Guides

Written to answer the questions that decide a purchase, with the sources named. Where a figure is disputed, both figures are given.

Getting Around Miami Without a Car: Metromover, Brightline, and What It Means for Condo BuyerslifestyleMiami has a reputation as a car city. That reputation is increasingly out of date in parts of the urban core. Whether you are choosing a condo for a c…
Miami Condo Cap Rates in 2026: A Realistic ModelMarketBefore you calculate a cap rate on a Miami condo, you need to account for costs that do not appear in a basic online listing. This guide builds a line…
What Real Estate Commissions Look Like After the NAR SettlementSellingA federal antitrust settlement changed how real estate commissions work across the country. Two years on, here is what the shift actually means for Mi…
Miami Closing Costs for Foreign Buyers: A Full BreakdownForeign buyersClosing costs in Miami follow Florida law, Miami-Dade custom, and—for foreign buyers—a set of additional federal obligations that most domestic buyers…
Hurricane Season in Miami: What Buyers Should Actually Plan ForlifestylePeople who have never lived through a South Florida hurricane season often imagine something more chaotic than the reality. Miami has modern building …
US Estate Tax Exposure for Foreign Owners of US Real EstateForeign buyersPurchasing property in Miami is a legal process you can complete from abroad. What happens to that property when you die is a different calculation—an…
A Brazilian Buyer's Guide to Buying Property in MiamiForeign buyersBrazil consistently ranks among the top countries of origin for Miami real estate buyers. This guide covers the legal, tax, and financing steps that a…
How to Wire Funds from Abroad for a Miami Real Estate ClosingForeign buyersAn international wire that arrives late — or short — can delay or collapse your closing. Here is how the money actually moves, how long it takes, and …
Miami Condo Insurance After Surfside: What the Law Now RequiresCondo lawSurfside changed more than how Miami talks about buildings. It changed what Florida law requires associations to carry, what lenders will accept, and …
Miami Dock Permit: The Four-Agency Stack, in OrderwaterfrontA private dock in Miami-Dade touches four separate government agencies before the first piling goes in. The sequence matters as much as the permits th…
Edgewater Miami Condo Market Report — Q4 2026MarketAcross the four Midtown buildings where days on market can be measured on a consistent basis, the median time to sell rose between 31 and 37 percent i…
Miami Property Valuation: The Three Numbers and Why They Rarely MatchSellingWhen a buyer asks what a Miami property is worth, and a seller asks the same question, they are usually talking about different numbers. The county ha…
New Construction vs. Older Condo in Miami: What SB 4-D Changed the EquationCondo lawThe question used to be straightforward: newer buildings cost more, older buildings may need updating. Florida's SB 4-D changed the comparison entirel…
Edgewater Miami Condo Market Report — Q3 2026MarketThirty-nine condos closed in Edgewater in the third quarter of 2026. The median sale price was $540,000. The median time on market was 152 days. Homes…
Which Edgewater Towers Struggled on Resale in 2026MarketA 152-day median time on market across Edgewater tells part of the story. The gap between buildings — 22 days at one end and 168 days at the other, in…
Fannie Mae eliminated Limited Review for condos — here's what replaced itCondo lawStarting August 3, 2026, every established condo project needs a Full Review before a Fannie Mae loan can close. If you're financing in Edgewater, Mid…
Who pays for title insurance in Florida — and why Miami-Dade does it differentlyBuyingFlorida has no law that says who must pay for title insurance. Instead, each county follows a custom, and Miami-Dade's custom puts that line item squa…
Edgewater Landlord Guide: Listing Your Condo for LeaseRentalsEdgewater is one of Miami's tightest rental sub-markets — well-priced units move in 10 to 21 days. But moving fast does not mean skipping the steps th…
Edgewater New Construction: Every Active ProjectlifestyleEdgewater is Miami-Dade's most active development corridor right now. Two towers delivered in 2025. Seven more are under construction or in pre-sale. …
Short-Term Rental Rules by Edgewater BuildingRentalsTwo separate gates stand between an Edgewater condo and a legal short-term rental: the City of Miami's licensing layer and the building association's …
