Miami condo carrying cost calculator

The mortgage is the part everyone plans for. In an Edgewater tower it is often barely half of what leaves your account each month. Put real numbers in and see the whole figure before you fall in love with a unit.

Miami condo — true monthly cost

Purchase priceWhat you expect to pay

Deposit25% is common for a second home; 20% for a primary

Mortgage rateAsk your lender for today’s number

Loan term

yrs

HOA / maintenance a monthThe single biggest variable in Miami

Property taxOf price. Miami-Dade millage is about 17.59

Condo insurance a yearYour HO-6 policy, not the building’s

Special assessment a monthSet to 0 if the building has none

Buyer closing costsOf price. Title, survey, inspection, lender and recording fees

—Total a month

—Cash at closing

—Not the mortgage

Estimate only. Confirm HOA, taxes and insurance against the actual budget and the most recent estoppel letter for the specific unit.

How this is worked out

The mortgage is a standard amortising payment:P × r / (1 − (1+r)⁻ⁿ), where r is the annual rate divided by twelve and n is the number of monthly payments.

Property tax is taken as a straight percentage of the price you enter. Miami-Dade's 2025 total millage is roughly 17.59 mills, and a non-homesteaded condo commonly lands near 2% of value once city and county levies are combined. If the unit will be your permanent residence you may qualify for homestead exemptions and the Save Our Homes assessment cap, which would lower this — the field is editable for that reason. Homestead maths is genuinely fiddly and depends on your own circumstances, so this tool does not pretend to model it.

Insurance here is your own HO-6 unit policy. It does not include the building's master policy, which you pay for through the HOA fee.

The special assessment field exists because in Miami it is not a rare event. Leave it at zero only if you have read the budget and the minutes and know there is nothing pending.

Nothing here includes utilities, parking, storage or move-in fees, which vary by building.

What this is, and is not. This is an arithmetic tool. It uses the figures you type in, plus Florida rates that are published and fixed. It is an estimate to help you frame a conversation — not tax advice, legal advice or a loan quote. Stefania is a licensed real estate sales associate, not a CPA, attorney or lender. Confirm the numbers that matter with your closing agent, lender and tax adviser before you rely on them.

Why the HOA line moves so much in Miami

Everywhere else in the country, a maintenance fee is a fairly boring number that drifts up with inflation. In Florida it stopped being boring in 2021.

After Surfside, the legislature required older, taller buildings to have amilestone inspection and to commission a structural integrity reserve study — an engineer's report putting a number and a timeline on the roof, the structure, the waterproofing, the plumbing and the electrics. Associations then have to fund those reserves rather than vote them away, which is what used to happen.

The practical effect is that two identical units in two buildings a block apart can carry maintenance fees hundreds of dollars different, for reasons that have nothing to do with the finishes. One building did its study, funded its reserves and raised fees. The other has not done it yet, so the fee still looks cheap — and the correction is still in front of it.

The question worth asking before you make an offer. Not "what is the HOA fee?" but "has this building completed its milestone inspection and reserve study, and what did they say?" A fee that looks low in a building that has not been through the process yet is not a saving. It is a bill that has not arrived.

HB 913, in force since July 2025, added some flexibility: an association can now pause reserve contributions for up to two budget years after a milestone inspection, by owner vote, to put the money into the repairs the inspection identified. That is sensible, but it means a low fee today can be a deliberate and temporary choice. Read the minutes.

What to check before you trust the number

The estoppel letter for the specific unit. It states the current fee, anything owed, and any assessment already levied.
The last twelve months of board minutes. Assessments are discussed for months before they are voted on. This is where you find them.
The reserve study itself, not the summary. Look at what is due in the next five years and whether it is funded.
The budget — specifically whether reserves are fully funded, partially funded, or paused.
Insurance. Ask what the master policy deductible is. In a named-storm event, owners can be assessed for it.

If you want to know where a particular Edgewater building stands, theinspection status page tracks it building by building, and the guide to reading a condo budget walks through the documents line by line.

Questions people actually ask

Does this include utilities?

No. Electricity, internet, parking and storage are separate and vary by building. In most Edgewater towers water and sometimes cable sit inside the HOA fee — check the budget.

Why is the property tax a percentage rather than exact?

Because your exact bill depends on the assessed value the county sets, which exemptions you qualify for, and the precise millage where the building sits. Roughly 2% of price is a fair starting point for a non-homesteaded Miami condo. Your closing agent can give you the real figure.

What is a normal HOA fee in Edgewater?

There is no normal. It depends on the building’s age, amenities, insurance and — increasingly — whether reserves are being funded properly. A newer tower with a pool deck, gym and valet costs more to run than a small older building, and a building catching up on deferred work costs more again.

Should I worry if a building has a special assessment?

Not automatically. An assessment means the work is being paid for. What matters is the size, the term, whether it is already levied or merely discussed, and whether the seller or the buyer pays it. That last point is negotiable and is worth negotiating.

Work with Stefania

Want the real numbers for a specific building?

Send the building or the unit and Stefania will come back with the actual HOA fee, what the reserve study said, and anything currently assessed — before you make an offer.