Moving to Miami: A Local Agent's Honest Guide

I 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 moving here are almost always the same: what does it actually cost, which neighborhood fits me, and should I rent first or buy? Here is what I tell them.

Published September 7, 2026

Florida's tax picture — and what the savings actually pay for

Florida has no personal income tax. This is in the state constitution (Article VII, Section 5), not a legislative choice that can be undone in a budget cycle, and it makes a real difference at higher incomes. Someone earning $250,000 and moving from New York keeps, in round numbers, roughly $22,000 in state tax they would otherwise owe. That number is real and worth factoring.

I do not lead with it to make Florida sound cheap, because it is not. The people I see get surprised are the ones who budgeted for the income tax savings without budgeting for what fills part of it back in.

Property taxes in Miami-Dade are assessed at market value, then reduced by the Homestead Exemption. The exemption knocks $50,000 off the assessed value of a primary residence — $25,000 off the first $50,000 of value, and $25,000 off the value between $50,000 and $75,000, with the second tranche not applying to school levies. The effective rate in Miami-Dade runs roughly 1.1% to 1.3% of assessed value for condo units, depending on millage. On a $750,000 condo, budget $6,500 to $8,500 per year in property taxes after exemptions.

Insurance is the number that surprises people most. Homeowners insurance in South Florida runs two to three times the national average, because it is effectively wind insurance with a fire rider rather than the other way around. On a condo, you need an HO-6 policy — the interior of your unit plus your personal liability. If the building sits in a FEMA flood zone AE, you also need a separate flood policy, either through the National Flood Insurance Program or a private carrier. An HO-6 for a two-bedroom in an Edgewater bayfront tower in 2026 runs roughly $2,000 to $4,500 per year depending on floor height, window age, and coverage limits. Budget $3,000 to $8,000 per year total for insurance on a mid-range condo, and get actual quotes before you close — the variance between buildings is meaningful.

Then the HOA fees. In Edgewater's bayfront towers, monthly fees for a two-bedroom run from about $1,200 to $2,000 or more, and that range has moved up over the last three years as buildings work through the reserve and inspection requirements that followed the 2022 Florida condominium reform legislation. The HOA fee covers the master building insurance policy (so your HO-6 covers only what the master policy does not), maintenance, amenities, and the reserve fund contribution. On a $750,000 unit with a $500,000 mortgage, your monthly carrying cost is the mortgage payment plus the HOA plus your HO-6 plus roughly $600 to $700 in property tax — four separate line items, and the total is higher than the mortgage alone suggests.

Neighborhoods: what they are actually like to live in

Miami looks from the outside like one city. It is a collection of very different places within a compact geography, and the difference between getting the choice right and getting it wrong usually comes down to how someone actually wants to live day to day — not what photographs well on a listing.

Edgewater

Edgewater is a sliver of the 33137 ZIP code between downtown Miami to the south and the Design District to the north, bordered on the east by Biscayne Bay. The bayfront towers — Gran Paraiso at 480 NE 31st Street, Missoni Baia at 700 NE 26th Terrace, Paraiso Bay at 650 NE 32nd Street, Aria Reserve at 700 NE 24th Street, Elysee Miami at 788 NE 23rd Street, Bay House at 600 NE 27th Street — line the waterfront from roughly 23rd Street to 36th Street. They share a building type: floor-to-ceiling glass, water-facing balconies, amenity decks that include pools, spas, and fitness floors that would embarrass most standalone gyms.

Margaret Pace Park, at 1703 NE 15th Street, is a waterfront park with tennis and pickleball courts, a dog park, a small beach and bay-launch area, and a running path along the water. On any given morning it is the most used green space in this part of Miami, and it is a reasonable test case for whether Edgewater actually suits someone: if you want walkable, water-facing, urban-density living, this neighborhood works. If you want a yard, a garage, and a quiet residential street, it does not.

Prices in the first half of 2026 ranged widely depending on building vintage and floor height, with resale units in older towers trading below $650 per square foot and premium bayfront floors in newer buildings reaching well above $1,000, per data published by Miami Real Group. I would not treat any specific median as a negotiating anchor without pulling actual closed comps from the county record for the specific building you are looking at.

