This is bankrupting Florida homeowners and nobody wants to talk about it. And the worst part, your realtor, your lender, even your title company, none of them are going to save you from it. And if you don't know what to look for, you're on your own. In this video, I'll show you the five hidden costs that are screwing Florida buyers. Why your realtor should be warning you about them, but most of them don't even know what's going on, and how you can avoid these fees so you don't get screwed like everybody else. Let's jump in. First up, we got one of the nastiest surprises Florida buyers are running into. You think you're getting a fully renovated home. New floors, new kitchen, everything looks great. You're excited to move in, start unpacking, and invite your friends and family over. But what nobody tells you is the rehabber never pulled permits. And when that happens, it's not just a paperwork issue, it's a nightmare that can cost you tens of thousands of dollars to fix. For Thomas Pik in Miami, it all started like a dream. He found a house on 67th Street, walked through it, loved what he saw, and made an offer right away. But a couple of months after moving in, there was a knock at the door. An inspector from the city's building department told him his house was under violation. He was floored, man, because he hadn't done any renovations himself. So, how could that be possible? It turns out the plumbing, electrical, windows, even the roof had all been replaced without permits. And cleaning up that mess cost him more than $20,000 because he had to bring in new contractors to inspect the work, make repairs, and close out the permits under their licenses. Now, Ramona Garcia had the same nightmare. She bought her home on Northwest 22nd Court in Miami, only to get a letter from the county a few months later. At first, she thought it had to be a mistake, and it wasn't. The building department told her the house was in violation, too, for the same reasons. Unpermitted renovations done before she bought it. Except in her case, she was slapped with nearly $40,000 in county fines. These might sound like extreme cases, but even a typical Florida home fixing unpermitted work will run you around $5,000 on average. And here's what people don't realize. This stuff doesn't always show up in a title search, so your title company can miss it. And it's not your home inspector's job to check permits either, so he can't help you. Sellers are supposed to disclose unpermitted work, but if they don't, you're the one paying the price. Here's how to keep yourself from getting screwed when everybody else drops the ball. The easiest move is to go online and check the city's building department yourself. A lot of cities let you search permits right on their website. In St. Petersburg, where I live. Here's the website. Just put in the home's address and you'll get all the permit info. I'll drop the link in the description below. If your city doesn't have a website, just call them. The building department is your best friend when you're buying a house. Tell them everything. The place looks like a brand new rehab, and the listing is advertising new windows, a new roof, updated electrical, plumbing, and AC. Then asked, "Were permits pulled for this work? And are there any open permits?" If the answer is no, congratulations. You just saved yourself from a nightmare. And once the city knows, the burden shifts. It's now on the seller or rehabber to reopen and close those permits before the house can be sold. They can't just walk away and dump the problem onto the next buyer. And if you're a realtor, do this for your clients. It's one quick call that makes you look like a rock star. That's how you turn clients into diehard fans who are going to stick with you and send all their friends your way. Second, there's this little thing called a community development district or CDD that most people have never even heard of. And this one's completely legal, but it feels like it should be a scam. It's usually buried in the paperwork written in dry, boring language, and because of that, a lot of buyers ignore it. That ends up being one of the biggest mistakes of your life. Here's how it plays out. A developer wants to put up a new subdivision, but to do that they need roads, sidewalks, sewers, maybe even a clubhouse. That's expensive stuff. So, normally a developer would just pay for it as part of doing business. But not here in Florida. Instead, they go to the county and say, "Let's create a CDD." The county doesn't have to put up a single dollar. They approve the district, sit back, and still collect property taxes from every homeowner in the new development, but they're not paying to keep up the roads or the infrastructure. That bill's on you. So, the county gets their tax money like usual, while the homeowners cover all the extras through the CDD. It's like free money for them. The CDD then issues bonds, basically a massive loan to cover the cost of all that infrastructure. And those bonds aren't sold to regular people like you and me. They're sold to big players like banks, hedge funds, insurance companies, and giant mutual funds. Why? Because these are taxexempt municipal bonds. Investors don't have to pay taxes on the interest, which makes them safe, predictable, and really appealing if you got deep pockets. These bonds usually run for 30 years, and that means you, the homeowner, are the one paying them back through annual assessments tacked on your tax bill. The district gets the money, the builder gets to build, and you're stuck with the bill. One family in Lakewood Ranch is paying $4,478 a year. That's almost $375 a month, and that doesn't include your mortgage and insurance. It's a completely separate cost that most people don't even realize they've agreed to. The average CDD annual assessment in Florida is $1,800. And those 30 years of payments, that's not always the end. A lot of districts keep charging even after the original bonds are supposed to be paid off. They'll tack on new projects, landscaping, or clubhouse upgrades, and the bills just keep coming. So, how do you protect yourself from getting caught in this mess? Hire a great realtor. You want somebody that sells a lot of new construction or homes and developments, not your sister's, cousins, friend's nephew who just got his license. You need somebody that knows what a CDD is, what it costs, and how to spot one buried in a tax bill. And here's the four questions you need to ask your realtor. First, can you find out if this property is in a community development district or special taxing district and what the remaining bond balance and annual assessments are? If they can't answer that, find somebody who can. Second, how many years are left on the bond and what's the total I'll be paying over that time? Third, are there additional maintenance or operation fees I'll still owe after the bond is paid off? And finally, can you show me where this is disclosed on the property tax bill or closing documents? These questions force your agent to actually dig in and do the work, not guess. They need to pull the CDD disclosures, check the tax history, and grab what's called a trim notice. That stands for truth in millillage. It's a piece of paper that counties