Selling a Co-op or Condominium Apartment on Palm Beach Island
A co-op apartment or condominium sale in the Town of Palm Beach has a third party at the table: the board. Its application, its calendar and its rules on cash and financing decide who can buy, how long the contract stays open and what the price has to absorb. This guide sets out the documents, the statutory clocks and the Town rules that shape the sale, so an owner can plan the listing around them instead of discovering them after an offer arrives.
Seller Answer in Brief
Selling a co-op or condominium apartment in Palm Beach depends on the building as much as the market. Before listing, get the board’s application, its financing and cash rules, its approval calendar, and the disclosure documents Florida law requires. Price for the buyers the building will actually approve, set the contract’s approval deadline to match the board’s schedule, and resolve assessments and renovation timing before the first showing.
- A co-op buyer receives shares and a proprietary lease, governed by Florida Statutes ch. 719; a condominium buyer receives a deed to a unit, governed by ch. 718.
- Florida caps the approval fee at $100 per applicant for a cooperative and $150 per applicant for a condominium, the latter subject to five-year inflation adjustments (Fla. Stat. 719.106 and 718.112, 2026).
- Resale contracts must give the buyer the governing documents and, for contracts signed after December 31, 2024, the milestone inspection summary and reserve study status, with a seven business day cancellation window (Fla. Stat. 718.503 and 719.503).
- The Town of Palm Beach winter construction season runs November 1 through April 30, with no Saturday work and no construction December 24 through January 1 (Town working hours sheet, revised July 16, 2026).
- Condominium and cooperative buildings of three or more stories need a milestone inspection at 30 years and every 10 years after, with Phase 1 due within 180 days of the Town building official’s notice.
In this guide
- Co-op apartment or condominium: what a Palm Beach buyer actually receives
- Board approval in Palm Beach buildings: what the law allows and what it does not
- The application package, and why the seller should read it before listing
- How approval timing sets the Palm Beach closing date
- Cash only rules, down payment minimums and the Palm Beach buyer pool
- The resale disclosure package and the seven business day window
- Milestone inspections and reserve studies in Town of Palm Beach buildings
- Estoppel letters, assessments and what the buyer inherits
- Renovating an apartment before listing under the Town of Palm Beach construction calendar
- Leasing, pets and other house rules that change who can buy
- Pricing a Palm Beach apartment when the comparable sales are few
- Frequently asked questions
Co-op apartment or condominium: what a Palm Beach buyer actually receives
Two apartments on the same stretch of South Ocean Boulevard can look identical from the lobby and still be different kinds of property. One is a condominium unit: the owner holds a recorded deed to the apartment plus an undivided share of the common elements. The other is a cooperative: a corporation owns the whole building, and the owner holds shares in that corporation together with a proprietary lease that grants the right to occupy one apartment. The legal frameworks are separate. Condominiums fall under Florida Statutes ch. 718, cooperatives under ch. 719.
For a seller, the label matters because it changes the paperwork, the tax lines on the closing statement, the lender market and the buyer’s due diligence. A buyer arriving from a market where co-ops are rare may assume an island co-op behaves like a condo with a stricter front desk. It does not, and the gap between expectation and documents is where Palm Beach apartment contracts tend to stall.
The first task, then, is to confirm exactly what you own. Pull the stock certificate and proprietary lease, or the recorded deed, and read the description. The governing documents, not the name on the awning or the way the apartment was marketed, decide which statute applies.
Co-op versus condominium, from the seller’s side of the table
| Issue for the seller | Cooperative (ch. 719) | Condominium (ch. 718) |
|---|---|---|
| What transfers at closing | Shares in the corporation and an assignment of the proprietary lease | A deed to the unit, recorded with the Palm Beach County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller |
| Maximum approval fee set by statute | $100 per applicant, spouses or parent and dependent child counted as one (s. 719.106) | $150 per applicant, adjusted every five years by CPI (s. 718.112(2)(k)) |
| Documents the buyer is entitled to at seller’s expense | Articles, bylaws, rules, question and answer sheet, milestone summary, reserve study or statement, turnover report if applicable (s. 719.503(2)) | Declaration, articles, bylaws, rules, annual financial statement and budget, FAQ document, milestone summary, reserve study or statement, turnover report, plus the governance form (s. 718.503(2)) |
| Property tax | Building assessed to the corporation; each owner’s share is typically carried inside maintenance. A tenant-stockholder may still claim homestead (s. 196.041) | Each unit assessed separately by the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser |
| Documentary stamp tax | Applies to documents granting a tenant-stockholder the right to occupy, at 70 cents per $100 (s. 201.02(2)) | Applies to the deed at 70 cents per $100 (s. 201.02(1)) |
| Buyer financing | Share loans; fewer lenders, and the building may limit or bar financing | Conventional mortgages if the project meets lender review; the building may still require cash or a minimum down payment |
| Who the buyer is legally obligated to | The corporation, as landlord under the proprietary lease | The association, under the declaration |
Sources for the table: Fla. Stat. 718.112, 718.503, 719.106, 719.503, 196.041 and 201.02, accessed October 2026. Who pays documentary stamp tax between buyer and seller is set by the purchase contract, although the statute makes all parties to the document liable for the tax regardless of that agreement; confirm the allocation with the closing attorney.
