For Florida brokerage-disclosure questions, classify the property and the transaction. A place where someone can live is not automatically a residential sale under the disclosure statute.
Jump to: The definition · Compare examples · Rentals and purchase options · Practice
Start with the definition the question is testing
Section 475.278(5), Florida Statutes defines residential sales for these brokerage-disclosure requirements to include sales of:
- Improved residential property containing four or fewer units.
- Unimproved residential property intended for four or fewer units.
- Agricultural property of ten acres or fewer.
Those are three separate categories. The agricultural acreage limit is not a universal acreage limit for every residential property. Other laws, loan programs, and zoning rules may use different definitions.
Compare the property actually being sold
| Scenario | How to classify it for this question |
|---|---|
| Sale of a four-unit residential building | Within the residential-sale definition: four units. |
| Sale of one residential condominium unit in a 30-unit complex | Within the definition: the transaction concerns one dwelling unit, not the sale of the entire complex. |
| Sale of the entire 30-unit apartment property | Outside the four-unit category. |
| Sale of a condominium used as a medical office | Nonresidential use. “Condominium” describes ownership and does not make an office a residence. |
| Sale of vacant residential land intended for a duplex | Within the unimproved-property category. |
| Sale of an eight-acre agricultural property | Within the agricultural category. |
A rental is not automatically a residential sale
The statute generally excludes rentals and leases from these disclosure requirements. It includes an exception when an option to purchase all or part of property improved with four or fewer residential units is given. Compare an ordinary house lease with a lease that includes a qualifying purchase option; do not treat them as identical.
This addresses applicability of the specified brokerage disclosures. It does not eliminate every duty, disclosure, licensing rule, or landlord-tenant obligation that may otherwise apply. The statute also contains other disclosure limitations.
Use a four-step check
- Identify the rule named in the question.
- Identify what is being transferred: one unit, the whole building, vacant land, or agricultural land.
- Check use, unit count, or acreage as appropriate.
- Check whether it is a sale, a lease, or a lease with a purchase option.
Try it yourself
- A residential condo unit is sold in a 60-unit building. Should you count all 60 units as the property sold?
- Does the word “condominium” make the sale of a dental office a residential sale?
- Does an ordinary single-family house lease with no purchase option fall under these residential-sale disclosure requirements?
Answers and explanations
- No. Identify the one residential unit being sold.
- No. The commercial use matters; the ownership form alone does not decide it.
- No. Apply the rental exclusion. A qualifying purchase option changes the analysis.
Florida statutory reference checked October 20, 2026.
Keep studying
Review Florida agency and buyer agreements. Review condominium ownership. Return to the exam-prep guide.
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