The Aventura sale, seen clearly
Nearly every Aventura transaction involves a condominium association — often layered under a master association — so the closing's critical path runs through estoppels (sometimes two), application and approval requirements, and the building's financial posture. Since Florida's condo-safety reforms, milestone inspections and reserve funding have turned building health into a dollars-and-cents diligence question, and association approval timelines belong on the contract calendar from day one.
Then the tax math: Miami-Dade deed doc stamps run $0.60 per $100 on a single-family residence — and under § 201.031(1), Fla. Stat., a residential condominium unit counts as one, so most Aventura condo sales pay $0.60, not the surtaxed rate. Multifamily, commercial, and vacant land pay $1.05 per $100 with the $0.45 surtax. It is a seller-side line item out-of-county estimates get wrong in one direction or the other.
How we run a foreign seller's file
FIRPTA requires the buyer of U.S. real estate from a foreign person to withhold generally 15% of the gross sales price — not the gain, the gross — and remit it to the IRS with Forms 8288 and 8288-A. As settlement agent we compute it, collect it from your proceeds at closing, prepare the remittance package, and deliver the stamped 8288-A copies that become your credit when you file your U.S. return. The withholding is a deposit against your actual tax, not the tax itself — many sellers ultimately owe less and recover the difference by filing, which is where ITINs and good cost-basis records pay off.
The exceptions, reductions, and logistics worth knowing:
- Buyer's-residence exception: sales at $300,000 or less to a buyer who will use the property as a residence can be exempt; $300,001–$1,000,000 with the same use can qualify for a reduced 10% rate — specific certifications required
- Withholding certificates: the IRS can authorize reduced withholding when the actual tax will be less — applications take time, so they get filed early, and the closing can escrow the withheld funds pending the determination
- Entity classification resolved up front: that 'foreign' LLC may be a U.S. person, certified via the non-foreign affidavit
- Remote logistics as standard equipment: RON or coordinated mail-away signings, verified international wires, and service in English, Español, Русский, Українська, עברית, and Français
Start here
The Foreign Seller FIRPTA Desk is the lane built for exactly this file: seller status screened at opening, the withholding computed and explained, certificate escrows structured, and the estoppel calendar for your building running in parallel. Run the FIRPTA Estimator to see the statutory brackets against your price, then the Seller Net Sheet with Miami-Dade's surtax already in the math. A file already in trouble goes to the title-defect escalation lane for same-business-day triage.
One boundary, stated plainly: we run the mechanics with precision; the strategy — certificate applications, treaty questions, entity classification, your ultimate tax position — belongs with your tax professional or tax counsel. Where a document needs legal drafting or opinion, that work can be procured separately and directly from the law firm — its own engagement, its own fees — or from any attorney you choose.