What Repairs Do You Actually Have to Fix Before Closing in Florida?

Published by Cash Flow Deals · Last updated 2026-08-03 · Reviewed by Camilo Palacio, Licensed Florida Real Estate Professional (License #3280644, REALTOR®), affiliated with Silver Door Realty, LLC (License #CQ1064903) · 5 min read

You generally do not have to fix everything before selling; lender requirements and your sale agreement matter. With Cash Flow Deals, you choose between the Fast Cash Offer, where we buy your house as-is and close, and the Premium Cash Offer, where a pre-approved FHA or conventional buyer we already have, ready to go, pays more and buys directly from you. With Premium, only what the buyer's lender requires gets fixed, with repair costs settled from the sale proceeds. Those requirements can include safety and structural items, such as missing handrails or peeling lead paint on pre-1978 homes under FHA rules. Other repair requests are 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.	You choose the Fast Cash Offer, where we buy your house as-is and close, or the Premium Cash Offer, where a pre-approved FHA or conventional buyer we already have, ready to go, pays more and buys directly from you. The number is agreed before any work starts, and it changes only if you agree. 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. On Premium, only lender-required repairs get fixed, with costs settled from the sale proceeds; the lender may require a reinspection.
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 gives you two choices in Florida: the Fast Cash Offer, where we buy your house as-is and close, and the Premium Cash Offer, where a pre-approved FHA or conventional buyer we already have, ready to go, pays more and buys directly from you. You choose. With Premium, your home may be listed through Silver Door Realty, a licensed Florida brokerage, with a licensed agent and scheduled showings. With Cash Flow Deals, the number is agreed before any work starts, and it changes only if you agree. 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. We cover repair costs, and we figure out a way, so nothing comes out of your pocket. On Premium, only what the buyer's lender requires gets fixed; those costs are settled from the sale proceeds, from our share rather than your number. With Fast Cash, you sell as-is without making repairs. On Premium, we are paid as a separate line item on the closing statement.

Cash Flow Deals' Process for Skipping the Repair Scoping Step

Cash Flow Deals' process gives you the choice: 1. Cash Flow Deals walks your property and presents the Fast Cash Offer, where we buy as-is and close, alongside the Premium Cash Offer, where a pre-approved FHA or conventional buyer we already have, ready to go, pays more and buys directly from you. The number is agreed before any work starts, and it changes only if you agree. 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. 2. If you choose Premium, Cash Flow Deals brings that buyer, who signs a new contract directly with you and whose lender funds the purchase. 3. If the buyer's lender requires a repair, such as a missing handrail or a lead paint issue on a pre-1978 home, Cash Flow Deals handles that specific requirement. We cover repair costs, and we figure out a way, so nothing comes out of your pocket; the costs are settled from the sale proceeds, from our share. 4. On Premium, title transfers once, directly from you to the buyer. If the buyer's loan falls through, that is our problem, not yours, and you can still take the Fast Cash Offer at its own number alongside your Premium Cash Offer choice.

What This Means If You're Trying to Avoid a Repair List

When you sell to a financed buyer, the buyer's lender decides which repairs the loan requires, and other requests depend on your agreement. You can compare the Fast Cash Offer, where we buy your house as-is and close, with the Premium Cash Offer, where a pre-approved FHA or conventional buyer we already have, ready to go, pays more and buys directly from you. You choose. The number is agreed before any work starts, and it changes only if you agree. 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. That could involve foundation issues, hidden moisture, old wiring, or cast-iron drain failure. We disclose what we know at offer time so you can make an informed decision.

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 you to make repairs before agreeing on your number?

No. Cash Flow Deals gives you a choice between the Fast Cash Offer, where we buy your house as-is and close, and the Premium Cash Offer, where a pre-approved FHA or conventional buyer we already have, ready to go, pays more and buys directly from you. The number is agreed before any work starts, and it changes only if you agree. 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. With Premium, only what the buyer's lender requires gets fixed. We cover repair costs, and we figure out a way, so nothing comes out of your pocket; those costs are settled from the sale proceeds, from our share. If the buyer's loan falls through, that is our problem, not yours, and you can still take the Fast Cash Offer at its own number alongside your Premium Cash Offer choice.

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.