One practical consequence of the co-op form deserves a separate line. Because the corporation owns the building, an underlying mortgage on the building, if one exists, is part of what the buyer is paying for through maintenance. Ask the managing agent whether the corporation carries a building mortgage, its balance and maturity, and how much of current maintenance services it. A buyer’s attorney will ask, and a clear answer prepared in advance removes a week of back and forth.
For a broader comparison of ownership forms across markets, the site’s overview of condos, co-ops and club communities in Palm Beach, Boca Raton and Port St. Lucie covers the buyer side. This guide stays with the seller and with buildings inside the Town of Palm Beach. South Palm Beach and Manalapan sit on the same barrier island but have their own codes and building departments; the site has a separate guide to small building ownership in South Palm Beach.
Board approval in Palm Beach buildings: what the law allows and what it does not
Yes, a co-op board can decline a buyer, and many condominium associations on the island also reserve a right to approve transfers. What Florida law controls is narrower than most sellers expect. It limits the fee. It does not write the approval criteria.
The cooperative statute allows a charge in connection with a sale only if the association is required to approve the transfer and the cooperative documents provide for the fee, and it caps that fee at $100 per applicant, with spouses or a parent and dependent child treated as one applicant (Fla. Stat. 719.106). The condominium statute uses the same structure with a $150 cap, adjusted every five years for inflation, with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation publishing the adjusted amount (Fla. Stat. 718.112(2)(k)). The Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares and Mobile Homes lists the current condominium transfer fee as $150 per applicant (DBPR, Condominiums and Cooperatives FAQs, accessed October 2026).
Everything else, from the financial statements requested to the minimum liquidity a buyer must show, comes from the building’s own proprietary lease, bylaws, declaration or board resolutions. That is why two co-ops a few blocks apart on Palm Beach can run very different approval processes.
The misconception: approval is a formality
Sellers who have closed condo sales in markets without approval rights often treat the board as a scheduling step. In a building that reserves approval, it is a condition of the sale. The Florida Realtors Condominium Rider, revised in 2025, makes the contract contingent on association approval by a stated deadline and addresses what happens if approval does not arrive in time (Florida Realtors, CR-7 Condominium Rider, June 2025 redline). If the board meets after that deadline, the seller may be looking at an extension request or a terminated contract, and the listing has lost weeks of market time during the island’s selling months.
A board’s discretion also has limits. Federal and county fair housing laws apply to association and co-op decisions. In Palm Beach County, a sworn written complaint may be filed with the Palm Beach County Office of Equal Opportunity within one year of the alleged practice, or with HUD or the Florida Commission on Human Relations (Palm Beach County Office of Equal Opportunity, fair housing brochure). For a seller, the practical point is not litigation. It is that the board’s written criteria, applied consistently, are the standard the buyer should be measured against, and a seller is entitled to ask what those criteria are before accepting an offer.
What the seller can do about approval risk is mostly preparation. Ask the managing agent for the current application and any written admission standards. Ask whether the board has adopted minimum financial requirements by resolution. Then screen offers against those standards before signing, not after. An offer from a buyer who plainly meets the building’s published requirements is worth more than a slightly higher offer from one who may not.
Two further questions belong in that first call to management. Does the building hold a right of first refusal, and if so, how many days does the board have to exercise it? And does the board require a personal interview, and with whom: the full board, an admissions committee or the president? Each answer changes the timeline in section 4.
The application package, and why the seller should read it before listing
The application is the buyer’s job to complete. Reading it is the seller’s job, and it should happen before the apartment goes on the market. The package tells you who the building will approve, how long it will take, and what will slow a buyer down, which are the three things that set a realistic price and closing date.
Island buildings publish their packages through the managing agent or the association office, and the contents are set by each building. Ask for the current package in writing, with its fee and the review time the building states, because packages are revised and the version a neighbor used two years ago may no longer apply. The checklist below lists the items sellers should look for and the reason each one matters to the sale.
Building document request checklist for a Palm Beach seller
| Request from management | Why it matters to the sale |
|---|---|
| Current purchase application with all attachments | Shows the financial disclosure, references and background screening the buyer must supply, and how long a complete package takes to assemble |
| Written admission or financial standards, or the board resolution that sets them | Lets you screen offers against the real standard, such as required liquidity after closing or a maximum ratio of maintenance to income |
| Board or admissions committee meeting calendar, including summer practice | Sets the earliest realistic approval date and the contract deadline |
| Financing policy: cash only, minimum down payment, or approved lenders | Defines the buyer pool before you set the list price |
| Right of first refusal language and exercise period | Adds a fixed number of days to the timeline if it exists |
| Rules on leasing, pets, occupancy by guests, and seasonal use | Each rule removes a segment of buyers who would otherwise pay full price |
| Alteration agreement and renovation rules, including the building’s own work season | Buyers planning a renovation will ask; the answer affects what they pay |
| Current budget, most recent financial statement, reserve study and milestone summary | Required disclosure items under ch. 718 or 719 and the first documents a buyer’s attorney reads |
| Any pending or approved special assessment and any capital project under discussion | Must be allocated in the contract and will be reflected in the estoppel letter |
| For co-ops: building mortgage balance and maturity, and any flip tax or transfer charge in the proprietary lease | Affects maintenance going forward and, if the documents impose a charge at transfer, the seller’s net proceeds |
A note on the last row. The statutory caps apply to the fee charged for approving a transfer. Whether a cooperative’s governing documents impose any other charge on the seller at transfer is a separate legal question for a co-op attorney reading that building’s proprietary lease and bylaws. Do not assume either way.
