For the buyer signing for a new home on the Edgewater bayfront, who wants one folder that answers every question the building, the bank or a later buyer will ask.
This page explains. Whether the building suits you is a separate conversation. Contact the desk at Miami Dossier for the current position on any building we cover.
The file has three layers. Before you sign: the condominium documents, the budget, the plans and the brand terms. Before closing: the deposit receipts, the closing statement, the title commitment and the insurance. After closing: the recorded deed, the owner's title policy, the warranties and the association's yearly papers. In Edgewater, add one more layer, because the new towers mix homes with hotel rooms and commercial parts that your association may not own.
The developer must give you the offering documents for a new condominium, and Florida gives you 15 days after signing or after receiving them, whichever is later, to cancel. Use those days. The file starts with:
The declaration of condominium. It defines your home, the common elements and any parts that belong to someone else.
The articles, bylaws and rules. Who votes, how, and what you may do with the home: guests, pets, leasing.
The estimated operating budget. What the first year costs, line by line, and what the developer pays while it controls the association.
The plans by line. Interior and terrace areas, as defined in the documents, not the brochure.
The purchase agreement and the deposit schedule. Amounts, dates and the escrow agent.
Any brand or management agreement summary. Who may use the name, for how long, and what happens if it ends.
Our page on the condominium documents in five sections shows where each answer sits, and documents a Miami pre-construction buyer should request gives the full list.
The two new Edgewater towers on our file are not simple apartment buildings, and the file must show it.
Anantara Residences Miami combines about 50 hotel suites, about 120 resort residences of one and two bedrooms and about 100 condominium residences of three to six bedrooms, with Anantara as hospitality operator. About 25,000 of its roughly 130,000 square feet of amenity are private to residents. File the document that says which spaces are yours, which are shared with the hotel, and how the shared costs are split. If there is more than one association, or a master association over them, file each budget. Our note on the ownership model at Anantara explains the questions.
Villa Miami is serviced by Major Food Group under licence. Its fact sheet says the restaurant, the dock and the helipad sit in commercial components sold separately, so their operation is not guaranteed. File the declaration pages that describe those commercial units, any agreement that gives residents use of them, and its term and cost. Then price the home without them.
Both towers also name a helipad. At Anantara it is a rooftop helipad on the amenity list; at Villa Miami it is one of the separately sold commercial parts. File who owns and operates it, whether owners pay toward it, and the rules on noise and hours, since a helipad on your own roof is a cost and a neighbour as well as a convenience.
For both, keep the brand terms: who licenses the name, to whom, and whether the licence can end. Our page on what the branded residence premium buys explains why.
Closing comes when the building is finished and the certificate of occupancy is issued. In the months before, add:
The deposit receipts from the escrow agent, one for each payment. Read where your deposit actually sits.
The closing notice and any change to the documents since you signed, with the amendments.
The title commitment, showing what the title company will insure and what it excludes.
The insurance binder for your interior and contents, and the association's master policy summary.
The inspection report and the punch list, signed with the developer's response.
The closing statement, line by line.
Our page on documents before closing on a new Miami condo covers each one.
The papers you will reach for in ten years:
The recorded deed from the county, and the owner's title policy.
The warranties: the developer's statutory warranties under Florida's condominium law, and the manufacturers' warranties for appliances and systems.
The association's yearly papers: each budget, the reserve figures, insurance summaries and the minutes that mention assessments.
The property tax bills, and the homestead filing if the home is your permanent residence.
The keys, codes and access rules, and the vendor list for your home.
When the developer hands control of the association to the owners, the turnover papers belong in the file too. Our page on the first year of owning a Miami condo explains what happens in that year.
You do, with a copy for your adviser. A buyer from abroad often gives one to a property manager; read owning from abroad. A lender, an insurer and the next buyer will each ask for parts of it, and a complete file answers each of them without delay.
The building-level versions are on our notes for Anantara and Villa Miami. The Edgewater zone page places both towers, and the Anantara dossier and Villa Miami dossier hold the facts. For the beach version of this file, read the ownership file for a Bal Harbour or Surfside condo. For the Grove and Gables version, read the ownership file for a Coconut Grove or Coral Gables condo. The desk reads the declaration with you, marks the commercial and hotel parts, and lists what is missing before the 15 days run out.
Contact the desk at Miami Dossier for the current plans, pricing and availability as the developer releases them, discussed one to one.
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We hold no listings and we are not the developer. Contact the desk at Miami Dossier and we will tell you what applies to your situation, what does not, and where we would not proceed. Where a question is legal, tax or structuring, we introduce you to advisers who handle that properly rather than answering it ourselves.
Miami Dossier is the private buyer advisory of Metrik Real Estate, built to represent buyers in Miami pre-construction. Principal: Samuel Strauch.
A person replies within 24 hours, usually much sooner. On weekends, back on Monday morning.
