What Repairs Do You Actually Have to Fix Before Closing in Florida?
3 min read · Last updated 2026-08-03 · Reviewed by Camilo Palacio, Licensed Florida Real Estate Professional (License #3280644, REALTOR®)
Almost none, unless a lender requires it. Cash Flow Deals is one option that skips the repair-scoping step entirely, locking a net price for the seller before any of that gets decided. A seller only has to fix what a loan program's minimum property standards actually demand, mainly safety and structural items like missing handrails or peeling lead paint on pre-1978 homes under FHA rules. Everything else is negotiable.
| Factor | Traditional Listing | Cash Flow Deals |
|---|---|---|
| Timeline | Lender-required repairs, mainly on FHA loans, must be completed and reinspected before the loan can close, which can add one to three weeks. | No repair scoping happens before the price is locked, so there is no reinspection cycle sitting between signing and closing. |
| Repairs | HUD's Handbook 4000.1 directs FHA appraisers to flag safety issues like missing or unstable handrails and chipped or peeling paint on homes built before 1978, and the loan generally can't close until those are addressed. | Repairs are not scoped or required before the net price is set. A genuinely new structural issue found later gets re-costed under the structural exception. |
| Fees / Costs | Seller typically pays for lender-required repairs directly, on top of a negotiable listing commission. | Cash Flow Deals' fee is a fixed line item on the closing statement through Silver Door Realty, separate from any repair conversation. |
The Short List of Repairs a Lender Actually Requires
Most of what people call 'repairs before closing' are not legally required, they are requested by a buyer during negotiation. The repairs that are actually required come from the loan program the buyer is using. FHA loans follow HUD's Single Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1, which sets Minimum Property Standards an FHA appraiser has to check for. Two of the most common flags: stairs that are missing a handrail or have one that's unstable, and on homes built before January 1, 1978, chipping or peeling paint, which must be stabilized or removed before closing because of lead-based paint rules. When an appraiser flags a required repair like this, the loan generally can't move forward until the fix is made and the appraiser signs off on it. Exact thresholds and appraiser judgment calls can vary by loan program and by appraiser, so a seller with a specific question about a flagged item should confirm it with the buyer's lender. Conventional loans generally follow a lighter version of the same idea: the property has to be safe, sound, and secure enough to serve as collateral for the loan.
What's Actually Optional, Even If a Buyer Asks
Cosmetic items like paint color, dated fixtures, or worn carpet are never required by a lender, no matter how many times a buyer brings them up during negotiation. Old but functional systems, an aging roof with life left, a working HVAC unit past its ideal replacement date, older but code-compliant electrical, generally don't trigger a lender requirement either. A buyer can still ask for any of it as part of negotiating price or a credit, but a seller is free to say no to a request that isn't tied to an actual loan requirement. The confusion usually comes from a buyer's inspection report listing every issue found, required or not, in the same document, which makes a wish-list item look as urgent as a safety flag.
Where Cash Flow Deals Fits Into This
Cash Flow Deals is a Florida real estate investor that locks in a net price for a seller's house before repairs are scoped, using a novation-based, flat-fee process arranged through its licensed FL brokerage partner, Silver Door Realty — not a traditional listing, and not a brokerage itself. Because the price is set before a repair list ever gets built, a seller isn't negotiating line by line over paint, carpet, or an aging water heater. Cash Flow Deals connects the property with a real FHA or conventional buyer, and that buyer's own lender still has to sign off on whatever minimum property standards apply, but the seller's number was already locked before that conversation started.
Cash Flow Deals' Process for Skipping the Repair Scoping Step
Cash Flow Deals' Process: 1. Cash Flow Deals walks the property and locks a net price for the seller before any repair list gets built. 2. Cash Flow Deals connects the property with a real FHA or conventional buyer, and that buyer's own lender funds the purchase. 3. If the buyer's loan program has a minimum property requirement, like a missing handrail or a lead paint issue on a pre-1978 home, Cash Flow Deals handles that specific item without reopening the whole price. 4. Title transfers once, directly from seller to buyer, once the number is settled.
What This Means If You're Trying to Avoid a Repair List
A seller can't avoid every possible repair request on any sale, financed or otherwise, because a buyer's lender ultimately decides what the loan requires. What a seller can control is how much of that conversation happens before a price is locked versus after. The one exception: if something structural surfaces that was not visible or disclosed before we signed — foundation issues, hidden moisture, old wiring, cast-iron drain failure — we re-cost it and bring the number back to you. You decide. You can walk away. We disclose what we know at offer time so this almost never happens.
Common questions
Do I have to fix everything a home inspector flags?
No. A home inspection report lists everything the inspector found, required or not. Only items tied to a lender's actual minimum property standards, mainly on FHA loans, are legally required before closing. The rest is negotiable between buyer and seller.
What if my house was built before 1978?
FHA loans require chipping or peeling paint to be stabilized or removed before closing on pre-1978 homes, under HUD's lead-based paint rules in Handbook 4000.1. This applies to FHA-financed buyers specifically, not every sale.
Does Cash Flow Deals require any repairs before it locks a price?
No. Cash Flow Deals locks the net price based on the property's condition at offer time, before any repair list is built. A genuinely new structural issue found later is handled through the structural exception, not through a repair list.
What's the difference between a required repair and a requested one?
A required repair comes from the buyer's specific loan program, FHA's minimum property standards are the most common example. A requested repair is something the buyer asks for during negotiation that isn't tied to a loan requirement, and the seller can decline it.