524,239 in Coral Springs, with Fort Lauderdale proper at $511,582 (down 3.1% year over year) and Weston at $727,063 as the top of the county. Median days on market across Broward was 85 as of July 2026, longer than a typical Sun Belt hold, with active listings down 17.4% year over year. Comp your specific submarket, not a county average, and price your after repair value off it.

We don't have the data to tell you that, and be wary of anyone who claims otherwise. No Broward or Fort Lauderdale flip rate, gross profit, or ROI figure is published for a current period. Florida's statewide numbers, which do not break out Broward, ran a 6.6% flip rate with $75,000 typical gross profit and 28.3% ROI in Q1 2026. Florida flips less often than the nation, which ran 8.0%, but makes more per flip than the national $66,000 and 25.4%. The one large Florida metro ATTOM did name that quarter was Miami, and it ranked among the lowest flip rates of any large metro nationally. Underwrite your specific Broward deal on comps and carry, not a metro reputation.

Standard Florida doc stamps, and a millage rate that swings hard by city. Broward pays the ordinary statewide documentary stamp rate, 70 cents per $100 on the deed and 35 cents per $100 on the note and mortgage, not the Miami-Dade discretionary surtax structure, so don't quote a South Florida transfer-tax premium here. On the carry side, 2025 final millage runs from 16.28 mills in Weston up to 23.19 in Lauderdale Lakes, with Fort Lauderdale at 18.4464, a spread of nearly 7 mills inside one county. As an investor you're assessed under the 10% non-homestead cap, never the homestead cap, and that cap resets to market value on your purchase, so your first full tax year is assessed fresh and the seller's old tax bill will understate what you owe. Confirm the specific parcel's rate at the county appraiser's site before you close.

Yes, and it's a legal story, not just taste. Broward condominium buildings of three or more habitable stories are subject to Florida's milestone inspection law at 30 years of age and structural integrity reserve studies due at least every 10 years, with reserve waiver for those items no longer allowed for budgets adopted on or after December 31, 2024. Broward has a large stock of aging coastal condo buildings that hit both requirements at once, and it shows in the numbers: Broward condo values are down 19.6% from their January 2024 peak and still falling 8.4% a year, versus 2.9% for single-family. A building with an incomplete milestone inspection, deferred maintenance, or an active special assessment can also lose conventional, FHA, and VA buyers, which narrows your exit. If you're eyeing a condo flip, get the association's inspection and reserve status before you go hard, and talk to your attorney about what it means for your exit timeline. Our DSCR rental loan is a separate option if a condo project turns out to work better as a hold than a flip.

About 10% of the purchase, plus closing costs. We fund up to 90% of the purchase price and up to 100% of the rehab budget, capped to ARV. On a $500,000 Fort Lauderdale purchase that is up to $450,000 from us and $50,000 from you (500,000 x 90% = 450,000), with rehab drawn against the schedule instead of paid up front. Median days on market across Broward was 85, so budget the full 6-month interest-only term rather than a best-case sale. Subject to underwriting.

$100,000 at the floor, $5M at the ceiling. The floor matters in Broward because the cheaper submarkets sit inside it: mid-tier values run $272,664 in Deerfield Beach and $293,570 in Tamarac, so an entry-price deal still clears the minimum. Loan size is set to the deal and capped to ARV, not to what you ask for, and the rehab side funds up to 100% of the budget in draws. Subject to underwriting.

Yes. First-time flippers are welcome, and there is no minimum credit score on this loan. We do run credit, but on an asset-based loan it carries far less weight than at a bank, because the collateral and the rehab plan do most of the work. Weaker credit usually means lower leverage rather than a decline, and there is no hard credit pull to start. On a first Broward deal, expect us to look hardest at your contractor and your exit comps. Subject to underwriting.