Can a foreigner buy a preconstruction condo in Miami?

Yes, with no residency, no visa and no US credit history. The contract, the deposits in a Florida escrow and the closing are the same as for a local buyer. Cash is the common path; a foreign-national mortgage at delivery typically requires 30 to 40 percent down.

How much is the deposit on a Miami preconstruction?

Typically 30 percent before closing, paid in three steps of 10 percent (contract, groundbreaking, top-off), with 70 percent at closing; some developers ask 20 or 30 percent at contract.

Does Carolina work in Spanish?

Spanish first. Carolina Peña, broker, licence BK3288753, is the contact for new developments at BlueBay Brokers, on WhatsApp at +1 786 326 8778, in Spanish and English.

Miami Preconstruction for Foreign Buyers

How to buy preconstruction in Miami as a foreign buyer

A foreign buyer can purchase a Miami preconstruction condominium with no residency, no visa and no US credit history: the contract, the deposits in a Florida escrow and the closing are the same as for a local buyer, and the cash share is typically the whole price or, with a foreign-national mortgage, 30 to 40 percent of it. What changes is the order of the questions. Below is the sequence Carolina Peña walks a buyer from Colombia, Mexico, Argentina or Spain through, in Spanish or English, with the two numbers most brochures leave out: what the developer actually closed at, and what the deposit costs to hold.

Carolina Peña, broker, Florida licence BK3288753, BlueBay Brokers LLC. Figures on this page come from Miami-Dade County deeds and the developers' own documents, each dated. This is a broker's description of the process, not legal or tax advice: your Florida attorney and your tax adviser sign off on the documents.

Seven steps, and what to ask at each

Step	What happens	What to ask for
1. Shortlist	Choose the building on what closed, not on renders: developer closings per square foot on County area, resales where they exist, absorption in the postcode, the recorded rental language.	Our independent study of the building, and the recorded closings of the delivered comparables in the same postcode.
2. Reservation	A reservation agreement holds a unit against a refundable reservation deposit while the contract is prepared. Read whether it is refundable, and until when.	The price list with its date, the unit's floor plan with interior and total area stated separately, the deposit schedule.
3. Contract	The purchase agreement and the condominium documents. Florida condominium law gives a preconstruction buyer a rescission period after receiving the documents; use it to have a Florida attorney read them.	The prospectus, the proposed Declaration of Condominium and its rental clause, the estimated budget, the developer's right to change plans and prices.
4. Deposits	Typically 10 percent at contract, 10 at groundbreaking, 10 at top-off, 70 at closing, sometimes 20 or 30 at contract. Deposits go to a Florida escrow agent; Florida law allows the developer to use deposits above 10 percent for construction once the contract permits it.	The escrow agent's name, what the developer may use and when, what happens to the deposit if the developer fails to deliver, and what the deposit costs you to hold (our calculator).
5. The wait	Two to four years. Construction milestones trigger deposits; the developer publishes updates; the recorded Declaration lands near the end, and that is when the rental clause becomes fact rather than marketing.	Loan closing, percentage presold, delivery target at each update, and the recorded Declaration the day it exists.
6. Closing	The balance is paid, in cash or with a foreign-national mortgage (typically 30 to 40 percent down, higher rate, reserves required). Closing costs on a developer sale usually include a developer fee, title insurance and Florida documentary stamps; budget several percent of the price.	The closing statement in advance, the developer fee stated as a percentage, and whether you hold in your name, an LLC or another structure, decided with your tax adviser before the deed is drawn.
7. After delivery	Rent it (nightly where the Declaration, the city and the state allow; monthly or annually elsewhere), or resell. On a resale by a foreign seller, FIRPTA withholding applies at closing and is settled with the US tax return.	A management proposal on the unit's own numbers, and for a resale, what the building's other resales have cleared at against the developer's price.

Process as practised on Miami-Dade preconstruction sales in 2024 to 2026. Deposit schedules, fees and rescission terms are set by each developer's contract and by Florida statute; read yours, and have it read.

What closed, and what the wait costs

What the developer actually closed at. On the six delivered Miami buildings we have read at the County, 1,514 developer closings are recorded; the only two with enough resales to measure a premium show +11 percent (Natiivo Miami, 40 resales) and +61 percent (Smart Brickell Tower 1, 9 resales) on the County's recorded area. A price list rises through a sell-out, so the premium depends on when in the sell-out you bought, and the launch cohort captures most of it. The recorded numbers are on the developer-price-vs-resale page.

What the deposit costs to hold. Thirty percent of a $600,000 unit is $180,000 committed for two to three years, earning nothing. At 4.5 percent simple that is about $8,000 a year of forgone yield, and it is never in the pitch. The arithmetic, with the schedule of your own contract, is on the deposit-carry page.

Two things a foreign buyer is often told and should check: that a preconstruction price is a discount to the delivered market (it is one seller's opening price; compare it with what the delivered comparables in the postcode resell at), and that a building is short-term-rental approved (a brochure sentence; the recorded Declaration, the city certificate of use and the state licence decide).

Four things that are simpler than they sound

No visa, no residency

Owning Florida real estate requires neither. A passport, proof of funds and a US bank account for the wires are what the escrow agent and the closing agent need; an ITIN is obtained for the tax filings.

Signing from abroad

Contracts are signed electronically; the deed can be signed at a US consulate or with an apostille through a notary in your country. Nobody has to fly for a signature.

Financing exists, at a price

Foreign-national mortgages are available from a handful of lenders at delivery: larger down payment, higher rate, reserves in a US account. They are arranged in the months before closing, not at contract.

The structure is a tax question

Personal name, US LLC or foreign entity each change estate-tax exposure, FIRPTA on resale and the annual filings. It is decided with a cross-border tax adviser before the deed is drawn, and it is the one decision that is hard to undo.

How to buy preconstruction in Miami as a foreign buyer

Seven steps, and what to ask at each

What closed, and what the wait costs

Four things that are simpler than they sound

No visa, no residency

Signing from abroad

Financing exists, at a price

The structure is a tax question

Tell Carolina what you are looking for

Your first call

Buying from outside the United States?