Buyer checklist
South Miami-Dade specifically. In this market the price is rarely what decides whether a house is affordable — insurance and the tax reset decide it, and both are knowable before you get attached to anything.
Principal and interest is the predictable part. Insurance, property tax and any association fee are where two houses at the same price stop being equally affordable.
The figure on the listing is the seller's bill. Florida resets the assessed value the January after a sale, and the Save Our Homes cap that kept their bill low belongs to them, not to the house.
On the specific address, not a neighborhood estimate. Ask whether it assumes wind mitigation credits, and ask separately whether the carrier will still write it at renewal given the roof's age.
For the address, not the area, and check the current map rather than what the seller remembers. Flood is a separate policy from homeowners cover, with its own deductible.
From the city or the county depending on where the parcel sits — a Homestead mailing address does not prove it is inside city limits. Compare the county's recorded bedrooms, bathrooms and living area against what you are being shown.
Whether the association must approve you before closing, how long it takes, what it costs, and whether any special assessment is planned or being discussed. If the community is in a community development district, that assessment sits on the tax bill as its own line.
Florida now requires milestone inspections and structural integrity reserve studies for buildings of three or more habitable storeys once the building reaches 30 years — and a coastal local government may set that trigger at 25. The old blanket vote to waive reserves is gone for the items a reserve study covers, but it is not absolute: for a budget adopted on or before 31 December 2028, an association that has had a milestone inspection in the previous two calendar years can vote to pause or reduce reserve funding for up to two consecutive budgets to pay for that inspection’s repairs (s. 718.112(2)(f)2.e.). Read the inspection, the reserve study, and the last two years of budgets and board minutes — not just the current budget.
Miami-Dade lends first-time buyers up to $35,000 interest-free, and state programmes run alongside it. "First-time" nearly always means you have not owned a principal residence in three years, not that you have never owned — people rule themselves out who would qualify comfortably.
Zac Tranten, REALTOR® — Licensed Florida Real Estate Sales Associate, license #SL3576483, held with Keys Gate Realty, 10 NE 3rd Street, Florida City, FL 33034. All real estate services are offered through Keys Gate Realty. Call or text (305) 905-9938 · trantenhomes.com
General information for south Miami-Dade buyers, not legal, tax, lending or insurance advice, and not an appraisal or a determination of eligibility for any programme. Programme terms and statutory requirements change. Equal Housing Opportunity.