Question 1

Does Palm Beach County charge the Miami-Dade documentary stamp surtax?

Accepted Answer

No. Palm Beach County pays the plain statewide rate: 70 cents per $100 of consideration on the deed and 35 cents per $100 on the note or mortgage. The 45-cent discretionary surtax on top of that is a Miami-Dade County charge only. Do not size a Palm Beach closing off Miami-Dade transfer cost assumptions.

Question 2

Is a Palm Beach County commercial rehab subject to the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone rules?

Accepted Answer

No. Palm Beach County sits outside the HVHZ. The Florida Building Code assigns High-Velocity Hurricane Zone wind design and product-approval requirements to Miami-Dade and Broward counties only. A Palm Beach repositioning or value-add project builds and rehabs under the general Florida Building Code wind provisions, a materially different and less expensive product set for windows, doors, roofing and shutters than a Miami-Dade or Broward asset. Confirm scope with your architect and the local building department before you budget the envelope work.

Question 3

What should I model for insurance and property tax carry on a West Palm Beach commercial bridge deal?

Accepted Answer

Insurance is the number that catches people off guard: as of March 2026, Palm Beach County's average homeowners premium including wind ran $6,323, the highest of any mainland Florida county, above both Broward ($6,136) and Miami-Dade ($5,975). Palm Beach also sits in the state's highest-litigation region, with a 27.27 percent litigated-claims share for the Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade group, against 8.16 percent in the rest of Florida. That residential table is a directional read, not a commercial quote, so get an actual commercial premium before you underwrite. On the tax side, county-wide millage plus a municipal rate runs from roughly 14.7 mills in Jupiter or Wellington to over 20 mills in West Palm Beach and Riviera Beach, before fire and library adders, so the same asset can carry a very different tax bill depending on which city it sits in. When the deal is ready to term out, our CRE permanent program places the long-term debt in house.

Question 4

What do impact fees and permit review timelines look like for new construction or expansion in Palm Beach County?

Accepted Answer

For a single-family-scale project in unincorporated Palm Beach County, the county's own 2026 impact fee schedule totals roughly $15,900 for a 2,000 to 3,599 square-foot home (schools $7,905.90, roads $5,597.40, parks, fire, public buildings, libraries and law enforcement making up the rest); the City of West Palm Beach total on the same basis is about $14,700. Statutory permit review clocks apply county-wide: 30 business days for a permit on a single-family home under 7,500 square feet, 60 business days for larger residential, multifamily up to 50 units, or commercial under 25,000 square feet, with a 10 percent fee reduction for each business day the reviewing agency runs late. Budget the fee line explicitly. It is one most pro formas miss.

Question 5

If my Palm Beach County asset has a condominium component, what does the structural integrity law mean for the deal?

Accepted Answer

Any residential condominium building three or more habitable stories tall must complete a milestone inspection by the year it turns 30 (or 25, if the local building department has set that shorter trigger) and a structural integrity reserve study every 10 years, and associations can no longer vote to waive reserves on the items that study covers. That regime is a large part of why the county's condo value index fell 5.8 percent year over year and 17.0 percent off its late-2023 peak while single-family values fell only 0.6 percent, with the steepest declines in the older garden and mid-rise stock. An association behind on its milestone inspection, reserve study or funding is commonly non-warrantable for agency financing, which is exactly the gap a bridge fills, but you need the association's inspection and reserve position before you underwrite, not after.

Question 6

Is West Palm Beach's finance-sector growth a reason to underwrite office or mixed-use demand more aggressively?

Accepted Answer

Be careful with that story: it is not showing up in the jobs data. Financial activities employment in the West Palm Beach metro division fell 2.7 percent year over year to 46,600 in June 2026, and total nonfarm grew only 0.2 percent. The sectors actually adding jobs are education and health services (up 2.1 percent, to 123,200) and professional and business services (up 1.5 percent, to 139,900), while leisure and hospitality, financial activities and construction all shrank. Underwrite a Palm Beach office or medical-adjacent repositioning off that growth, not off a finance-relocation narrative the payrolls don't support right now.

Question 7

What can a commercial bridge loan be used for?

Accepted Answer

Bridge capital is for repositioning or stabilizing a commercial property before permanent financing: value-add, lease-up, a partner buyout, or pulling equity out through a cash-out. We lend across property types on terms up to 24 to 36 months, with loans up to $10M.

Question 8

What rates, leverage, and terms should I expect?

Accepted Answer

Our commercial bridge pricing starts around 9%, interest-only, up to roughly 75% loan-to-value, on terms up to 24 to 36 months. Published bridge pricing generally runs 8% to 12% with 1 to 3 points. Final terms depend on the asset, the business plan, and sponsor strength.

Question 9

How fast can a commercial bridge loan close?

Accepted Answer

Commercial deals usually close in 2 to 4 weeks. They take a little longer than residential because of the appraisal, the rent roll and operating-statement review, and any third-party reports. We move as fast as the diligence allows and keep one point of contact on your file.

Question 10

Do I need positive cash flow (DSCR) to qualify?

Accepted Answer

Not necessarily at closing. Bridge loans are often underwritten interest-only to the as-stabilized business plan rather than a minimum in-place DSCR, since the property is being repositioned. We do want to see a credible path to stabilization and enough in-place income or reserves to carry the loan.

Question 11

What documents do you need for a commercial bridge request?

Accepted Answer

Typically the purchase contract or current debt, a rent roll and trailing-12-month operating statement, your business plan and renovation budget, and sponsor financials. Larger assets may also need a property condition report and an environmental review. We will give you a clear checklist up front.

Question 12

Is the loan recourse, and is cash-out available?

Accepted Answer

Most bridge loans are recourse with a personal guarantee, while lower-leverage non-recourse can be possible on stronger assets. Cash-out is available when there is equity to support it. We structure recourse and leverage around the specific deal.

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