The Miami Condo Buyer's Guide

Buying a condo in Miami is not complicated, but it has more moving pieces than most residential purchases in other states. The Florida-specific disclosures, the building diligence that matters inside your inspection window, the association approval that runs on its own separate clock — none of these appear on a listing page. This guide covers what actually happens from the first offer to the recording of the deed.

Published September 7, 2026

Step one: financing, before you look at anything

The first mistake I see buyers make in Miami is falling in love with a unit before they know whether they can finance the building. In most residential real estate, pre-approval is about whether the buyer qualifies. In Miami condo buying, pre-approval has a second dimension: whether the building qualifies.

Most conventional loans for condominiums go through Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac underwriting. A building that does not meet their project approval standards cannot be financed with a standard conventional loan — and discovering this after you are in contract leaves expensive options: cash, portfolio loans at higher rates, or hard money. Each of those is more costly, and each reduces your resale pool because the same financing barrier applies to every subsequent buyer who wants to use a conventional mortgage.

A condominium project can fail Fannie Mae's review for several reasons: owner-occupancy below threshold (Fannie Mae generally requires at least 50% of units to be owner-occupied or second homes), investor ownership above 35%, more than 15% of owners more than 60 days delinquent on dues, active commercial litigation involving the association, or a pending special assessment the association cannot document adequate reserves to cover. Ask your lender directly whether they have run a warrantability check on the specific building before you tour it. That question takes two minutes and can save considerable pain later.

On timeline: a conventional pre-approval with a lender experienced in Miami condos takes two to five business days once income documentation, tax returns, and bank statements are submitted. Get it before you start scheduling tours, not after.

Step two: the building matters as much as the unit

A condominium unit is a share in a community. The unit itself can be exceptional and the building can be in financial difficulty, and that difficulty is your problem from the day you close. The five things worth checking before you make an offer:

Reserve funding. Florida requires buildings of three or more stories to conduct structural integrity reserve studies and fund reserves for specific structural elements. A study that shows a building is significantly underfunded for roof replacement, concrete restoration, or elevator systems means a future special assessment is more likely than the current HOA fee suggests. Ask for the most recent reserve study and read the funding schedule before you fall in love with the finishes.

Milestone inspection status. Under Florida Statute 553.899, buildings three stories or more are required to conduct milestone inspections at 25 years and every 10 years thereafter. A phase one is a visual inspection by a licensed engineer. A phase two involves destructive testing and is triggered when the phase one identifies a concern. A building in phase two is not by definition unsafe — the inspection is how the building demonstrates it is identifying and managing what it found — but the engineer's report and the board's response to it tell you what the next capital cycle looks like.

Open special assessments. These appear in the estoppel certificate the association must provide before closing, but they also show up in board minutes before that if you request two years of records. A special assessment is not disqualifying on its own, but you want to know before making an offer what it costs per unit, who pays it at closing (buyer or seller), and what it was for. A levy for a roof is different from one for concrete restoration.

Pending litigation. Active litigation involving the association — particularly construction defect suits against the developer — is a Fannie Mae flag that can disqualify the building for conventional financing regardless of everything else. The association's financial statements should disclose pending litigation as a contingent liability.

Lease restrictions in the declaration. The recorded declaration of condominium sets the minimum lease term, the number of leases permitted per year, and whether there is a waiting period before a new owner can lease at all. Some Edgewater buildings permit two leases per year with a six-month minimum; others permit one with a twelve-month minimum and a waiting period after purchase. None of this appears on a listing page. All of it is in the declaration.

Step three: the offer and the statutory disclosure package

Once you have confirmed the building qualifies for your financing and the fundamentals look sound, the offer is relatively standard: a price, a deposit (typically 10% in Miami), and a closing date. The seller accepts, you have a contract, and two statutory clocks start running.

