Pre-Construction Deposit Schedule in Miami
The overview guide for buying a Miami condo before it exists. The 40-50 percent milestone deposit structure in the current cycle, the Florida Statute 718.202 escrow-versus-release mechanics done correctly (including the page-one contract legend that tells you where your money actually goes), assignment rights, what happens to deposits if a developer fails, and the cash-flow calendar from the realtor's side of the table.
A Miami pre-construction purchase is a payment calendar wearing a lifestyle brochure. The renderings and amenity decks get the attention; the document that actually governs the next two to four years of your financial life is the deposit schedule inside the developer’s purchase agreement — typically 40 to 50 percent of the purchase price wired in milestone installments before the building exists, with the balance due at a closing date nobody can fully guarantee. Most pre-construction content online is written by the people selling the units. It explains the schedule and stops exactly where the buyer’s real questions start: which of those deposits are protected, which ones the developer is allowed to spend on construction the day shovels hit dirt, and what actually comes back to you if the project fails.
Thomas Druck PA has been a Miami broker since 2006 and works primarily with absentee owners — including pre-construction buyers wiring deposits from another state or another country toward a unit they will not see finished for years. This guide is the overview for that buyer: the milestone structure in the current Miami cycle, the Florida Statute 718.202 escrow-versus-release mechanics done correctly (including the boldface legend on page one of the contract that most buyers sign without reading), assignment rights and what they are actually worth, the developer-failure math, and the cash-flow calendar the realtor runs alongside the construction timeline. Three deeper guides in this series cover the contract clauses worth attorney time, the pre-construction-versus-resale decision, and the financing options at each phase.
What a Miami pre-construction deposit schedule actually involves (and how this guide is organized)
A pre-construction deposit schedule means three different things depending on the buyer: (a) the future resident -- buying a primary or second home 2 to 4 years ahead of delivery, for whom the schedule is a savings plan with a contractual deadline attached to every installment; (b) the investor -- buying to rent at delivery or exit by assignment before it, for whom the schedule is capital deployment and the assignment clause is the exit door; (c) the international buyer -- wiring each milestone from abroad, planning an end-loan at delivery, and often handling ITIN setup and future-FIRPTA questions during the build period. Each bucket reads the same deposit schedule differently, and each has a different relationship to the escrow-versus-release question this guide centers on.
How this guide and its three companion guides divide the work: this article is the overview -- the milestone structure, the Florida Statute 718.202 escrow mechanics, assignment economics, the developer-failure math, and the cash-flow calendar. Developer Contract Redlines That Matter covers WHAT in the contract moves risk: assignment clauses, outside delivery dates, escrow-release language, default and remedy terms -- the clauses worth attorney time. Pre-Construction vs Resale in Miami covers WHETHER pre-construction is the right vehicle at all: price trajectory, carrying costs, and how a brand-new tower compares against Milestone-era resale inventory. Pre-Construction Financing Options covers HOW the money side works phase by phase: the cash deposit period, the end-loan landscape at delivery, and the foreign-national programs. Read this one first; go deeper where your situation demands it.
The 5 things every pre-construction buyer should plan for before signing the developer contract
- The deposit schedule as a cash-flow calendar. The full milestone calendar — typically 40 to 50 percent across contract, groundbreaking, a mid-construction milestone, and top-off, over 24 to 48 months — is published in the purchase agreement on day one. Map every installment against your liquidity events before signing: investment maturities, property sales, bonus cycles. A missed milestone wire is a buyer default with deposit-forfeiture consequences spelled out in the contract, not a payment plan you can re-negotiate mid-build. Foreign buyers add wire logistics: every milestone is an international transfer with documentation and timing risk.
- The escrow-versus-release split — find the legend. Florida Statute 718.202 escrows the first 10 percent with an independent agent, full stop. Everything above 10 percent is releasable to the developer for construction once work begins IF the contract says so in the statute’s required boldface legend on page one. No bond backs that release. Which deposits stay protected and which become construction money is a contract fact you can verify in thirty seconds — the mechanics are in the deposit-mechanics section below.
