Can You Sell a Miami Condo Without an Agent in 2026?
Salome Penailillo
Written by Salome Penailillo, Broker/Owner, who has closed condo transactions across Miami-Dade and Broward since 2013, Florida license 3275437
Yes, and it is legal, straightforward, and done every day. What stops most owners is not the paperwork. It is three South Florida steps that do not exist in the guides written for the rest of the country.
Owners who sell alone are now 5% of the market
In 2025, homes sold directly by their owners made up 5% of all United States sales, an all-time low.
The median owner-sold home closed at $360,000. The median agent-assisted sale closed at $425,000.
That gap is not pure commission savings lost. Owner sales skew toward lower-priced properties and off-market deals to buyers the seller already knew. But one finding is hard to explain away: 40% of owners selling on their own did no active marketing of the property at all.
The decision is not agent versus no agent. It is whether the money you keep is larger than the money you leave on the table.
Your building's average price is not your price
In a condominium market, the building average is close to useless.
Value lives in the line. The stack, the exposure, the floor, and whether the residence has been touched since delivery. Two units in the same tower with the same square footage can be 20% apart on a defensible basis.
What moves your number is your building's absorption rate, its reserve funding status, and how your specific line and floor compare to the last 90 days of closed sales in that building.
None of those three appear on Zillow or Redfin. Most owners go to market without knowing any of them.
The number that decides whether selling alone works
Miami-Dade sellers received 93.1% of their original list price in July 2026.
Read that as a margin. The average seller, working with representation, gave up almost 7% between the price they announced and the price they accepted.
A median Miami-Dade condo now takes 86 days to go under contract. A year earlier it was 65. In the $1 million to $1.25 million range the median is 130 days, up from 66. That segment has essentially doubled its time on market in twelve months.
Inventory sits at roughly 12 months of supply. That is still a buyer's market, though it has improved from 14.1 months a year ago.
Here is the arithmetic that matters if you are selling alone. You save the listing side of the commission. You still almost certainly pay the buyer's side, because buyers arrive with agents and offering nothing shrinks your buyer pool sharply. Then you have to beat 93.1% of your own asking price, on your own, against a professional whose job is to get that number down.
Some owners do. The ones who do usually have a strong building, a correctly set price in the first three weeks, and time.
The step that ends most owner-run sales
This is where South Florida stops resembling the rest of the country.
A buyer can be approved by a lender, fully funded, and ready to close, and still be stopped by the condominium association. Owners selling alone almost always start this track too late.
What a Florida seller has to deliver on a resale
On the resale of a condominium unit, Florida law requires the seller to hand the buyer the association's declaration, articles, bylaws and rules, the current budget and most recent annual financial statement, the milestone inspection summary where one applies, the structural integrity reserve study or a written statement that none has been completed, the turnover inspection report for inspections after July 1, 2023, the frequently asked questions document, and the state governance form.
The buyer's cancellation right runs from that delivery. The contract must either confirm the buyer received everything more than seven days before signing, or give the buyer seven days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, to void the agreement in writing.
Late delivery does not just annoy the buyer. It moves your closing date.
Alongside that, you are ordering the estoppel certificate from the association, getting the buyer's application in immediately, and confirming the approval window, the fees, and any interview requirement in writing. If the building caps leasing, an investor buyer is not a buyer, and you want to know that on day one rather than in week six.
The disclosure that is now working in your favor
Since 2022, Florida has required milestone inspections and structural integrity reserve studies for residential condominium buildings of three or more habitable stories. Milestone inspections are due at 30 years of age and every 10 years after, earlier where local rules apply.
For three years, owners in older buildings treated this as a liability. The data has turned.
Condominium sales in buildings 25 years and older rose 9.7% from January through July 2026, faster than the 2.0% rise in newer buildings. Distressed condominium sales in Miami-Dade totaled 160 in 2025. In 2010 the figure was roughly 10,000.
