For an international buyer, the case for condos for sale in Miami is rarely the view in the rendering — it's the cash flow. Bought right, a Miami condo dollarizes capital and pays a rent in dollars; bought on the asking price alone, it can run a negative carry. The difference is in the math nobody puts on the listing.
Gross yield is not what you keep
A Miami condo advertised at a 6% "gross" yield rarely nets 6%. From the annual rent you subtract the HOA, property taxes (roughly 2% of value a year), insurance, management and vacancy. After those, a 6% gross commonly lands near 3.5%–4.5% net — sometimes less in a high-fee tower. The discipline that protects an investor is underwriting the net number on real, current expenses, then comparing it against recent closed sales rather than the seller's aspiration.
Want to see the condos available right now?
View condos →Short-term (Airbnb) vs annual rental
Short-term rental can lift gross income meaningfully, but it is not allowed everywhere: many Miami condo associations and city zones restrict or ban rentals under six months, and a building that permits daily rental (a true "condo-hotel" or short-term-friendly tower) trades at a premium for exactly that reason. An annual lease yields less but is simpler, lower-vacancy and lower-management. Decide the rental strategy before you choose the building — the building's rules, not your plan, set the ceiling.
HOA fees and special assessments compress the yield
The HOA is the single biggest variable in a Miami condo's net. Amenity-heavy towers can charge well over US$1 per square foot per month, and since Florida's post-Surfside reserve law, older buildings have faced special assessments running into the tens of thousands per unit for structural reserves. Always read the budget, the reserve study and the assessment history — a low price with a broken balance sheet behind it is not a bargain.
Taxes for a foreign landlord
A non-resident landlord can elect to be taxed on net rental income (after expenses and depreciation) rather than face a flat 30% withholding on gross — usually the better outcome, and it requires an ITIN and a U.S. tax return. On sale, FIRPTA withholds 15% of the gross price, credited against the actual tax due. None of this is a dealbreaker; it is paperwork that your accountant sets up once. Build it into the underwriting from day one.
