How does a Miami condo close during hurricane season?

The deed is the same; the calendar is not. Between 1 June and 30 November a named storm near Florida can stop insurers issuing new policies for days, and a lender will not fund without the policy in force, so a closing set for that week moves. The purchase agreement's casualty clause says who carries the home if it is damaged before closing and what happens after; its force majeure clause says how far the developer may push the date. A cash buyer can close through a storm watch; a financed buyer usually cannot. Read both clauses and the master policy before the deposit, not in the week of the storm.

Insurance binding. When a tropical storm or hurricane watch or warning is issued for the area, insurers suspend binding: no new policy, no new binder, no increase in coverage, until the watch is lifted. The association's master policy is already in force, so the building is covered. Your own policy for the interior and contents, and any flood policy, cannot be bound during the suspension if they were not bound before it.

The loan. A lender funds against a policy in force. If your binder was not issued before the suspension, the lender waits, and the closing waits with it. Ask your insurer to bind the moment the closing date is set, not the week before.

Wires and the clerk. A closing is money and a deed. If the county closes its offices, the deed is recorded when they reopen; if banks shorten their hours, the wire cut-off moves earlier. Ask the title company for its storm protocol. Read what to ask before you wire and why international wires get held.

Access. A building under a storm watch closes its terraces and may close its site; the walk-through moves.

The purchase agreement says, and the clause is called casualty or risk of loss. For a new building, the developer owns the home until closing and carries it. The clause then says what follows a loss: usually that the developer repairs and the closing moves, with a limit on how long, and sometimes that either party may cancel if the damage exceeds a threshold. Read the threshold, the time allowed, and what happens to your deposit in each case. Read where your deposit actually sits and take the clause to counsel.

Force majeure is the second clause. It lets the developer extend the outside date for events beyond its control, and a hurricane is the example every agreement gives. Read how long, whether the extension is capped, and whether the deposit terms change during it. Read delivery timelines and how they slip.

The developers on our file publish the storm hardware, and it belongs in the file. Ocean House Surfside publishes floor-to-ceiling impact glass and a covered porte-cochère. The Ritz-Carlton Residences, South Beach publishes floor-to-ceiling windows with Miami-Dade NOA rated systems. Ask every developer for the glass specification, the generator scope and the association's storm plan, and file the answers with the master policy summary. The building note on what to verify before buying at Ocean House collects the questions for one building; climate, insurance and the Miami buyer sets out the insurance layer for all of them.

As mechanics, from the offer:

1. The contract. Sign; the 15-day cancellation right for a new condominium runs from signing or from receipt of the documents, whichever is later. Read the casualty and force majeure clauses inside those 15 days.

2. The deposits. Paid on the schedule, to the escrow agent named, as in any season.

3. The closing notice. The developer sets the date after the certificate of occupancy. If it falls in season, start the insurance that day.

4. The binders. Interior and contents policy bound; flood policy, if any, applied for, because a federal flood policy normally carries a waiting period and your insurer will say how a closing changes it. Read Miami Beach flood maps and insurance.

5. The lender. Policy to the lender; funds scheduled.

6. The walk-through. After any storm between the inspection and the closing, walk the home again and file a second punch list.

7. The closing and recording. Funds wired, deed signed, deed recorded with Miami-Dade County, title policy issued. Read documents before closing on a new Miami condo and what a Miami closing costs.

Four questions, in writing.

To the developer: what the casualty clause's threshold and time limit are, and how many days force majeure may add.

To the insurer: the date they will bind, and whether the quote holds if a storm forms before the closing.

To the lender: whether it will fund on a binder issued before a suspension that is still in force on the day.

To the title company: its storm protocol for wires and recording.

For the sequence outside the season, read from offer to recording for a cash buyer in Brickell and from offer to recording with a mortgage in Coconut Grove. For the papers that follow, the ownership file for a Mid-Beach oceanfront condo. The desk reads the two clauses with you and sets the insurance date the day the closing notice arrives.