Selling a House in Celebration

We buy houses in Celebration and surrounding Central Florida communities. Celebration looks like a town but is not one legally, so this page sorts out which body handles what when you sell.

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Quick answer

Celebration is a master-planned community in unincorporated Osceola County. It has no city government. Three kinds of body share the roles a city would normally fill: Osceola County is the government and issues permits, the residential owners association sets and enforces the community’s rules, and a community development district maintains shared infrastructure and charges for it on the tax bill. A sale touches all three, so it helps to know what each will ask of you.

Who does what in Celebration

Osceola County: permits, code and records

The county is the local government. Building permits go through the Osceola County Building Office, and code enforcement, property taxes and recorded documents are all handled by county offices. You can confirm this for your own address on the Osceola County Property Appraiser site, where the parcel record shows the tax district.

Before a sale, the county’s Code Enforcement research request will report any code liens with the payoff amount, open code cases, and open or expired permits. The county asks for seven to ten business days.

The residential owners association: community rules

The Celebration Residential Owners Association is a Florida community association operating under its recorded documents and Chapter 720 of the Florida Statutes. Owners are members automatically, pay assessments, and can have a lien filed against the property if assessments go unpaid.

The association also controls how homes look. Its design guidelines require an Architectural Review Committee application for exterior changes, with separate guidelines for items such as doors, windows, fences, roofing and structural changes. The building many residents call Town Hall is the association’s office, not a government office.

Association approval and a county building permit are two separate things. Having one does not mean you have the other, and a change made without the committee’s approval can be raised as a violation, including when the house is being sold.

The community development districts: infrastructure

The Celebration Community Development District describes itself as an independent local unit of special-purpose government created under Chapter 190 of the Florida Statutes. According to the community’s maintenance page, its field services include stormwater management, landscape and common area maintenance, street trees, street sweeping and aquatic weed control. A second district, the Enterprise Community Development District, covers mostly commercial and mixed-use land and the water utility system.

District assessments are approved through the district’s annual budget and are collected with the property tax bill, separately from association assessments. They stay with the property after a sale.

Condominiums

If you own a condo in Celebration, your condominium association is a further layer, with its own dues, rules and estoppel certificate under section 718.116 of the Florida Statutes.

What to get in order before you sell

  • Estoppel certificates. The title agent requests one from each association before closing, under section 720.30851 for a homeowners association. It lists unpaid assessments, fines and fees, which are normally settled from the proceeds.
  • Open violations. Ask the association whether anything is open on your lot, such as paint, landscaping, fencing or an unapproved change. It is easier to resolve before a buyer is waiting.
  • Permit history. Check the county’s records for open or expired permits on additions, re-roofs, pools and enclosures.
  • Your tax bill. It shows the district assessment a buyer will take over, which they will count in their monthly cost. The Osceola County Tax Collector has the bill online.
  • Leasing rules. If the house is rented or a buyer may want to rent it, read what the governing documents say about leasing, since they shape who can buy. For a tenant already in place, see selling a rental property with tenants in Florida.

Official property resources for Celebration

Selling costs and considerations

Celebration’s first homes were built in the 1990s, so many now need the big-ticket items that come due at that age: roof, air conditioning, exterior paint and wood repair. Because exterior materials and colors have to meet the design guidelines, some of that work costs more here than it would elsewhere. While the house is for sale you continue to pay association assessments, the district assessment, taxes, insurance and utilities. A listed sale also carries agent commission, which is negotiable, plus title and closing costs.

As-is versus a traditional sale

A well-maintained Celebration home is in demand and will usually do best listed on the open market. An as-is sale is worth comparing when the house needs substantial exterior or interior work, when open violations or unapproved changes would have to be corrected first, or when you have inherited the house and want to settle the estate without managing a renovation. Use the cash sale vs traditional sale calculator, with the association and district costs in the monthly holding figures, to see what each route would leave you.

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Matthew Buys Houses is a private home buyer and is not affiliated with Osceola County, the Celebration Residential Owners Association, any community development district or government office. Rules, assessments and procedures change, so confirm details with the organization itself. This page is general information, not legal advice.