If you wait for the buyer’s inspection, you learn about your home’s problems from someone else’s inspector, usually after you’ve signed a contract. A pre-listing inspection changes the order. You see the report first, while you still decide what to fix, what to price in and when to list.
For a coastal home in Palm Beach County, it’s also a good time to line up the insurance reports a buyer’s insurer may ask about. If you’re still weighing timing, start with our guide to the best time to sell a home in Palm Beach County.
Key takeaways
- A Florida home inspection is a limited visual exam. Get the scope and exclusions in writing first.
- Citizens Property Insurance requires a four-point inspection on applications for homes more than 20 years old.
- A wind mitigation form is valid for up to five years if the structure isn’t materially changed and no inaccuracies turn up.
- Whatever the report finds, you now know. Ask a real estate attorney what that means for disclosure.
What does a pre-listing inspection cover in Florida?
A pre-listing inspection covers a home’s readily accessible installed systems and components, from the structure and roof covering to the plumbing, electrical and HVAC systems. It’s a regular home inspection done before you list, and Florida law defines home inspection services as “a limited visual examination” of those systems and components (s. 468.8311, Florida Statutes).
Before you sign or the inspection starts, the inspector must give you a copy of their Florida license and a written disclosure of the scope and any exclusions (s. 468.8321, Florida Statutes). Read the exclusions closely. If the seawall, dock or lift isn’t in the written scope, don’t count on the report to cover it, and book a separate inspection.
After a paid inspection, the inspector must provide a written report prepared for you, the client. It must flag systems and components the inspector considers significantly deficient or near the end of their service lives, and list anything present but not inspected, with the reason. The inspector isn’t required to estimate repair costs (s. 468.8323, Florida Statutes), so line up contractor quotes for anything flagged.
Why inspect before you list instead of waiting for the buyer?
It puts the findings in your hands while you still control the response. You can repair an item before listing, factor it into your asking price, or have a contractor’s quote ready when buyers ask. There are trade-offs. The report is prepared for you, so a buyer may still want their own inspection, and whatever it finds is now something you know, which matters for disclosure.
Whether one is worth it depends on the home. Consider it if the home or roof has some age on it, if your wind mitigation form is missing or nearing five years old, or if the property has a seawall or dock. With a newer home, a recent roof and current paperwork, it may add less.
Which insurance reports should a coastal seller line up?
Three reports a buyer’s insurer may ask about are a four-point inspection, a roof inspection and the wind mitigation form. Our home inspection guide for buyers explains the four-point and wind mitigation inspections from the buyer’s side.
The four-point inspection
Citizens Property Insurance Corporation requires a four-point inspection on property owner, dwelling and mobile home applications for properties more than 20 years old. A Florida-licensed inspector checks the electrical system, plumbing, heating and cooling, and roof, and must provide the age, type and condition of each. Citizens says serious hazards or deficiencies, such as exposed wiring, active leaks or evidence of leaks, should be repaired before an application for coverage is submitted (Citizens Property Insurance).
So fix a leak or wiring hazard your inspection turns up before a buyer’s insurance application depends on it. These are Citizens’ rules for its own policies; a buyer insuring elsewhere should ask their agent what that company requires.
The roof
Under Florida law, for homeowners policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2022, an insurer may not refuse to issue or renew a policy solely because of roof age when the roof is less than 15 years old. For a roof 15 or more years old, the insurer must allow an inspection by an authorized inspector, at the homeowner’s expense, before requiring replacement. It may not refuse solely because of roof age if that inspection shows 5 or more years of useful life left (s. 627.7011, Florida Statutes).
Citizens has its own rule for its policies. A shingle or similar roof older than 25 years, or a tile, slate, clay, concrete or metal roof older than 50 years, needs documentation of at least five years of remaining useful life from a Florida-licensed inspector. With less than five years left, the owner must provide proof of a full roof replacement to the inspector before any policy is written (Citizens).
Find out when the roof was last fully built or replaced, and pull its permit. If it’s near any of these ages, have it inspected before you list.
The wind mitigation form
Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation says consumers can get insurance premium savings for windstorm mitigation. It also says the Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form, OIR-B1-1802, is valid for up to five years, provided no material changes are made to the structure or inaccuracies found on the form (Florida Office of Insurance Regulation). The form itself notes that some items may not qualify for a discount (Form OIR-B1-1802).