Brickell

Brickell is Miami's financial district — Brickell Avenue is to Miami what Park Avenue is to New York, at roughly half the density and considerably warmer. The towers are taller, the street life is more commercial, and the transit access is the best in Miami: the Metromover (free) connects to the Metrorail at Brickell Station, and Brightline trains run to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando from MiamiCentral one Metromover stop away. The trade-off for the transit access and the proximity to the financial core is less green space and more foot traffic. Brickell is the right answer for someone who wants city density and a walkable commute. It is less right for someone who wants the water in front of their window and quiet streets below.

Wynwood

Wynwood is an arts district that became a destination and is now becoming a residential neighborhood. The wall murals, galleries, food halls, and concentration of restaurants that made it famous are still the dominant character. Residential buildings are newer and tend toward boutique scale because the blocks are small and the zoning was designed for warehouse conversions rather than towers — NoMad Residences Wynwood at 2700 NW 2nd Avenue is the most prominent recent addition. If you eat out constantly, want to be within walking distance of nightlife, and do not own a car, Wynwood has an argument. If you are looking for water views and quiet mornings, it does not.

Miami Beach

Miami Beach is a barrier island, which means the commute to the mainland runs across a causeway and depends heavily on time of day. At the wrong hour, the trip from South Beach to Brickell can take 40 minutes by car. The compensating qualities are the beach itself, the Art Deco architecture on Lincoln Road and Collins Avenue, and an established hotel and restaurant ecosystem that does not exist at the same depth anywhere on the mainland. South Beach is different from Mid-Beach and different again from North Beach and Surfside — they share the island but not the character, the price, or the pace. The median price per square foot at Miami Beach in the first half of 2026 was around $1,178, per the same Miami Real Group source, reflecting a premium the address and the sand commands.

Sunny Isles Beach

Sunny Isles Beach is the ultra-luxury end of the spectrum. Jade Signature at 18801 Collins Avenue, the Regalia at 19505 Collins, Porsche Design Tower at 18555 Collins, and the Mansions at Acqualina at 17749 Collins represent a category of building defined by service model and unit size more than by location. Prices reflect that: resale units in established Sunny Isles towers were trading in the $700 to $1,100 per square foot range in the first half of 2026 while trophy-building floors commanded $1,200 to $2,200 and above, per Miami Real Group. Sunny Isles is north of Miami Beach and a 30-to-45-minute drive from downtown Miami under normal conditions — a relevant fact for anyone whose work or social life is in the urban core.

Rent first or buy immediately?

My honest answer is: rent first if you can, unless you know the specific building you want and the economics clearly point toward buying.

Miami has an excellent rental market at the high end. A one-bedroom in an Edgewater bayfront tower runs $2,800 to $4,200 a month in 2026. A two-bedroom runs $4,000 to $7,000 depending on floor height, building, and view direction. Those are prices from leases I have placed — not market reports. The range is wide because the difference between a 12th-floor partial bay view and a 35th-floor direct bay view in the same building is real and reflected in the rent.

Renting first has two advantages beyond the obvious flexibility. First, you learn what you actually want from the inside. A sales gallery shows renderings; living in the building for a year shows you what the noise level is at night, how the amenities are managed, whether the association runs the place well, and how the morning sun hits your living room. Second, the association approval process for buyers takes time — some Edgewater buildings require board interviews, charge transfer fees above $1,000, and take 30 to 60 days to process an application. None of that clock starts until you are in contract, and a year of renting lets you understand the building before you decide to buy into it.

The buy-immediately case is strongest when you have a specific building in mind, when you have confirmed the HOA is financially sound, and when the tax benefit of the homestead exemption matters to you on a multi-year hold. Florida's Save Our Homes benefit caps annual increases in a homestead property's assessed value at 3% or the prior year's CPI increase, whichever is lower. On a $800,000 primary residence held for a decade in an appreciating market, the cumulative effect of that cap on your tax bill is substantial.