Two items on the checklist do more than the others to shape price. The financial standard tells you how deep the buyer pool is at your price. The meeting calendar tells you whether a contract signed in March can close before the owner’s own plans in May. Both are covered in the next two sections.
Out of town owners can request all of this by email. If you are coordinating the sale from another state, the site’s guide to selling a Florida home from out of state covers remote signing and closing logistics, which apply to island apartments as well.
How approval timing sets the Palm Beach closing date
The closing date for an island apartment is not chosen by buyer and seller alone. It is the earliest date after which the documents have been delivered, the buyer’s cancellation window has run, the application is complete, the board has met and acted, and any right of first refusal has lapsed. Work backward from the board’s calendar and the date becomes clear. Work forward from the buyer’s wishes and it usually slips.
The sequence below shows the order of steps in a typical resale in a building that reserves approval. The day counts that come from statute are cited. Everything that depends on the building has to be confirmed with management for that building.
Before listing: collect the package
Obtain the application, the financial standards, the meeting calendar and the disclosure documents listed in section 3. Order nothing that expires, such as the estoppel letter, until you have a contract.
Contract signed with the approval rider
The Condominium Rider sets a date by which approval must be obtained. Choose that date from the board’s calendar, not from a default. The rider is written for condominiums. For a co-op, ask the attorney drafting the contract which approval contingency language will be used, and make sure the approval deadline and what happens if it passes are written into the contract itself.
Disclosure documents delivered
The buyer may cancel within seven days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, after signing and receiving the required documents, and may extend closing by up to seven days after receiving them (Fla. Stat. 718.503(2); Fla. Stat. 719.503(2)). Delivering the documents with the signed contract starts that clock at once.
Buyer submits a complete application
Incomplete packages are a common source of delay. The buyer’s agent should confirm with management that nothing is missing before the package is logged. Ask management, before you accept an offer, how long the board’s review usually runs once a package is complete, and keep the answer in writing.
Interview and board action
If the building interviews applicants, the interview date is usually the controlling date for the whole sale. Ask the board or managing agent whether interviews can be held by video for buyers who are not in Palm Beach. The answer decides how quickly an out of town buyer can be scheduled, and it belongs in the approval deadline you negotiate.
Right of first refusal period runs, if any
If the documents give the association a right of first refusal, its exercise period runs from notice under the terms of those documents.
Estoppel ordered and closing
The association must issue an estoppel certificate within 10 business days of a request; it is valid for 30 days if delivered electronically or by hand and 35 days if mailed (Fla. Stat. 718.116(8); Fla. Stat. 719.108(6)). Order it so it remains valid on the closing date.
Season, summer and the board calendar
The Town defines its own winter season for construction as November 1 through April 30 (Town of Palm Beach, Working Hours for Construction, revised July 16, 2026). Whether a volunteer board meets as often outside that season is a question to ask each building, not an assumption to make. A board that meets monthly in season and rarely in summer changes the math for a contract signed in late April. Before listing, ask the board secretary or managing agent whether the board meets, or acts by written consent, between May and October.
A seller who plans to list in January can use this calendar to advantage: a contract signed in February with a board meeting in March gives a closing well before the season ends. A seller listing in May should expect a buyer to ask for a longer approval deadline, and should price and negotiate with that in mind. Timing questions specific to the island’s season, including when to do pre-listing work, are covered in more detail in the companion guide on timing pre-listing work around Palm Beach season construction rules.
Cash only rules, down payment minimums and the Palm Beach buyer pool
Whether a building requires cash is the single rule that most changes who can buy. A co-op may bar financing entirely or allow a share loan only up to a stated percentage of the price, and a condominium association can set similar limits through its approval standards. The rule lives in the building’s documents or board resolutions, so the only reliable answer for a specific apartment comes from management. Ask for the policy in writing, together with the date of the resolution or document section that sets it.
Cash requirements do not shrink the buyer pool in a simple way. At the price levels common in the Town of Palm Beach, many buyers pay cash by choice. The rule matters most for the buyer who could pay cash but prefers to finance part of the price, and for the buyer whose liquidity is tied up in other assets. That buyer either moves on to a building that allows financing or lowers the offer to account for the cost of liquidating assets. The seller sees the effect in fewer showings from financed buyers and in offers that cite the restriction.
Financing that is permitted brings its own conditions. A lender making a share loan on a co-op, or a mortgage on a condominium, usually reviews the building as well as the borrower. Condominium projects that fail a lender’s review are called non-warrantable, and the site’s guide to selling a non-warrantable condo in Florida explains the common triggers. For a co-op, the lender pool for share loans is smaller, and a seller should know before listing whether any lender has recently closed a loan in the building. The managing agent and the closing agents on recent sales in the building are the people to ask, and a lender’s name on a recent recorded mortgage is a useful lead for a financed buyer.
