Can you close on a Miami condo without being in Florida?

Yes, and most buyers of new Miami condos do. The purchase agreement is signed electronically. The closing documents a buyer signs, the settlement statement, the affidavits and, where there is a loan, the note and the mortgage, are signed in one of three ways from a distance: before a Florida online notary by video under Florida's remote online notarization law; in person before a US consular officer abroad or a foreign notary whose act is then apostilled; or by an attorney in fact under a power of attorney written for this purchase. The deed is signed by the developer, not the buyer. What cannot be delegated is the wire, which the buyer confirms by voice, and the decision to sign at all. The closing agent and, if there is one, the lender decide which of the three they accept, so the method is agreed weeks before the date, not the night before.

Florida has allowed online notarization since 2020. A Florida commissioned online notary meets the signer on an audio and video session, verifies identity with a scanned credential and a set of knowledge questions, watches the signature, applies an electronic seal, and keeps a recording of the session. The notarized electronic document is accepted for recording by the county clerk, and a buyer anywhere in the world may appear before a Florida online notary. The limits are practical: the platform must be one the notary is registered with, the signer needs a camera, a stable connection and an identity document the system can read, and some foreign documents or foreign identities fail the credential check. The closing agent arranges the session; the buyer asks for it when the closing date is set. Read documents before closing on a new Miami condo, how a cash buyer closes in Brickell and how a finished West Palm Beach condo goes from offer to recording.

Then the signature is witnessed by someone whose act Florida recognises. A US embassy or consulate performs notarial acts for a fee, by appointment, and a consular notarization needs no further certificate. A local notary in a country that is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention notarizes the document and the country's designated authority attaches an apostille, which is the certificate a Florida clerk and title agent accept. A country outside the convention uses consular legalization instead, which takes longer. In either case the documents are the paper originals the closing agent sends, signed in wet ink, witnessed where Florida requires witnesses, and couriered back in time for recording, so the calendar is built backwards from the closing date with the courier's days in it. Read what a US bank asks a foreign buyer, how a foreign buyer closes using a US LLC and can a foreigner buy property in the United States.

Yes, with conditions. A Florida power of attorney is signed by the buyer before two witnesses and a notary, names the attorney in fact, and for a real estate purchase describes the property and the acts allowed; a general power is often refused. The closing agent reviews the document before closing and records it with the other instruments when it is used to sign a recorded document. A lender adds its own rules: many require their own form, require that the borrower sign the note personally, or refuse a power of attorney for a purchase loan altogether, so a financed buyer asks the lender first. A buyer who gives the power to their own lawyer or to a trusted relative keeps the decision, because the attorney in fact signs what the buyer has already approved line by line. Read LLC, trust or personal name and how a married couple takes a Miami condo from offer to recording.

Three things. The lender's closing package is larger and some of it must be notarized in a form the lender names, which is why a financed remote closing is agreed with the lender weeks ahead. The lender's Closing Disclosure must reach the borrower three business days before closing wherever the borrower is, and the clock runs on delivery, not on signing. And a foreign national borrower who signs abroad may find the lender insists on a consular notarization rather than an apostilled one, or on a power of attorney in its own words. A cash buyer has none of this and signs a shorter set. Read foreign national financing, cash or mortgage for Miami preconstruction and mortgage when a Miami preconstruction closing is delayed.

The walk-through can be done by a proxy with a camera, the inspector or the buyer's representative, and the punch list is signed from the recording; the buyer decides who walks. The wire cannot be delegated in the sense that matters: the buyer confirms the account and the figure by phone with the closing agent on a number already held, never from the email that carried the instructions, and sends nothing until the agent confirms by voice. The decision to sign is the buyer's alone, taken after the settlement statement has been read against the purchase agreement, the deposit receipts, the option addenda and the title commitment. After recording, the recorded deed, the owner's title policy, the signed statement, the recorded power of attorney if one was used, and the keys follow the buyer by courier and by the building's move-in process. Read what to ask before you wire, why international wires get held, how to read the closing statement and what a new Miami condo requires before you can move in. The desk sets the signing method with the closing agent and the lender when the date is set; the words of the power of attorney are counsel's.