First, this is for Condomiuns NOT Home Owners Associations. And the Contract Condominium Rider must have the correct box cheched “requesting” the following documents from the Seller. That said, the short answer is…there is no specified time for the Seller to provide these to the Buyer. BUT…

According to the rider, and state laws, the Seller must provide: CURRENT declaration of condominium, articles of incorporation, bylaws, and rules of the association, and a copy of the most recent year-end financial information, and the frequently asked questions and answers document. It is best to get these from the association or management company as if they are not complete the the Buyer could have an “out”. Also, the statute does NOT specify the format of these documents. If the Buyer accepts an electronic copy then great. Otherwise it must be a printed hard copy. And in either case get a Receipt of Condominium Documents form signed by the Buyer. Because…

The Seller of residential condominium resale does NOT have a set amount of time in which to provide condominium documents to the buyer. HOWEVER, note that the Buyer’s three-day right to cancel BEGINS once the Buyer has received a FULL and COMPLETE set of the documents, so it is in the best interest of the seller to provide these documents as soon as possible. And, make cure everything is up to dat and complete.

This came up on a recent sale. The Seller had the property listed for short term occupancies on AirBnB and VRBO and had taken reservations. The Buyer intended to be an owner occupant and live there. Thus, they did ot see the bookings as posative attribute. The question came up as to what happens to those after the sale?

First, we should know the difference between a “rental” and a “licensing” of a property. A “rental” NO MATTER WHAT THE DURATION is an assignment of property rights, the right to EXCLUSIVLY use and enjoy the property, for a defined period of time. And in Florida a residential lease, a rental, DOES survive a sale…

Note that it looks like there was an attempt at the last revision to include “short term vacation rentals” but a licensing of a property is very different from a rental. If the occupancy is a rental then it would require a court order to forcibly remove a person.

A licensing of a Property on the other hand is an agreement in which the owner ALLOWS certain actions, such as staying at the property for a day or a week or whatever, to occur on the property BUT they continue to own and have full control over. Think about a hotel, as that is a licensing. If you act up in the middle of the night they can revoke the license and thow you out. There is no need to go to court to have you “evicted”.

Here’s where the answer gets a bit “cloudy”. Florida Staute does define a Vacation Rental – “Vacation rental.

2025 UPDATE – Note that there is new language required for these reports found in the latest Condominium Rider to the FAR BAR Contract…

In March of 2023 the Florida Association of Realtors will release an update to the standard Condominium Rider to the base contract which will include the reports as now required by FS 718.

Which is the same as the old version but with this added…

LAST UPDATED IN 2025

First, this is general information. If you really want to know for certain then call the Palm Beach county Planning & Zoning Department (561.233.5200) with your parcel ID and speak to the “planner on call”, then hire an engineer ot architect, then a builder. Use this link to get the zoning information for your property and jot it down (zoning, future land use, use and flood zone) or print it out. Tired of dealing with Realtors who don’t know details like this? Call Chris Ryder at 561-626-8550.

ALL of Palm Beach Country Estates is an ‘Exurban’ Tier, outside of the Urban Services Tier or ‘U/S Tier’. Generally speaking lots with a house on them are zoned AR or Agricultural Residential zoning district. (FYI houses in this designation have the use restrictions generally noted as being for a ‘residentially zoned’ districts). The Future Land Use is Rural Residential with one house per 2.5 acres or RR 2.5 and PBCE does NOT have a “Neighborhood Plan” like Jupiter Farms does. Note that a “conforming lot” in the AR zoning district is 300′ x 300′ or a little over 2 acres. Thus, if you are on a typical PBCE lot of 1.15 Acre lot then you are on an “existing non-conforming” lot. Thus, for most reading this, the information below asumes you are on a NON conforming lot.

The short answer: Yes, in Palm Beach Coutry Estates, and in fact now in ANY residentiall zoned property in Palm Beach County, one may have what is termed an “Accessory Quarters” BY RIGHT. For lots in unincorporated Palm Beach County that are over 1 acre in size one may build a mini house that is not separtely metered for electric from the main house, having under 1000 SF of air conditioned living space PLUS an additional 500 SF of area “under roof” like a garage, front or back COVERED porch being allowed. This must be built to correct elevation, being 2.5′ above the adjacent road for the homes in PBCE outside the Special Flood Hazard Area. They must be under 25′ in height, and must be built with at least 25′ set backs from the side and rear property lines and 100′ from the front property line. Yet, there is a possibility to build it in the front of the house though not “by right.”

The long answer. The residential properties in PBCE are MOSTLY AR (AR-2.5) zoned. ALL of PBCE is a ‘Exurban’ Tier, AND outside of the Urban Services or ‘U/S Tier.’ The Agricultural Residential zoning district is a residential district which, FYI, includes it in the use restrictions generally noted as being for a ‘residentially zoned’ districts and the use is residential.

Next we need to know the “Future Land Use” which for MOST of PBCE is Rural Residential 2.5 or “RR 2.5.” Thus the nomenclature on the Tables in the code of “AR- RR 2.5”. Armed with this we look at the Unified Land Development Code and the Palm Beach County Amendments to same.

