Make Your Move to Miami-Dade & Broward
One place for market insights, buyer FAQs, trusted vendors, and a clear step-by-step plan—so your move is smooth and confident.
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Vendors
Preferred inspectors, lenders, insurance, closing agents, and more.
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Open Vendors PageTips for Success
Know Your Buying Position: If you’re financing, get pre-approved before you begin seriously shopping. If you’re paying cash, have proof of funds ready.
Think About Resale: Even if you plan to stay long-term, consider how location, lot, layout, condition, and surrounding properties may affect future buyer demand.
Look Beyond the Finishes: Paint, flooring, lighting, and fixtures can be changed. We’ll also look at the roof, windows and doors, major systems, lot, drainage, and other details that can matter when owning a home in South Florida.
Understand the Comparable Sales: Recent comparable sales help put the asking price into context. We’ll review relevant comps and market activity before you make an offer.
FAQ
Q: I’ve never purchased a home before. Where should I begin?
A: Start by getting clear on three things: your financing, your priorities and your timeline.
Before spending hours looking at homes, we recommend speaking with an experienced lender if you’ll be financing, determining the price range you’re comfortable with, and identifying what matters most to you in the property and location.
In South Florida, we’ll also want to discuss things such as property taxes, homeowners insurance, flood considerations, HOA or condo requirements, commute and location, and the condition of the home.
Once we understand those pieces, we can build a search around what actually fits you rather than simply sending you listings.
Q: How much will my property taxes be?
A: Don’t assume the seller’s current property-tax bill will be the same as yours.
A property’s assessed value and exemptions can affect the seller’s existing tax bill, and a sale can change how the property is assessed going forward. Your actual taxes will depend on the property’s assessed value, applicable exemptions and the taxing authorities for that property.
For planning purposes, use the county property appraiser’s estimator rather than relying solely on the seller’s current tax bill.
Q: I keep hearing that South Florida is a cash market. Can I still finance a home?
A: Yes. Cash purchases are common in South Florida, but many homes are also purchased with financing.
If you’re financing, we’ll want to make sure you’re working with an experienced lender and understand your loan requirements before you begin making offers.
The strength of your approval, the property itself, appraisal, insurance and the terms of your offer can all become important parts of a financed transaction.
Condominiums can have additional financing requirements, so working with a lender experienced with South Florida condos can be especially important.
Q: When should I start looking into homeowners insurance?
A: Earlier than many buyers expect.
In South Florida, we don’t like waiting until the end of the transaction to start thinking about insurance.
The property itself can affect insurance availability and cost. Depending on the home, factors such as the roof, electrical and plumbing systems, hurricane protection, prior claims, flood exposure and inspection results may be relevant.
If you’re financing, your lender will generally require acceptable homeowners insurance before closing.
That’s why we start paying attention to these things while we’re evaluating the house — not after you’ve already decided you love it.
Q: How long does it take to buy a home?
A: It depends on the property, the contract and whether you’re paying cash or financing.
A cash transaction may be able to close relatively quickly, while a financed purchase generally requires additional time for the loan process, appraisal and other lender requirements.
Your inspection period, association approval when applicable, title work, insurance and other property-specific requirements can also affect the timeline.
We’ll establish the important dates and deadlines when we structure your offer so you know what to expect before going under contract.
Q: What should I know before buying a condo in South Florida?
A: Buying a condo involves additional due diligence beyond inspecting the individual unit.
Depending on the property, we’ll want to review available condominium documents and information such as the association’s rules and regulations, budget and financial information, assessments, application requirements and other relevant association documents.
Financing and insurance can also be different from purchasing a single-family home, and association approval may be required before closing.
The specific process varies by building, so we’ll walk you through the requirements for the condominium you’re considering.
Q: What are my upfront costs?
A: Expect some or all of the following:
- Deposits: The amount and payment schedule vary by transaction. Resale and new-construction purchases can have very different deposit requirements.
- Home Inspections: A general home inspection plus insurance-related inspections when applicable, such as wind mitigation and 4-point inspections. Depending on the property, buyers may also choose specialty inspections such as mold, termite/WDO, pool, sewer/septic or seawall inspections.
- Appraisal: Typically required by the lender for financed purchases. Cash buyers may also choose to obtain an appraisal independently.
- Survey: A property survey may be needed or recommended depending on the property, lender and title requirements.
- Title / Closing / Attorney Fees: These may include title search, settlement or closing services, recording fees and other title-related charges.
- Mortgage Costs: If financing, expect lender fees and other loan-related charges. Your lender will provide a Loan Estimate detailing estimated loan costs.
- Homeowners Insurance: Typically required for financed single-family home purchases and generally secured before closing. Flood insurance may also be required by the lender depending on the property and flood risk.
- Prepaid & Escrow Items: Depending on your loan, you may need to fund prepaid interest, insurance premiums and initial property-tax and insurance escrow reserves at closing.
- Association / HOA Fees: Depending on the community, buyers may encounter application or screening fees, transfer fees, capital contributions or other association-specific charges.
- Condo Insurance: For condominium purchases, the association generally maintains a master insurance policy. Buyers typically obtain an HO-6 policy for their individual unit, subject to lender and association requirements.
- Condo-Specific Costs: Depending on the building, these may include application fees, move-in fees, elevator deposits, security deposits and other building-specific charges.
- New Construction: Builder deposits, upgrade or design-center deposits and builder-specific closing charges can be very different from those associated with a resale purchase.
Important: Your total cash needed to purchase a property is not necessarily the same as your closing costs. This calculator estimates title-related closing costs only. Your total cash needed may also include deposits, inspections, appraisal, survey, lender charges, insurance, prepaid and escrow items, association fees and other property- or transaction-specific expenses.