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Your driveway feels like private property until a letter shows up telling you your pickup truck is “illegal” and the fines start stacking. We dig into Florida’s 2024 HOA parking law changes and why they matter for real homeowners who drive pickups, branded work vehicles, and everyday vans with ladder racks, decals, or magnetic signs. If you’ve ever wondered how an HOA can threaten a lien over a vehicle you park at your own home, this breakdown is for you.

We walk through what House Bill 1203 actually does inside Florida Statute 720.3075: HOAs cannot stop you, your tenant, or your guests from parking a personal vehicle, including a pickup truck, in your driveway. We also explain the practical win for trades and small businesses, since HOAs can’t ban work vehicles in the driveway just because they have lettering, logos, or racks. Then we stress-test the rule with the state’s bright-line limit for a “heavy commercial motor vehicle,” including why 26,001 pounds is the key threshold and how it separates normal trucks from true industrial equipment.

The twist is the loophole most people miss. These protections live in Chapter 720 for many single-family HOAs, but condos under Chapter 718 don’t get the same coverage, largely because condo parking is usually shared property with structural load limits. We also cover what HOAs can still enforce (vehicle tidiness, leaks, and towing on HOA-owned streets), plus the brewing legal fight where some associations claim older declarations are protected contracts unless the documents include “Kaufman language” adopting future changes in Florida law.

If you live in Florida or you’re shopping for a home, hit play, take notes, and then read the parking section of the community documents for yourself. Subscribe, share this with a neighbor, and leave a review so more buyers and owners stop getting blindsided by the fine print.

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Steve Martin Smith is a Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker and the owner of Slice of Florida Realty in Sarasota County Florida.

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This episode is the second half of Steve Martin Smith’s guest appearance on Radio House Talk with host Tim Kerfin (Kerfin Inspections), recorded August 22, 2026 at WENG in Englewood. Also in the studio: mortgage pro Mark Grego of The Money Store, Captain Ross, and the regular Radio House Talk crew.

Part 1 covered why a lot of people are closer to buying than they think. Part 2 gets into the money, the plumbing, the politics of property taxes, and the deals sitting on the table right now.

In this episode

• Sweaty Florida workdays, attic inspections, and why showing up to a house dripping wet is a real problem
• Cracked toilet tanks, main shutoff valves, well pumps, and the “turn it off before you leave town” tip
• Milky water at one sink, PEX vs. copper, and why old Manabloc manifolds leak when you touch them
• Property tax letters that actually went down, and the homestead deduction proposal: $50,000 now, $150,000 next year, $250,000 the year after
• Why homestead relief is not a gift to the wealthy, and why young families and seniors feel the tax-and-insurance squeeze first
• Affordable housing beyond slogans: stop requiring barrel tile, quartz, and hurricane glass on every new community
• Where the extra tax money went after values jumped — parks, buildings, and pensions more than teacher or cop raises
• Why this looks like a buying window: price-reduced resales, builder incentives, and sellers who will negotiate terms
• “Marry the house, date the rate,” temporary buydowns, and going a little over list to get $20k–$40k back in concessions
• Why a working broker still in the field is different from a sales associate or a desk broker
• Buyer hesitation after the 2024 lawsuits: people skipping representation, skipping the lender, and losing houses
• A national firefighter/EMS/paramedic loan program with no lender fees and a lower rate
• Current Slice of Florida listings: Venice Island beach villa at $539k, Wellen Park townhome at $305k, Grand Palm villa at $419k, courtyard pool home reduced to $519k, off-market jetty villa at $679k, and a possible South Venice single-family coming in with a 2 in front of the price

How to reach the panel

• Steve Martin Smith, Slice of Florida Realty — SliceOfFlorida.com or 941-894-9800
• Mark Grego, The Money Store — 630-660-6509 or MarkGrego Mortgages on Instagram
• Tim Kerfin — KerfinInspections.com
• Radio House Talk — RadioHouseTalk.com
• Intercoastal Adventures — IntercoastalAdventures.com

Also mentioned: the blog/podcast Warning: Your Florida Real Estate Agent May Not Actually Represent You on the blog page at SliceOfFlorida.com, and the remastered I’m 60 parody on the Real Estate Agent Man YouTube channel.

If you missed Part 1, start there: Radio House Talk 08/22/2026 Part 1: You Might Be Closer To Buying A Home Than You Think.

Slice of Florida Realty Jingle

Steve Martin Smith is a Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker and the owner of Slice of Florida Realty in Sarasota County Florida.

Send us Fan Mail

This episode is the first half of Steve Martin Smith’s guest appearance on Radio House Talk with host Tim Kerfin (Kerfin Inspections) on WENG 107.5 FM. The Saturday morning show also features regulars Mark Grego of The Money Store and “Mr. Fun" from Intercoastal Adventures.

We cover:

• Charlotte and Sarasota County market numbers that don’t match the “falling off a cliff” headlines — including 12 straight months of year-over-year sales gains in Venice
• How to use AI (Grok, ChatGPT, etc.) without handing over your judgment
• A real Hometown Heroes deal: a Manatee County deputy who got into a $300,000 house for about $1,500 out of pocket
• Why you should call a lender and a real estate broker the day after you sign a new lease
• Other programs (USDA and more) that still get first-time buyers into homes with very little cash
• Rent vs. mortgage reality in Southwest Florida right now

Steve also talks about the truck-as-billboard strategy, sitting down with buyers in person, and why “people don’t know what they don’t know.”

Part 2 (coming next) includes a detailed discussion of the Florida Property Tax Amendment. Don’t skip it if that issue matters to you.

Slice of Florida Realty — SliceOfFlorida.com
941-894-9800

Listen to the live show Saturdays 10:00–11:30 a.m. on WENG 107.5 FM / 98.1 FM / 1530 AM or at wengradio.com.

Slice of Florida Realty Jingle

Steve Martin Smith is a Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker and the owner of Slice of Florida Realty in Sarasota County Florida.