Florida real estate expert gives tips on how to get condos to qualify for agency lending
Obtaining mortgage loans approved for condominium properties in Florida through one of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) has been a significant challenge for brokers. One industry expert believes there is wiggle room in the guidelines if you look closely.
The struggles of the Florida condominium market have been well-documented. And while industry leaders hope that future changes to Fannie Mae’s lending requirements could provide more relief, Danielle Blake (pictured top), chief of residential and advocacy with the Miami Association of Realtors, said there are things that mortgage brokers can do now to help.
One thing she regularly discusses with mortgage brokers is ensuring they completely understand the regulations laid out by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac regarding condominium lending.
“The one thing I have told them when I’ve spoken with mortgage professionals is to make sure that you read the guidelines very carefully,” Blake told Mortgage Professional America. “For example, when Fannie says they want to make sure that you have a minimum of 10% going into a reserve account, there are things that you, as a mortgage professional, have the discretion to remove. An example of that is utilities.”
She said making those allowed modifications can be the difference between a property qualifying for full review, and therefore a larger LTV allowance, and not qualifying.
“If in your governing doc that requires you to provide cable for the unit owners, you can actually remove that. It says that in Fannie’s guidelines, you can remove that from the equation. And if you were at 9%, that could push you to 10%, and then that building would qualify under the full review when it didn’t before.
“So just make sure you are reading all of Fannie’s guidelines and becoming familiar with them. Know when you have the discretion to make those decisions and help with the numbers, and help more people qualify.”
New laws provide some help
Blake credited Orlando Diaz, the president of the Florida Association of Mortgage Professionals, for being a strong partner as they work to support legislation aimed at improving the Florida housing market.
One recent change was Florida’s House Bill 913, which went into effect on July 1. It brought with it the promise of improvements to the state’s struggling condominium market.
“What Florida passed is a structural integrity reserve study,” Blake said. “The companies that did reserve studies, some of them continued with the status quo in terms of, ‘We’re going to do a reserve study.’ They did not separate the structural components from the non-structural components.
“That created a lot of confusion in the market, because then associations felt like they had to budget for everything. That’s when you saw a lot of these special assessments come down.”
Blake believes the improved ability to seek loans and lines of credit for improvements should help the market considerably.
“If you did separate out the structural components, they felt like they needed to fund everything up front to be at 100%,” she said. “There was no phase in provision. What (House Bill 913) does is it allows other options. You are able to tap into loans and lines of credit, and unit owners were not able to do that before. That’s why they’re calling it a victory for unit owners, because it’s giving them more mechanisms to be able to afford the improvements that they need to do to their building.”
Allowing people to keep their condos
The hope is that by giving the association the option to secure funding for these required repairs, it could allow condo owners to retain their properties and avoid being forced to sell.
“The association can go and seek a loan or seek that line of credit to be able to make these improvements,” Blake said. “In Miami-Dade County specifically, our county commission has been very proactive. They’ve set up a special assessment loan program for individuals who are income qualified at 140% of the area median income, which is very affordable.
“You can get a loan up to $50,000 at 0% interest and pay it back over 40 years for your special assessment. So, they’re a combination of different things that are out there to make it affordable for unit owners so they wouldn’t have to sell.”
Danielle Blake of the Miami Association of Realtors highlights the unexplained "geotargeting" policy affecting Florida's condo loans. Despite questioning Fannie Mae for years, reasons like REO inventory or waived reserves have been inconsistent. https://t.co/HqqXdTLdFW
— Mortgage Professional America Magazine (@MPAMagazineUS) June 30, 2025
Blake emphasized the importance of condominiums to the Florida market. While they continue to wait to see if Fannie Mae will reverse its 2008 decision to limit LTV on Limited Review properties in the state compared to the rest of the nation, work continues to ensure condo funding remains accessible.
“Condos are our affordable inventory in South Florida,” Blake said. “They are absolutely necessary to house our workforce, and so we have a big vested interest in them.”
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