- The contract terms that move risk. Assignment rights, the outside delivery date, escrow-release language, default and remedy clauses, and the developer’s unilateral-change provisions vary tower to tower and are where a Florida real estate attorney earns the fee — Florida’s 15-day rescission window (Statute 718.503) exists precisely for this review. The clause-by-clause map is Developer Contract Redlines That Matter
- Whether pre-construction is the right vehicle at all. The same dollars buy existing inventory with no construction risk, immediate use, and a discount to pre-con pricing in parts of the current market — or a unit in a brand-new tower that will not face its first Milestone inspection for decades. The decision framework is Pre-Construction vs Resale in Miami
- The financing reality — cash now, loan later. Financing is generally not available during the deposit period; deposits come from buyer funds. The mortgage enters at delivery as an end-loan — and qualifying happens then, at then-current rates and programs, not at contract. Foreign nationals have a dedicated end-loan lane (see Foreign National Mortgages in Miami); the full phase-by-phase funding picture is Pre-Construction Financing Options
How Thomas Druck PA works with pre-construction buyers
- Discovery call — before you reserve, ideally. 30 minutes, no obligation. We map your buyer bucket (future resident, investor, international), your delivery horizon, your deposit liquidity across the likely milestone calendar, and your exit assumptions — the project shortlist falls out of those answers.
- Developer and project screen. Before contract: developer track record on delivered Miami towers (the released portion of your deposits is underwritten by nothing else), the named escrow agent and their independence, whether the contract carries the construction-use legend, and how the proposed schedule compares against current market norms — an off-market deposit structure is a signal worth understanding before you wire anything.
- Contract-phase coordination. Florida Statute 718.503 gives you 15 days after receiving the full condominium documents to cancel for any reason with a full refund — that window is for your Florida real estate attorney’s contract review, and we coordinate it: flagging the deposit, assignment, and delivery-date terms the attorney should weigh, while the attorney does the legal reading.
- Milestone tracking through construction. Wire-date reminders ahead of each milestone with verification of the escrow agent’s wiring instructions (wire fraud targets exactly these large scheduled transfers), construction-progress updates against the milestone calendar, and assignment-window monitoring if your contract allows an exit before delivery.
- Delivery and closing coordination. Pre-closing walkthrough and punch list, end-loan coordination if financing (including foreign-national programs), and closing logistics — remote closing via RON + POA is the default workflow for absentee buyers since 2006.
The deposit mechanics (the actually-hard parts)
FS 718.202 done correctly -- what is escrowed, what gets released, and the page-one legend
The statute splits your deposits into two regimes. The first 10 percent of the purchase price goes into escrow with an agent who must be independent of the developer -- a bank, Florida Bar attorney, registered broker, title insurer, or qualifying institution; no developer officer, affiliate, or employee may hold it. Every dollar above 10 percent also starts in a special escrow account -- but if the purchase contract provides for it, the developer may withdraw those funds once construction of improvements has begun and spend them on the actual costs of construction and development. The statute polices this with one conspicuous disclosure: a contract that permits construction use must carry, in boldfaced type on the first page immediately above the buyer's signature line, the legend "ANY PAYMENT IN EXCESS OF 10 PERCENT OF THE PURCHASE PRICE MADE TO DEVELOPER PRIOR TO CLOSING PURSUANT TO THIS CONTRACT MAY BE USED FOR CONSTRUCTION PURPOSES BY THE DEVELOPER." Two things most explainers get wrong: there is NO surety-bond or letter-of-credit requirement backing the construction-use release -- the bond and letter-of-credit provisions in the statute exist as substitutes for the escrow account itself, a different mechanism; and the escrow agent may hold everything in a single account with separate accounting, so "where exactly is my money" is a records question, not an account-number question. Practically: nearly every current Miami pre-construction contract carries the legend, because deposit releases are how developers part-fund construction. The point is not to avoid it -- it is to sign knowing that everything above 10 percent is construction money the day work begins.
What released deposits may pay for -- and the October 2024 line
The 2024 condominium legislation (chapter 2024-244) tightened the definition of the actual costs released deposits may fund: demolition, site clearing, permit fees, impact fees, utility reservation fees, and architectural, engineering, and surveying fees directly related to construction all qualify; salaries and sales commissions, advertising and marketing, loan fees and interest, attorney fees, accounting fees, and insurance costs are explicitly excluded. The narrowed definition applies to condominiums whose declarations were recorded on or after October 1, 2024 -- which is precisely the cohort a 2026 buyer is contracting into. Most published deposit-schedule content predates this change and still describes the older, looser standard.
