Buying in Miami from another state: what works remotely

It is a big part of what we do: people relocating from New York, New Jersey or Texas, or coming back from abroad and starting over.

• Sorting your numbers. Real cash needed at closing (the day you sign and get the keys), the share of your monthly income that goes to debt (DTI), and maximum price. This comes first and does not require being here.
• The lender letter that says how much it will lend you (pre-approval). Handled entirely remotely with documents.
• Narrowing areas. Deciding where it makes sense to look based on price, commute, and property type.
• Ruling properties out. Flood zone, roof age, condo documents. Much of the filtering is done with data, not visits.
• Closing. In many cases you can sign remotely.

Seeing the house and, above all, seeing the neighborhood at different hours. Miami changes a lot between ten in the morning and six in the evening: the traffic, the noise, how the street feels.

Photos lie by omission. They do not show what is next door, how long the commute actually takes, or whether the house sits on the low part of the block.

• Insurance. If you come from a state without hurricanes, the difference in the monthly payment is bigger than you expect.
• Association fees (what the building or neighborhood charges its owners each month). They are common here and they weigh on what you get approved for.
• Cash competition. In some price ranges you compete against buyers paying in cash, with no loan.
• Property taxes change when you buy. What the current owner pays is not necessarily what you will pay.
• The deadline for Florida's discount for people who live in their home (the homestead exemption) is March 1. If you close and that will be your primary residence, you have to file for it by March 1 of the following year with the Miami-Dade property appraiser (the office that sets your home's value for property tax). You can still file after that, but it is no longer automatic: it takes a petition and can carry a fee. The exemption starts on the January 1 after you buy: in the year you buy, you still pay the tax without it. It is the date almost nobody from outside Florida knows about, and the most expensive one to miss.