How to read the financing rule against the price
Treat the financing rule as a filter on comparable sales. A recent sale in a building that allows 50 percent financing is not a clean comparable for an apartment in a building that requires cash, even at the same address range and view. When the comparable set mixes both, the pricing analysis should separate them and explain the difference to the owner in writing.
Treat it also as a filter on offers. A financed offer in a building that allows financing still carries appraisal and loan approval risk on top of board approval. The contract should sequence those contingencies so that the board is not asked to approve a buyer whose loan has not been committed. Board members and managing agents generally prefer a complete file, and a complete file is faster.
Finally, the board’s financial standards and the financing rule work together. A building that requires cash and also requires a stated level of liquid assets after closing is screening for a narrower buyer than one that requires cash alone. If the standard is written, use it to qualify buyers at the first showing. If it is unwritten, ask the managing agent how the board has applied it in recent approvals, and note the answer in writing for the file.
The resale disclosure package and the seven business day window
Florida requires the seller of a condominium or cooperative apartment to give the buyer a defined set of documents at the seller’s expense, and the purchase contract must say in conspicuous type whether those documents were received before signing. If the contract does not comply, it is voidable by the buyer before closing. For island sellers, the practical rule is to have the full package ready on the day the apartment is listed.
What a condominium seller delivers
Under Fla. Stat. 718.503(2), the buyer is entitled to the declaration of condominium, the articles of incorporation, the bylaws and rules, an annual financial statement and annual budget, the inspector-prepared summary of the milestone inspection report if applicable, the most recent structural integrity reserve study or a statement that none has been completed, the turnover inspection report if one was performed on or after July 1, 2023, and the Frequently Asked Questions and Answers document. The buyer is also entitled to the governance form provided by the Division.
What a co-op seller delivers
Under Fla. Stat. 719.503(2), the co-op buyer is entitled to the articles of incorporation, the bylaws and rules, the question and answer sheet, the milestone inspection summary if applicable, the most recent structural integrity reserve study or a statement that none has been completed, and the turnover inspection report where applicable. The list is shorter than the condominium list, but the co-op buyer’s attorney will ask for far more, starting with the proprietary lease and the corporation’s financial statements.
The window and why it matters on the island
Both statutes give the buyer two ways to deal with the documents. If the buyer received them more than seven days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, before signing, the contract records that acknowledgment. If not, the buyer may cancel by written notice within seven days, excluding weekends and legal holidays, after signing and receiving the documents. Any purported waiver of that right has no effect. For contracts entered into after December 31, 2024, the contract must also state whether the association is required to have, and has completed, a milestone inspection and a structural integrity reserve study.
In an older Palm Beach building that has completed a milestone inspection or a reserve study, those reports can contain the information most likely to move a buyer: deferred work, planned projects, and the reserve funding plan. Delivering them early, before the buyer signs, closes the cancellation window before it opens. Delivering them late leaves a signed contract exposed for seven business days to the document most likely to make a buyer reconsider.
A broker or agent who provides the documents is not liable for errors in them under the statute, but that protects the licensee, not the sale. The seller is the one who loses time if the package is incomplete. Read the reports yourself before the first showing, so that the explanation of a planned project comes from the seller’s side rather than from a buyer’s attorney.
Milestone inspections and reserve studies in Town of Palm Beach buildings
An apartment building in the Town of Palm Beach that is three or more habitable stories and is a condominium or cooperative falls under the state milestone inspection law. Under Fla. Stat. 553.899, a covered building needs its first milestone inspection by December 31 of the year it reaches 30 years from its certificate of occupancy, then every 10 years. A local enforcement agency may require the first inspection at 25 years based on local circumstances such as proximity to salt water. Buildings that had reached 30 years before July 1, 2022 had to complete the inspection before December 31, 2024.
In the Town, the Planning, Zoning and Building Department administers the process. Its published guidance states that condominium and cooperative buildings three or more stories tall must undergo milestone inspections once the building reaches 30 years old and every 10 years after, that the association must complete Phase 1 within 180 days of receiving certified written notice from the Town building official, and that if Phase 2 is required, repairs for substantial structural deterioration must begin within 365 days after the building official receives the Phase 2 report (Town of Palm Beach, Planning, Zoning and Building Department). The department is at 360 South County Road and can be reached at (561) 838‑5431.
Within 45 days of receiving the report, the association must distribute the inspector’s summary to each unit owner, post it in a conspicuous place on the property, and publish the full report and summary on its website if it is required to have one (Fla. Stat. 553.899). A seller who has not seen the summary should ask management for it before listing. It will be in the buyer’s hands anyway, because it is one of the required disclosure documents.
How the reports move price
The reports themselves rarely set the price. What sets it is the money they imply. A Phase 2 finding leads to repair work, and repair work leads to a special assessment or a loan to the association. A structural integrity reserve study leads to a funding plan, and the funding plan leads to higher maintenance. Buyers price both. When an assessment has been adopted, the contract should say who pays it. When it is only being discussed, the seller should expect the buyer to estimate it, usually on the high side.
