For Miami investors, conventional investment property loans.
Standard, competitively priced financing for non-owner-occupied investment property when your file fits the box. Often the lowest-cost option for a long-term hold, in exchange for full documentation. Miami-Dade's older condo stock can fail agency review over an inspection or an unfunded repair. We'll compare it against DSCR so you take the structure that fits; business-purpose only, subject to underwriting.
Typical figures, subject to underwriting and market conditions. Not a commitment to lend.
How it works
For investors who qualify conventionally, this is usually the lowest-cost long-term money on a buy-and-hold. We help you weigh it against our DSCR and bank-statement programs so the loan matches your file and your goals.
Why would a conventional loan get turned down on a Miami-Dade condo that looks fine?
Because Fannie Mae's project rules look past the unit to the building. A condo project is ineligible for conventional financing if it "failed to pass state, county, or other jurisdictional mandatory inspections," or if it carries "any unfunded repairs costing more than $10,000 per unit that should be undertaken within the next 12 months." Miami-Dade runs two inspection regimes on top of that: the state milestone inspection at 30 years (or 25 if the local agency adopts it), and the county's own recertification program under section 8-11(f) of the county code. An older building that trips either one, or that can no longer waive reserves for a required Structural Integrity Reserve Study, can go conventionally unfinanceable overnight. We pull the association's inspection and reserve status before you go under contract; if the project doesn't qualify, our DSCR program can often still get the deal closed.
I heard Miami condos within 3 miles of the coast need inspection at 25 years. Is that still the rule?
Not as a statewide rule, no. The original 2022 law set 25 years for buildings within three miles of the coast and 30 years everywhere else, but Senate Bill 154, signed June 9, 2023, deleted the coastal trigger and made 30 years the statewide default. What's left is a local option: a local enforcement agency can adopt 25 years for its own environmental conditions, and Miami-Dade has done exactly that under its county recertification code, separate from and older than the state milestone law. So a Miami-Dade building can still face inspection at 25 years, but as a county rule, not a Florida-wide coastal one. Confirm the specific building's trigger year before you count on financing timing.
What should I budget for property tax on a conventional purchase in Miami-Dade?
Budget by city, not by county average, and use the non-homestead number, since you won't qualify for a homestead exemption on a rental. 2025 total millage runs from 15.51 mills in Key Biscayne up to 19.99 in the City of Miami, 18.76 in Miami Beach and 24.00 in Opa-locka. On a $600,000 assessment that's roughly $9,306 a year in Key Biscayne against $11,993 in the City of Miami, a swing of about $2,687 depending on jurisdiction alone. Every parcel also carries Florida's 10 percent non-homestead assessment cap, which resets on sale, so a seller's current tax bill can understate what you'll actually pay in year one. Price the specific address with the county appraiser's tax estimator before you underwrite the deal.
How much does insurance eat into a conventional Miami-Dade rental's numbers?
Enough that it belongs in your numbers before you write the offer. As of March 2026, Miami-Dade's average homeowners premium including wind was $5,975, and its average condo unit owner premium was $2,801, more than double Orange County's $1,295 condo average. South Florida also litigates claims at 27.27 percent, versus 12.10 percent statewide, which is part of why the premiums run high. That escrow line goes straight into your conventional qualifying ratio, so get a real quote on the specific address and building type before you assume a rate.
Miami-Dade's population is shrinking. Does that change how a conventional rental underwrites here?
It changes the demand story, not the day-to-day economics. Miami-Dade lost population in the year to July 2025, down 10,115 to 2,802,029, as domestic out-migration widened every year since 2022 and international migration, the county's real growth engine, fell by nearly half since 2023. That's a real shift from the headline "people are pouring into Miami" story. It hasn't shown up in rent: single-family rents in the metro were $3,461 a month in June 2026, the highest of any Florida metro in our research and up 1.9 percent year over year. On a conventional file your qualifying income still comes from your tax returns, not the rental market, so the population trend matters more for your exit strategy and your read on future appreciation than for the loan itself.
How much do I need to put down on a Miami-Dade investment property with a conventional loan?
At least 20%. Leverage runs up to 80% LTV on a non-owner-occupied purchase, so on a $600,000 Miami-Dade property that is $480,000 financed and $120,000 from you (600,000 x 80% = 480,000). Budget the escrow line beside it, because it is heavier here than in most of Florida: at $600,000 of assessed value the non-homestead tax runs roughly $9,306 a year in Key Biscayne against $11,993 in the City of Miami, and the average homeowners premium including wind is $5,975. Both feed the qualifying ratio on a documented file. Subject to underwriting.
Is the credit bar lower on a conventional Miami-Dade investment loan than on DSCR?
Yes, on paper. Conventional investment starts at a 580 credit score, against 640 on DSCR and bank statement files. The trade is documentation: conventional is fully documented, so your returns and income have to support the payment, while DSCR qualifies off the property's rent. A Miami-Dade buyer with clean documented income and a score in the high 500s or low 600s often does better here. A self-employed investor carrying write-offs usually does better on DSCR even at the higher score bar. Subject to underwriting.
Can I get a 30-year fixed on a Miami-Dade rental?
Yes, 30-year fixed or an ARM, on a purchase or a refinance. That is the reason to accept full documentation on a long-term hold. What most often blocks it in Miami-Dade is not your file, it is the building: a condo project that has failed a mandatory jurisdictional inspection, or carries more than $10,000 per unit in unfunded repairs due within 12 months, is ineligible no matter how strong you look. Confirm the project's inspection and reserve status before you count on the fixed rate. Subject to underwriting.
More Conventional Investment questions, answered on the program page
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.
Funding Miami deals fast.
Get real terms, usually same day. No obligation, no hard credit pull to start.
