If you're comparing an older resale condo in St. Petersburg with a new building, the number that matters most isn't on the listing. It's in the structural integrity reserve study, the engineering-based funding plan that Florida now requires for every condo building three stories or taller. Existing owner-controlled associations faced a December 31, 2025 deadline, with December 31, 2026 as the outside date for those pairing the study with a milestone inspection. Outside of narrow statutory exceptions, owners in those buildings can no longer vote to underfund what it recommends.
The law has made a building's age a required budget line. The age of the roof, structure, plumbing, windows and waterproofing now feeds into what owners pay every month. For a resale buyer, the study shows up at a defined point in the contract, and that point is where an older unit really gets priced.
The Seven Days That Decide an Older Condo
Under Florida's condo resale statute, a buyer who has signed a contract is entitled to three documents, at the seller's expense, where they apply:
- A current inspector-prepared summary of the building's milestone inspection report.
- The association's most recent structural integrity reserve study, or a statement that the association has not completed one.
- The turnover inspection report, for a turnover inspection performed on or after July 1, 2023.
For resale contracts signed after December 31, 2024, the contract has to say whether the buyer received these more than seven days before signing, excluding weekends and legal holidays. If the buyer didn't, the statute in Section 718.503 makes the agreement voidable by the buyer. The buyer can deliver written notice of cancellation within seven business days after both signing and receiving the documents. The required contract language is direct:
"ANY PURPORTED WAIVER OF THESE VOIDABILITY RIGHTS SHALL BE OF NO EFFECT."
The buyer can also extend closing by up to seven business days after receiving the documents, if requested in writing, and the right to cancel ends at closing. When the documents arrive after signing, the review window that follows is short.
Why the Study Now Sets the Monthly Fee
A structural integrity reserve study covers the parts of a building that hold it up and keep water out: the roof, the load-bearing structure, fireproofing and fire protection, plumbing, electrical, waterproofing and exterior paint, and windows and exterior doors. It also covers any other item over the state's dollar threshold whose failure would affect those systems. For each item, the study estimates remaining useful life and replacement cost. It then sets a yearly reserve amount that has the money in place by the time the item wears out. At minimum, the funding plan has to keep the reserve balance above zero every year.
The age gap comes from that formula. The statute doesn't require an association to reserve replacement costs for items with more than 25 years of remaining useful life. A new tower's structure and systems start near the beginning of their lifespans, so its reserve contributions spread over decades. An older building may have several major components coming due in the same decade, and the law now requires the budget to fund them.
| What drives the cost | Older owner-controlled building | New building under developer control |
|---|---|---|
| Remaining life of major components | Shorter, so reserve contributions are larger | Longer, so items over 25 years may need no replacement reserve |
| Can owners vote to underfund SIRS items? | Generally no for budgets adopted on or after Dec. 31, 2024, apart from a temporary milestone-repair pause and a multicondominium exception | The developer-controlled association may not waive or reduce reserves |
| How shortfalls get funded | Regular or special assessments, lines of credit, or loans; special assessments, credit lines and loans need majority approval of all voting interests | Built into the developer's budget before turnover |
| Main pressure on price | The SIRS funding schedule | Construction cost per square foot |
Reserve money is also locked to its purpose. For budgets adopted on or after December 31, 2024, owners in a building that needs a SIRS can't vote to spend reserves on anything other than the components the study covers. That's why a buyer can't read a healthy reserve balance as spare money. It's committed to particular repairs.
December 31 Lands in the Middle of Budget Season
The SIRS deadline for existing owner-controlled associations was December 31, 2025. An association with a milestone inspection due on or before December 31, 2026 could complete both together, and in no case can the study be completed after December 31, 2026. Separately, an association that completes a milestone inspection may delay a required SIRS for up to two consecutive budget years so it can focus on the inspection's repairs.
Budget season runs into that deadline. A board has to adopt its annual budget at least 14 days before its fiscal year begins, which for a calendar-year association means by December 18. If the budget's reserve funding doesn't match the latest study's funding plan, the association needs an updated study before adopting it. A buyer looking at an older St. Pete building this month may see a current-year fee that the next budget is already scheduled to change.