The most useful step a seller can take is to obtain from management a short written statement of what has been adopted, what is proposed and when the board expects to vote. Placing that statement next to the inspector’s summary in the listing package lets a buyer’s attorney measure the issue instead of guessing at it. The site’s statewide guide to selling a condo after the milestone inspection explains how buyers and lenders read these reports in more detail.
For co-op sellers, the same reports affect the corporation’s finances rather than a unit’s lien position, but the buyer’s reaction is the same. Higher maintenance reduces what a buyer can pay, and an underfunded reserve is a cost the buyer will inherit through the shares.
Estoppel letters, assessments and what the buyer inherits
The estoppel certificate is the association’s statement of what is owed on the apartment as of a given date. Florida law treats it as binding on the association in favor of a person who relies on it in good faith, which is why the closing agent will not close without one. The issuing rules are nearly identical for condominiums and cooperatives.
| Estoppel rule | Condominium (s. 718.116(8)) | Cooperative (s. 719.108(6)) |
|---|---|---|
| Deadline to issue after written or electronic request | 10 business days | 10 business days |
| Validity | 30 days if delivered by hand or electronically; 35 days if mailed | 30 days if delivered by hand or electronically; 35 days if mailed |
| Base fee cap, no delinquency | $250 in the statute; $299 as currently adjusted by DBPR | $250 in the statute; $299 as currently adjusted by DBPR |
| Expedited delivery within 3 business days | Additional $100 in the statute; $119 as adjusted | Additional $100 in the statute; $119 as adjusted |
| Additional fee if amounts are delinquent | Up to $150 in the statute; $179 as adjusted | Up to $150 in the statute; $179 as adjusted |
| Fee if the association misses the deadline | None | None |
Sources: Fla. Stat. 718.116 and Fla. Stat. 719.108, accessed October 2026. Florida caps estoppel fees by statute and adjusts the caps for inflation every five years. The current DBPR-published cap is $299, plus $119 for delivery within three business days and $179 more if the account is delinquent (DBPR, Estoppel Certificate Fee schedule, accessed October 2026).
Who pays for the certificate, and who pays the expedited charge if the closing date is tight, is a contract term. Ordering it too early is the more common mistake on the island. A certificate requested before board approval may expire before the closing, and a new one costs another fee.
Why the buyer cares what the seller owes
A condominium buyer is jointly and severally liable with the previous owner for unpaid assessments that came due before the transfer (Fla. Stat. 718.116(1)(a)). In a cooperative, the owner in exclusive possession after a voluntary transfer is jointly and severally liable with the previous owner for unpaid rents and assessments up to the time of transfer (Fla. Stat. 719.108(1)). That rule is the reason buyers’ attorneys read the estoppel line by line and insist on payoff from the seller’s proceeds at closing.
Special assessments raise the harder question. An assessment that has been levied but is payable in installments will appear on the estoppel. The contract decides whether the seller pays it in full at closing or the buyer assumes future installments, often with a price adjustment. An assessment that has been proposed but not adopted will not appear at all. Here the seller’s disclosure and the contract language carry the weight, and both should be drafted with the closing attorney.
The site’s guide to the estoppel certificate for Florida sellers covers the form line by line. For a Palm Beach apartment, the island-specific piece is timing: estoppel validity, board approval and the board calendar must all point to the same closing date.
Renovating an apartment before listing under the Town of Palm Beach construction calendar
Pre-listing work in an island apartment is regulated twice: by the building and by the Town. The Town’s rules are published, specific and stricter in season than most sellers expect.
The Town’s working hours sheet, issued jointly by the Code Enforcement Department and the Planning, Zoning and Building Department and revised July 16, 2026, defines construction work as physical work requiring a permit under Chapter 18 of the Town Code, or the use of construction, drilling or demolition tools. It defines quiet interior work as construction work that is quiet in nature and limited to indoor activity (Town of Palm Beach, Working Hours for Construction).
| Period (outside the Worth Avenue district) | Monday to Friday | Saturday | Sunday and holidays |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summer, May 1 through October 31, 2026 | Work 7:30am to 5:30pm; quiet interior work 7:30am to 8:30am; no site noise before 8:30am | 9:00am to 5:00pm, noisy work not permitted; no deliveries, concrete pours or sawing, demolition or heavy equipment | No work |
| Winter, November 1 through April 30 | Work 8:00am to 5:00pm; quiet interior work 8:00am to 9:00am; no site noise before 9:00am | No work, with one exception for qualifying multi-family buildings (below) | No work |
| December 24 through January 1 | No construction work (Ord. No. 7‑2025) | ||
Source: Town of Palm Beach, Working Hours for Construction, revised July 16, 2026, referencing Ordinance Nos. 26-2021, 4-2022, 7-2025, 21-2025 and 18-2026 and related resolutions. The winter rules also bar all construction on town-observed holidays and on the days before and after Thanksgiving. The Town’s holiday sheet lists, for 2026, no construction on November 25, 26 and 27 and on each day from December 24 through December 31.
