What does a new Miami condo require before you can move in?

Six things, in roughly this order. A pre-closing walk-through that produces the punch list the developer must work. The certificate of occupancy, or the temporary one, which the city issues before anyone sleeps in the building. The association's move-in packet: a refundable move-in deposit, a booked window on the service elevator, and a certificate of insurance from the mover naming the association. The owner's own insurance, in force from the day of the deed. Approval for any work the buyer wants done before the furniture, from closets to a wine room, under the association's alteration rules. And the fobs, the parking assignment and the utility accounts, which the building hands over only once the first three are done. A finished building like Alba Palm Beach, completed June 2026, runs this in a week. A new tower delivering its first floors runs it for months, for everyone at once.

Before closing on a new home the buyer, or someone for them, walks the residence with the developer's representative and lists every defect: the chip, the misaligned door, the outlet that is dead. That list is the punch list, and the purchase agreement says whether the developer must complete it before closing, within a stated time after, or only as a warranty item. Walk it with a list, photograph each item, and get the developer's signed copy. Closing with an open punch list is normal; closing without a signed one is the mistake. Read the punch list at Olara and at Kempinski, and documents before closing on a new Miami condo for the rest of the closing file.

The city inspects a finished building and issues a certificate of occupancy, or a temporary certificate that allows occupancy while final items are completed. A developer usually may not close until the certificate exists, and a buyer may not move in before it. The date on it is the date from which the building is a home rather than a site, and it starts several clocks: the closing notice under the purchase agreement, the owner's insurance, the association's first assessments and the developer's warranty periods. Ask the developer for the certificate and read the date. Read delivery timelines and how they slip and the delivery question at South Flagler House.

Four things, at almost every building. A move-in deposit, refundable against damage to the hallway, the elevator or the lobby, with an amount the rules set. A booked window on the service elevator, padded, during the hours the rules allow, which in a tower delivering its first floors is the scarcest thing in the building. A certificate of insurance from the mover, naming the association as an additional insured for liability and often for workers' compensation. And the forms: the owner registration, the vehicle registration, the pet registration where one is allowed, and the emergency contact. A buyer who asks for the packet at contract, rather than at closing, is the one whose mover gets a date. Read moving in and renovations at Alba, at Waldorf Astoria and elevators and vertical logistics at South Flagler House.

Anything that touches the building: closets and millwork, a wine room, floors, plumbing or electrical, a change to a wall. The declaration and the rules set an alteration process, usually a written application with plans, a contractor licensed and insured to the building's standard with its own certificate of insurance, work hours, a damage deposit, and sometimes an architectural review fee. Flooring and sound are the common dispute in Florida towers; ask what underlayment the rules require and whether the association tests it. A buyer who wants work done before moving in files the application at closing, not after, and reads moving in and renovations at Olara and finishes and customisation at Six Fisher Island for what each building's process looks like.

The association insures the building's structure and common elements; the owner insures the inside of the home, usually from the drywall in, plus contents and liability, under a unit owner's policy. A lender requires it from closing; a cash buyer should have it from the same day, because the deed, not the move, is when the risk passes. Ask the association for its policy summary and its deductible, because the owner's policy is written around them. Read Miami condo insurance and insurance binder timing at Delano.

Chapter 718 gives the buyer of a new condominium implied warranties from the developer, the contractor and the suppliers, on the unit and on the building's common elements, for periods the statute sets from completion or from closing. The purchase agreement may add an express warranty and a procedure for claims. Keep the punch list, the certificate of occupancy and every written notice of a defect, because the warranty runs on dates and on notice. Ask the developer for its warranty procedure in writing at closing, and read developer warranty obligations at Waldorf Astoria and the first year of owning a Miami condo. For the papers that follow the move, read the ownership file for a West Palm Beach condo. The desk reads the move-in packet and the alteration rules with the buyer before closing, so the first night is a date and not a negotiation.