What Paperwork Should You Gather Before Selling a Home on Sanibel?

Start with five things: the home's permit record from the City of Sanibel, its elevation certificate, your current flood and homeowners insurance policies, your records of any storm damage and repairs, and the flood disclosure Florida now requires from sellers. Add your association documents if you are selling a condo, and your rental license records if the home has been rented. Having all of it ready before the first showing answers the questions Sanibel buyers ask first, and it keeps a contract from stalling in the inspection period.

I am Kris Asquith, Broker Associate at Premiere Plus Realty, and I work with buyers and sellers on Sanibel and in eight other Southwest Florida markets. On the island, the folder of paperwork behind a home often matters as much as the home itself, so this is where I start with every seller.

Because Sanibel is a barrier island that went through Hurricane Ian, and almost every buyer looking here knows it. Their first questions are about what happened to this particular home in the storm, what was repaired, whether the repairs were permitted, and what flood insurance will cost them. A seller who can answer each of those with a document, rather than a recollection, gives the buyer, their lender, their insurance agent and their inspector what they need without delay.

The island's own rules add to it. The City of Sanibel has its own building department and its own planning rules, and they shape what a buyer can do with a home after closing. Buyers who understand that want to see the record before they commit.

Ask the City for the full permit history on your address, and read it before a buyer does. Look for three things:

• Open or expired permits. A permit that was opened and never closed with a final inspection is one of the most common problems a buyer's title or permit search turns up. Closing it out takes time, so find it before you list rather than in the middle of a contract.
• Storm repair permits and their final inspections. If the home was repaired after Ian, the permits and final sign-offs are what show that the work was done properly.
• Any substantial damage or substantial improvement review. If the City reviewed the home under the flood rules after the storm, keep that correspondence. It tells a buyer what the City decided about the structure, and it affects what they can do to the home later.

Work done without a permit is worth raising with me early. There is usually a path to deal with it, and it is far easier to plan that path before the home is on the market.

These come up on nearly every Sanibel sale:

• The elevation certificate. It records the elevation of the structure against the flood standard, and flood insurance pricing and building rules both rely on it. If you do not have one, ask the City whether one is on file, or hire a licensed surveyor to prepare a new one.
• Your current flood policy. If you carry a policy through the National Flood Insurance Program, FEMA says it can usually be assigned to the buyer at the sale. That can keep coverage in place without a gap. Have the declarations page ready and ask your insurance agent how assignment works for your policy.
• Your homeowners or wind policy and any wind mitigation report. A recent wind mitigation inspection documents features such as the roof attachment and opening protection, which insurers use when they quote. Buyers will want quotes in the first days of the contract, and these documents make that quicker.
• Roof, electrical, plumbing and mechanical records. Invoices and permits for replacements tell an insurer and an inspector how old each system is.

Whether the home is elevated or built at ground level changes almost every one of these answers. My article on elevated versus ground-level homes on Sanibel explains why.

Florida has long required a seller to disclose known facts that materially affect a home's value and are not readily observable to the buyer. On top of that, section 689.302 of the Florida Statutes requires the seller of residential property to give the buyer a written flood disclosure at or before the time the contract is signed. Since October 1, 2025 it covers known flooding that damaged the property during your ownership, any flood insurance claims you filed, and any assistance you received to repair flood damage from any source.

Gather your claim records, repair invoices and any letters about assistance before you fill it in, and answer each question with what you actually know. An honest disclosure of a flood that was properly repaired and permitted is much easier to sell than a clean form that a buyer's permit search later contradicts. My article on Florida's flood disclosure law walks through what the form covers and what it leaves out. If you are unsure how to answer a question, ask a real estate attorney before you sign it.

More than most sellers expect. Florida's condominium law entitles a buyer to a set of association documents at the seller's expense, and the list has grown in recent years. Along with the declaration, bylaws, rules, budget and the frequently asked questions sheet, it now includes the summary of the building's milestone inspection where the law requires one, and the association's most recent structural integrity reserve study, or a statement that none has been done. A buyer can cancel the contract within a set window after receiving them, so delivering a complete set quickly protects your sale.

Ask your association manager for the full package as soon as you decide to sell. While you are at it, ask for the most recent board minutes and any notice of a special assessment, because a buyer will ask about both. My page on condos on Sanibel covers what buyers look for in a building.

Then the rental records belong in the folder too: your City rental license, your business tax receipt, anything that shows the property's zoning or any prior rental rights, and a list of bookings already made for the coming season. A buyer who plans to rent will ask what the home can legally do before anything else. Tell me early whether you expect the buyer to take over existing bookings, because that has to be written into the contract. My article on Sanibel's rental rules explains the four-week minimum and the license requirement buyers will be checking against.

Before you choose a list date. Permit searches and close-outs, a new elevation certificate and an association's document package all take time, and none of them speed up once a buyer is waiting. I start this list in the first conversation with a seller, as part of how I sell a home, so the paperwork is ready before the photographs are.

My page on selling your home on Sanibel covers pricing, timing and marketing on the island. If you are thinking about selling and want to know what your own folder is missing, get in touch or call (239) 300-1427, and we can go through it item by item.

This article is a general overview and is not legal, tax or insurance advice about any particular property. Confirm the specifics with a real estate attorney, your title company, your insurance agent and the City of Sanibel.