North Miami, North Miami Beach, or a neighbor?

North Miami and North Miami Beach are separate cities, each with its own building department and code enforcement. Biscayne Park, Miami Shores, and pockets of unincorporated Miami-Dade sit right alongside them, and plenty of addresses in all of these places simply say Miami.

The difference matters when you sell. Open permits, code liens, and unpaid city charges are tracked by whichever government actually covers the lot, and that's where the municipal lien search will look. Knowing the right one early keeps surprises out of the last week before closing.

Canal-front homes in Keystone Point and Sans Souci

On the bay side, neighborhoods such as Keystone Point and Sans Souci are laced with canals that open onto Biscayne Bay. Boat access is the draw. The water is also where most of the expense lives.

  • Seawalls. Cracked caps, leaning panels, or soil washing out behind the wall usually mean a costly repair.
  • King tides. The highest tides of the year, mostly in the fall, can push water up through storm drains and over low seawalls on a sunny day.
  • Flood insurance. Most bayside lots sit in FEMA flood zones, so a buyer's lender will require coverage, and older homes built below today's flood elevations can be expensive to insure.
  • The 50 percent rule. If repair or improvement costs hit 50 percent of what the building itself is worth, the home generally must be brought up to current floodplain rules, which can mean elevating it.
  • Docks and boat lifts. Their condition and permit history are part of the sale too.

Terrazzo under the carpet: North Miami's older blocks

Away from the water, much of North Miami is single-story homes from the 1940s and 1950s, with duplexes and small apartment buildings mixed in along the busier streets near NE 125th Street, the city's main commercial corridor. Pull up the carpet in many of these houses and you'll find terrazzo. Run a camera through the drains and you'll often find the original cast iron.

Many were also enlarged over the years with a family room, an extra bedroom, or an enclosed porch, and not every addition was permitted. We make offers on these homes with the additions in place.

When the heirs live in another country

North Miami is home to one of the largest Haitian-American communities in the country, and many families here have close relatives abroad. When a parent's house passes to children living in different countries, getting everyone's signature can be the hardest part of the sale.

It's usually solvable without anyone flying in. Depending on where each heir lives, the title company may accept a signature before a notary at a U.S. embassy or consulate, a remote online notarization, or a mobile notary in another state. We can set a closing date that leaves time for documents to travel.

Frequently asked questions

How do I know whether my house is in North Miami or North Miami Beach?

Your property tax bill lists the municipality, and so does the parcel's record on the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser's website. We confirm it as part of our review, too.

Will you buy a Keystone Point home with a failing seawall?

Yes. We account for the seawall's condition in our offer, and you don't need to repair or permit anything first.

Some of the heirs live outside the U.S. Can we still sell our mother's house?

Usually, yes. Each heir can sign where they live, and the title company will say which forms of notarization it accepts. We plan the closing date around that.

Do king tides affect your offer on a North Miami home?

They can. We look at how often water reaches the property, its flood zone, and its elevation, and we explain how those shaped our number.