The Sloan’s Curve rule for apartment buildings
The working hours sheet carves out one exception that applies only to apartment owners. Multi-family properties south of Sloan’s Curve that are not located on Ibis Isle, whose association board has approved Saturday work hours, and whose board approval letter is on record with the Town, may perform quiet interior work on Saturdays from 9:00am to 5:00pm during the winter season. If your building is south of Sloan’s Curve, ask management whether that letter is on file. If it is, a winter pre-listing project gains one day a week. If it is not, the building, not the Town, is the place to start.
The building’s rules come first in practice
Building documents can also restrict renovation through the proprietary lease, the declaration or house rules, often with a building work season, an alteration agreement and insurance requirements for contractors. Those rules can be stricter than the Town’s. Ask the managing agent for the current alteration agreement and the building’s own work season in writing before you book a contractor. A seller planning paint, flooring or kitchen work before a January listing should check both calendars in the summer, because a project started in October that runs past October 31 drops to winter hours and loses Saturdays.
The decision for most sellers is whether to renovate at all. A buyer of an island apartment who intends to renovate will price the existing kitchen at zero no matter how recently it was installed. Cosmetic work that photographs well, completed in summer under summer hours, is usually easier to justify than a partial renovation that a buyer will tear out. The site’s companion article on Palm Beach season construction rules for sellers covers the calendar in more depth for houses and apartments.
Leasing, pets and other house rules that change who can buy
Every rule that limits how a buyer can use the apartment narrows the buyer pool. In Palm Beach buildings, the rules that matter most to price are leasing restrictions, pet rules, and limits on occupancy by guests when the owner is away.
Leasing rights do not always travel with the apartment
For condominiums, Florida law gives a specific protection to current owners that does not pass to buyers. An amendment that prohibits rentals, changes the permitted rental term or limits the number of rentals in a period applies only to owners who consent to it and to owners who acquire title after it takes effect (Fla. Stat. 718.110(13)). A seller who has been renting seasonally under an older rule may therefore be selling an apartment that the buyer cannot rent on the same terms. Listing copy that describes rental income should say plainly whether the buyer will be bound by the current rule.
For cooperatives, leasing and subletting are governed by the proprietary lease and the corporation’s rules. Section 719.1055 of the cooperative statute does not contain a parallel provision on rental amendments, so the answer for each co-op depends on its documents and on how the board applies them. If you have been subletting under an older policy, ask a co-op attorney to read the proprietary lease and confirm whether the buyer will be held to the current policy before any listing copy mentions rental income.
Pets, guests and seasonal use
Pet limits, guest occupancy rules and minimum lease terms are written building by building. Each one removes a group of otherwise qualified buyers. A two-dog household cannot buy in a building that permits one small pet, and a buyer who planned to let family use the apartment in the off-season will walk away from a building that bars guest occupancy without the owner present. Federal and state fair housing rules on assistance animals override some pet restrictions; the association and its counsel decide how that applies to a specific request.
None of these rules can be changed by the seller. What the seller controls is disclosure and pricing. Put the rules in the listing package, so that buyers who cannot live with them never schedule a showing, and price against comparable sales in buildings with similar rules, not against the building down the street that allows two dogs and annual leases.
Pricing a Palm Beach apartment when the comparable sales are few
Apartment sales inside the Town of Palm Beach are spread across many separate buildings, and any one building may record only a handful of resales in a year. Add the differences in ownership form, financing rules, view and floor, and the true comparable set for any one apartment can be very small. That is not a reason to guess. It is a reason to show the method.
Recorded sales are public, so the size of the comparable set can be measured. The table below counts qualified apartment sales inside the Town of Palm Beach recorded by the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser over two years, split by ownership form.
| Recorded qualified sales, Town of Palm Beach, October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2026 | Co-ops (use code 0510) | Condominiums (use code 0400) | How the seller uses it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qualified sales recorded | 81 | 464 | Shows how thin the comparable set is for each ownership form; 81 co-op sales spread across many buildings leaves few per building |
| Median recorded sale price | $1,060,000 | $1,650,000 | A reference point for the island apartment market as a whole, not a value for any one apartment |
| Sales recorded at $3,000,000 or more | 12 | 123 | The size of the top tier an apartment at that price is measured against |
| Sales recorded November through April | 51 (63 percent) | 256 (55 percent) | The period contains 12 winter months out of 24, so an even spread would be 50 percent; recorded sales leaned toward the season in both forms |
Query: Palm Beach County Property Appraiser Advanced Sales Search (pbcpao.gov), search type Municipality, municipality Palm Beach, property use code 0510 Cooperative and 0400 Condominium queried separately, “Include only Qualified sale”, sale dates October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2026, no price limits, queried October 8, 2026. A sale that covered more than one parcel, such as an apartment conveyed with a separate cabana, garage or storage parcel, or two adjoining apartments sold together, was counted once by matching owner name, date and price (505 condominium parcel rows became 464 sales; 82 co-op rows became 81). The month is the month of the recorded sale, which follows the contract by the length of the approval period. Medians use recorded price, so they reflect the mix of apartments that sold, not a change in value.
