Before the contract there is the reservation: a smaller check, a held unit, and a set of rights most buyers misunderstand. At Ocean House Surfside, here is the difference.
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A reservation is the developer’s waiting-list instrument: the buyer puts down a refundable deposit, often held by the developer or an escrow agent, to hold a specific unit and its price while the project moves toward contract. It is not a purchase agreement. Either side can usually walk away, and the reservation deposit comes back.
Read it against the Kempinski Residences Miami Design District dossier for the nearest comparison.
What the reservation secures depends on the document: typically the unit, the price list in effect when the reservation was taken, and priority when contracts are released. What it does not secure: the final contract terms, which are set when the purchase agreement is issued. Read the reservation form for the refund terms and any expiry; some convert automatically, some require the buyer to act.
The reservation ends when the developer issues the purchase agreement and the buyer signs it. From that signature, the 15-day rescission period runs, the deposit schedule applies, and the money is committed. Buyers sometimes treat the reservation as the decision; the decision is the contract. The desk reads the agreement before the reservation converts, not after.
Is this a reservation or a contract, what does it hold, and what happens to the deposit if I walk away. The desk confirms it in writing before you wire.
Reserve the unit. Decide on the contract.
Developer materials for Ocean House Surfside as carried on the live dossier, verified 28 Sep 2026. Compiled by the desk at Miami Dossier; figures are approximate and the developer’s.
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We hold no listings and we are not the developer. Contact the desk at Miami Dossier and we will tell you what applies to your situation, what does not, and where we would not proceed. On this topic that means the document before the opinion. Where a question is legal, tax or structuring, we introduce you to advisers who handle that properly rather than answering it ourselves.
Miami Dossier is the private buyer advisory of Metrik Real Estate, built to represent buyers in Miami pre-construction. Principal: Samuel Strauch.
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