The developer-failure math -- what actually comes back
If the project is canceled or the developer fails, deposits still sitting in escrow are refundable to the buyer -- and the statute has real teeth behind the escrow obligation: a willful violation is a third-degree felony, and a contract that fails the section's requirements is voidable by the buyer with interest. Deposits the developer has already withdrawn and spent on construction are a different story: that money is in the ground, and the buyer holds an unsecured claim against the developer for it -- typically behind the construction lender's mortgage on the very improvements the deposits paid for. Layered on top are the contract-side protections: most Miami contracts carry an outside delivery date after which the buyer may cancel and recover deposits, and the 15-day statutory rescission window at signing. The honest conclusion the sales-side content never states: on the released portion, the developer's track record and balance sheet ARE the security. That is why the developer screen comes before the deposit schedule in any sane buying process.
Assignment economics -- the exit door is contract-shaped
Whether you can sell your contract position before delivery is decided entirely by the purchase agreement. Some towers prohibit assignment outright -- you close in your own name or you default. Others permit a one-time assignment, conditioned on developer approval, full payment of deposits to date, an assignment fee (commonly a percentage of the contract price), and often a ban on publicly marketing your unit against the developer's remaining inventory. An assignment that is allowed is genuinely valuable -- the buyer reimburses your deposits and assumes the contract, monetizing appreciation without a closing -- but Florida documentary stamp taxes and income tax on the profit still apply, and the assignment fee shares your upside with the developer. Plan on the conservative assumption: deposits are committed through closing unless a clean assignment right is written into the contract you sign. The clause-level detail is Developer Contract Redlines That Matter
Pre-construction as a 1031 replacement property -- the clock rarely fits
A 1031 exchanger has, at most, 180 days from the relinquished closing to take title to the replacement property; a Miami pre-construction tower delivers in 24 to 48 months. Those two calendars do not meet -- identifying a pre-construction unit only works when the building is at or near completion (TCO imminent, closing inside the exchange window). Construction and improvement exchange structures exist for building on acquired property, but they are materially more expensive, parked with the QI, and still bounded by the 180-day rule -- CPA and QI territory, not a realtor decision. If you are exchanging into Miami, the realistic pre-con play is delivered-but-new inventory; the full exchange mechanics are in the 1031 Exchange Miami Condo Guide.
Common mistakes pre-construction buyers make in Miami
- Reading the headline percentage instead of the release mechanics. Two towers both asking "50 percent by top-off" can carry completely different risk profiles depending on what the contract says about construction use of deposits and who the escrow agent is. The deposit schedule tells you WHEN you pay; the escrow-release terms tell you what you are actually exposed to.
- Signing a milestone calendar that does not fit your liquidity. The schedule is published at contract and enforceable installment by installment -- a missed milestone wire is a default, and the contract's remedy is typically retention of deposits paid. Map the calendar against your actual cash events before signing, not after the groundbreaking notice arrives.
- Counting on an assignment exit you never secured. Assignment is contract permission, not a market right. If the contract prohibits it -- or conditions it on approvals and fees you did not price in -- your "flip at top-off" strategy is actually a "close and resell" strategy with a second closing's costs attached.
- Wasting the 15-day rescission window. Florida Statute 718.503 gives a pre-construction buyer 15 days after receiving the condominium documents to cancel for any reason with a full refund. That is the attorney-review window for the deposit, assignment, and delivery-date clauses -- buyers who treat it as a formality discover the contract's actual terms years later, when amending is no longer free.
- Planning the end-loan like a resale mortgage. No lender locks a rate 2 to 4 years out; qualifying happens at delivery, at then-current rates, programs, and personal circumstances. Build rate and qualification buffer into the plan -- and if you are a foreign national, line up the end-loan lane early (see Foreign National Mortgages in Miami); the full financing picture is Pre-Construction Financing Options
What this article does not cover
This guide covers the deposit side of a Miami pre-construction purchase -- the milestone structure, the Florida Statute 718.202 escrow-versus-release mechanics, assignment economics, the developer-failure math, and the cash-flow calendar. It does not cover: legal review of the purchase agreement (that is a Florida real estate attorney's job inside the 15-day rescission window; Developer Contract Redlines That Matter maps the clauses worth the attorney's time, but the attorney does the reading); the pre-construction-versus-resale decision Pre-Construction vs Resale in Miami; financing program selection and end-loan mechanics Pre-Construction Financing Options, and Foreign National Mortgages in Miami for the international lane); tax treatment of assignment profits or of the eventual sale -- including FIRPTA withholding when a foreign owner ultimately sells (see FIRPTA For Future Sellers) -- which belongs with your CPA; 1031 deadline analysis beyond the timing reality named above (your CPA and QI, plus the 1031 Exchange Miami Condo Guide); and project-by-project comparisons of current Miami towers, which change quarter to quarter and are exactly what the discovery call is for. The Miami broker handles the Miami real estate; the attorney reads the contract; the CPA owns the tax questions; the escrow agent holds the money.