Three figures that matter just as much are not in public records: the days from listing to contract, the days from contract to closing, and the list price behind each recorded sale. Ask the listing agents you interview to pull them from the MLS for your building and for buildings with the same financing rule, with the number of sales behind each figure. Days from contract to closing show how long a given board really takes, which is the number to put in the contract’s approval deadline. Days from listing to contract tell you how long the apartment is likely to wait before that approval clock even starts. The gap between list and sale price shows how much room comparable sellers gave up, which is the honest test of a proposed asking price.
Adjustments that matter more than square footage
Price per square foot hides the cost of ownership. A co-op whose maintenance includes property taxes and debt service on a building mortgage cannot be compared directly with a condominium whose owner pays taxes separately. The fair comparison is total monthly carrying cost, which a buyer will calculate even if the listing does not. Show it.
Then adjust for the rules. A building that requires cash, sets a high post-closing liquidity standard, bars leasing and allows no pets is selling to a narrower group than one that allows half financing and annual leases. A sale in the second building does not prove value for an apartment in the first. In a small data set the pricing analysis has to say that out loud.
Finally, separate the apartment from the building. Two apartments in the same building can differ by floor, exposure, ocean or lake view, and condition. Within one building, those adjustments are usually more reliable than any adjustment across buildings, because the rules and costs are the same. When the building has a recent sale, start there.
For the land and house side of the island market, which follows different logic, see the companion guide on pricing a Palm Beach home by section of the island. For the wider luxury picture, the hub on selling a luxury home over $1 million in Port St. Lucie, Palm Beach and Boca Raton covers marketing and presentation, and the Palm Beach County luxury listing page describes listing services. Owners who have claimed homestead on a co-op under s. 196.041 should also read the guide to homestead portability when selling before choosing a closing date.
What Sellers Say About Working With Jeannie Jacobson
The reviews below come from sellers in other Florida markets. They are included because they describe pricing advice and communication between contract and closing, the two parts of an apartment sale where an approval period adds the most waiting.
“Jeannie was wonderful! She quided us in pricing, staging, and the actual selling process. Needless to say, our house was sold in record time! Her continuous contact with us, allowed us to know how things were going throughout the wait time between contract an closing, was great! She has a friendly, yet professional, attitude when dealing with the various vendors associated with the sale and we would highly recommend her as your real estate agent!”
Diane, Delray Beach, FL, June 22, 2023, Verified review
“It was an absolute pleasure working with Jeannie – we were on a tight timeframe to get to market and she accommodated us without hesitation. She provided feedback on the property and recommended a price that was reasonable for the market. She was very communicative throughout the process as we are from TN. she worked with the outside contractors to ensure necessary fixes were performed as needed.”
Rob H, Boca Raton, FL, March 10, 2022, Verified review
This guide is general information about selling co-op and condominium apartments in the Town of Palm Beach. It is not legal, tax or financial advice. Statutes, Town rules, fees and building documents change, and each building’s proprietary lease, declaration and board resolutions control its own process. Consult a Florida co-op and condominium attorney about your contract and documents, and a tax professional about homestead and tax questions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, if the building’s documents give the board approval rights. Florida’s cooperative statute caps the approval fee at $100 per applicant but does not set the approval criteria, which come from the proprietary lease, bylaws and board resolutions. The board must still comply with federal and county fair housing law. The best protection for a seller is to obtain the building’s written financial standards before listing and accept offers from buyers who clearly meet them.
Some do and some do not. Financing rules are set building by building, through the governing documents or board resolutions, and range from no financing at all to a stated maximum loan percentage. The managing agent can tell you the current policy. Treat that policy as a filter on comparable sales: a sale in a building that allows financing is not a clean comparable for an apartment in a building that requires cash.
Contents vary by building, but sellers should expect requests for financial statements, proof of liquid assets, tax returns or summaries, personal and financial references, background screening authorizations and, in many buildings, a personal interview. The package also states the fee, which by statute cannot exceed $100 per applicant for a cooperative. Read the package before listing, because it shows how long a complete file takes to assemble and who the board is likely to approve.
No statute sets a single approval period for island buildings; each building’s documents and meeting calendar control it. The practical timeline runs from a complete application to the board meeting or interview, plus any right of first refusal period. Ask management for the meeting calendar, including summer practice, and set the contract’s approval deadline from that calendar. A deadline chosen from a form default can terminate a contract that the board would have approved a week later.
Under Fla. Stat. 718.503(2), the buyer is entitled at your expense to the declaration, articles, bylaws and rules, the annual financial statement and budget, the FAQ document, the milestone inspection summary if applicable, the latest structural integrity reserve study or a statement that none exists, the turnover report if applicable, and the state governance form. If the buyer does not have them more than seven business days before signing, the buyer can cancel within seven business days after receiving them.
The Town’s Planning, Zoning and Building Department, at 360 South County Road, (561) 838-5431. The Town building official sends certified written notice to the association, which then has 180 days to complete the Phase 1 inspection. If Phase 2 finds substantial structural deterioration, repairs must begin within 365 days after the building official receives the Phase 2 report. The association must give every owner the inspector’s summary within 45 days of receiving the report.
