Aubreigh Hutchison Group, Boca Raton, FL (2026)

10/16/2026

The most expensive surprise in estate property is rarely the probate itself. It is discovering, usually late, that the house cannot easily be insured.

Here is the sequence, and it is common enough that we now raise it in the first conversation.

A parent dies. The property sits, quite reasonably, while the family works out what happens next. Somewhere in that period the existing homeowners policy lapses, or is cancelled, or renews under terms nobody reads.

Standard homeowners policies generally contemplate an occupied property. Once a house has been unoccupied for a sustained period, many carriers will not write it at all, and the ones who will are writing a vacancy or builder's-risk style policy at a materially higher premium with narrower cover.

Now add Florida. Roof age. Deferred maintenance that accumulated while nobody was living there. A four-point inspection the property would have passed a year ago and does not pass now. And a hurricane season that runs to 30 November on a property nobody is checking.

Then the family finds a buyer, and the buyer's lender requires insurance to close, and the property cannot readily be insured, and a transaction that looked straightforward stops dead while everyone scrambles.

We have watched this cost families more than the entire administration did.

Four things that prevent nearly all of it:

Tell the insurer the truth, early. Do not let a policy quietly continue as though the house is occupied. A vacancy endorsement arranged deliberately is far better than a claim denied later or a policy voided at the worst moment.

Keep the air conditioning running. It is not optional in Florida. It is the difference between a house and a humidity problem.

Have somebody physically walk the property monthly and photograph it. Ideally the same person, ideally dated.

Get the roof age and the four-point position established early, while there is still time to do something about either.

None of this requires the estate to be resolved. All of it can be done in the first month, and it is the single highest-return hour anyone handling an estate property will spend.

And on timing: summary administration doubled to $150,000 non-exempt on 1 July 2026 (CS/HB 1337). A shorter administration is also a shorter period of exposure.

Send this to anyone you know who is currently sitting on an empty Florida house. It is the one post this month that can save somebody a five-figure problem.

Aubreigh is a licensed real estate professional, not an attorney or an insurance agent. Speak to your carrier about your specific policy.

10/15/2026

Most families handling an inherited Florida property have never seen the carrying cost written down as a single monthly figure.

Not because they are careless. Because the bills arrive separately, to different people, in different months, and nobody has ever sat down and added them.

The list, for a typical Palm Beach County property sitting empty during administration:

— Homeowners insurance, and frequently a vacancy-rated policy at a materially higher premium than the one the family assumed would continue

— Property taxes, which do not pause

— Association or HOA dues, which also do not pause, and which accrue interest and fees when they are missed

— Utilities, because the air conditioning genuinely has to keep running in Florida or the property develops problems that cost far more than the electricity did

— Landscaping and pool service, both of which are code issues here as well as aesthetic ones

— Any mortgage still in place

— Periodic inspection, formally or informally, because an unoccupied property that nobody visits is where the expensive surprises grow

Add them. Write the total at the top of the page.

We are not suggesting that number should decide anything. Families take the time they need, and that is usually the right call — we have seen estates run fourteen months because the family needed fourteen months, and the house sold perfectly well at the end of it.

But it should be a known number rather than an unknown one. Almost every avoidable loss we see on the property side of an estate comes from the same place: not a legal mistake, but a house that sat longer than anyone planned, uninsured or underinsured, while a decision that felt impossible stayed unmade.

Knowing the monthly figure converts that from a feeling into arithmetic. Which, in a family disagreement, is a much easier thing to talk about.

And on timing: the summary administration threshold doubled to $150,000 in non-exempt assets on 1 July 2026 (CS/HB 1337). If you were told to expect six to twelve months, re-ask. It may be one to two.

Save this. And if you are about to have this conversation with a sibling, send it to them first — arriving at the same numbers separately is easier than arguing about them together.

10/13/2026

On 1 July 2026, Florida doubled a number that decides how long probate takes, and the consumer conversation has not caught up with it.

CS/HB 1337 (Chapter 2026-57) raised the summary administration threshold from $75,000 to $150,000 in non-exempt assets. It also raised disposition without administration from $10,000 to $20,000 for very small estates.

Why that is a bigger change than it sounds.

Summary administration typically concludes in one to two months. Formal administration generally runs six months to a year. Same family, same house, same paperwork — a different track, and a difference measured in months of a family's life at the worst possible time.

The threshold applies to non-exempt assets. Protected homestead property is excluded from that calculation, under the homestead protections at Article X, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution. For a great many Florida families, the house IS the estate — which means a family who assumed the house put them well over the line may have been looking at the wrong calculation entirely.

