The pre-construction buyer checklist
Twenty questions to answer before you reserve a new-construction residence in Miami — so the purchase costs what you expect, when you expect it.
1. Representation and registration
- Have I registered my own broker with this development before my first contact with the sales gallery? (Why the order matters)
- Do I have a written buyer representation agreement, as Miami REALTORS® rules require before touring?
- Who does the person showing me the residence actually represent? (The developer’s sales team represents the developer.)
2. The deposit schedule
- What percentage is due at contract, at groundbreaking, at each milestone and at closing — and on what dates?
- Is every installment available in cash without touching the reserves a lender will later want to see?
- Where are deposits held, and what portion may the developer use for construction under Florida law?
3. Delivery and the contract
- What is the estimated completion date — and the outside completion date the contract actually binds the developer to?
- What are my remedies if delivery is late, the plans change, or the unit is delivered smaller than shown?
- Can I assign the contract before closing? At what cost, and with whose consent?
- What does the 15-day rescission period under Florida Statutes § 718.503 cover, and when does it start?
4. Carrying costs
- What are the projected association dues, and what is the budget behind that number?
- How are reserves funded, and what does the building’s insurance program cost in the current Florida market?
- What will property taxes look like after the sale, reassessed at my purchase price?
- Are there club, hotel, brand or amenity fees separate from the association dues?
5. The complete offer
- What incentives, closing-cost credits, upgrade packages or parking and storage are currently included — in writing?
- How does this offer compare, on the same terms, with the two or three competing projects I should also be looking at?
6. Financing at delivery
- Which lenders will lend on this building type, and are there presale, investor-concentration or hotel-component limits that affect it?
- Will my income profile still qualify at delivery — especially if I am self-employed, a foreign national or buying as an investor?
- After deposits, what cash remains for closing costs and the reserves a lender will require?
- If I intend to rent the residence, do the building’s rules and the likely loan program allow it?
Questions buyers ask
When should I bring in my own broker on a pre-construction purchase?
Before your first contact with the sales gallery. Developers set their own terms for cooperating brokers, and those terms often depend on registration before that first contact; if you walk in alone, a broker you bring in later may not be recognized on that project.
What is a typical Miami pre-construction deposit schedule?
Commonly 10 to 20 percent at contract, further installments at groundbreaking and at a construction milestone, and the balance at closing — often 30 to 50 percent in total before closing. Every project sets its own schedule, and it is paid in cash, not financed.
Can the delivery date change after I sign?
Yes. Most contracts give the developer an outside completion date, often years after the estimated delivery, and limited remedies if that date moves. Read the completion, force majeure and termination clauses with your broker and your attorney before signing.
NEO Remarketing LLC · FL #CQ1065196 · CA DRE #01933447. Equal Housing Opportunity. Educational only — not legal, tax or lending advice; consult a Florida real estate attorney on any developer contract. NEO Remarketing is an independent brokerage and is not the sales agent for, or affiliated with, any development. Financing through Optima Financing · Sam Razavi, NMLS #985351 · C2 Financial Corporation, NMLS #135622; subject to lender approval and eligibility. NEO Remarketing and Optima Financing are under common ownership; you are not required to use Optima Financing. Read the full disclosure.