What Miami's condo market requires you to know before you buy

Florida's condominium law changed significantly in 2022 and again in 2024, and the changes pushed real costs into buildings that had deferred maintenance for years. The two things worth understanding before you start looking at listings:

Reserve funding and special assessments. Buildings with three or more stories were required to conduct structural integrity reserve studies by a statutory deadline. Many completed those studies and found reserves that did not match what the building actually needed — and funded the gap through special assessments. A building with a recent special assessment is not necessarily a troubled building, but it is a building whose capital history you need to understand before buying into it. The reserve schedule in the most recent study tells you what the next capital cycle looks like.

Fannie Mae warrantability. Most buyers use conventional financing, and most conventional condo loans go through Fannie Mae underwriting. A building that does not meet Fannie Mae's project standards — because investor ownership exceeds 35%, because more than 15% of owners are delinquent on dues, because of active litigation, or because of a large unplanned special assessment — cannot be financed with a conventional loan. The practical consequence: the buyer pool on your eventual resale is smaller, and some well-located buildings are effectively cash-or-portfolio-lender markets. Confirm warrantability with your lender before you make an offer.

Further reading before you buy: what to search for in board minutes, how to read an Edgewater HOA fee, what a structural integrity reserve study is, and which buildings allow short-term rental if rental income is part of your plan.

Frequently asked questions

Is Miami expensive to live in?

By major city standards: yes. The no-income-tax advantage is real, but property taxes, HOA fees, and insurance — particularly homeowners and flood coverage — carry costs that do not exist in the same form in most other markets. A realistic monthly budget for owning a two-bedroom condo in an Edgewater bayfront tower in 2026 includes the mortgage, $1,200 to $2,000 in HOA fees, $250 to $400 in insurance (HO-6, plus flood if required), and $600 to $800 in property tax. Total carrying costs on a $750,000 purchase with a $600,000 mortgage in current conditions exceed $6,000 per month in most cases.

Which neighborhood is best for someone who works downtown Miami?

Brickell has the best transit connection to the financial core and the shortest drive. Edgewater is 10 to 15 minutes by car against light traffic and 20 to 30 in peak hours. Miami Beach adds a causeway crossing that can double the time in morning traffic. The right answer depends on how often you actually need to be in the office and how you feel about driving.

Can I buy a Miami condo and rent it out?

It depends on the building's declaration, which sets the minimum lease term and how many leases per year are permitted. In most Edgewater bayfront towers those figures run six to twelve months minimum and one to two leases per year — but those terms live in the recorded declaration and association rules, not on a listing page. Short-term rental is a separate question governed by three layers of permission: a state DBPR license, a city lodging entitlement on the building itself, and the declaration. Very few Edgewater buildings have all three in place. This post covers which Miami buildings allow it and why.

How long does the condo buying process take in Miami?

From executed contract to closing: 45 to 75 days on a financed purchase. The variable is the association approval process — some buildings run 14 days, others require a board interview and run 45 to 60 days. Your seven-day statutory right to cancel under Florida Statute 718.503(2) runs from when you both execute the contract AND receive the disclosure package, whichever event comes later.

What is the homestead exemption and how do I get it?

The Florida homestead exemption reduces the assessed value of a primary residence by $50,000 for most property tax purposes. It applies only to a property where you live as your permanent legal residence — file a DR-501 application with the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser's office by March 1 of the first year you claim it. It also triggers the Save Our Homes benefit: future assessed value increases are capped at 3% per year or the prior year's CPI increase, whichever is lower. On a property you plan to hold for years, that cap compounds meaningfully.

Do I need a Miami realtor to buy a condo here?

You are not required to have one. In Miami, buyer representation costs you nothing directly — the listing commission is paid by the seller — and a buyer's agent who knows the specific buildings you are looking at will have read the declarations, attended board meetings as a past tenant, and seen the inside of units across multiple floor plans. That building-level knowledge is hard to replicate from public listings and broker sheets alone.

Stefania Riverin, Licensed Real Estate Sales Associate · FL SL3620067 · Brokered by NB Elite Realty · 1101 Brickell Ave, Miami, FL 33131 · Equal Housing Opportunity. General information; not tax or legal advice.