What to Verify Before Buying a Short-Term Rental Condo in MiamiRentalsThe listing says short-term rentals are allowed. The building says the same. And yet—three months after closing, your first guest request bounces beca…
Making an Offer on a Miami Condo: What Actually HappensBuyingBuying a condo in Miami takes about 45 to 60 days from an accepted offer to closing, longer if association approval is slow or the building needs cond…
Sunny Isles Beach Condos: What Living on Collins Avenue Is LikelifestyleSunny Isles Beach is a city of about 22,400 people on a 2.5-mile Atlantic barrier island, and every significant tower in it sits on Collins Avenue. Th…
Buyer Representation in Miami: What I Do for YouBuyingI represent buyers exclusively—no dual agency, no split loyalty. Before we walk into a single building together, you sign a buyer representation agree…
Relocating to Miami: How the Move Actually WorksBuyingMost relocation guides tell you about neighborhoods. This one tells you what happens after you pick one — because the building you choose, and how its…
Seller Representation in Miami: What I Do for YouSellingSelling a Miami high-rise is different from selling anywhere else. The disclosure requirements are specific, the buyer pool is international, and over…
Wynwood Miami Real EstateMarketWynwood has one completed for-sale condominium tower as of mid-2026 — and the art district surrounding it is a physical environment with specific high…
What is at street levellifestyleLocation is the oldest advice in this business and it is usually given uselessly, because "good location" is not a fact about anything. What is a fact…
What "waterfront" actually means herewaterfrontWaterfront is the word that sells Miami and it is the least precise word in the market. It is used for a house with sixty feet of bay frontage and a d…
Miami Neighborhoods by Budget: Where $500K, $1M and $3M Actually Get YouMarketThree price points. Four neighborhoods. At $500K, you are choosing between the walkability of Wynwood and a bay view from an older Edgewater building.…
New York to Miami: An Honest Cost and Lifestyle ComparisonMarketThe tax savings are real — Florida's no-income-tax provision is constitutional, not a loophole. So is the car dependency. I have watched this move go …
Selling Your Miami Condo: Pricing, Timing and the Documents You Will NeedSellingFlorida law imposes specific disclosure obligations on condo sellers, and a missing document gives the buyer a statutory window to cancel under Florid…
Brickell or Edgewater? An Honest Comparison From Someone Who Lives in One of ThemBuyingI live in Edgewater. I work in Edgewater. I know which towers lease quickly and which boards run tight ship, because I have done it personally. None o…
What It Actually Costs to Live in a Miami Condo in 2026MarketThe number that surprises most buyers who are new to Miami's high-rise market is not the purchase price — they have usually modeled that. It is the mo…
Miami-Dade 40-Year Recertification: What Edgewater Condo Buyers Need to CheckCondo lawMiami-Dade's 40-year building recertification is a county program that predates Surfside and runs on a completely different track from the SB 4-D mile…
LLC or Personal Name? Buying Miami Property as a Non-US BuyerForeign buyersMost non-US buyers who ask about LLCs are thinking about privacy or liability. The more expensive question is estate tax. A non-resident non-citizen's…
Miami Flood Zones AE vs X: What Buyers Get WrongBuyingThe flood zone designation on your property comes up twice before closing: once on the seller's disclosure, and once when your lender orders the flood…
Seller Closing Costs in Miami: Full Line-by-Line BreakdownSellingA Miami condo seller's net proceeds are not sale price minus mortgage. Five cost categories come out before you see a dollar: documentary stamp tax, t…
Condo Master Policy vs HO-6: Where the Line Actually FallsCondo lawFlorida does not leave the boundary between the association's insurance and yours to the declaration - s. 718.111(11) names the excluded items in a li…
Can a Condo Association Force You to Sell?Condo lawIn Florida, effectively yes. Under s. 718.117 a plan of termination approved by 80 percent of the total voting interests ends the condominium and conv…
Renting in Edgewater: How Association Approval Actually WorksRentalsIn an Edgewater tower the landlord is not the last word - the condominium association is. Florida law caps what that association may charge you at $15…
