A waterfront home in Miami is two purchases: the house, and the edge of the water it sits on. Buyers who come from California are rigorous about the first and often surprised by the second.
Start with the seawall
Ask for the seawall's age, its cap elevation and any inspection reports. Miami Beach and several other municipalities now require higher cap elevations when walls are rebuilt, and a replacement can cost more than a kitchen.
Read the elevation certificate
The elevation certificate tells you where the home's lowest floor sits relative to the base flood elevation. It drives your flood insurance premium more than anything else. Newer homes built above the minimum often insure at a fraction of the cost of older ones on the same street.
The best waterfront homes were designed for the water they will face in 2050, not the water of 1990.
Bind insurance early
Florida's insurance market has stabilised since 2023, but binding wind and flood coverage on a high-value coastal home still takes time. We introduce buyers to specialist brokers on day one, so that coverage is quoted before the inspection period ends rather than after.
