By Ivan Mora · Florida-licensed real estate agent, License #3454593 · Updated November 12, 2026
A cash offer on an older Hollywood condo can be faster and stronger, but it skips the lender's condo review, appraisal and insurance checks. Those reviews often surface unresolved repairs, litigation, weak reserves or insurance gaps. If you pay cash, run the same checks yourself: request the condo questionnaire answers, inspection and reserve documents, minutes, the estoppel and the master policy, and consider an independent appraisal — and keep an inspection period long enough to read them.
What a lender would have checked
- Project eligibility, including critical repairs and litigation.
- Appraisal and property acceptability.
- Master insurance and borrower coverage.
- Association financial and reserve documentation.
Cash removes the mortgage approval process, not these underlying risks. An agent, title company or unit inspector is not automatically retained to perform every lender-style building review. Assign each check to a named professional and obtain the documents before your contractual deadlines.
Your replacement checklist
- Certificate of occupancy, current milestone reports under §553.899, Phase 2 findings and written local compliance deadlines.
- Applicable SIRS under §718.112(2)(g), latest budget, reserve balances and funded repair plan.
- City of Hollywood open permits, inspections, corrections and closure documents.
- Hollywood building-safety inspection history: request legacy 40-year records where relevant and the current applicable schedule; do not assume “40-year passed” satisfies milestone or present local requirements.
- Board minutes, adopted/proposed assessments, litigation disclosures and contractor obligations.
- Master insurance declarations, deductibles and your HO-6/flood quote.
- Estoppel certificate under §718.116(8), recorded declaration and resale documents under §718.503(2).
- Title commitment, liens, parking rights and an optional independent appraisal.
State milestone inspection, SIRS and local building-safety recertification are separate records, not interchangeable certificates. An estoppel confirms specified financial/account information, not structural safety or a complete permit search.
Resale is the hidden risk
Your future buyer may need financing. If the building is non-warrantable when you sell, your buyer pool may be smaller. Factor that into your price.
Paying cash?
Let's run the checks a lender would have.
Send me the building and I'll help you request the documents before your inspection period ends. Call or text 8am–6pm, 7 days a week.
Keep your leverage
A cash offer with no inspection period is attractive to sellers but leaves you no time to read the documents above. Consider a short but real inspection period.
Sources and scope
- Hollywood Building Safety Inspection Program — Current local inspection program and legacy recertification records; obtain the building-specific notice
- Florida Statutes §718.116(8) — Estoppel certificate scope
- Florida Statutes §718.503(2) — Resale document disclosures
- Florida Statutes §553.899 — Milestone inspections
- Florida Statutes §718.112 — Budgets and reserves
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide — What lenders review
Statutory text checked November 12, 2026. Educational guidance, not legal, engineering, lending or insurance advice. Building-specific deadlines, repairs, funding and coverage require current documents and qualified professional review. No association costs, inspection outcomes or insurance quotes are assumed.