Which Edgewater Condos Can Actually Be FinancedCondo lawA condo can be structurally sound, well managed and beautifully finished and still be a building no conventional lender will lend in. That decision is…
HB 913: What Actually Changed for Miami Condo BuyersCondo lawHB 913 did not make Florida condos safer overnight, and for a buyer it cut in two directions at once. It kept the post-Surfside inspection regime inta…
Foreign National Mortgages in MiamiForeign buyersA buyer with no US credit history, no Social Security number and no US employment can still finance a Miami property - through a foreign national loan…
Edgewater Condo Milestone Inspection Status, Building by BuildingCondo lawThree condominium buildings in Edgewater proper are old enough to have triggered Florida’s milestone inspection: Bay Park Towers (built 1961), Biscayn…
Edgewater Miami Market Report, Q3 2026: Asking Prices Tower by TowerMarketAcross the thirteen Edgewater condominium towers with inventory solid enough to publish, the median asking price per square foot runs from $510 to $1,…
Which Miami Buildings Allow Short-Term RentalsRentalsA Miami condominium can be rented short term only if three separate locks open at once: a state license, a city lodging entitlement on the building, a…
Miami Building Recertification: It Is 30 Years Now, Not 40Condo lawIf you are searching for the 40-year recertification rules in Miami, start with this: the 40-year trigger no longer exists. Miami-Dade County recertif…
Buying Miami Real Estate Without a US Social Security NumberForeign buyersYou do not need a US Social Security number to buy real estate in Florida. What you eventually need is a US taxpayer identification number, and if you…
Buying Property in Miami as a Foreigner: The 2026 GuideForeign buyersThere is no citizenship or residency requirement to buy real estate in Florida, and no visa or immigration status comes with the purchase. What change…
Condo Board Minutes: What to Look For Before You BuyBuyingFlorida gives a unit owner access to association records within ten working days of a written request. The word doing the work in that sentence is own…
Edgewater Miami Condo HOA Fees, Tower by TowerMarketVerified monthly association fees in the Edgewater bayfront towers run from $489 at Cite on the Bay to $6,571 at Elysee Miami, read off active listing…
FIRPTA Explained for Miami Buyers and SellersForeign buyersFIRPTA makes the buyer withhold 15 percent of the gross sale price when the seller is a foreign person, and remit it to the IRS by the 20th day after …
Florida Condo Law in 2026: What Every Miami Buyer Must CheckCondo lawFlorida condo law in 2026 comes down to four things a Miami buyer has to check before closing: the building's milestone inspection under Fla. Stat. s.…
Florida Milestone Inspection Requirements: Deadlines, Phases and What They Mean for Your OfferCondo lawA Florida milestone inspection is a structural inspection required by Fla. Stat. s. 553.899 for condominium and cooperative buildings three habitable …
Buying a Miami Condo With a Pending Special Assessment: 6 Questions to AskBuyingA pending special assessment is the single most expensive thing a Miami condominium buyer can fail to ask about, and it is also the easiest to miss. I…
Structural Integrity Reserve Studies: The Document That Should Decide Your OfferCondo lawA structural integrity reserve study (SIRS) is the document required by Fla. Stat. s. 718.112(2)(g) that prices out what a Florida condominium buildin…
Why Miami Condo HOA Fees Went Up — and How to Read a Budget Before You BuyCondo lawMiami condominium fees went up because Florida law removed the option that used to hold them down: for budgets adopted on or after December 31, 2024, …
The Miami Condo Market in 2026: What Is Actually MeasurableMarketMost writing about this market takes asking prices and presents them as trends. Asking prices are what sellers hope for; they are not evidence of what…
Off-Market Miami Condos: What a Private Sale Actually Costs the SellerSellingAn off-market sale trades exposure for control. That is a real trade and it has a price, usually paid by the seller. This page is about what that pric…
Architect and Developer Pedigree: What It Actually Does for ResaleBuyingA named architect is the first thing a sales gallery tells you and close to the last thing that shows up in a recorded sale price. That does not make …
Amenities in Miami Condos: What Is Actually Staffed, and What Is Just a RoomBuyingTwo towers can advertise an identical amenity list and cost thousands of dollars a year apart to live in. The list is not the difference. Whether anyb…
