What Should You Check About the Air Conditioning Before Buying a Home in Bonita Springs?

Check five things: how old the system really is, whether it was installed with a permit, what refrigerant it uses, what condition the hidden parts are in (the drain line, the air handler and the ductwork), and how the insurance company and any association will treat it. The age should come from the permit record and the equipment's data plate, not from a listing remark. The condition should come from an inspector or a licensed air conditioning contractor who opens the system up, not from whether the house feels cool on the day of a showing.

I am Kris Asquith, Broker Associate at Premiere Plus Realty, and I help buyers and sellers across Bonita Springs and eight other Southwest Florida markets. Here the air conditioning runs for most of the year and does a second job that buyers from cooler places often do not expect: it pulls moisture out of the house. A system that cools but does not dry the air well can leave a home damp, and damp is where the expensive problems start.

Start with the permit record. Replacing an air conditioning system generally requires a mechanical permit, and the City of Bonita Springs holds the permit history for homes inside its limits. The record shows when a changeout was permitted and whether it passed final inspection. Then compare it with the data plates on the equipment itself. The outdoor condenser and the indoor air handler each carry a manufacturer's label with a serial number, and the manufacture date can usually be read from it or looked up.

Two things commonly turn up. The first is a mismatched system, where the outdoor unit was replaced but the indoor air handler is original, or the other way round. The second is a replacement with no permit behind it. Neither ends a purchase on its own, but both are worth knowing before you agree a price. My article on checking the permit history before buying in Bonita Springs shows how to read the record line by line.

Because it can decide whether an older system can still be repaired sensibly. Older systems often use R-22, a refrigerant the EPA phased out of new production in 2020, so recharging one now relies on recovered or recycled supply. Federal rules are also moving new equipment to newer refrigerants, which can affect parts and compatibility when an older system needs a major component.

The refrigerant type is usually printed on the outdoor unit's label. Ask your inspector or contractor to note it, and ask them plainly whether a leak or a failed compressor on this particular system would be a repair or the start of a replacement. That one answer tells you whether the air conditioning belongs in this year's budget or a later one.

A general home inspection usually runs the system, measures whether the air coming out of the vents is meaningfully cooler than the air going in, looks at the visible equipment, and checks the condensate drain and the filter. It is a snapshot on one day. It usually does not include pressure testing the refrigerant or a detailed look inside the ductwork. Read your inspector's agreement so you know what is in and out.

If the system is older, the general report raises questions, or the home has been closed up for a season, a separate evaluation by a licensed air conditioning contractor is worth the appointment. Ask them to look at the evaporator coil, the drain pan and drain line, the safety float switch that shuts the system off before a clogged drain overflows, the ductwork in the attic, and any signs of moisture or mold around the air handler. Ask for photographs. My step-by-step buying process shows where these inspections fall once you are under contract and why they all need to land inside the same window.

Mostly where you do not look. The condensate drain line carries water away from the indoor unit all day long, and when it clogs it can overflow into a closet, a ceiling or a garage. Air handlers in an attic or a hall closet can rust at the drain pan without anyone noticing. Ductwork in a hot attic can come apart at the joints, so the system cools the attic as well as the house. And a home that has sat empty with the system turned off, or set too warm, can develop humidity problems that show up as musty smells, stains or mold on vents.

Outside, look at where the condenser sits and how it is secured. Newer installations are expected to be anchored against wind, and in a flood zone, newer or substantially improved homes generally need mechanical equipment raised above the flood elevation. Your inspector can tell you whether the unit you are looking at is strapped or bolted down and how it sits relative to the ground.

It can. Many insurers ask for a four-point inspection on an older home before they will write a policy, and that report covers the roof, the electrical system, the plumbing and the heating and air conditioning. The inspector records the age and condition of the system, and an old or poorly maintained one can make a policy harder to place. My article on the four-point inspection for older homes explains the form, and my article on what to check on the roof before buying in Bonita Springs covers the other system insurers care most about.

Get the insurance quote during your inspection period, not the week before closing, so there is still time to act on anything the carrier asks for.

Often, in two ways. In many single-family communities the architectural guidelines say where an outdoor unit may sit and how it must be screened, which matters if a replacement would move it. In many condominiums the air conditioning that serves only your unit is your responsibility rather than the association's, even when the equipment sits on the roof or in a shared closet. The declaration and the rules say which, so read them before you assume the association will replace it.

If the system sits somewhere that needs access through a neighbor's space or the roof, ask the association how replacements are handled and approved. That is a question to settle during due diligence, not on the hottest day of the year.

Decide first what you are really facing. A system that is not cooling, is leaking, or that an insurer will not accept is a problem to solve before closing. A system that works but is near the end of its life is a budgeting question, and a credit or a price adjustment is often cleaner than a rushed replacement. If the seller agrees to replace it before closing, ask that the work be permitted, that it pass final inspection, and that you receive the permit, the contractor's warranty and the manufacturer's registration.

Then test it again on your final walk-through. My article on what to check on the final walk-through before closing covers that last look, and if you are selling from out of town, my article on selling a Bonita Springs home when you are not living there explains how to keep a closed-up house dry while it is on the market. If you are comparing several homes, my page on buying a home in Bonita Springs covers the wider picture, and I am glad to look at a specific listing and its permit record with you. Get in touch or call (239) 300-1427.

This article is a general overview and is not legal, insurance or engineering advice about any particular property. Confirm the specifics with a licensed air conditioning contractor, your home inspector, your insurance agent, the association and the City of Bonita Springs.