In Miami-Dade the lowest-cost submarkets can carry the heaviest millage.
USA Mortgage funds investors across Miami-Dade County. Deed stamps here run backwards from the rest of Florida. Miami is a split market: houses hold, condos slide. Business-purpose loans only, and every structure is set in underwriting.
Your file gets an answer from the desk that funds it.
Single-family and condo have decoupled
Case-Shiller Miami single-family prices hit an all-time high of 450.50 in May 2026, up 1.8 percent year over year, while Miami MSA condo values fell 6.2 percent over the same period and sit 13.8 percent off their January 2024 peak. We underwrite the building type, not the metro average.
The transfer tax runs backwards from what you'd expect
A single-family deed in Miami-Dade is stamped at 60 cents per $100, costing less than the statewide 70 cents, with no surtax. The same transfer on a duplex or small multifamily adds a 45-cent surtax, pushing it to $1.05 per $100, about 50 percent more than anywhere else in Florida. The exit structure changes the closing cost.
Highest rents in Florida, on a shrinking population
Single-family rents hit $3,461 a month in June 2026, roughly 40 percent above Tampa or Orlando, even as Miami-Dade's population fell over the year to July 2025. The rental case here rests on rent levels and the trade economy, not on growth.
Loan programs in Miami
Acquisition through exit, all funded or arranged by one lender.
Yes, across the county, from Miami and Miami Beach to Hialeah, Homestead, Doral, Coral Gables, Miami Gardens, and North Miami. We are a Direct lender headquartered in Bee Cave, and every loan is business-purpose only, on investment property, with terms subject to underwriting. See how we lend across Florida or talk to us.
Is the Miami-Dade transfer tax higher or lower than the rest of Florida?
It depends on what you're transferring, and most people get the direction backwards. Miami-Dade deeds are stamped at 60 cents per $100, not the statewide 70 cents, and a single-family transfer (which the county defines to include townhouses and condo units) owes no surtax at all. On a $600,000 house that is $3,600 in deed stamps, $600 less than anywhere else in Florida. The moment the property is anything other than a single-family dwelling, a duplex or small apartment building, a 45-cent surtax applies on top, bringing the same $600,000 transfer to $6,300, about 50 percent more than the statewide rate. Run the math for your specific exit before you underwrite the deal. See the fix and flip program.
What does the Miami-Dade building recertification and milestone inspection mean for financing?
There are two separate inspection regimes here, not one, and either can knock a condo project out of conventional financing. The state milestone inspection applies to condo and co-op buildings three habitable stories or higher, due by 30 years of age (or 25 if the local enforcement agency requires it). Miami-Dade separately runs its own recertification under county code section 8-11(f), which is broader (it is not limited to condos or to three-story buildings) but exempts single-family homes, duplexes, and buildings of 10 occupant load or less and 2,000 square feet or less: coastal buildings built 1998 or later recertify at 25 years, inland buildings built 1993 or later at 30, with 90 days to respond to a notice and a maximum fine of $10,510. The "25 years within three miles of the coast" rule you may have heard cited as Florida law was repealed statewide in 2023; Miami-Dade separately adopted its own 25-year coastal trigger, which is why the number still applies here. If a project fails a mandatory inspection, carries an unremediated critical repair, or has more than $10,000 per unit in unfunded repairs due within 12 months, it becomes ineligible for a Fannie Mae loan, which is where our DSCR and bridge programs come in. See the DSCR program.
Is Miami-Dade growing, and should that change how I underwrite a rental?
No, and the honest number matters more than the marketing. Miami-Dade's population fell to 2,802,029 as of July 1, 2025, down 10,115 on the year after peaking in 2024. International migration of 54,204 people was outweighed by domestic out-migration of 72,254. What still supports rental demand: single-family rents hit $3,461 a month in June 2026, the highest of any Florida metro in our research and roughly 40 percent above Tampa or Orlando, and the county remains a trade economy first (24.3 percent of jobs in trade, transportation, and utilities against 11.6 percent in leisure and hospitality). Underwrite the rent roll and the trade-economy job base, not a growth story. See the DSCR program.
Why does the lowest-cost submarket in Miami-Dade sometimes cost more to carry?
Because millage runs backwards from home value here. The 2025 adopted millage rates put an investor with no homestead exemption at 24.0024 mills in Opa-locka and 22.3921 in Miami Gardens, both entry-price submarkets, against 15.5108 in Key Biscayne and 17.5257 in Pinecrest, the two highest-value submarkets in the county. Add insurance: Miami-Dade averages $5,975 a year including wind for a homeowners policy and $2,801 for a condo unit owner, more than double Orlando's Orange County on the condo line, and Citizens now requires flood coverage on any wind policy outside a flood hazard zone once the home's replacement cost hits $400,000 (rising to every policy on January 1, 2027). Pull an address-level tax and insurance estimate before you underwrite a "lower-cost" Miami-Dade property.
What credit score do I need to borrow in Miami-Dade?
It depends on the program, and on our asset-based loans there is no minimum. Fix and flip, bridge, and ground up construction carry no minimum credit score: we run credit, but it weighs far less than it would at a bank, and weaker credit is usually answered with lower leverage rather than a decline. DSCR and bank statement loans start at 640, conventional investment starts at 580, and transactional funding involves no credit check at all. There is no hard credit pull to start a Miami-Dade file. Subject to underwriting.
How much cash do I need to bring to a Miami-Dade deal?
Anywhere from nothing to a quarter of the price, depending on the program. Fix and flip funds up to 90% of purchase and up to 100% of rehab, so a $500,000 Miami-Dade purchase is up to $450,000 from us and $50,000 from you (500,000 x 90% = 450,000). DSCR and conventional investment run up to 80% LTV, so the same price needs $100,000 down (500,000 x 80% = 400,000). Ground up construction goes to 85% of cost, and transactional funding covers 100% of the A-to-B purchase. Add the county's own closing cost on top: deed stamps run 60 cents per $100 on a single-family transfer here and $1.05 on anything else. Subject to underwriting.
What is the smallest loan you will write in Miami-Dade?
$100,000 on most residential programs. Fix and flip, DSCR, and bank statement loans all start at $100,000. A portfolio loan needs five or more properties and $500,000 and up, and SBA starts at $350,000. The ceilings differ too: $3M on DSCR and bank statement, $5M on fix and flip and construction, $10M on a commercial bridge. With Miami metro single-family rents running $3,461 a month in June 2026, the floor is rarely the binding constraint here; the ceiling is what a high-value parcel hits first. Subject to underwriting.
Local rules move. Every tax rate, fee, ordinance and market figure here comes from a primary source and carries the date we read it, and we correct them as the rules change. Where a number is mid-change or we could not verify it, we say so rather than guess. Before you commit a budget, confirm anything that drives it with the city or county, and talk to your attorney or CPA on questions of law or tax.
Published by USA Mortgage Funding, LLC, NMLS #152588. Researched from primary sources by our team, drafted with AI assistance, and every figure checked against its source before publishing. Where an answer rests on a public record, that record is linked under it. Figures read on 2026-08-13.
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