Financing a Miami Condo Without a US Credit File — and the Estate Exposure That Comes With Owning OneForeign buyersTwo things decide how a purchase from outside the United States actually goes, and neither appears in a listing. The first is whether a lender will wr…
Buying as a Canadian: what to have readycross-border-buyingThree quarters of Canadian buyers in Florida pay cash, so the thing that actually delays a Canadian closing is almost never the mortgage. It is a taxp…
Renting out your Florida condo as a Canadiancross-border-rentingLeft alone, the US takes thirty percent of your gross rent. Not your profit — your rent, before the association fee, before the mortgage interest, bef…
How long a Canadian can stay, by provincecross-border-buyingThere are two different countdowns running on a Canadian winter in Florida and they are frequently confused with each other. One is American and decid…
Canadians in Floridacross-border-buyingEverything on this site written for Canadian owners, in both languages. The tax rules are US federal and read the same in Miami as in Naples, so this …
What renting your condo does to the capital gains exclusionSellingMost writing on this question answers it with the two-out-of-five-years rule and stops. That rule decides whether you qualify at all, and it is the ea…
Selling: the association's approval, and the right of first refusalSellingSellers are told the board has to approve the buyer as though that were a feature of Florida condominium law. It is not. No association has an automat…
Edgewater Bayfront Towers: Lease Terms and Approval Process ComparedRentingBefore you sign anything, here is what each building's recorded declaration actually says about how long you can lease, how many times per year, and w…
Edgewater Miami Condos for Rent: Approval and Lease RulesRenting
Edgewater Miami Condos for Sale, Building by BuildingBuying
Miami-Dade Elevation Certificates: The Public Lookup and the 50% RulewaterfrontMiami-Dade County hosts a public elevation-certificate database at ecmrer.miamidade.gov. Any property sold, permitted or substantially improved since …
Buyer Closing Costs in Florida: A Line-by-Line BreakdownBuyingFlorida closing costs include several state-specific fees that catch first-time buyers off guard—the documentary stamp tax on your mortgage, the intan…
The Florida condo document sequence, and the order to read it inCondo lawA Florida condominium purchase does not turn on one document. It turns on twelve, they arrive from three different places on three different clocks, a…
Florida Documentary Stamp Tax: Rates, Who Pays, and How to CalculateBuyingFlorida's documentary stamp tax applies to both the deed at transfer and the promissory note at closing. The statewide deed rate is $0.70 per $100 of …
What an estoppel certificate costs, and what it costs the association to be lateCondo lawEvery Florida condominium sale runs through one document. The estoppel certificate is the association's signed statement of what the unit owes — asses…
Deposits and notice: the deadlines Florida actually setsRentingAlmost everything that goes wrong between a Florida landlord and a Florida tenant is a missed deadline, and almost every one of those deadlines is a s…
Investing in a Miami condoinvestingFour things decide whether a Miami condo works as an investment, and only one of them is the price. Can you rent it out, and on what terms. What it co…
Leasing a Miami condoRentingYou negotiate with the owner. Then a second party you have never met decides whether you move in, how long you may stay, and how much of your money it…
Getting a boat out: bridge clearance from the islandswaterfrontA waterfront house is worth what you can do from its dock, and on the man-made islands that is decided by fixed federal numbers rather than by anythin…
The Miami Condo Buyer's GuideBuyingBuying a condo in Miami is not complicated, but it has more moving pieces than most residential purchases in other states. The Florida-specific disclo…
What a Miami condo actually costs you in property taxinvestingThe most expensive surprise in Florida real estate is not a special assessment. It is the second property tax bill, and it arrives about fourteen mont…
Miami Design District Real EstateNeighborhoodThe Design District's retail core contains no completed residential condos. Three buildings on the periphery carry the label — and buyers searching th…
Property management in Miami: what each license actually coversinvestingAn owner who lives somewhere else hires one person and assumes that person handles everything. Florida does not work that way. Renting your property t…