Acessory uses are covered in Article 5. And for Residential Districts, like the AR and RE found in PBCE, we note that…

Residential Districts
Accessory structures shall be allowed subject to the requirements below, provided they are not located in an established easement or required landscape buffer unless exempted by Art. 5.F.2.A, Easement Encroachment.
a) Accessory Living Quarters
Accessory dwellings, such as Guest Cottages, Grooms Quarters, and other Accessory Quarters, shall meet the minimum setback in Table 3.D.1.A, Property Development Regulations, with the exception of properties with an RR FLU designation (Like the RR-10 in Jupiter Farms and PBCE) which shall be subject to a 25-foot side or rear setback. The front set back is 100′ and there IS a method to have one in the front yard of a property…

Table 3.D.1.A covers the required setbacks for MOST buildings…

But one must lok at the ever important foot notes…

Actually, first we must check that we can do ANYTHING because there are “max building coverage” requirements in the code which we see in the above Table is 20%.

So let’s look at an example. A lot that it 210′ wide X 240′ deep. This is 1.15 Acres and smaller than 300’x300′ and thus an ‘existing non conforming’ lot. Let’s assume it has a descent sized 4,000 sf house on it. This is the total size of the building(s) (ALL BUILDINGS) but would not include a pool or a screen enclosure UNLESS it has a solid roof. But if you have other structures on the lot, like a barn, with a solid roof then theese WOULD BE included in the lot coverage.

Looking at Table 1.F.2, we see that lot coverage must be less than 20%, so 0.2*210*240 = 10,080 sf. Hmm, that’s alot. In this example we could have an accessory builging that’s 10,080 – 4000 = 6,080 SF. HUGE! A good sized barn but we want to know about ADU’s now that we know we have over 4k SF of have lot coverage to use! Looking at table 4.B.1.D we see that for a Single Family Principle Use one may have BY RIGHT AN Accessory Quarters, Estate Kitchen, or a Guest Cottage…

What we are looking for is the “Accessory Quarters”…

Accessory Quarters

a.   Definition

A complete, separate living facility equipped with a kitchen and provisions for sanitation and sleeping, located on the same lot as the owner-occupied principal dwelling.

b.   Building Area

The use shall be subject to the following:

1)   On less than one acre: a maximum of 800 square feet.

2)   On one acre or more: a maximum of 1,000 square feet.

3)   The floor area calculation shall include only the living area of the Accessory Quarters under a solid roof.

4) Additional floor area under a solid roof that is utilized as a porch, patio, porte-cochère, carport, or garage shall not exceed 500 square feet.

So, for our example one may have a 1,000 SF of living area (air conditioned building space) plus another 500 SF of porch, patio, porte-cochère, carport, or garage (non AC space) and it must be placed at least than 25′ from the both the rear and side property lines.

An “Estate Kitchen” is “A second kitchen located within a principal Single Family, Zero Lot Line, or Farm Residence.”

A “Guest Cottage” is much like an Accessory Quarters BUT it is intended only for sleeping and is WITHOUT a kitchen.

Last FYI is that the accessory building MAY NOT have separate utilities and that you will be charged Impact Fees in addition to the building permit fees.

What is a 4 point inspection of a house? This is an easy one. A 4 point inspection MAY be done at the same time as a general home inspection but it does not have to be. This is an inspection of four major systems of a house and it is generally required by your insurance uderwriting for any house that is older than 40 years. The inpector will be looking at: 1) the Roof. 2) The Electrical system. 3) The HVAC (air conditioner) 4) The Plumbing.

Citizens is a public entity so we know whay their 4 point form has on it…

Citizens 4 point Form

Other carriers will have their own form but in general they will look at:

• Roof –  Type of Roof Covering (shingles, tile, rolled). The age and condition of the roof. Are there missing shingles or leaks?
• Electrical System –  The type of the wiring in the home (copper, aluminium, knob and tube). The brand of the electrical panel. The condition of the homes electrical system
• Heating and Cooling – Is there central heat and air in the home? The age and condition of the system. Are there signs of leaking?
• Plumbing System –    Type of supply and drain lines found in the home (copper, CPVC, galvanized, lead, polybutelene, etc. Is there evidence of current leaks?  The age of the hot water heater.

Lots of folks in Real Estate will tell you about the importance of checking, tracking and perhaps cleaning up your credit rating but equally as important, IMO, is checking your insurance rating. Insurance is VERY expensive these days and I take great care in ensuring I get the lowest rate possible. Ever wonder why 2 people living right next to each other could pay very different amount for property insurance. Yes, there may be wind mitigation factors in use, or flood mitigation factors in use BUT most folks do not know that insurance companies have volumes of data on you that they use to determine IF they want to insure you and if so at what rate?

I just got my annual notice like this one in the mail and last year I did this. I requested a copy (FREE) of my insurance rating data from Lexis Nexis. You may mail them this form here…

LexisNexis Risk Solutions Consumer Center
P.O. Box 105108
Atlanta, GA 30348-5108

OR, request on on line here…

https://consumer.risk.lexisnexis.com/consumer