Run five checks before you offer in Orlando: the flood disclosure Florida now requires from every home seller, whether a CDD bond sits on the tax bill, what the tax resets to after the sale, the wind-mitigation form behind your insurance quote, and the association documents you have a limited statutory right to cancel over.
Five, and only one of them is on the listing.
1. The flood disclosure — new, and most buyers do not know it exists. Since 2024, section 689.302 requires a seller to hand you a written flood disclosure at or before you sign, covering flood damage during their ownership, flood claims including with the National Flood Insurance Program, and FEMA assistance. The statute states in its own text that homeowners' insurance does not cover flood. If nobody gives you that form, ask.
2. Wind mitigation, which is what actually moves the insurance quote. Orange County policies carrying wind coverage average $3,610 a year. Under section 627.711 insurers must accept a uniform mitigation verification form signed by a qualified inspector, contractor, engineer or architect. Roof shape, deck attachment and opening protection are documentable credits — ask whether a current form exists.
3. The tax resets to what you paid. The most expensive surprise on an Orlando closing. Section 193.155(3)(a): property is assessed at just value on 1 January of the year following a change of ownership. The seller's Save Our Homes cap does not come with the house. See our tax explainer and the homestead and cap guide.
4. Whether a CDD bond sits on the tax bill. A Community Development District bond lands on the tax bill, not the HOA statement. Section 190.048 requires the warning in bold above the signature line — but read it closely: it governs the initial sale, so on a resale that notice is not automatic. See what CDD fees are.
5. The association documents, and the clock attached to them. For an HOA, section 720.401 gives you a disclosure summary before signing; if it was not provided you may cancel in writing within 3 days of receiving it or before closing, whichever comes first, and a waiver of that right has no effect. That section does not reach condominiums, co-ops, timeshares or mobile-home parks — those have their own chapters.
A resale condominium runs under section 718.503(2), and the seller owes you, at their expense, a current copy of the declaration, the articles, the bylaws and rules, the annual budget and financial statement, the governance form, the statutory Frequently Asked Questions sheet and — where each applies — the milestone inspection summary, the turnover inspection report, and the structural integrity reserve study or a statement that the association has not completed one. That last item is the one to read.
Whether you also get a cancellation right depends on when those documents reached you, and this is the part most buyers are never told. The contract must contain, in conspicuous type, one of two clauses. If it says you received the documents more than 7 days — excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays — before you signed, there is no cancellation right: the law treats you as having had time to read them. If it says the agreement is voidable, you may cancel in writing within 7 days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, of the later of signing and receiving the documents. A contract carrying neither clause is voidable at your option before closing. Any purported waiver of these rights has no effect — but the right to void ends at closing, so it is worth nothing if you notice afterwards. Read which of the two clauses your contract contains before you sign, not after.
There is no such rule. Search it and you find at least three incompatible versions — save three months of expenses and compare three homes; a "30/30/3" affordability formula; an investor's time-horizon framework. All from agent blogs; none from a lender, a regulator, or Florida law.
Treat it as a memory aid, not a standard. The part worth keeping is real: hold cash back after closing, because Florida hands you an insurance deductible and a tax bill in year one.
It buys the median Orlando house, with very little room left over.
July's median across all property types was $410,494. With 20% down at 6.67% that is a $328,395 loan: about $2,113 principal and interest, $619 property tax and $301 insurance at the county average — call it $3,032 a month. Against a $100,000 salary that is just over 36% of gross, the conservative end of the usual guideline, and it assumes $82,099 in cash for the down payment.
That tax figure assumes no homestead exemption, which is the honest year-one number: the exemption applies from the January after you own and occupy, and you must file by 1 March. Once it does apply, the tax on this house drops to about $557 and the payment to $2,970 — worth $62 a month. Every figure on this page is on the no-exemption basis, so treat the exemption as money back, not as money you already have.
Two caveats. Sitting at 28% rather than 36% on that house needs about $130,000. And the median is not the detached market: single-family alone ran $446,375 in July, condos and townhouses together $299,911 — so on $100,000 attached housing is comfortable and a detached house is a stretch. Worth weighing townhomes and condos before settling detached versus attached.
Not on that salary by itself, and the gap is not small.
$50,000 a year is $4,167 a month gross. A $300,000 purchase with 5% down is a $285,000 loan: about $1,833 principal and interest, $390 tax and $301 insurance — $2,524 a month, or 61% of gross, before mortgage insurance, dues or utilities. A full 20% down is still $2,235, or 54%.
Held to 36% of gross, $50,000 supports roughly $180,000 — below even the attached-housing median. That is arithmetic, not a lending decision; programs and ratios vary and a loan officer runs your file. What changes the answer is a co-borrower, a larger down payment, or assistance: start with Florida's first-time buyer programs, the calculator, and the full cost-to-own breakdown.
Time, mostly. July closed 2,720 sales with 12,043 homes listed, 4.4 months of supply and 64 days on market. ORRA's own benchmark is six months for a balanced market, so this is still tight — but supply rose while inventory fell, which is what a cooling market looks like from the buyer's side, and 64 days is long enough to inspect, read the documents and get an insurance quote before the deadline rather than after it. ORRA's own July survey puts numbers on it: 68% of its REALTORS® report more seller concessions than a year ago.
Insurance is moving too: the July OIR report found the average premium with wind coverage fell in 51 counties since January. One caution on that table — the "including wind" and "excluding wind" columns cover different sets of policies, not the same house with the peril removed; in some counties the ex-wind average is the higher of the two. Prices have barely moved, up 1.9% from July 2025 — see whether Orlando prices are dropping.
Financing first, so you shop a real number. Then the five checks above, before the inspection — the expensive step, and the paperwork can end a deal first. None of it needs you under contract. Start with the step-by-step guide, browse single-family homes or everything listed, and send us an address if you want it checked properly.
Flood history, now a required written disclosure; wind mitigation, which drives the insurance quote; the tax reset on sale; whether a CDD bond sits on the tax bill; and the association documents.
There is no official 3-3-3 rule — at least three versions circulate on agent blogs, none from a lender, a regulator or Florida law. Use the arithmetic instead.
It reaches the $410,494 median at about 36% of gross — roughly $3,032 a month with 20% down, which needs $82,099 in cash, before any homestead exemption.
Not on that salary alone. At $300,000 with 5% down the payment runs about $2,586 a month — 62% of a $50,000 gross, before PMI or dues.
Yes. Since 2024, section 689.302 requires a written flood disclosure at or before you sign, covering flood damage, claims and FEMA assistance during their ownership.
Ask Lina, then a licensed agent talks it through.
Send us the listing and we will come back with the tax at your purchase price, CDD status, flood zone and insurance band — before you are on a deadline.