Miami Seawall Requirements: What Every Waterfront Buyer Needs to KnowwaterfrontA seawall citation in Miami Beach gives the current owner 730 days to comply — long enough for a sale to close and for you to inherit the obligation. …
Buying a waterfront home in MiamiwaterfrontA condominium hands you one document that answers most of the questions: the declaration. A waterfront house hands you nothing. The flood elevation is…
Midtown Miami Condos for SaleNeighborhoodFour residential towers, one master-planned grid, and some of the clearest asking-price data in Miami — with HOA ranges, median DOM, and $/sqft you ca…
Moving to Miami: A Local Agent's Honest GuideNeighborhoodI live in Edgewater. I work in Edgewater. I have leased more units in its bayfront towers than I can count, and the questions people ask me before mov…
Aventura, FLNeighborhoodTwelve miles north of Miami and twelve south of Fort Lauderdale, Aventura is a planned city of 3.2 square miles built around waterways, a world-class …
Bal Harbour, FLNeighborhoodOne square mile of Atlantic-edge addresses at the top of the Miami Beach barrier island — Bal Harbour is a self-governing town where every residential…
Brickell Miami — Living in the Urban CoreNeighborhoodBrickell is the densest residential and commercial corridor in Miami — a grid of high-rise towers between the Miami River to the north and Coconut Gro…
Buena Vista Miami: Historic Neighborhood Adjacent to the Design DistrictNeighborhoodBuena Vista is a tight grid of 1920s single-family homes that has never been redeveloped into towers. If you are searching for a house near the Design…
Coconut Grove, MiamiNeighborhoodMiami's oldest established neighborhood, Coconut Grove sits on Biscayne Bay between Brickell and Coral Gables—5.6 square miles of bay-front streets, c…
Coral Gables Condos: Boutique Towers in Miami's Mediterranean CityNeighborhoodCoral Gables is Miami-Dade's first planned city, incorporated in 1925, and its built environment still reflects that origin. Canopy oaks arch over lim…
Downtown Miami Condos for SaleNeighborhoodDowntown Miami is three neighborhoods wearing one name. The Central Business District, Park West and the Arts and Entertainment District each carry di…
Edgewater Miami Real Estate: A Bayfront Neighborhood GuideNeighborhoodEdgewater Miami real estate is one of the few Miami markets where the neighborhood, not the city, is the right unit of analysis. The national portals …
Morningside Miami Real Estate: Historic District GuideNeighborhoodMorningside is a compact bayfront neighborhood — roughly six blocks wide and six deep — running from NE 55th Street to NE 60th Street between Biscayne…
Surfside, FLNeighborhoodSurfside occupies roughly two miles of barrier-island frontage between 87th Street and 96th Street, directly south of Bal Harbour and north of Miami B…
Upper East Side Miami Real Estate: Neighborhood GuideNeighborhoodMiami's Upper Eastside is not one neighborhood but several, connected by Biscayne Boulevard. It runs from the northern edge of Edgewater — roughly NE …
Wynwood Miami Condos for SaleNeighborhoodWynwood became Miami's most recognized arts destination because it was not a residential neighborhood — it was a warehouse district. For-sale condos h…
The approval, and the fee, on a housewaterfrontBuyers who move from a condominium to a house usually expect one thing to disappear: the board. In several Miami communities it does not. Membership i…
Renting a Miami condoRentingRenting a condominium in Miami is not renting an apartment. There is a second landlord — the association — and it sets the minimum term, caps how many…
Selling a Miami condoSellingA house sale turns on the house. A condo sale turns on the building — and since Florida rewrote its condominium law after Surfside, a buyer's lender, …
Selling a Florida condo as a Canadiancross-border-sellingThe withholding is calculated on what the property sells for, not on what you made. A Canadian selling a $700,000 condo bought for $650,000 can watch …
Why Florida Home Insurance Went Up — and Where It Is HeadingBuyingFlorida went from having the highest homeowners premiums in the country to being the only state where rates fell in 2025. The crisis was driven by lit…
Wind Mitigation Credits in Florida: How to Cut Your PremiumBuyingA single $75–$150 inspection can trigger hundreds — sometimes thousands — of dollars in annual savings on your Florida homeowners policy. The credits …