Under Section 718.503(2) of the Florida Condominium Act, a seller of a resale unit is required to provide the buyer with a disclosure package that includes, at minimum: the declaration of condominium, articles of incorporation, bylaws and rules, the most recent annual financial statement and current budget, and the Frequently Asked Questions and Answers document. Where a milestone inspection summary is required, it must be included; likewise the structural integrity reserve study, or a statement that none exists.

Your right to cancel the contract without penalty runs for seven days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, from the later of two events: the date you execute the contract, or the date you actually receive the complete disclosure package. To exercise the right you must notify the seller in writing. The cancellation is unconditional — no reason required. The statute also allows you to extend the closing date by up to seven additional days after receiving the required documents if you notify the seller in writing that you need more time to review them.

One important gap in the required package: board minutes are not on the Section 718.503(2) list. They come under a different statute, Section 718.111(12), which gives unit owners the right to inspect official records within ten working days of a written request. The seller is the unit owner — so the seller must make the request on your behalf. Write that obligation into the contract, with a deadline that lands before your cancellation window closes. A seller who will not agree to request the minutes is giving you information worth having.

Step four: using the diligence window

Seven business days is a short window for a major financial decision, and the work inside it matters. Four things are worth searching in board minutes: the reserve vote history, the milestone and SIRS discussion, any special assessment notices and votes, and the insurance renewal pattern. Those four traces tell you more about what the building costs to own over time than any single number on a listing will.

Read the documents against each other rather than one at a time. A reserve schedule in the SIRS that shows $4 million needed for concrete restoration over ten years, and a budget line contributing $150,000 per year to reserves, is a gap that eventually becomes an assessment. A budget showing a 35% increase in insurance premiums year over year is worth a specific question about which carrier and why — carrier non-renewals are a Miami market event right now and the answer matters to your own insurance procurement. Minutes showing a motion to waive reserve contributions in 2023 and 2024, now legally restricted, are a question about whether the board actually funded what the statute now requires.

If the seller cannot produce the statutory disclosure package within the window, or produces it incomplete, your cancellation right is fully intact. Use it. A seller who cannot provide basic statutory documents is either disorganized or aware of something you have not been told. Neither version ends well.

Step five: the association approval

After you execute the contract, clear your cancellation window, and move toward a closing date, the association runs its own separate approval process on the buyer. This is the part of a Miami condo purchase that surprises people who have bought residential property in other states.

Association approval requirements are set by the declaration and the association's rules, not by Florida law, and they vary significantly. Some associations require only a background check and credit pull, process applications in 14 days, and charge $100. Others require a formal board interview, two professional references, a financial statement, and a transfer fee above $1,500, and take 45 to 60 days from receipt of a complete application. Some associations have a right of first refusal — the right to purchase the unit at the contract price rather than let the sale proceed to an outside buyer. That right is uncommon in newer Edgewater buildings but worth checking in the declaration.

If the association denies approval, the sale cannot proceed — even if your financing is approved and the seller is willing. Find out the specific building's approval timeline before you execute the contract and build the right buffer into your closing date. A buyer who agrees to a 60-day close in a building with a 60-day approval process has no margin for an incomplete application.

Step six: closing costs

In Florida, the buyer's closing costs on a condo purchase typically run 2% to 4% of the purchase price. The major items on the buyer's side:

Documentary stamps on the mortgage

$0.35 per $100 of loan principal. On a $600,000 mortgage: $2,100.

Intangible tax on the mortgage

$0.002 per $1 of loan principal. On a $600,000 mortgage: $1,200.

Recording fees

Miami-Dade's recording fee schedule starts at $10 for the first page and $8.50 for each additional page for both the deed and the mortgage. Budget $100 to $300.

Lender fees

Origination, underwriting, appraisal, and survey if required: typically $1,500 to $4,000 depending on lender and loan type.

Prepaid expenses

Homeowners insurance first-year premium, property tax proration, and prepaid interest from closing through end of month: varies considerably but budget $3,000 to $6,000.

Association transfer fee and move-in deposit

Set by each association. Transfer fees in Edgewater tower associations range from $100 to $2,000; move-in deposits of $500 to $1,500 are common and are typically refundable if returned without damage.

