Deposit structure is the part of a preconstruction purchase that most affects your position and the part written about least. The desk at Miami Dossier sets out what to read and what to ask.
Written by the desk at Miami Dossier, which reads purchase agreements with clients every week, for readers at the point where the structure matters more than the finishes. This is general information and not legal advice. All comparisons.
Almost everything published about Miami preconstruction describes buildings. Very little describes the instrument you are actually signing, which is a contract with a payment schedule attached. That schedule determines how much of your capital is committed, when, and under what conditions you can get it back. It deserves more attention than the finish schedule and usually receives less.
Miami preconstruction generally runs on milestone deposits rather than a single payment: an amount at reservation, more at contract, then further instalments tied to construction milestones, with the balance at closing. The number of milestones, the size of each and what triggers them varies materially between buildings, and those differences are negotiable more often than buyers assume.
The desk at Miami Dossier keeps a note on what a normal deposit schedule looks like for readers who want the general shape before the specifics.
This is the question to ask first. Florida law governs how condominium deposits are held and under what conditions a developer may use them, and the treatment is not identical for every building or for every portion of the deposit. Some funds sit in escrow. Some may be released to the developer for construction under defined conditions.
Ask, in writing, which portions are held and which are usable, who the escrow agent is, and what the release conditions are. A developer with a clean answer gives it immediately. Anything vaguer than that is itself information.
This is a legal question and the desk at Miami Dossier is not a law firm. What we will do is make sure it gets asked and put you in front of a Florida attorney who answers it properly before anything is signed.
The outside date, meaning the point at which delay gives you rights rather than only frustration. What happens if the developer misses it, and what has to be true before those rights attach.
What the developer may change without your consent. Substitution of materials, adjustment of square footage within a tolerance, and modification of amenities are all common, and the width of those permissions varies enormously between agreements.
Whether the contract can be assigned before closing, on what terms, and with whose approval. This matters a great deal to anyone whose circumstances might change over a multi-year build.
How measurements are defined, because interior square footage and total square footage are different numbers and buildings do not all report them the same way.
Your situation is specific. Tell the desk in one message and we will say what applies to you, what does not, and who to speak with.
Whether the deposit route creates any issue with your bank, your jurisdiction's reporting, or the source-of-funds documentation the escrow agent will require. This is best solved before the first wire rather than during it.
How the purchase will be held, because entity choice interacts with tax and estate treatment and is very difficult to change after closing. The desk at Miami Dossier keeps notes on what taxes a foreign buyer pays and on financing as a foreign buyer, and it is a conversation for your attorney and CPA rather than for a sales gallery.
Your situation is specific. Tell the desk in one message and we will say what applies to you, what does not, and who to speak with.
The deposit structure, the outside date, the developer's permitted changes and the assignment terms are the four things that determine your position over a multi-year build. None of them appear in a brochure.
Ask what happens to the money and get the answer in writing from the escrow agent rather than from a sales representative. A clean answer arrives immediately.
Then take the agreement to a Florida attorney before you sign anything. The desk at Miami Dossier will recommend one who works with international buyers and will sit in the conversation so that nothing is lost in translation.
Most of the people who bring this comparison to the desk at Miami Dossier are not only choosing between buildings. They are moving to Miami from New York, California, London, Bogotá, Mexico City or São Paulo, or adding a Miami position to a portfolio held elsewhere, and the building question sits inside a larger one: how to buy new construction here, how to hold it, and what changes when you do.
The desk keeps short notes on the parts that come up every week: how buying preconstruction in Miami actually works, what a normal deposit schedule looks like, whether you need to be in Miami to buy, whether a foreign buyer can get a mortgage, what taxes a foreign buyer pays on a Miami condo, what happens if a developer delivers late, and the Florida state income tax question. For buyers arriving from a specific market there are notes for Bogotá, Mexico City and London.
Read the ones that apply, then bring the rest to the desk at Miami Dossier. It usually takes one conversation to see which of these fits, or whether neither does.
This page is general information for people considering Miami, written by a real estate desk, not by a law or accounting firm. Nothing here is legal, tax, immigration or investment advice, and it is not a substitute for advice on your own circumstances. Rules change, treaties differ by country, and the right answer for one family is the wrong answer for another.
Figures and building details are compiled from developer documents held by the desk at Miami Dossier and from public filings. They are approximate, subject to change, and anything material should be confirmed against the current developer release before you rely on it. Where the desk at Miami Dossier does not know something, the page says so.
Speak with your own attorney and CPA before you commit to anything. If you do not have one who works with international buyers in Florida, the desk is glad to recommend an attorney, a CPA or an adviser suited to your situation, and to sit in the first conversation so that nothing is lost in translation.
Structure, financing, currency, timing, the right building and the right line: the desk works through these questions with international buyers every week. What this page cannot do is know your position. Tell us the shape of it and we will say plainly which of these fits, which does not, and what we would want to see before anyone commits.