Frequently Asked Questions
Question about selling
Four documents decide most outcomes, and all four are obtainable during your inspection period: the association’s operating budget, its reserve study, the most recent milestone inspection report where one is required, and twelve months of board minutes. The budget shows what the monthly fee actually covers. The reserve study shows whether the building is funded for the work it already knows it needs. The minutes show what the board is arguing about, which is usually what is coming next. Stefania reads these with clients before an offer goes in, not after.
Florida requires structural milestone inspections for condominium buildings three storeys or taller once they reach a defined age, with a follow-up on a set cycle after that. The inspection can lead to required repairs, and those repairs are funded either from reserves or by a special assessment on owners. For a buyer this matters in two ways: whether the inspection has been completed, and whether the building has the reserves to act on what it found. A building that has done the work and funded it is in a very different position from one that has deferred both.
Three pressures arrived at once: reserve funding requirements that removed the option to waive or underfund reserves, sharply higher property insurance premiums across South Florida, and higher labour and materials costs on maintenance contracts. The result is that a monthly fee quoted two or three years ago is often no longer representative. Always underwrite a Miami condo on the current budget and the current insurance renewal, not on a historic figure.
Yes. Non-resident buyers purchase in Miami routinely, in cash or with financing designed for foreign nationals, which typically requires a larger down payment and different documentation than a conventional loan. There are additional considerations worth settling early rather than late: whether to hold the property personally or through an entity, FIRPTA withholding on a future sale, US estate tax exposure, and how funds will be wired and sourced. Stefania works in English and Spanish and coordinates with your own tax and legal advisers on these points.
Costs vary by purchase price, financing and county custom, but the recurring items are documentary stamp tax and intangible tax where there is a mortgage, title insurance and settlement fees, recording fees, survey, inspections, association application and transfer fees, and prepaid property tax and insurance. Condominium purchases add association-specific charges that single-family purchases do not. You should ask for a written estimate specific to your transaction before you go under contract.
Flood zone designation drives insurance cost and, in financed purchases, whether flood coverage is required at all. Two properties a short distance apart can sit in different zones. For condominiums, flood coverage is usually carried by the association’s master policy, so the question shifts to what that master policy covers and what your own unit policy needs to cover on top of it. Check the zone and the master policy before you assume a premium.
Yes. Leasing is a substantial part of Stefania’s practice, particularly across Edgewater’s bayfront towers, and she represents both owners and tenants. Building-level familiarity matters more in leasing than people expect: association approval processes, minimum lease terms, pet and short-term-rental policies and move-in requirements differ considerably from tower to tower, and they determine how quickly a lease can actually close.
Stefania Riverin directly. Real Estate by Fania is her personal marketing name, not a separate company — all real estate services are provided through her brokerage, NB Elite Realty. She is a licensed Florida real estate sales associate, licence SL3620067. Enquiries are answered by her rather than routed to an assistant, which limits how many clients she takes on at once.
Question about renting
Four documents decide most outcomes, and all four are obtainable during your inspection period: the association’s operating budget, its reserve study, the most recent milestone inspection report where one is required, and twelve months of board minutes. The budget shows what the monthly fee actually covers. The reserve study shows whether the building is funded for the work it already knows it needs. The minutes show what the board is arguing about, which is usually what is coming next. Stefania reads these with clients before an offer goes in, not after.
Florida requires structural milestone inspections for condominium buildings three storeys or taller once they reach a defined age, with a follow-up on a set cycle after that. The inspection can lead to required repairs, and those repairs are funded either from reserves or by a special assessment on owners. For a buyer this matters in two ways: whether the inspection has been completed, and whether the building has the reserves to act on what it found. A building that has done the work and funded it is in a very different position from one that has deferred both.
Three pressures arrived at once: reserve funding requirements that removed the option to waive or underfund reserves, sharply higher property insurance premiums across South Florida, and higher labour and materials costs on maintenance contracts. The result is that a monthly fee quoted two or three years ago is often no longer representative. Always underwrite a Miami condo on the current budget and the current insurance renewal, not on a historic figure.
Yes. Non-resident buyers purchase in Miami routinely, in cash or with financing designed for foreign nationals, which typically requires a larger down payment and different documentation than a conventional loan. There are additional considerations worth settling early rather than late: whether to hold the property personally or through an entity, FIRPTA withholding on a future sale, US estate tax exposure, and how funds will be wired and sourced. Stefania works in English and Spanish and coordinates with your own tax and legal advisers on these points.
Costs vary by purchase price, financing and county custom, but the recurring items are documentary stamp tax and intangible tax where there is a mortgage, title insurance and settlement fees, recording fees, survey, inspections, association application and transfer fees, and prepaid property tax and insurance. Condominium purchases add association-specific charges that single-family purchases do not. You should ask for a written estimate specific to your transaction before you go under contract.
Flood zone designation drives insurance cost and, in financed purchases, whether flood coverage is required at all. Two properties a short distance apart can sit in different zones. For condominiums, flood coverage is usually carried by the association’s master policy, so the question shifts to what that master policy covers and what your own unit policy needs to cover on top of it. Check the zone and the master policy before you assume a premium.
Yes. Leasing is a substantial part of Stefania’s practice, particularly across Edgewater’s bayfront towers, and she represents both owners and tenants. Building-level familiarity matters more in leasing than people expect: association approval processes, minimum lease terms, pet and short-term-rental policies and move-in requirements differ considerably from tower to tower, and they determine how quickly a lease can actually close.
Stefania Riverin directly. Real Estate by Fania is her personal marketing name, not a separate company — all real estate services are provided through her brokerage, NB Elite Realty. She is a licensed Florida real estate sales associate, licence SL3620067. Enquiries are answered by her rather than routed to an assistant, which limits how many clients she takes on at once.