In MetroWest, a Low HOA Fee Doesn't Mean What It Used to Mean

Here's a question worth asking before you compare two condo listings side by side in MetroWest this month: is the building even legally allowed to underfund its reserves anymore?

For most of the last two decades, the answer to that question didn't matter much. A board could vote every year to keep dues artificially low by skipping reserve contributions, and buyers had no easy way to tell a well-run association from one quietly kicking a roof replacement down the road. That changed on January 1, 2026, when Florida's full reserve-funding requirement for condominium buildings took effect statewide. If you're shopping MetroWest condos this summer, that date is now doing more work in determining your real monthly cost than the number printed on the listing sheet.

What Actually Changed on January 1, 2026

Florida's Structural Integrity Reserve Study law, first passed after the 2021 Surfside collapse and refined through several rounds of legislation since, requires condominium and cooperative buildings of three or more habitable stories to complete a SIRS covering eight structural components: roof, load-bearing walls and primary structural members, fire protection systems, plumbing, electrical, waterproofing, windows and exterior doors, and any other item with a deferred maintenance or replacement cost above a set dollar threshold. That threshold itself moved this year too. It was raised from $10,000 to $25,000, and it now adjusts annually for inflation.

The part that matters most for a buyer is simpler than the statute language: associations can no longer vote to waive or reduce reserve funding for those eight items. For budgets adopted after December 31, 2024, the money has to actually be collected. Full funding became mandatory starting with 2026 budgets.

A second change landed on the same date and gets less attention. Under HB 1021, associations with 25 or more units now have to post governing documents, budgets, and reserve studies to a website or app. That threshold used to sit at 150 units, so a lot of mid-sized MetroWest buildings that were previously exempt from posting anything now have to make it public.

Two Different Clocks, Not One

It's easy to conflate the reserve-funding requirement with the separate milestone inspection requirement, and conflating them leads buyers to the wrong conclusion about a building's risk.

The milestone inspection is a structural safety check performed by a licensed engineer or architect, required once a building three stories or taller reaches 30 years old, or 25 years if it sits within three miles of the coast, then every 10 years after that. MetroWest is inland Orlando, so the 30-year threshold applies here, not the 25-year coastal one.

The SIRS reserve-funding requirement runs on a different clock entirely. It's triggered by height, not age. A condo tower finished this year still needs a SIRS on file and still has to fund those eight components. So a newer building can be fully subject to the funding mandate while its first milestone inspection is still years away.

What This Looks Like in an Actual MetroWest Building

The Promenade, an eight-story condominium on Turkey Lake off Buford Street, is a useful real example because its numbers are public and its height puts it squarely inside the SIRS threshold. Built in 2005, the building sits well under the 30-year milestone inspection mark, meaning that inspection isn't due until roughly 2035. But its height means the reserve-funding requirement applies to it right now, in the current 2026 budget cycle, with no legal option to waive structural reserves the way a board could have a few years ago.

That's the distinction worth carrying into a showing. A building can be a decade away from its first milestone inspection and still be required to be honestly funding its roof and plumbing reserves today.

Not Every Building in MetroWest Plays by the Same Rules

MetroWest's housing stock is a mix of gated condo communities, low-rise garden-style buildings, and single-family and townhome neighborhoods governed by traditional homeowners associations. That mix matters here because the SIRS mandate only applies to condominiums under Florida's Condominium Act. Homeowners associations governing single-family homes and many townhome communities, structured under a different chapter of Florida law, are exempt from SIRS entirely. So are condo buildings under three stories. Those boards can still vote annually to reduce or waive reserve funding for the same categories of repairs.

That means a low fee at a garden-style building or a townhome HOA isn't proof the association is healthier than a tower with a higher fee. It might just mean the vote to underfund hasn't caught up with reality yet.

What the Market Data From This Summer Actually Shows

Two snapshots taken a couple of months apart point in the same direction. In early June 2026, roughly 155 condos were listed for sale in MetroWest at a median list price near $198,000, sitting an average of about 103 days on market. By early August 2026, listings had climbed to 167, the median list price had moved up to $220,000, and the average days on market had stretched to 119.

Read together, that's a market where sellers are asking for more while buyers take longer to commit. That's not a bad thing for someone doing real due diligence. In the bidding-war years, buyers waived inspections and reserve reviews just to get a contract accepted. A slower market gives you the room to actually request the SIRS report, the current budget, and the reserve balance before you write an offer, and to walk away if a board can't produce them.

What to Ask for Before You Write an Offer

If you're seriously considering a MetroWest condo, request these items before submitting an offer, not after:

1. The completed SIRS report, if the building is three stories or taller
2. The milestone inspection report, if the building has reached its 30-year mark
3. The current operating budget and the reserve fund balance
4. The last 12 months of board meeting minutes
5. The master insurance declarations page
6. Confirmation of whether the association has 25 or more units, and if so, a link to where these documents are posted online under the new disclosure rule

A board that can hand these over without delay is telling you something about how the building is run. A board that stalls is telling you something too.

A Few Questions Worth Settling Before You Shop

Does this apply to MetroWest's gated townhome communities? No. If the community is legally structured as a homeowners association rather than a condominium, it isn't subject to the SIRS mandate, even if the homes look similar to condos from the street.

What if the building was constructed in the last few years? It still needs a SIRS on file if it's three stories or taller. The funding requirement is tied to height, not age, so a brand new tower faces the same reserve rules as one built two decades ago.

Could a fully funded reserve actually mean a higher fee than a similar building nearby? Yes, and that's the point. A building that's honestly collecting for its roof, plumbing, and structural components will often show a higher monthly fee than one that isn't, at least until that second building's board is forced to catch up. The higher number can be the safer one.

Buying or selling a condo in MetroWest right now means reading past the fee on the listing sheet and asking which set of rules the building actually falls under. If you want help pulling the right documents before you write an offer, or figuring out what a specific MetroWest building's reserve position really means for your monthly payment, Mary Rossi Team is glad to help you get in touch.