Quick answers for pre-construction buyers
What is a typical Miami pre-construction deposit schedule in 2026?
Most current Miami pre-construction towers structure deposits as 40 to 50 percent of purchase price pre-closing, broken into milestone payments tied to construction progress: 10 to 20 percent at contract signing, 10 percent at groundbreaking, 10 percent at a mid-construction milestone, and 10 percent at top-off. The remaining 50 to 60 percent is due at closing when the unit delivers. Schedules vary by developer and tower — read every contract.
Are pre-construction deposits held in escrow or used by the developer for construction?
Both, in sequence — Florida Statute 718.202 sets the split. The first 10 percent of the purchase price must sit in escrow with an escrow agent independent of the developer until closing. Deposits above 10 percent also start in escrow, but the developer may withdraw them once construction begins and spend them on actual construction and development costs — if the contract discloses this in a required boldface legend on its first page. No surety bond is required to back that construction release; bonds and letters of credit appear in the statute only as substitutes for the escrow account itself. Check page one of your contract for the legend — it tells you that everything above 10 percent becomes construction money.
What happens to my deposits if the developer cancels the project or goes bankrupt?
Deposits still held in escrow come back to the buyer — Florida Statute 718.202 protects them, a non-compliant contract is voidable with interest, and willful escrow violations are a third-degree felony. Deposits the developer already withdrew and spent on construction are different: if the project fails, the buyer holds an unsecured claim against the developer for that portion, typically behind the construction lender. Most contracts also carry an outside delivery date with cancellation and refund rights if the building does not deliver on time. The real risk variable is not the headline deposit percentage — it is how much of it left escrow, and the financial strength of the developer who spent it.
Can I assign or sell my pre-construction contract before the building completes?
Sometimes — the contract specifies assignment rights. Some Miami developers prohibit assignment until closing to control the resale market and protect their own remaining inventory pricing. Others allow assignment with developer approval and a fee. Assignment-allowed contracts trade at a premium because they enable pre-completion flips.
Can a foreign buyer finance a pre-construction Miami condo?
At closing yes — foreign national mortgage programs cover pre-construction completions. During the deposit period (2 to 4 years between contract and delivery), financing is generally not available — deposits are paid in cash from buyer funds. Some HNW buyers pledge or bridge against home-country assets for the deposit phase, then permanent-finance at closing.
Should I negotiate the deposit schedule with the developer?
On most Miami pre-construction towers, the deposit schedule is contractually standard across all units and not negotiable individually. Premium buyers (multi-unit purchases, full-floor commitments) sometimes negotiate compressed schedules or partial deferrals. Solo unit buyers typically take the standard schedule — the negotiation lever is price per square foot, not deposit timing.
Related resources
- Developer Contract Redlines That Matter -- the WHAT-to-negotiate guide: assignment clauses, outside delivery dates, escrow-release language, default and remedy terms -- the clauses worth attorney time inside the 15-day rescission window.
- Pre-Construction vs Resale in Miami -- the WHETHER guide: price trajectory, carrying costs, construction risk, and how a brand-new tower compares against Milestone-era resale inventory.
- Pre-Construction Financing Options -- the HOW-to-fund guide: the cash deposit period, the end-loan landscape at delivery, and the foreign-national programs phase by phase.
- Foreign National Mortgages in Miami -- the end-loan lane for international pre-construction buyers at delivery.
- ITIN Setup for Foreign Buyers -- the tax-ID step international buyers can handle comfortably during a multi-year build period.
- 1031 Exchange Miami Condo Guide -- the exchange clocks, and why they rarely fit a pre-construction delivery timeline.
- FIRPTA For Future Sellers -- what a foreign pre-construction buyer should understand at purchase about the eventual sale.
- Non-Resident Buyers hub -- the full overview of the 16-article series.
Looking at a Miami pre-construction contract?
Start with a Pre-Purchase Net + Risk Review on the project — before you sign, not after. Written breakdown of the developer’s delivery track record, the named escrow agent and the contract’s deposit-release terms, the milestone calendar mapped against current market norms, assignment terms, and projected carrying costs at delivery. No obligation. Contract legal review belongs with your Florida real estate attorney inside the 15-day rescission window; tax treatment of deposits, assignment profits, and any 1031 timing stays with your CPA — the Net + Risk Review covers the Miami real estate mechanics so their review starts from a vetted project.