In Florida, the age of your roof can decide whether your buyer is able to get homeowners insurance, and a buyer who cannot get insurance cannot get a mortgage or close. A 2022 state law draws the line at 15 years. If your roof is younger than that, an insurer cannot turn down the policy because of the roof's age. If it is 15 or older, the insurer can ask for an inspection, and the roof passes if an inspector finds it has at least five years of life left.
That rule is the single most important thing a Central Florida seller should understand before listing, because so much of the housing here was built in the 1980s and 1990s and a lot of those roofs are on their second or third decade.
What the law says
The change came in a May 2022 special session on property insurance. Before it, insurers were increasingly declining any roof past a certain age regardless of condition, and sellers were being asked to replace perfectly sound roofs to make a sale work. The law set two rules. For a roof younger than 15 years, age alone is not a reason to refuse coverage. For a roof 15 years or older, the insurer may require an inspection, and if the inspection shows five or more years of remaining life, the insurer must accept the roof.
What the law does not do is make an old roof cheap to insure, or stop an insurer from pricing it accordingly. It also does not change the fact that a roof found to have less than five years left will usually have to be replaced before a policy is issued.
What insurers ask for in practice
- A 4-point inspection. Most carriers require one on a home past roughly 20 years old. It covers the roof, the electrical, the plumbing and the HVAC, and it is where roof condition and remaining life get documented. It is also where old pipe and an outdated electrical panel get flagged, which we cover in a separate post on repiping.
- A wind mitigation inspection. This is a separate report, on a state form, that documents how the roof is attached and protected: the decking, the roof-to-wall connection, the covering, and any shutters or impact glass. It does not decide whether the buyer can get insurance; it decides how much the policy costs. The buyer orders it as part of their insurance quote. It is not something you need to arrange as the seller, but a newer, well-attached roof will earn the buyer real discounts, and that is worth knowing when you price the home.
- The permit record. Insurers and buyers' inspectors will look for the permit for the current roof. A roof installed without one is a problem even if it is in good shape.
What to do before you list
Know your roof's age and have the paperwork. The permit date, the installer's invoice and the material. If you do not know, the county building department's permit records will usually tell you, and so will a roofer.
If the roof is past 15, consider a pre-listing roof inspection. You want to know whether it will pass the five-year test before a buyer's insurer tells you it won't, at the worst possible moment in the transaction.
Decide between replacing and crediting. If the roof is near the end, replacing it before listing removes the objection entirely and the home sells as a home with a new roof. Offering a credit instead keeps your cash in your pocket but invites every buyer to negotiate from the roof down. Which is right depends on the roof, the market and your timeline, and it is a conversation we have with nearly every seller of an older home.
What we've seen
Across Oviedo, Winter Springs, Casselberry and the in-town Orlando neighborhoods we work, roof age comes up in almost every transaction on a home built before 2000. It is the first thing we check on a seller's home and the first thing we check on a buyer's.