And summary administration is also available where the decedent has been deceased more than two years, regardless of value. If your family has been sitting on something unresolved since 2023 or earlier, that is worth knowing.

A few dates that catch people out, unchanged by the new law:

— The custodian of the original will must deposit it with the clerk within 10 days of learning of the death. Fla. Stat. 732.901.

— Inventory filed within 60 days of letters being issued. Fla. Prob. R. 5.340.

— Creditor claims, three months from first publication of notice. Fla. Stat. 733.702.

— Two years maximum for claims after death. Fla. Stat. 733.710.

What to do with this. If you were told at any point before July that your family faced formal administration, that advice was correct when it was given and may not be correct now. It is a question worth re-asking your attorney, and it costs you one email.

Send this to your sibling, or to whoever in your family has been carrying this. That is genuinely the most useful thing you can do with it.

Aubreigh is a licensed real estate professional, not an attorney. This is what the statute says and where to read it. For advice on your family's situation, speak to a Florida probate attorney — and if you do not have one, ask and we will point you at several who are good.

10/12/2026

Short one. If your homeowners renewal lands this quarter, this is the whole list.

Three quotes, not one.

Wind mitigation report — current, and actually applied to the policy.

Hurricane deductible — confirm the percentage and what it is a percentage OF.

Roof age — know it before they ask you.

Coverage A — check it still reflects what rebuilding actually costs, which has moved.

That is it. Thirty minutes of work, once a year, on the second-largest recurring cost of owning a house here.

Rates fell in 51 of 67 Florida counties in 2026 and Citizens recommended −11.9% for Palm Beach County (Citizens, April 2026; FL OIR, July 2026, pending approval). None of that reaches you automatically.

Season runs to 30 November.

Save it. Put a reminder on your phone for two weeks before your renewal date — that is the only part of this most people get wrong.

10/09/2026

Saturday question, and for once nothing to do with property.

East Boca or west Boca for an actual Saturday?

Not for buying. Not for value. For a Saturday — where you would rather spend one, with a car you have to park and a day you are not getting back.

We asked a version of this in September about what $700,000 buys and the answers were all about money. This one is not about money. Most people here have a strong and completely unjustifiable preference and we would like to hear them.

Go on. Defend it.

East or west. One word is fine, but a reason is better.

10/09/2026

Some good news, which we do not get to post often.

Homeowners insurance rates fell in 51 of Florida's 67 counties in 2026. Citizens recommended a statewide average cut of about 2.6% — its first since 2015 — and Palm Beach County was among the steepest reductions at −11.9%, against an average county Citizens premium of $1,753 across 18,387 policies. (Citizens county detail, April 2026; Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, July 2026, as reported August 2026. Filings marked recommended or proposed remain subject to regulatory approval.)

Now the part that matters more than the number.

A rate reduction does not arrive in your mailbox as a refund. It shows up, if it shows up, at renewal, and only if you or your agent do something about it. The people who will benefit most from this are the ones who treat renewal as a decision rather than as a direct debit that happens to them.

Three things worth doing before your renewal date:

Re-shop it properly. Not one alternative quote — three. The market has moved enough in eighteen months that a policy priced in 2024 is very unlikely to be the right price now.

Check your wind mitigation credit is actually applied. A valid inspection report can matter substantially, and it is startling how often one exists and is not reflected on the policy. If yours is more than five years old, it may be worth redoing.

Read your deductible line, specifically the hurricane deductible, and confirm it is what you think it is. It is usually a percentage, not a flat figure, and percentages move when your insured value moves.

And a word of caution against the obvious conclusion. Rates falling across most of the state does not mean your rate is falling. County averages and individual policies are different things — which, if you have been reading us this month, is becoming a theme.

Hurricane season runs to 30 November. NOAA's outlook was 8 to 14 named storms (NOAA, 21 May 2026). Below average is not the same as nothing.

Save this for renewal week. And send it to whoever handles the policy in your house — in most households it is one person and it is usually not both.

10/09/2026

Five questions to take to your next association meeting. Written so you can read them straight off your phone.

1. Has our Structural Integrity Reserve Study been completed? If not, what is the scheduled date? The outer statutory deadline is 31 December 2026 and it cannot be completed after it. Fla. Stat. 718.112(2)(g).

2. Who is performing it, and are they qualified under the statute? Not every engineer or reserve provider meets the statutory requirement. This is a reasonable question and a board that has done its work will have the answer immediately.

3. Which components has it identified, or which do we expect it to identify? Roof, structure, fireproofing, plumbing, electrical, waterproofing, windows, and anything else above the statutory threshold.

