How do 55-plus communities work in Florida?

For a 55-plus community, at least 80 percent of the occupied units must have at least one person 55 or older, and the community must publish and follow policies that show it means to be one. A 62-plus community must be occupied only by people 62 or older. The community checks ages with surveys and affidavits, updated at least once every two years, from documents such as driver licenses, birth certificates and passports. Since July 1, 2020, these communities no longer register with the Florida Commission on Human Relations.

Whether your grown children can live with you is up to the community: the federal rule lets each community set its own age limit, if any, for the units that do not count toward the 80 percent. So the answer is in the community's own declaration, rules and policies, along with its rules for guests.

Read those documents before you buy. A condominium seller must give you the declaration, articles, bylaws and rules, the budget and financial statement, the structural integrity reserve study and the question-and-answer sheet, and you may cancel within 7 days, not counting weekends and legal holidays. In a homeowners association you must get a disclosure summary before you sign; if you did not, you may cancel within 3 days after receiving it, or before closing.

Where to go from here.