South Florida

Miami, FL

In Miami, insurance, flood exposure and condo building health drive value as much as the house itself. Post-Surfside laws require milestone inspections and fully funded structural reserves (SIRS) for condo buildings of 3+ stories, which has split the market between older buildings facing assessments and newer ones holding value.

💡 Upside tip

For a condo, get the milestone inspection reports, the SIRS and the current reserve balance before you commit, and use the 7-day rescission window after receiving them; in a building over 30 years old, a low HOA fee is now a warning sign of special assessments to come, not a bargain.

Offers & competition

Buyers choose between the FR/BAR AS IS contract, where the seller has no repair duty and the buyer can only walk away during the inspection period, and the Standard contract, where the seller repairs up to a fixed repair limit that also covers wood-destroying organism damage and open permits. The AS IS form dominates South Florida resales, so finish every inspection inside the window.

Closing & who pays

Get binding quotes for wind/homeowners and flood insurance before you offer, since roof age, a 4-point inspection and a wind-mitigation report drive eligibility and price. Buyers also pay documentary stamps on the mortgage note ($0.35 per $100) and intangible tax (0.2% of the loan); Florida SB 264 bars people domiciled in China and other countries of concern from buying land near critical infrastructure or military sites and requires registration.

Transfer taxes

Miami-Dade deed doc stamps are $0.60 per $100 for single-family homes and $1.05 per $100 for everything else, including condos, versus $0.70 elsewhere in Florida. The seller customarily pays, but buyers often pay on new-development condo deals; on an $800,000 house that is $4,800, and $8,400 on an $800,000 condo.

Seller disclosures

Under Johnson v. Davis, sellers must disclose known latent defects that materially affect value, and an as-is clause does not remove that duty. Since Oct 1, 2024 sellers must also give a flood disclosure (Fla. Stat. 689.302) at or before signing, and since Oct 1, 2025 it covers any flooding that damaged the home during their ownership and flood aid from any source.

What you can build

Miami 21 is a form-based code: in single-family T3 areas, T3-R is restricted, T3-L allows a home plus an accessory unit and T3-O allows a duplex. The Live Local Act lets qualifying affordable projects on commercial, industrial or mixed-use land bypass local density and height limits, and HB 1389 (effective July 1, 2026) extends it to some government and religious land, so a mid-rise can appear near single-family blocks.

Permits & records

Open or expired permits are a contract issue: the Standard contract's repair limit covers closing them out, but under AS IS they become your problem. Search City of Miami and Miami-Dade permit records for the address, and check the city's permit portal for current timelines.

Property tax

Save Our Homes caps homestead assessment growth at 3% or CPI, whichever is lower, but the cap is removed on sale, so the seller's bill is misleading; up to $500,000 of benefit can be ported from a prior Florida homestead within 3 years. A Nov 3, 2026 ballot amendment would raise the non-school homestead exemption to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, but needs 60% to pass.

Rent rules

Florida preempts local rent control, so Miami has no rent cap. Bills to repeal the preemption (SB 1726 / HB 1493) were filed in 2026, but our research found no sign they passed.

Key risks

Every Citizens Property Insurance policyholder must carry flood insurance by Jan 1, 2027 regardless of flood zone, so budget for it even outside FEMA high-risk areas. Condo buildings of 3+ stories need milestone inspections at age 30 and every 10 years, plus a SIRS whose structural reserves can no longer be waived, and 2025 sales in South Florida buildings over 25 years old fell 6% while newer buildings rose 2%.

⚠ Still verifying

Not re-verified: FR/BAR default inspection period (reportedly 15 days) and default repair limit, the current status of the 25-year coastal milestone trigger, enactment of 2026 condo bill SB 1706, the outcome of the Nov 3, 2026 property-tax amendment (pending), current Miami 21 ADU size and parking rules, the City of Miami ADU compliance ordinance, Florida rent-control preemption statute text, and who customarily pays the owner's title policy in Miami-Dade.

Official sources

Updated: 2026-10 · Summaries of public rules as of the date shown. Not legal or tax advice. Always confirm with the official source.