On the current version (Rev. 04/26), all openings, meaning windows, doors and skylights, must be in good condition. A building with openings that need replacement doesn’t qualify for wind mitigation rate differentials, regardless of its other features (Form OIR-B1-1802). Deal with any that need replacing before the inspection.
If a buyer wants to use your reports, share copies and have the buyer ask their insurance agent whether their insurer will accept them. For the cost side of coverage, see our breakdown of homeowners insurance costs in Palm Beach County.
What if the roof needs replacing before you sell?
Then the new roof must meet Florida’s reroofing rules. On a site-built single-family home, a roof replacement must incorporate secondary water barriers and the strengthening or correcting of roof-deck attachments and fasteners (s. 553.844, Florida Statutes).
If that home is in the wind-borne debris region and insured for $300,000 or more (or, if uninsured or without proof of insured value, has a structure just value of $300,000 or more for property tax purposes), the replacement must also include roof-to-wall connection improvements. Those aren’t required unless evaluating and installing connections at the gable ends or all corners can be done for 15% of the cost of the roof replacement.
Palm Beach County Planning, Zoning & Building says all of unincorporated Palm Beach County is within the wind-borne debris region. Inside Jupiter, Juno Beach, North Palm Beach, Tequesta, Palm Beach Gardens or another municipality, ask its building department whether the address is in the region.
A partial repair has its own rule. If the existing roof was built, repaired or replaced under the 2007 Florida Building Code or a later edition, and 25% or more of it is being repaired, replaced or recovered, only that portion has to meet the current code (s. 553.844, Florida Statutes). A licensed roofing contractor and the building department for the address can confirm what applies.
What do you have to disclose after a pre-listing inspection?
Possibly more than before you inspected, because once a report names a problem, you know about it. In Johnson v. Davis (1985), the Florida Supreme Court held “that where the seller of a home knows of facts materially affecting the value of the property which are not readily observable and are not known to the buyer, the seller is under a duty to disclose them to the buyer,” as quoted by Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal.
Whether a finding meets that test is a legal question, so take the report to a Florida real estate attorney before you list.
One disclosure applies whether or not you inspect. A seller of residential property must complete and give the buyer a flood disclosure at or before the time the sales contract is signed. It asks whether the seller knows of flooding that damaged the property during their ownership, has filed a flood-damage insurance claim, including with the National Flood Insurance Program, or has received flood-damage assistance, including from FEMA (s. 689.302, Florida Statutes).
The requirement took effect October 1, 2024 (Laws of Florida, ch. 2024-215), and the 2025 amendment that added the question about the seller’s knowledge of flooding took effect October 1, 2025 (Laws of Florida, ch. 2025-166). Pull together your flood history before you list.
Selling on the water? Our guide to selling a waterfront home covers disclosure and the seawall in more depth.
Planning to list a coastal home?
From 2017 to 2024, Keller Williams recognized Cibie Cahur as being in the top 1% of all agents, based on county sales statistics, and HomeLight named her a Top Negotiator from 2021 to 2024.
If you’d like help deciding which inspections and reports to line up before you list, contact us. A consultation is free, with no obligation.
Call or text 561-401-5758 · The Cahur Group, Keller Williams Jupiter
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to disclose what a pre-listing inspection finds?
It depends on the finding, so ask a Florida real estate attorney. Under Johnson v. Davis, a seller must disclose to the buyer known facts that materially affect value, aren’t readily observable and aren’t known to the buyer. Once a report names a problem, you know about it.
How long is a wind mitigation form valid in Florida?
Up to five years, provided no material changes are made to the structure and no inaccuracies are found on the form, according to Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation. Whether a buyer’s insurer will accept yours is a question for the buyer’s insurance agent.
Does a pre-listing inspection replace the buyer’s inspection?
Not necessarily. Florida law says the report is prepared for the client, and when you hire the inspector, that’s you. A buyer may still want an inspection of their own. Yours gives you a head start on what to repair or price in.
The short version
A pre-listing inspection puts the report in your hands first. On a coastal home, add the insurance paperwork: a four-point or roof report where age calls for one, and a current wind mitigation form. Fix what you can, price in what you won’t, and ask a real estate attorney about disclosure.
Rules and figures come from the sources cited inline, and requirements change. This is general information, not legal, insurance or construction advice; confirm current rules with a Florida real estate attorney, a licensed insurance agent, a licensed contractor and the building department for the address.
