Miami condo financing — because here, the building gets underwritten too.

Because two borrowers get underwritten: you and the building. Lenders review the HOA's budget, reserves, insurance, litigation, and renter percentage — and Miami buildings fail those tests more often than anywhere in the country. The fix is knowing the building's status before you contract, and matching it to the right program from day one.

Common triggers: active litigation, more than allowed commercial space, heavy investor concentration, one entity owning too many units, a developer still controlling the HOA, inadequate reserves, or a new project without agency approval. In Miami these are everyday conditions, not edge cases — which is why non-warrantable programs matter here.

Yes. Non-QM condo programs accept non-warrantable buildings — including litigation, up to 100% investor concentration, and new projects in presale — under current guidelines, typically with about 20% down for a primary residence and lower leverage for investment deals.

Two ways: your HOA dues count in your qualifying payment, so a $400 jump in dues directly cuts your budget; and a large special assessment can affect the building's approval itself. I pull the budget and assessment history before you commit — in Miami, that document tells you more than the listing photos.

Sometimes. Vacation-rental-style condo projects have case-by-case paths on top program tiers, but true condo-hotels with front-desk operations are generally not financeable with residential mortgages. If the building runs like a hotel, plan on different money — ask me before you contract.

Sí, en muchos casos — litigios, muchos inversionistas, o edificios nuevos sin aprobación de las agencias tienen programas dedicados, generalmente con alrededor de 20% de entrada. Lo importante es revisar el edificio antes de firmar el contrato. Envíeme la dirección y le digo qué camino tiene.

Often yes, but usually not a conventional one while the finding is open. An open structural finding is a project-level problem, so the path is either a program that underwrites the asset rather than the agency's project approval, or waiting for the association to close the item out. Send me the inspection report and the association's response and I will tell you which of those you are actually looking at.

A Structural Integrity Reserve Study prices the building's major structural components and sets what the association must reserve for them. Lenders ask because it shows whether the budget is realistic and whether a large assessment is coming. A building with a completed study and funded reserves reviews far better than one with neither.

Frequently, yes — most often against the equity in the unit rather than through the association. The starting point is the association's written payoff or installment figure, not a number over the phone, because that figure determines the structure. Whether it is better to pay it, finance it, or wait depends on the building's status, and you will get a straight read either way.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac maintain project lists they will not lend on. A building can be added over deferred maintenance, insurance problems or unresolved structural findings, and owners are rarely notified. It is not a judgment about you or your unit — but it does mean conventional financing is off the table until the project is resolved.

Yes. Non-warrantable is a statement about the building, not about you, and asset-based lending exists for exactly that gap — litigation, investor concentration, commercial space, new construction without agency approval, or an open structural item. The realistic plan is usually to finance it now and refinance conventionally once the project qualifies.

Yes. There is no Florida residency requirement, and buyers from other states and other countries are a normal part of this market. Income documented outside the United States is an underwriting question with known solutions, not an automatic decline.

Not automatically. What matters is the type of litigation and the exposure. Routine collection actions are treated very differently from construction-defect or structural claims. Send me the association's litigation disclosure and I will tell you which category you are in before you spend money on an appraisal.

Send me the address. I run the project review — reserves, budget, investor concentration, litigation, insurance, inspection and reserve-study status — before you are emotionally committed and before your deposit is at risk. It costs nothing and it is the single most useful thing you can do early in a Miami condo search.

Yes. Foreign national mortgage programs are built for buyers with no Social Security number and no US credit history. Qualification comes from a valid passport and visa, income documented in your home country, and bank reference letters. This is routine in Miami, not an exception.

No. It is expected. Foreign national underwriting substitutes reference letters from your own banks and documented income from your country of residence for a US credit file. What matters more is verified funds, the property, and in a condo, the building.

That is the common case, and it is exactly why conventional lending fails here twice over. Asset-based and foreign national programs underwrite the property rather than the agency project approval, so a non-warrantable building and a foreign buyer can both be handled in the same file.

Often yes. If the unit will produce rental income, a DSCR structure can qualify the loan on the property's cash flow instead of your personal income, which sidesteps the foreign-income documentation problem entirely for many buyers.