The milestone inspection runs on its own calendar. Under Section 553.899, condo buildings of three or more habitable stories generally need a milestone inspection once they turn 30 and every 10 years after that, and local enforcement agencies may set the trigger at 25. If the visual first phase finds substantial structural deterioration, a second phase follows, and repairs identified there must begin within 365 days.
The legislature also added temporary relief on the funding side. For budgets adopted on or before December 31, 2028, an association that completed a milestone inspection within the previous two calendar years can, with majority approval of all voting interests, pause or reduce reserve contributions for up to two consecutive budgets to pay for milestone repairs. It then needs a new SIRS before contributions resume. A reduced reserve line in a recent budget may reflect that approved pause, which the board minutes would record.
New Construction Has Its Own Cost Problem
New product doesn't escape the pressure. It just shows up as a higher price per square foot. In October 2026, the St. Pete Catalyst reported that The Cade Residences, a seven-story, 15-unit building at 749 Burlington Avenue North on Mirror Lake, had the only active condominium construction crane downtown, according to developer Will Conroy of Backstreets Capital.
The figures in that report explain the gap. Conroy told the Catalyst that the cost to produce a condominium unit has roughly doubled since his firm developed the Salvador downtown about a decade ago. The remaining Cade residences are offered in the $900-per-square-foot range. At that rate, a 1,200-square-foot residence would price near $1.08 million. The same article cited a Turner & Townsend finding that national material costs rose 10.7% in the year ending July 2026.
Sales there are moving at a measured pace. About 40% of the 15 residences were under contract at the April groundbreaking, and the Catalyst reported that share was roughly unchanged in October, with some prospective buyers waiting for the winter selling season. Occupancy is expected in early 2028. At the larger end, St. Pete Rising reported in December 2025 that 400 Central, a 46-story, 301-unit tower, received a temporary certificate of occupancy for its first 25 floors, which allowed lower-floor closings and move-ins to begin.
A new-construction buyer pays for systems at the start of their lifespans at today's construction cost. An older-building buyer pays a lower entry price and takes on whatever the reserve study says is coming due. The two prices aren't directly comparable until both are converted into total carrying cost.
What the September Numbers Say About Leverage
The most recent figures from the Pinellas Realtor Organization cover September 2026 and combine townhouses and condos countywide. The median sale price was $246,750, up 3.7% year over year. Closed sales rose 13.3% to 495, active listings fell 3.2% to 3,596, and months of supply dropped from 7.9 to 6.5. The median time to contract in September was 61 days, and sellers received 92.4% of original list price. The next monthly release is scheduled for November 16.
Taken together, those September numbers show a market where buyers are acting again but still have time and negotiating room. Six and a half months of supply and a median sale at 92.4% of original list price leave space for a price conversation based on what the reserve study shows. A buyer who receives the SIRS early can bring a known reserve schedule into that conversation instead of discovering it after the price is set.
Short Answers for Condo Shoppers
Where can I check whether a building reported its SIRS?
The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation keeps a public SIRS reporting database. It lists associations that reported completing a study, as submitted to the state. It doesn't contain the study itself. Associations with websites must post the full milestone inspection report and the inspector-prepared summary there.
Is anyone rating association finances beyond the state filings?
In June, Bay News 9 reported that former state senator Jeff Brandes launched the Florida Communities Certification Association, a voluntary private ratings effort he described as a "Carfax for condos." It reviews association financials, board minutes and state-required reports. Phil Piser, treasurer of Bacopa Bay Condominium Association in Pinellas County, told the station that when he bought his unit six years ago, "There was virtually no financial information provided prior to the buying." According to the same report, his association is among a dozen in the pilot.
Does a brand-new building skip reserves?
No. A developer-controlled association can't vote to waive or reduce reserve funding, and before turnover the developer must have a turnover inspection report for each building three stories or taller.
This post is general information about Florida condo rules, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm how any statute, contract term or association budget applies to your purchase with a Florida real estate attorney or another qualified professional.
If you're weighing an older St. Petersburg building against new construction, Louis Enrique Acevedo can help you set up the document timeline before you sign and compare each building's reserve schedule against its asking price, so both options are judged on total carrying cost. Schedule a Call to plan your condo search around the review window.
