Buying a Home in Miami
Buying here is two decisions at once: the home, and the market around it. This section gives you the rules of a purchase with their sources, and each market he works in by its own record. Choosing between them is the part we do together.
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- 13 yearsin the Miami market
- CompassREALTOR®
Quick Answer
Buying a home in Miami is a purchase under Florida's rules in one of several Miami-Dade County markets, which do not share one tax rate, and Julian Acosta, a real estate agent with Compass in Coral Gables, represents buyers in Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Key Biscayne, Miami Beach, South Miami, Pinecrest, Brickell, High Pines and Ponce-Davis.
The Miami-Dade buying rules on this page were read on October 4 and 5, 2026 and reviewed on October 12, 2026 by Julian Acosta, licensed since 2005 and working the Miami market since 2013.
What does Florida law set for a buyer?
As of October 2026, a lender gives a Closing Disclosure at least three business days before the closing, the buyer of a resale condominium unit has 7 days, weekends and legal holidays excluded, to cancel after receiving the association's documents, and a loan carries two state taxes: 35 cents per $100 and 2 mills, or $2 per $1,000. After the sale the home is assessed again as of the next January 1.
Which markets does Julian Acosta work in?
Julian Acosta is a real estate agent with Compass in Coral Gables, Florida. He represents buyers across Miami-Dade County, including Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Key Biscayne, Miami Beach, South Miami, Pinecrest, Brickell, High Pines and Ponce-Davis, markets that lie in seven taxing jurisdictions. In the twelve months to September 30, 2026, among the seven markets with at least 20 sales, the median single-family price ran from $1,560,000 in South Miami to $4,950,000 in High Pines, by MIAMI REALTORS® MLS closed sales.
What does Julian Acosta's Buy section cover?
Julian Acosta's Buy section has three parts: the Buyers Guide, with each rule and its source; Moving to Miami; and a page for each market.
How does Julian Acosta work with a buyer?
Most searches start on a screen. A purchase starts with a question a screen can't answer: what does this home have to do for your life?
That is where I start. Our first conversation, in English or in Spanish, is mostly me listening: you tell me what you are after and what you would walk away from. I tell you what I see in the markets you are considering, and how a seller is likely to read your offer. If you like the numbers, we go through them sale by sale; if you'd rather have the answer, you get the conclusion and the next step.
I don't ask you to commit to me at our first meeting. Usually we meet a couple of times first, and for the first homes I show you, the written agreement covers only those homes. I believe in trust: you should feel at ease with me, and I need to feel I understand you, because I can only do this well for someone I understand. The exclusive agreement comes when we both choose it, and from that day the commitment runs both ways.
Then the search gets specific, and so do I. When I tell you what a home is worth, I show you the sales and the record behind the number. When I don't know something, I say so.
Which markets does Julian Acosta work in?
These Miami-Dade County markets lie in seven taxing jurisdictions. Each has its own page. Beside each name is the government on its tax bill and that jurisdiction's total millage in the Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser's 2025 adopted table; a mill is one dollar of tax on each thousand of taxable value.
The jurisdiction decides the tax rate, the police and the building department. Each market's page reads its own record: the kinds of property, the lots, the water, and its own sales. A median price means something only for one market and one kind of property.
Moving to Miami: cost of living, taxes and residency →
| Market | Government on the tax bill | Total millage (2025) |
|---|---|---|
| Coral Gables → | The City of Coral Gables | 18.1852 mills |
| Coconut Grove → | The City of Miami | 19.9878 mills |
| Key Biscayne → | A municipality of its own | 15.5108 mills |
| Miami Beach → | The City of Miami Beach | 18.7601 mills, or 19.4906 under the city's second code |
| South Miami → | The City of South Miami and, beside it, unincorporated Miami-Dade | 18.9727 mills in the city, 16.9317 in unincorporated Miami-Dade |
| Pinecrest → | The Village of Pinecrest | 17.5257 mills |
| Brickell → | The City of Miami | 19.9878 mills, or 20.3778 inside its Downtown Development Authority's district |
| High Pines → | Unincorporated Miami-Dade | 16.9317 mills |
| Ponce-Davis → | Unincorporated Miami-Dade | 16.9317 mills |
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What do homes cost in each Miami market Julian Acosta covers?
