How do you read the amenity rules before buying a Miami condo?

In three documents the sales gallery does not frame: the declaration, which says what the amenities are and who owns them; the rules and regulations, which say who may use them, when and at what charge; and, in a branded or hotel residence, the licence or shared facilities agreement, which says what the hotel runs and what residents share with its guests. A fourth, the club membership, applies where one comes with the deed. The brochure is a list of rooms. The rules are a calendar and a price list. A buyer reads the second set, in writing, before the fifteen day rescission period on a developer sale runs out, and asks the questions below of every building on the shortlist.

Guest suites are the amenity most often promised and most often rationed. Kempinski Residences in the Design District publishes 18 guest suites sold to residents only; Olara in West Palm Beach publishes twelve guest suites in the building. The questions are the same at both: how many suites against how many homes, how far ahead a resident may book, the nightly charge and who sets it, whether season weeks are allotted by lottery or by first request, whether an owner may lend a suite to a guest who is not staying in the home, and whether a tenant may book at all. Ask for the written booking policy and last season's calendar if the building is open. Read hotel guests and resident spaces at Kempinski, the amenities at Olara and high season and event weeks at Kempinski.

A private dining room, a chef's table and a catering kitchen are published at most buildings on our file; South Flagler House publishes two private dining rooms, Alba Palm Beach a private dining room with a catering kitchen, Six Fisher Island a residents-only restaurant with a private dining room and chef's table. The rules decide the fee to book the room, the minimum spend if the building's restaurant caters it, the deposit against damage, the hours, the guest count, and the weeks when the room is closed to private events because the building is full. Ask for the fee schedule and the event policy, and ask whether the restaurant is the association's, the operator's or a separate commercial owner's, because that decides who sets the price. Read private dining and events at South Flagler House and at NoMad.

In a tower with a hotel in it, the brochure's amenity list is two lists. Waldorf Astoria Residences Miami publishes a resort pool and a private residential pool deck, Peacock Alley and an owners lounge; Delano Residences a hotel below, two resort pools and a Members' Club. Fouquet's in the Design District publishes about 15,300 square feet of resident only outdoor space plus a shared hotel terrace. The rules and the shared facilities agreement say which is which, what the association pays the hotel for the shared spaces, and whether residents' use yields to a hotel event. Ask for the list of resident only spaces, the shared facilities agreement and the licence term. Read what a brand actually does in a Miami branded residence, hotel guests and resident spaces at Waldorf Astoria and Miami Beach condos with a hotel on site.

Some buildings tie the home to a club. Six Fisher Island publishes a lifetime Fisher Island Club membership on closing, subject to Club approval, with the developer paying the initiation fee only and annual dues and charges the owner's. Delano publishes a Members' Club and Accor benefits subject to an annual benefits fee. Banyan Tree Residences publishes Sanctuary Club privileges across the group's resorts. For each, ask whether the membership is mandatory, what the dues are today and how they rise, who may use it, how it transfers on a sale, and what happens if approval is withheld. A mandatory club is a second budget beside the association's. Read club membership obligations at Six Fisher Island, at Delano and what the branded residence premium buys.

Yes, within the declaration and the statute. Rules and regulations are usually the board's to amend; the declaration itself takes an owner vote at the threshold it sets; and in a hotel residence the operator's own policies may change with the licence. Until turnover the developer controls the board, so the rules a buyer reads at contract are the developer's rules, and the owners' rules come later. Read when the developer hands a Florida condo association to its owners and the condominium documents in five sections. Ask whether any amenity is a limited common element, a commercial unit or a licensed space, because that decides who can change its use, and read is the private rooftop deeded for the same logic applied to a terrace.

Before contract: the declaration's amenity schedule, the current rules and regulations, the fee schedule, the guest suite and event policies, the shared facilities agreement and licence where there is a hotel, and the club documents where there is a club. After closing: every amendment the board or the owners adopt, the annual fee schedule and the season calendar. A buyer who keeps that file knows what the building promised on the day of the deposit, which is the only version that can be held against anyone. Read documents before closing on a new Miami condo and the first year of owning a Miami condo. The desk asks each building for the rules in writing before a buyer reserves, and reads them against the brochure.