Thomas Druck PA — Miami real estate
FAQ · ABSENTEE & INTERNATIONAL CONDO SELLERS

HOW TO SELL YOUR MIAMI CONDO FROM GERMANY

Quick answer:

Selling a Miami condo from Germany, Austria, or Switzerland is fully doable without traveling — if you work with an agent who has a real remote process and understands the seller-side issues that matter to international owners. The non-obvious challenges are FIRPTA withholding, accurate net-proceeds estimation, special assessment exposure, and proper power-of-attorney coordination. Plan for 60-120 days from listing to closing, expect about 15% of the sale price to be withheld at closing under FIRPTA (refundable later via tax filing), and choose an agent who’s done this specific transaction many times — not just any Miami Realtor.

If you’re reading this from Munich, Vienna, or Zurich, you probably bought your Miami condo five, ten, maybe fifteen years ago. Maybe it was a vacation place. Maybe it was an investment. Either way — life has moved on, the building is hitting its 40-year recertification, the HOA fees keep climbing, and you’re done.

The good news: you don’t need to fly to Miami. Not for the listing, not for the showings, not for closing. The entire transaction can happen remotely if it’s set up correctly.

The complicated news: most Miami real estate agents have no real process for absentee international sellers. They’ll happily list your property, but when you ask “what will I actually net after FIRPTA, the assessment, and the prorations?” — you’ll often get a vague answer. That gap is what costs international sellers money.

This guide walks you through what actually matters.

The remote sale process — what really happens

Here’s the realistic timeline for an absentee seller.

Week 1-2: Preparation

  • Initial consultation (video call, in your time zone — or Tom calls you in Deutsch if preferred)
  • Net + Risk Review delivered: you see your estimated net proceeds before committing to list
  • HOA documents, special assessment status, and Milestone inspection compliance reviewed
  • Property pricing strategy finalized
  • Power of attorney (POA) drafted if needed for closing
  • Listing photos and 3D tour scheduled (your tenant or building staff coordinates entry)
 

Week 3-4: Listing goes live

  • Property listed on MLS, Zillow, Realtor.com, international platforms
  • Showings begin — coordinated by Tom, you don’t need to be present
  • Weekly written status updates in English or German
  • Offers reviewed together via video call
 

Week 5-8: Under contract

  • Offer negotiated and accepted
  • Buyer’s inspection happens — Tom attends on your behalf
  • Title work and HOA estoppel ordered
  • FIRPTA documentation prepared (your CPA’s involvement starts here)
  • Closing date scheduled
 

Week 9-12: Closing

  • Closing documents prepared in advance
  • You sign electronically (DocuSign) or via apostilled hard copy if certain documents require it
  • Closing happens in Miami — handled by title attorney, monitored by Tom
  • Net proceeds wired to your designated account (US or international)
 

You never have to set foot on a plane.

FIRPTA — the thing that catches every international seller off guard

FIRPTA stands for Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act. It’s a US federal tax law from 1980 that affects every non-US-resident who sells US real estate.

What it does: the closing agent (the title company in Florida) is required by law to withhold a portion of your sale price at closing and send it to the IRS as a placeholder against the capital gains tax you might owe.

The standard withholding rate is 15% of the gross sale price — not 15% of your gain. If you sell for $1,500,000, that’s $225,000 withheld at closing.

Critical: the 15% withholding is NOT your tax bill. It’s a deposit. Your actual tax owed is calculated based on:

  • Your original purchase price (cost basis)
  • Improvements you’ve made over the years
  • Selling expenses (commission, transfer taxes, etc.)
  • Holding period (long-term vs. short-term)
  • Applicable tax treaty between Germany/Austria/Switzerland and the US

If your actual tax owed is less than what was withheld, you file a US tax return (Form 1040-NR) and get the difference back — usually 6-12 months after closing. Many international sellers recover most of the withheld amount.

Reductions to the 15% rate: in some cases, you can apply for a withholding certificate (Form 8288-B) before closing that reduces or eliminates the withholding upfront. This requires advance coordination with your CPA — typically 90+ days before closing — and isn’t always granted. If you qualify and time it correctly, this can dramatically improve your cash flow at closing.

Tom’s role with FIRPTA: Tom is not a tax advisor and doesn’t give tax advice. What Tom does:

  • Identifies FIRPTA exposure during the Net + Risk Review (so you’re not surprised)
  • Coordinates the withholding paperwork with the closing agent
  • Refers you to specialist CPAs who handle FIRPTA for German-speaking clients
  • Times the closing in coordination with any Form 8288-B application your CPA submits

 

Common mistakes: Selling without consulting a US tax advisor first. Assuming the 15% is your final tax. Missing the Form 8288-B window. Trying to hide your foreign status — this exposes you to penalties.

Power of attorney and remote signing for international closings

Most international sellers assume “remote closing” means signing PDFs by email. The reality is more nuanced — Florida real estate closings require notarization on key documents (the deed, in particular), and notarization isn’t something a regular e-signature platform can do on its own. There are three real options.

Option A: Remote Online Notarization (RON) + electronic signature
This is now the most common path for international sellers and the one I recommend by default. Florida is one of the US states that fully recognizes Remote Online Notarization, which means a Florida-commissioned notary can witness and notarize your signature live over a video call.