4. What does the 2027 budget assume as a result? This is the question that converts the study into a number on your monthly statement. For budgets adopted from 31 December 2024, the association generally cannot waive or underfund the items the study identifies.

5. Have owners received the 45-day notice, and has the Division report been filed? Both are mandatory after the association receives the study. If neither has happened and the study is done, ask when.

Two notes on how to use these.

Ask them in writing, in a single email, and keep the reply. Not because anyone is hiding anything — most boards are volunteers doing an unpaid job badly resourced — but because a written answer is a document you can hand a buyer in 2027, and a verbal one is not.

And ask them calmly. A board that is behind on this is not necessarily a bad board. Half of Florida is behind on this. What matters is whether they can tell you where they are.

Save this, and send it to one other owner in your building. Two people asking is meaningfully different from one.

Aubreigh is a licensed real estate professional, not an attorney. For advice on your specific association, speak to association counsel.

10/09/2026

A reserve study is not an inspection. Those two things get used interchangeably in conversation and they are completely different, and the confusion is expensive.

A milestone inspection looks at whether the building is structurally sound today.

A Structural Integrity Reserve Study looks at the major components — roof, structure, fireproofing, plumbing, electrical, waterproofing, windows, and anything else above the statutory cost threshold — and estimates what each has left in it and what replacing it will cost. Then it says how much the association should be putting aside each year so the money exists when the bill arrives.

One tells you the state of the building. The other tells you the state of the plan.

Why it lands on owners rather than staying with the board: for budgets adopted on or after 31 December 2024, the funding rules generally prohibit waiving or underfunding the items the study identifies. An association that has been keeping monthly fees artificially comfortable no longer has that option.

So the sequence is: study gets done, study finds what it finds, budget has to reflect it, and the monthly number moves. Sometimes considerably.

That is not a reason to panic and it is certainly not a reason to sell. Plenty of Boca buildings will come through this with a modest adjustment and a much stronger balance sheet, and those buildings will be easier to sell in 2027 than they were in 2024, because the buyer's biggest unanswered question will finally have an answer.

It is a reason to know which kind of building you own before you make any decision that depends on it.

Statutory reference: Fla. Stat. 718.112(2)(g), with funding rules at 718.112(2)(f)2.b. Outer completion deadline 31 December 2026.

Save this. You will want it in front of you at the next association meeting.

10/09/2026

Eighty-seven days until 31 December 2026.

Under Florida Statute 718.112(2)(g), a Structural Integrity Reserve Study “may not be completed after” that date. The requirement covers residential condominiums of three or more habitable storeys under the Florida Building Code, with limited statutory exemptions, and once done it repeats at least every ten years.

There is a second half to it that gets less attention. Once the association receives the study, it must notify unit owners within 45 days and report completion to the Division within 45 days. Those are not optional steps.

And for budgets adopted on or after 31 December 2024, the funding rules under 718.112(2)(f)2.b. generally prohibit waiving or underfunding the items the study identifies.

Which is the part that reaches your wallet.

Here is why this sits inside a property conversation rather than a legal one. Palm Beach County condominiums were carrying 6.9 months of supply in August against 3.8 months for single-family houses, with condo closed sales down 5.2% year over year (PBP Real Estate, BeachesMLS feed, data as of 19 September 2026). Buyers have slowed down on condominiums precisely because they cannot tell which buildings have their paperwork in order.

A building that can answer this question in October is in a different market from one that cannot.

Ask your board this week: has our study been completed, and if not, what is the date. You are entitled to know and it is a two-minute email.

Send this to whoever sits on your board, or to the neighbour who always knows what is going on in the building.

09/28/2026

October is the last honest month before season. After that, the numbers get distorted by people who are looking rather than buying.

SELLING — three things in the first two weeks. Get the roof and air-conditioning ages documented. Obtain an insurance quote as a hypothetical buyer would receive it, not as your renewal. Price against what is closing, not against what is listed.

BUYING — three things. Re-approve at today's rate rather than July's; the 30-year fixed averaged 6.66% as of 27 August (Freddie Mac). Request association documents before touring, not after offering. And look seriously at what has been sitting ninety days — 79.9% of this county closed below asking last month, and that is leverage most buyers are not using.

NEITHER — one thing. Check whether your homeowners renewal changed this year. Citizens recommended its first average rate decrease since 2015 for 2026, and most homeowners never re-shopped after the increases of the preceding years.

Sources on the graphic.

Reply with buying, selling or neither and we will send back the single thing we would do first.

Aubreigh Hutchison Group

10/16/2026

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