In the twelve months to September 30, 2026, the median single-family home in Coral Gables closed at $2,200,000, or $929 per square foot, from 389 closed sales. The median condominium there closed at $540,000, or $513 per square foot, from 223 sales. Among the seven markets with at least 20 such sales, the median single-family price ran from $1,560,000 in South Miami to $4,950,000 in High Pines.
A median means something only for one market and one kind of property. This is the same reading for each market, each with its own page:
See every figure
| Market | Single-family: median price | Single-family: per Sq.Ft | Single-family: sales | Condominiums: median price | Condominiums: per Sq.Ft | Condominiums: sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coral Gables | $2,200,000 | $929 | 389 | $540,000 | $513 | 223 |
| Coconut Grove | $2,850,000 | $1,117 | 178 | $1,471,095 | $984 | 182 |
| Key Biscayne | $4,537,500 | $1,464 | 40 | $1,400,000 | $894 | 186 |
| Miami Beach | $4,200,000 | $1,284 | 253 | $500,000 | $558 | 1,615 |
| South Miami | $1,560,000 | $741 | 141 | $350,000 | $352 | 70 |
| Pinecrest | $2,725,000 | $796 | 209 | $260,000 | $342 | 34 |
| Brickell | — | — | 5 | $625,000 | $618 | 801 |
| High Pines | $4,950,000 | $1,173 | 29 | — | — | 12 |
| Ponce-Davis | — | — | 12 | — | — | none |
How Julian Acosta reads this table
Read it by row, not by column. A median in Miami Beach and a median in South Miami describe different houses: $4,200,000 is the middle of the single-family sales in one and $1,560,000 in the other. And a median hides the spread. In Coral Gables half of the single-family sales closed between $1,400,000 and $3,750,000. That range, more than the middle, is where I start with a buyer.
A median says where half of the sales stood. It says nothing about one house.
Note
The median prices for the Miami-Dade markets on this page are closed sales the MIAMI REALTORS® MLS reported with a closing date from October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026, read from this site's copy of the MLS on October 12, 2026. The sales behind these Miami-Dade markets' figures are the market's, not Julian Acosta's own.
How it is read
In these Miami-Dade market figures, the price is the median closing price: half of the sales closed above it and half below. In these Miami-Dade market figures, the price per square foot is the closing price over the living area the listing states, and its median is of the sales that state one. In these Miami-Dade market figures, a median is stated from 20 sales; with fewer, the count of sales stands alone, and townhomes are in neither the houses' column nor the condos'. In these Miami-Dade market figures, each count is of the sales its median was read from. The sale-to-list ratio on Selling a Home in Miami → comes from a separate read of the MLS on the same day.
What this is for
Each market's median closing price tells you which Miami-Dade markets fit a budget before you look at houses: from $1,560,000 in South Miami to $4,950,000 in High Pines, by MIAMI REALTORS® MLS closed sales from October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026; a median says where half the sales stood, not what one house is worth.
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What happens in a Florida home purchase, and in what order?
Your purchase in Florida has four moments, and each has rules of its own: before the contract, between the contract and the closing, at the closing, and after it. Florida's statutes and a few federal rules set what you receive, sign and pay at each. The figures below were read in October 2026; the Buyers Guide gives each rule with its source.
- Nº 01
August 17, 2024
Before the contract.
A broker who takes part in a multiple listing service enters into a written agreement with a buyer before touring a home, by a rule of the National Association of REALTORS® in force since August 17, 2024. A buyer who borrows receives the lender's Loan Estimate within three business days of applying. At or before the signing, the buyer receives the disclosures the law names: the flood disclosure, the property tax summary, the radon notice and, where they apply, the homeowners' association summary, the condominium's documents and the lead-based paint disclosure.
- Nº 02
7days
Between the contract and the closing.
The buyer of a resale condominium unit has 7 days to cancel after signing the contract and receiving the association's documents, weekends and legal holidays excluded, and 15 days when buying from a developer. In a community with a mandatory association, a buyer who did not receive the disclosure summary before the contract may void it within 3 days of receiving it or before closing, whichever comes first. A flood policy bought with a loan takes effect at the loan closing when it is applied for and paid by then. An insurer may ask for a 4-point inspection of an older house before it writes a policy: as of October 2026, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation requires one for every homeowner application on a property more than 20 years old. The lender's Closing Disclosure arrives at least three business days before the closing.