Documentary stamp tax on the deed — $0.70 per $100 of purchase price — is a seller cost under the standard contract in Miami-Dade, but it is negotiable. On an $800,000 purchase that is $5,600, which is worth confirming in writing before you execute rather than disputing at the closing table.

The downside case: what can go wrong

Three categories of problem show up often enough to be worth naming before you make an offer, not after:

A special assessment after closing. Florida law requires disclosure of known special assessments, and the estoppel certificate will show any levy already approved. It will not show a levy the board has been discussing but not yet voted on. Board minutes from the 14-day notice meeting — required before any special assessment vote — are where this shows up. If minutes show a vote is scheduled for after your closing date, that is your question to the seller.

Non-warrantable building discovered late. Warrantability can change: a building that was warrantable when you started shopping can cross the 35% investor threshold or accumulate delinquencies while you are in contract. Your lender should pull a current check close to the appraisal, not just at pre-approval. If the building goes non-warrantable during your contract period, your financing condition is affected.

Appraisal below contract price. On a financed purchase, the appraisal sets the ceiling for the loan. If the appraised value comes in below the contract price, you either renegotiate the price, make up the difference in cash, or exercise your financing contingency to cancel. Appraisers use closed sales in the same building — in a building with low sales volume, comparable data can be thin and appraisals can lag the market in either direction.

Frequently asked questions

How long does a Miami condo purchase take from offer to close?

On a financed purchase with a standard association approval: 45 to 75 days is typical. The range exists because association approval timelines vary from 14 to 60 days depending on the building, and an incomplete application restarts the clock. Cash purchases can close in 21 to 30 days if the association approval cooperates.

What exactly is the seven-day cancellation right?

Under Florida Statute 718.503(2), a buyer of a resale condominium unit has seven days — excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays — to cancel the contract without penalty after both executing the contract AND receiving the complete statutory disclosure package. Whichever of those two events happens later starts the clock. The cancellation must be in writing to the seller and is unconditional. The right terminates at closing.

Do I need a separate home inspection on a condo?

A traditional inspection covers the unit's interior: plumbing, electrical, HVAC, appliances. It will not assess the building's concrete condition, structural system, or reserve adequacy. Both are worth having — a licensed inspector for the unit, and the statutory documents (milestone report, SIRS, budget, minutes) for the building. They answer different questions, and the building-level documents matter more to your carrying cost over time.

What makes a building non-warrantable for conventional financing?

Fannie Mae will not purchase a loan on a project that fails its review standards. Common disqualifiers include: investor ownership above 35%, owner-occupancy below 50%, more than 15% of units delinquent on dues by 60 or more days, active commercial litigation involving the association, or a pending special assessment without documented reserves to cover it. Some Miami Beach and Edgewater buildings with high investor concentration are effectively cash-or-portfolio markets for this reason — and a buyer who discovers this after making an offer faces hard choices.

Can I negotiate what the association charges in transfer fees?

No — the transfer fee amount is set by the association's declaration and rules, not by the parties to the sale. You can negotiate who between buyer and seller pays it, but you cannot negotiate the fee the association charges. Get the actual fee schedule from the association or your agent before you make an offer — this is not a number to estimate.

What happens if the association denies my buyer application?

The sale cannot proceed. Grounds for denial are defined by each association's documents and typically include criminal history, material misrepresentation on the application, or failure to meet financial requirements the declaration specifies. If the association has a right of first refusal, denial may trigger that right instead. Review the association's application requirements and approval criteria before you make an offer on a building with a reputation for selective approval — the building's history on that question is findable by asking past buyers or agents active in that building.

Stefania Riverin, Licensed Real Estate Sales Associate · FL SL3620067 · Brokered by NB Elite Realty · 1101 Brickell Ave, Miami, FL 33131 · Equal Housing Opportunity. This is general information about how Florida condominium purchases work, not legal or financial advice. For advice specific to your transaction, consult a licensed Florida attorney and a licensed Florida CPA.