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Miami Condo Vultures: A Fool's Game

Elliott Burrell: I agree with you that property taxes are expensive in Florida. Property taxes are around 2% of assessed value for areas like Boca Raton, and close to 3% in the cities of Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. For non-homesteaded and new buyers, the assessed value is the market value determined by the property appraiser. Market value is based on the prior year’s sales.

As to your other point about wanting to control the building and the association board, I would like to tell the other readers about rental restriction. The condo board has the right to “approve” all leases and can take up to 30 days to do so. Boards can also restrict rentals entirely, or restrict renting during the first year or two of ownership. Some boards are now requiring tenants pay a refundable building deposit of up to one month’s rent. Buildings that allow rentals might restrict owners to one lease per year and impose minimum and maximum lease terms. All these restrictions make it difficult to keep the unit rented continuously.

Again to your point of controlling the board, the other readers should realize how quickly expenses can get out of control with a runaway board.