Here’s how a RON session typically works:

  • You schedule a 30-60 minute video appointment with a RON-certified Florida notary
  • You join from anywhere in the world (Germany, Austria, Switzerland — wherever you are) on a laptop, tablet, or smartphone with a camera
  • You upload a government-issued ID (passport works for non-US residents) for identity verification
  • The system asks you knowledge-based authentication questions (KBA) — typically based on US public records or, for foreign sellers, alternative ID verification
  • The notary verifies your identity, watches you sign each document electronically, and applies their digital notary seal
  • The complete signed/notarized package is returned digitally to the closing agent

 

What you need: a quiet location with stable internet, a working camera/microphone, and your passport. No printer, no scanner, no courier.

Cost: typically $85-150 per notarization session (often paid by the seller as part of closing costs).

Florida limitations to be aware of: KBA can occasionally fail for international sellers because the system pulls from US-only public records. When that happens, the notary uses alternate verification methods, but it can add 15-30 minutes to the session. Tom coordinates with notary platforms that have strong international experience to minimize this.

Option B: Traditional Power of Attorney (POA)
For sellers who can’t or don’t want to do a video session, the older alternative is to grant Power of Attorney to a designated representative in Miami (often Tom, or a Florida real estate attorney) who signs on your behalf at closing.

The POA itself must be:

  • Drafted by a Florida real estate attorney
  • Signed by you in front of a notary in your country
    Apostilled (Hague Convention apostille) by your local government office
  • Couriered as an original document to the closing agent in Miami before closing

Cost: roughly $300-800 in attorney fees plus apostille fees in your country (usually $20-100). Timeline: 2-3 weeks if everything moves smoothly, longer if your local apostille office is slow.

Option C: Mail-away closing with apostilled originals
The most traditional path: closing documents are couriered to you, you sign in front of a notary in your country, the notary apostilles, you courier the package back to Miami. Takes 1-2 weeks roundtrip and costs $100-300 in courier fees, plus your local notary and apostille costs.

Tom’s recommendation: Option A (RON) for almost every international seller in 2026. It’s faster, cheaper, easier to schedule across time zones, and avoids the courier/apostille headaches. Option B is the fallback if RON doesn’t work for your specific situation. Option C is rarely worth the time and cost anymore. The right call gets decided during the Net + Risk Review based on your specific documents and timing.

What absentee sellers really net

This is where most general agents get it wrong. The headline list price is not what you walk away with.

Real example: $1,500,000 condo sale in Brickell, owner residing in Germany.

Line item Amount
Sale price$1,500,000
Real estate commission (typical 5-6%)-$75,000 to -$90,000
Title insurance & closing fees-$8,000 to -$12,000
Florida documentary stamp tax (transfer tax)-$10,500
HOA estoppel & transfer fees-$500 to -$1,500
Pending special assessment payoff (if any)varies — $0 to $50,000+
Mortgage payoff (if applicable)varies
Pro-rated property taxvaries
Pro-rated HOA feesvaries
FIRPTA withholding (15% of gross)-$225,000 (refundable later)
Net wire to seller at closing$1,050,000 - $1,150,000

The FIRPTA portion comes back later via tax filing (assuming your actual tax liability is lower), but at the moment of wire transfer, your bank account sees roughly 70% of the headline price.

This is why “what’s my condo worth?” is the wrong first question. The right first question is “what will I actually receive at closing?” — which is exactly what the Absentee Condo Seller Net + Risk Review answers.

HOA, special assessments, and Milestone exposure

If your condo is in a building that’s older than 30 years (and many Brickell, Miami Beach, and Edgewater buildings are), Florida’s Milestone Inspection law applies.

This is the law passed after the Surfside collapse in 2021. Buildings 30+ years old must complete a structural assessment, and any required repairs become assessments on the unit owners. For some buildings, that’s $20,000 per unit. For others, it’s $200,000+.

As an international seller, you face three interconnected questions:

  1. What’s the current Milestone status of your building? (Inspected? Phase 2 required? Repairs scheduled?)
  2. Is there a special assessment already voted on, currently pending, or expected
  3. What’s your disclosure obligation?

 

You must disclose any known special assessment to buyers. Failure to disclose creates legal exposure post-closing — even after you’ve moved the proceeds back to Europe. This is a real risk for international sellers who think distance equals safety. It does not.

Tom’s HOA & Special Assessment Analysis is included in the Net + Risk Review. We review the building’s financials, recent meeting minutes, Milestone reports, and Reserve Study, and tell you exactly what your exposure is — before you list.

Choosing the right agent

Three questions to ask any Miami agent before signing a listing agreement:

  1. “How many absentee or international sellers have you represented in the last 24 months?”
    You want a number, not a vague answer. The right answer is double-digit, not “a few.”
  2. “Walk me through your remote closing process. What gets signed how?”
    If they fumble or talk vaguely about “we’ll figure it out,” they don’t have a process.
  3. “Show me a sample net sheet for a property like mine.”
    A specialist has these ready. A generalist doesn’t.
 

If German is your primary language, add a fourth: ask the agent to switch to Deutsch mid-conversation. If they can’t, the bilingual claim is marketing.

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