A pre-construction condo is the only real estate purchase where you hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars for something that does not exist yet, agree to a closing date that is three years away and can legally move, and sign a contract written entirely by the other side.
Done well, it is one of the most effective ways to buy into Miami. You lock a price today for a unit delivered years from now, you choose your line and your view before anyone else, and you pay in installments instead of qualifying for a mortgage on day one.
Done carelessly, it is the fastest way to tie up capital you cannot get back.
The difference is almost never the building. It is the paperwork.
The Short Answer
Pre-construction makes sense if you have liquidity you will not need for three to five years, you are buying for the long term or for eventual rental income, and you are comfortable reading — or paying an attorney to read — several hundred pages of developer documents.
Pre-construction does not make sense if you need a home in the next twelve months, your down payment is coming from a property you have not sold yet, or the deposit schedule would leave you without a cushion.
The single most important date in the whole process is the end of your 15-day rescission window. Everything you want to verify has to be verified before it closes.
How the Deposit Schedule Actually Works
This is where most buyers are surprised. A Miami pre-construction purchase is not 10% down and the rest at closing. You will typically place 40% to 50% of the purchase price before you ever get keys, released in stages tied to construction milestones.
A common structure looks like this:
- Reservation deposit. A refundable amount to hold a specific unit and line while the developer finalizes documents. Fully refundable until you sign the purchase agreement.
- Contract deposit. Usually brings you to around 10–20% when you execute the purchase agreement and receive the condominium documents. This is when your rescission clock starts.
- Groundbreaking deposit. Another installment when the project moves from permitting to active construction.
- Milestone deposit. Called at a defined structural event — often top-off or a specified floor.
- Pre-closing deposit. A final installment in the months before delivery.
- Balance at closing, typically financed.
Two things to take from that schedule. First, these are contractual obligations with dates attached — missing one can put you in default even though you have already paid a fortune. Second, the deposits are called when the developer needs capital, not when it is convenient for you. Build your plan around the schedule in your contract, not around a generic version like the one above.
Your 15-Day Window Is the Whole Ballgame
Under Florida Statute § 718.503, a buyer purchasing a residential condominium from a developer may void the contract in writing within 15 days of executing the agreement and receiving all required developer documents — the prospectus, declaration, bylaws, budget, escrow agreement and exhibits. Whichever happens later starts the clock.
Three things make this right unusually powerful:
- It cannot be waived. Contract language purporting to give it up is ineffective.
- It refreshes. If the developer later delivers an amendment that materially and adversely changes the deal, a new 15-day period generally applies.
- Properly exercised, it returns your deposit with applicable interest — not as a negotiation, but as a statutory outcome.
The mistake buyers make is treating those 15 days as reading time. Treat them as due diligence time. That means a real estate attorney reviewing the documents, not a skim of the brochure.
Nothing here is legal advice. Florida condominium law is specific and fact-dependent — have a Florida real estate attorney review your contract before the window closes.
Escrow: The First 10% Is Different From the Rest
This is the distinction that matters most and gets explained least.
Under Florida Statute § 718.202, when construction is not substantially complete, buyer payments up to 10% of the purchase price must be held in escrow and generally cannot be used by the developer before closing.
Amounts above that first 10% are treated differently. Many Florida contracts permit the developer to draw those funds to pay for authorized construction and development costs. If your contract contains that language, that money is not sitting in a trust account waiting for you — it is in the building.
On a $1.5 million purchase with 40% down, that is $150,000 with strong statutory protection and $450,000 that may be financing the project. If the developer fails, those two buckets behave very differently.
What to ask your attorney to look for:
- Whether the contract authorizes release of above-10% deposits for construction use
- Whether released funds are backed by a surety bond or letter of credit
- Whether a parent company provides a completion or repayment guarantee
- Who the escrow agent is, and under what conditions funds are released
You may not be able to change these terms. But you should know which deal you are in before the 15 days run out.
The Risks Nobody Puts in the Brochure
Delivery dates move. Most developer contracts give the seller wide latitude to extend the completion date, sometimes by years, without the buyer gaining a termination right. Read the outside date and what triggers it.
Default is defined broadly. Missing a deposit call by days, or failing to return signed paperwork, can constitute default in many contracts — with deposit forfeiture as the remedy. Calendar every deposit date the week you sign.
Assignment rights are not automatic. If your plan is to flip the contract before closing, confirm in writing whether assignment is permitted, when, at what fee, and whether the developer must approve the assignee. Many contracts prohibit it outright or restrict it until late in construction.
Financing is years away. You will qualify for a mortgage at delivery, at whatever rates and lending conditions exist then — not today’s. Foreign national buyers should confirm early which lenders will serve them and at what loan-to-value.
The developer’s track record is the underwriting. Look at what they have actually delivered in South Florida, whether those projects completed on schedule, and how the finished product compared to the renderings. A strong developer with a mediocre location is usually a safer bet than the reverse.
Closing costs are heavier than resale. Developer sales commonly pass along developer fees, and in many contracts the buyer pays documentary stamps and other costs a resale seller would normally cover. Budget 2–3% above what a resale closing would run — and confirm the exact figure in your contract.
What the Market Looks Like Right Now
[Insert current figures the week you publish — active pre-construction projects in your service area, typical price per square foot versus comparable resale product, and current developer incentives. A short table here gives the post a natural reason to be refreshed quarterly.]
The broad picture heading through 2026: buyers have more leverage than they did during the 2021–2022 launch wave. Developers competing for absorption are more willing to negotiate on deposit structures, upgrade allowances and closing cost contributions than on headline price — because headline price sets the comps for every remaining unit in the building. Ask for terms, not discounts.
Worth reading alongside this: our breakdown of Aventura vs. Sunny Isles Beach, since both corridors have active pre-construction inventory and very different carrying costs.
A Short Checklist Before You Sign
- Confirm the full deposit schedule and put every date in your calendar
- Have a Florida real estate attorney review the documents inside the 15 days
- Identify which portion of your deposit is protected escrow and which is not
- Read the outside completion date and the developer’s extension rights
- Confirm assignment rights, fees and timing in writing
- Check the developer’s delivered South Florida track record
- Model your closing costs, not just your deposits
- Review the projected association budget and how realistic it looks
Talk It Through Before the Window Closes
Blue Ivy Homes works with buyers across Miami’s pre-construction market from our base in North Miami Beach. We walk through deposit schedules, escrow terms and developer history with clients before they sign — and we will tell you when a project is not the right fit, which is often the more useful conversation.
If you are weighing a launch right now, get in touch or see what we are tracking on our pre-construction page.