Relocating from Dallas to Surfside or Bal Harbour: which building fits?

For a Dallas household used to a house, Ocean House Surfside is the closest thing on our file to one: 25 homes of two to five bedrooms, a private elevator and lobby, and a private six-car garage in the building. Rivage Bal Harbour gives the most space, three to six bedrooms up to about 12,600 square feet, with house cars and marina services, From $14,100,000. The Perigon, in Mid-Beach, sits on both the ocean and the bay, From $12,500,000.

The same five questions, put to each building from the developers' published material:

Ocean House Surfside. Price point: on request, no published entry. Delivery: no date on the fact sheet. Unit mix: 25 residences of two to five bedrooms, balconies up to 12 feet deep, delivered finished. Position: 9309 to 9317 Collins Avenue, on the ocean between Bal Harbour and Miami Beach. Operator: no hotel brand; the developer of record is MTP Oceanside LLC, marketed with Multiplan.

Rivage Bal Harbour. Price point: From $14,100,000. Delivery: no date on file. Unit mix: about 56 homes over 25 stories, three to six bedrooms, about 3,300 to 12,600 square feet. Position: about 2.7 oceanfront acres with about 200 linear feet of private shoreline. Operator: Related Group and Two Roads Development, no hotel brand.

The Perigon. Price point: From $12,500,000. Delivery: no date on file. Unit mix: about 73 homes of two to four bedrooms, each with private elevator entry. Position: 5333 Collins Avenue, Mid-Beach, with about 200 linear feet of shoreline on the ocean side and on the bay side. Operator: Starwood Capital Group and Mast Capital, no hotel brand.

Three unbranded buildings, three sizes of neighbour group: 25, about 56 and about 73 homes.

A Dallas house brings a garage, a yard, storage and a front door nobody else uses. A condo on the ocean replaces each one with something shared, and the buildings differ in how much they give back.

The garage. Ocean House lists a private garage for six cars with private storage, 24-hour valet and EV charging. For a family with more than two cars, that is the deciding fact. Rivage lists house cars, so a family may need fewer of its own. The Perigon publishes no garage detail on our file; ask how many spaces come with each home and whether they are assigned or valet.

The front door. Ocean House has private elevators with dedicated lobbies. The Perigon gives private elevator entry to each residence. In both, the door you walk through is close to your own.

The yard. It becomes a terrace and a beach. Ocean House has balconies up to 12 feet deep and a rooftop pool. The Perigon has wraparound terraces in diamond-shaped tiers. Rivage has oceanfront pools on its 2.7 acres.

Our pages on house or condo in Miami and the small building question explain the trade between the two ways of living.

Texas and Florida both have no state income tax on individuals, so the move is about the coast, not the tax return. The costs that change are insurance, the association and the climate.

Insurance. A Dallas homeowner insures against hail. On the Atlantic, the association insures the building against wind and flood, and you insure the interior and your contents. Flood zones and premiums vary by address; read Miami Beach flood maps and insurance.

The association budget. A building of 25 homes divides its staff, its rooftop and its insurance among fewer owners than a building of 70. Ask each developer for the first-year budget and read the reserve line. Our page on what a beach building reserve study tells you explains why it matters near salt water.

The homestead exemption. Florida has its own: own the home and live in it as your permanent residence on 1 January, then apply to the county by 1 March. Read does buying a Miami condo make you a Florida resident.

Many oceanfront buildings fill in winter and empty in summer. A full-time family lives there in August too. Ask each developer what share of buyers so far plan to live there all year, and what the staff schedule looks like out of season.

Ocean House lists staff quarters with a service kitchen, which suits a household that brings a cook or a nanny. Rivage lists a spa and hammam and a screening room. The Perigon lists a resident-only oceanfront restaurant, a breakfast room, a children's lounge and a spa. For a family with school-age children, that last list is the most complete.

Ocean House Surfside suits the family with cars and staff who wants the fewest neighbours. You give up a published price and the larger amenity program. Read whether Ocean House is worth it and its parking and storage.

Rivage Bal Harbour suits the family that wants the most room and a private beach frontage, with house cars instead of a fleet. You give up nothing on space and a great deal on entry price. See the Rivage dossier.

The Perigon suits the family with children that wants a resident restaurant and the water on both sides. You give up the bedroom count above four. See The Perigon dossier.

The Bal Harbour and Surfside zone page and the Mid-Beach zone page map the coast, and Brickell or Bal Harbour for full-time living weighs the city against the beach. For the most discreet of these addresses, read which oceanfront condos here are most private. The desk sets the three buildings side by side for a full-time family, with the parking, staff and budget questions asked of each developer in writing.