Seven questions. The answers turn a sales response into something you can plan against.
This page sets out what to ask and what each answer tells you. The answers themselves are specific to a project and to a quarter. Contact the desk at Miami Dossier for the current position on any building we cover.
A sales gallery is answering the question it was asked, usually accurately, usually with less precision than the buyer needs. Yes generally means the project has done it before or would consider it, which is a long way from a route you can rely on.
None of what follows implies bad faith. It reflects that the person answering does not control the escrow agent, the title company or the receiving bank, and may not know what those parties are currently requiring.
The questions below are not adversarial. They are the ones that get you from a yes to a plan.
One. Which payments does this cover? First deposit only, the full deposit schedule, or the closing balance as well. Answers differ, and the difference is the whole plan.
Two. Am I converting, or are you receiving the asset? Almost always the former. If the answer is the latter, that is a much larger arrangement and needs its own diligence.
Three. Who is the escrow agent, and have they done this? The developer’s position does not bind the agent. This is the question that most often changes the answer.
Four. What did the last buyer who did this have to produce? More useful than a policy, because it describes what actually happened rather than what is permitted.
Five. How long did their review take? Set that against the deposit dates in the contract you are being asked to sign.
Six. Is there a size above or below which this changes? Thresholds are common and rarely volunteered.
Seven. Who at the developer confirmed this, and can it be put in writing? Not to be difficult. Positions held verbally by sales teams change when banking relationships change.
A project that has genuinely done this before answers in specifics: which agent, what was produced, how long it took. A project that has not answers in principle: we can look at it, we are open to it, we have had those conversations.
Neither answer is disqualifying. But they describe completely different levels of risk to your timeline, and only one of them lets you plan.
If the answers are vague and the deposit schedule is aggressive, that combination is worth taking seriously. It is not a reason to walk away from a good building. It is a reason to establish the funding route before the contract date rather than against it.
These questions get better answers when they come from someone the sales team deals with regularly, and the answers get compared against what other projects are saying. Contact the desk at Miami Dossier and we will put them to any building we cover and tell you plainly what came back, including when it is vague. Where a question is legal, tax or compliance, we introduce you to advisers who handle that properly rather than answering it ourselves.
A page can tell you what to ask. It cannot tell you what any building is saying this quarter, because that changes with inventory, with banking relationships and with the escrow agent. Contact the desk at Miami Dossier and we will put the questions to any building we cover. Where a question is legal, tax or structuring, we will introduce you to advisers who handle that properly rather than answering it ourselves.