What goes in the ownership file for a Downtown Miami branded condo?

Start with the file every Florida condo needs: the declaration of condominium, the budget, the purchase agreement, the escrow receipts, the title commitment, the estoppel certificate, the insurance, the recorded deed and the owner's title policy. A branded tower in Downtown Miami adds four documents: the brand terms as the offering discloses them, the agreement that splits spaces and costs between hotel and residences, any owner benefits terms, and the furniture schedule for a furnished home.

Because more parties have a say in how you live. In an ordinary condo, there is you, the association and the developer until turnover. In a branded tower with a hotel, there is also the brand that licenses its name and the operator that runs the hotel.

The three Downtown towers on our file show the range. Waldorf Astoria Residences Miami combines about 360 residences with hotel guestrooms and suites, and Hilton Worldwide manages the property under licence of the Waldorf Astoria name. Delano Residences & Hotel Miami puts about 421 finished residences above a hotel, under the Delano name with Ennismore and Accor as the project team. Faena Residences Miami, on the Miami River, is the brand's first residential address there, from KAR Properties, Fortune International Group and Faena.

Each relationship is a set of promises. Each promise belongs in the file. Our page on what the branded residence premium buys explains what a buyer pays for.

The documents that say what the name on the building actually does, and for how long.

The brand disclosure in the offering. The prospectus and declaration describe the brand's role. Read who licenses the name, who manages, and what the association pays for.

The management agreement terms, as disclosed: who the manager is, what it is paid, how long the term runs and how owners can end or renew it.

What happens if the licence ends. Ask how the documents treat a change of brand, and whether the name, the service standards or the fees would change. This is a question for counsel, and its answer belongs in the file.

See what the Waldorf Astoria brand does and what the Delano brand does for how each name is described in the material on our file.

The papers that draw the line between your building and the hotel's business. Ask for them by name.

The shared facilities or cost-sharing agreement. It lists which spaces the hotel and the residences share, which are private, and how each side pays for the shared ones. At Waldorf Astoria, ask how the private residential pool deck and the owners lounge are kept separate from guest areas.

The rules of access. Which entrances, lobbies and elevators residents use. Delano's tower includes Miami's first public observation deck at about 850 feet, so ask how public visitors and residents are kept apart.

How hotel charges are billed. Restaurants, the spa and in-home services may be billed by the hotel, not the association. File the price list and the billing terms.

Read these against the association budget. A cost the hotel carries is a cost owners do not; a cost shared by formula can move.

Waldorf Astoria's smallest homes are furnished junior suites, and Delano offers furnished suites in select lines. A furnished home brings its own paper.

The furniture schedule, listing every piece included in the price, with the maker where the developer gives it.

Warranties on the furniture and fittings, separate from the developer's warranty on the unit.

The interiors specification. Delano lists Meyer Davis interiors with built out closets, Italkraft kitchens with Sub-Zero and Wolf and Waterworks fixtures; Waldorf Astoria lists BAMO interiors, Italkraft kitchens and a Savant smart home with concierge access. File the specification so a future buyer or insurer can see what the home contains.

For Faena, the filed materials on our file are thin. Ask the sales team for the finish schedule by line, and file it.

After closing, the title agent records your deed in the official records of Miami-Dade County, and the owner's title insurance policy follows. Add the closing statement, the TRIM notice each August and the tax bill in November. If the building offers owner benefits, file the enrolment and the terms. Delano's material describes Beach Club access at Delano Miami Beach, a Members' Club and the Accor ownership benefits program with ALL Diamond status, subject to an annual benefits fee; that fee is a yearly cost, so keep its terms with the budget.

You keep the file. Counsel reads the offering, the brand terms and the shared facilities agreement before you sign, and the title work before you close. Our pages on the five sections of the condominium documents, documents before closing on a new condo and where your deposit actually sits cover the standard file. An owner who will use the home part of the year should also read living part-time in Downtown Miami. The desk requests the brand and hotel documents for Waldorf Astoria, Delano or Faena and lays them out for counsel; see the Waldorf Astoria dossier, the Delano dossier, Faena's buyer's guide, the Downtown Miami zone page, and our note on who to call when buying in Downtown Miami.