- Nº 03
35cents
At the closing.
Every buyer provides the affidavit Florida law requires. A loan carries two state taxes: a documentary stamp tax of 35 cents per $100 and an intangible tax of 2 mills, or $2 per $1,000. The tax on the deed is paid by the party the contract names. When the seller is a foreign person, the buyer withholds 15% of the amount realized for the Internal Revenue Service.
- Nº 04
January 1
After the closing.
The property is assessed again as of the next January 1. An owner who makes the home a permanent residence may apply for Florida's homestead exemption (Florida Constitution, art. VII, § 6, and Florida Statutes § 196.031) with the Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser by March 1: $25,000 off the assessed value for every levy, and a second exemption, $26,411 in 2026, for levies other than the School Board's.
What is the Florida homestead exemption, and how do I apply? →
Which closing costs does the law set for a buyer in Florida?
The law sets five lines of your closing costs as a buyer in Florida: two state taxes on a loan, the documentary stamp tax on the deed, the owner's title insurance premium, the year's property tax, and a federal withholding when the seller is a foreign person. The contract decides which party pays several of them. The rates below were read in October 2026.
Note
This page gives no total, no average and no percentage. What a purchase costs to close depends on the property, the loan and the contract.
Compass Private Exclusive
What is a Compass Private Exclusive?
Compass Private Exclusive
Compass, the brokerage Julian Acosta works with, describes the program in its own words: "With Compass Private Exclusives, you can view homes for sale that are not on the market."
What do Julian Acosta's clients say?
Every review here was written by a client on Julian Acosta's Google Business Profile, and each one links to where it was written.
“Julian is a great partner in your dream house search in Pinecrest. He is commited in making sure you are very happy with your purchase. Best realtor in Pinecrest!”
“I had the opportunity to work with Julian after he shared some valuable insights about the local market, and right from the start, his transparency and dedication stood out. He offered helpful information without any pressure, which built the trust I needed to move forward with selling my property in Miami Beach. Even though the South Florida market has been pretty slow, Julian knew exactly how to position the property. Thanks to his strong network and the groundwork he’d been doing, he was able to get it under contract while it was still off market. I had tried to sell before without success, but this time we were able to close a deal that truly worked in my favor. I really appreciated his follow-through, attention to detail, and the way he navigated the entire process. I’d gladly recommend him”
“We had the pleasure of working with Julian Acosta to sell my husband's apartment in Coconut Grove, and we couldn't be happier with the experience. Julian was always available and incredibly easy to contact, making the entire process smooth and stress-free. His promptness and reliability stood out throughout the sale. Julian demonstrated exceptional knowledge of the market and provided us with invaluable advice on pricing the apartment appropriately. When difficulties arose during the closing process, he worked diligently to facilitate and resolve these issues efficiently. Thanks to his hard work and dedication, the apartment sold rapidly. We greatly appreciate Julian's efforts and professionalism. Without hesitation, we would choose to work with him again in the future and recommend his services to anyone in need of an outstanding realtor.”
“It was a pleasure working with Julian. He was very organized, articulate, and responsive. *Updating original review. Julian has helped us twice now: first as renters, and now as buyers. In both cases Julian was extremely professional, helpful, and a pleasure to work with from start to finish. Highly recommend him as a real estate agent.”
“Julian and his team were stellar - with their strategies and resources, we were able to close on our home quickly and at our asking price! They are so knowledgeable and were very reassuring, kind, and positive throughout the whole process. We have both bought and sold with Julian and his team, and have complete confidence in them! Thank you for everything!”
“I hired Julian to sell a house in Miami . He was friendly and wonderful to work with. He has great negotiation skills and I was impressed with how quickly he sold the home. He kept in contact with me throughout the entire experience. I would definitely hire him again for any real estate needs I have in the future”
71 Google reviews, rated 5.0, read OCT 31, 2026
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Tell me what you are looking for, and where you are in the decision. We start there.
Julian Acosta, Compass.