Updated September 24, 2026 · South Florida homeowner guide
What should I prepare before a pricing conversation?
Bring a short property fact sheet, records of material improvements, notes on current condition and your preferred timing. Add the questions you need answered. You do not need to upload private documents to start the conversation.
Owner preparation checklist
- Property type, approximate living area, bedrooms, bathrooms, parking and lot or unit details.
- Dates and scope of major improvements, with permits, invoices or warranties when available.
- Known repairs, deferred maintenance and features that may not appear in public records.
- For a condo or managed community, current association contact information and charges.
- Your ideal sale timing, reasons that timing may move and any purchase that must be coordinated.
Which property details can change the discussion?
Pricing evidence becomes more useful when the comparison accounts for the features buyers would notice and the constraints they would inherit.
- Condition and improvements
- Age and condition of major systems, the scope of updates and whether the work is documented.
- Location and view
- Immediate surroundings, waterfront or access characteristics, exposure, noise and outlook.
- Building or lot context
- Lot usability, parking, association requirements, common facilities and building-specific considerations.
- Current competition
- What buyers can choose now, how those homes differ and how long the evidence has been available.
- Timing
- Your preferred launch window, preparation needs and any linked purchase or move.
What should I raise about improvements or condition?
Raise known improvements, repairs, permits, insurance-related work, recurring issues and visible defects with your representative. Bring the records you have and identify what is uncertain. This guide does not determine a seller’s disclosure duties; property-specific legal questions should be taken to the appropriate adviser.
Condition is not a cosmetic footnote. Fannie Mae’s current appraisal guidance treats condition and quality as property-wide characteristics and requires apparent repairs and deferred maintenance to be addressed in an appraisal report.
What if there are few truly comparable sales?
The comparison set may need to widen by date or geography, but the reason and the differences should stay visible. Fannie Mae’s comparable-sales guidance allows an appraiser to use the best available evidence when truly similar sales are scarce, provided the analysis explains the selection.
A hypothetical, not a valuation
Assume a renovated waterfront home has no recent sale on the same street. A pricing discussion might examine an older nearby waterfront sale, a recent sale in a competing waterfront area and current nearby listings. Each item answers a different question. None should be treated as identical to the home.
What should I ask during the review?
- Which closed sales are most comparable, and where are the important differences?
- What current listings compete for the same buyer?
- Which assumptions are based on public records, and which need confirmation?
- How are condition, improvements, view, lot or building context reflected?
- What evidence would change the pricing range or launch plan?
- Which preparation decisions should be made before photography or marketing?
Public sources used
- Fannie Mae: Comparable Sales, guidance dated June 4, 2025; Selling Guide published September 2, 2026.
- Fannie Mae: Property Condition and Quality of Construction, guidance dated June 4, 2025.
- Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser and Palm Beach County Property Appraiser, public property and nearby-sales tools checked September 24, 2026.
Public records are a starting point, not a complete description of a property. Prepare the facts you can verify, then discuss the home itself.