send out every year, usually around August, and it shows what your home's worth, how much you owe in taxes, and where every dollar is going. Schools, fire departments, city services, or CDD annual assessments. If your house is in one of these special taxing districts, like a CDD, it'll usually show up on the trim notice under nonad valerum assessments. That's just a fancy way of saying this charge has nothing to do with your home's value. It's a flat fee they slap on. If the home's brand new or still under construction, the county might not have assessed it yet, which means no trim notice, but that doesn't let your realtor off the hook. They still need to get the information and answer your questions. And if they don't know how to do it or they shrug it off, get another realtor. And at number three on the list, we got a hot topic in Florida right now. Governor Ronda Sanders is pushing hard to eliminate property taxes on all homestead or primary homes in the state. But until that actually happens, you need to know how property taxes really work here, especially the year after you buy. When you're scrolling Zillow and see the property tax listed, that number is what the current owners paying. It's based on the home's last assessed value, which could be way lower than what you're about to pay. The year after you close, the county uncaps that assessment and resets it to your purchase price. So, if the seller bought the house 10 years ago for 150,000 and you're buying it today for 350,000, your property taxes could double or even triple overnight. That's a shock a lot of buyers aren't ready for. On average, property taxes in Florida jump about $2,500 in the first year. And if you're buying a higher priced home, it's going to be way more than that. So, don't make the mistake of budgeting off the old numbers. Go to the county property appraisers website. Most counties have a tax estimator tool where you can plug in your actual purchase price and see what your bill is going to look like. If you're in Penllis County, here's the link. I'll drop it in the description below. At number four, we got HOAs. And if you've ever wondered who thought these were a good idea, here's how we got into this mess. It was developers, cities, and the federal government all working together to make them explode. HOAs have been around in some form since the 1800s, mostly in wealthy neighborhoods where people wanted to keep things looking a certain way. Back then, it was all about deed restrictions, private agreements that said what you could and couldn't do with your property. But HOAs didn't really take off until the 1960s. That's when the federal government started requiring them for new condos and subdivisions if developers wanted to qualify for FHA loans. Basically, if a builder wanted financing, they had to slap an HOA on the neighborhood. That one rule changed everything. Then in 1964, the feds put out a planning bulletin that told developers how to design these master plan communities with shared green space, parks, and amenities, and HOAs were baked right into the model. Cities loved it because they got all the benefits of new housing without paying for things like street repairs, drainage, or landscaping. It was like outsourcing basic services to the homeowners while still collecting property taxes. And that part matters. Cities still charge people in HOAs the same property taxes as everybody else. But since the HOA handles the local maintenance, the city doesn't have to spend a dime. Free money. That's why cities push developers to create HOA run neighborhoods. The more HOAs, the less the city has to do. Developers love it, too. HOAs keep neighborhoods tidy, keep values high, and let the builder stay in control until every last home is sold. According to a 2025 report from I Property Management, 64% of owned homes in Florida are now part of an HOA. And there are about 50,000 HOAs in the state, second only to California. So, this isn't some random trend. It was planned, promoted, and profitable. And now millions of homeowners are stuck paying the bill. The average HOA fee for a single family home in Florida is $275 a month or $3,300 a year. That's a big hit, especially if you didn't even realize you were buying into an HOA. So before you make an offer, ask your realtor if the home's in an HOA and have them pull all the documents so you know it's a healthy one. It's also not a bad idea to knock on a few neighbors doors and ask if they like living under it. You'll get an honest answer real quick, and it's a good way to find out if your neighbors are dicks. And unless you're buying a waterfront place like this, which I would do in a heartbeat if I could afford it, avoid flood zones whenever possible. They drive up the true cost of ownership like crazy. If your home's in a flood zone and you're financing it, the bank's going to make you carry flood insurance. There's no way around it. For newer elevated homes, it might only be a few hundred bucks a year, but for older ground level homes near the coast, those premiums can hit 5 grand, 10 grand, or even more every single year. The average flood insurance cost in Florida is $850 a year. When we first moved to Florida, we rented an apartment in downtown St. Pete. And honestly, I'm glad we did. It gave us time to figure out which areas actually hold up in storms and which ones turn into swimming pools. We saw places like shore acres go underwater more than once. After that, we made a rule, no flood zones. And now that we bought our house, it was one of the best decisions we ever made. We've been through two major hurricanes. And while other people were dealing with flooding and damage, we had zero issues. Now, if you're buying on the water, it is what it is. You're going to be in a flood zone. But you can still plan smart. Before you buy, figure out your flood plan. If water rises 10 ft, are you under it or above it? A lot of waterfront homes are designed with garages on the first floor and living space up top. That way, the living area sits about 15 feet above sea level, which technically puts it out of the flood zone. That's what you want. I got friends who got wrecked in the last couple of hurricanes. They bought in a flood zone because everybody said it hasn't flooded in 100 years and then it flooded. Just know what you're getting into and prep for it. If you want to see if a house is in a flood zone before you buy it, here's the link. I'll drop it in the description below. So, when we add up all these fees, it can turn your dream home into a nightmare real fast. $5,000 for no permits, $1,800 for a CDD, $3,300 for the HOA, $2,500 in readjusted property taxes, and $850 in flood insurance. That's a total of $13,430 in hidden fees. And every single one of those costs is something you now know how to spot, what questions to ask, and where to look so you can avoid them completely. So that's the real story behind the hidden fees that are bankrupt in Florida home buyers. But this isn't the only way money's getting pulled out of your pocket in Florida. Click here to learn how Dannis's move to end property taxes starts with this. It's one of the biggest changes Florida's ever seen, and it's going to affect every single homeowner. Click here and I'll see you