Yes, within limits. From November 1 through April 30, the Town allows construction from 8:00am to 5:00pm on weekdays, with no site noise before 9:00am, and bars Saturday, Sunday and holiday work, plus all work December 24 through January 1. Buildings south of Sloan’s Curve, not on Ibis Isle, with a board approval letter on file with the Town may do quiet interior work on winter Saturdays. Your building’s own work season may be stricter.
Not necessarily. In a condominium, an amendment restricting rentals applies to owners who consented and to anyone who acquires title after it took effect, under Fla. Stat. 718.110(13). A seller protected by that rule cannot pass the protection to a buyer. In a co-op, subletting depends on the proprietary lease and board policy. Disclose the rule that will apply to the buyer, and do not describe rental income the buyer cannot legally earn.
For both condominiums and cooperatives, Florida caps estoppel fees by statute and adjusts the caps for inflation every five years. The current DBPR-published cap is $299, plus $119 for delivery within three business days and $179 more if the account is delinquent. The association must issue the certificate within 10 business days, and it is valid for 30 days if delivered electronically, so order it to cover your closing date.
Florida’s documentary stamp tax statute applies the deed rate, 70 cents per $100 of consideration, to documents granting a tenant-stockholder the right to occupy an apartment in a cooperative, under Fla. Stat. 201.02(2). The purchase contract decides which party pays it, although the statute makes all parties to the document liable for the tax. Because the transfer documents for a co-op differ from a deed, ask the closing attorney how the tax will be calculated and collected for your building before you estimate net proceeds.
Start with the building package, then set the price
The first practical step in selling a Palm Beach co-op or condominium apartment is a request to management for the application, financial standards, financing policy, meeting calendar and disclosure documents. With those in hand, a written pricing analysis and pre-listing plan can match the price to the buyers the building will approve and the closing date to the board’s calendar. Send the documents you have, or ask for help requesting them.
Contact Jeannie about your building
Jeannie Jacobson, REALTOR®, RE/MAX Gold, (772) 877-0268, English and Spanish
Sources
- Florida Statutes ch. 718, Condominiums, s. 718.503 Developer agreements; disclosure, Florida Legislature, http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0718/Sections/0718.503.html (accessed October 2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 718.112 Bylaws, paragraph (2)(k) transfer fees, Florida Legislature, http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0718/Sections/0718.112.html (accessed October 2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 718.116 Assessments; liability; lien; estoppel certificates, Florida Legislature, http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0718/Sections/0718.116.html (accessed October 2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 718.110 Amendment of declaration, subsection (13), Florida Legislature, http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0718/Sections/0718.110.html (accessed October 2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 719.503 Disclosure prior to sale, Florida Legislature, http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0719/Sections/0719.503.html (accessed October 2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 719.106 Bylaws; cooperative ownership, Florida Legislature, http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0719/Sections/0719.106.html (accessed October 2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 719.108 Rents and assessments; liability; lien; estoppel certificates, Florida Legislature, http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0719/Sections/0719.108.html (accessed October 2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 719.1055 Amendment of cooperative documents, Florida Legislature, http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0719/Sections/0719.1055.html (accessed October 2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 553.899 Mandatory structural inspections for condominium and cooperative buildings, Florida Legislature, http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0500-0599/0553/Sections/0553.899.html (accessed October 2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 201.02 Tax on deeds and other instruments relating to real property, Florida Legislature, http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0200-0299/0201/Sections/0201.02.html (accessed October 2026)
- Florida Statutes s. 196.041 Extent of homestead exemptions, Florida Legislature, http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0100-0199/0196/Sections/0196.041.html (accessed October 2026)
- Town of Palm Beach, Working Hours for Construction and Holiday Dates that Impact Construction and Lawn Maintenance, Code Enforcement Department and Planning, Zoning and Building Department, revised July 16, 2026, https://www.townofpalmbeach.com/DocumentCenter/View/116/Construction–Landscaping-Working-Hours (accessed October 2026)
- Town of Palm Beach, Planning, Zoning and Building Department, milestone inspection guidance, https://www.townofpalmbeach.com/284 (accessed October 2026)
- Florida Realtors, CR-7 A. Condominium Rider, redlined revision, June 2025, https://www.floridarealtors.org/sites/default/files/2025-06/CR-7_A.%20Condominium%20Rider_Redlined_0.pdf (accessed October 2026)
- Palm Beach County Office of Equal Opportunity, Fair Housing brochure, https://pbcgov.org/equalopportunity/pdf/brochures/fair_housing.pdf (accessed October 2026)
- Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares and Mobile Homes, Estoppel Certificate Fee schedule, https://www2.myfloridalicense.com/lsc/documents/ESTOPPEL_CERTIFICATE_FEES.pdf (accessed October 2026)
- Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Condominiums and Cooperatives FAQs, transfer fees, https://www2.myfloridalicense.com/condominiums-and-cooperatives/faqs/ (accessed October 2026)
- Palm Beach County Property Appraiser, Advanced Sales Search, municipality Palm Beach, use codes 0400 and 0510, qualified sales, October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2026, https://pbcpao.gov/AdvSearch/SalesSearch (queried October 8, 2026)