Buyers came back once the reports existed. Anxiety priced those buildings down, disclosure is pricing them back up, and a seller who has the milestone summary and the reserve study in hand now has an argument rather than an apology.
A pending special assessment does not have to kill your sale. Hiding one will. Florida law obligates a seller to disclose known facts that materially affect value, whether or not the buyer asks.
The question most owners never ask before they list
What would my residence actually close for today, not what would I list it for?
Those are two different numbers. The gap between them is where time, carrying costs and negotiation happen.
If you are selling on your own, that gap is also your entire profit margin. Price it wrong in the first three weeks and you spend the rest of the listing recovering exposure you cannot get back, because search visibility is front-loaded and a price correction never restores it.
What a Miami seller actually has to produce
Every line below is an open item until it is done, and open items become closing delays.
• Seller's Property Disclosure covering known material defects
• Association governing documents, current budget and annual financial statement
• Milestone inspection summary and structural integrity reserve study, where they apply
• Estoppel certificate from the association or its manager
• Buyer's association application, fees, background check and interview where required
• Executed contract on the standard Florida forms, plus the condominium rider
• Escrow deposit held by a licensed escrow agent, never in your own account
• Title commitment, municipal lien search and resolution of any open permits
• Payoff letters for the mortgage, any equity line, solar lease or recorded lien
• Radon disclosure on every Florida transfer, and lead-based paint where the building predates 1978
Two costs owners routinely miss. Florida documentary stamp tax on the deed runs $0.70 per $100 of consideration statewide, and in Miami-Dade $0.60 per $100 on a single-family residence or $0.60 plus a $0.45 surtax per $100 on other property. And if you are not a United States tax resident, federal law generally requires the buyer to withhold 15% of the gross sale price at closing, with reduced rates and an exception available on lower-priced residences the buyer will occupy
Common questions about selling a Miami condo without an agent
Can I legally sell my condo in Florida without a real estate agent?
Yes. Florida does not require a licensed agent to sell your own property. You do have to meet the same disclosure, escrow and association requirements a licensed seller would.
How much does it cost to sell a condo in Miami?
Typical seller costs are documentary stamp tax on the deed, the municipal lien search and recording, the estoppel fee, prorated taxes and association dues through closing, title insurance where custom assigns it to the seller, and any buyer-agent compensation you choose to offer. Title insurance is customarily paid by the seller in Broward and by the buyer in Miami-Dade, but it is negotiable in every contract.
Do I still pay a commission if I sell my condo myself?
Usually part of one. Most buyers are represented, and offering no buyer-agent compensation sharply reduces the number of buyers who will see and show your unit. What you save is the listing side.
How long does condominium association approval take in Miami?
Two to four weeks is typical, including the application, fee, background check and, in some buildings, an interview. Some Miami Beach and Brickell Key buildings run longer. Start it the day you go under contract.
What documents does a Florida condo seller have to give the buyer?
The declaration, articles, bylaws and rules, the current budget and most recent annual financial statement, the milestone inspection summary and structural integrity reserve study where applicable, the turnover inspection report for inspections after July 1, 2023, the frequently asked questions document, and the governance form. The buyer has seven days, excluding weekends and legal holidays, to void the contract after receiving them.
How long does it take to sell a condo in Miami-Dade right now?
A median of 86 days to go under contract as of July 2026, up from 65 a year earlier. Between $1 million and $1.25 million the median is 130 days.
Are older Miami condo buildings hard to sell after the new Florida inspection laws?
Less than they were. Sales in buildings 25 years and older rose 9.7% from January through July 2026, faster than newer buildings, and distressed condominium sales in Miami-Dade fell to 160 in 2025 from roughly 10,000 in 2010. Having the milestone inspection and reserve study in hand is now an advantage.
Do I have to pay tax if I am a foreign seller of Miami property?
Federal law generally requires the buyer to withhold 15% of the gross sale price when the seller is a foreign person, with reduced rates and an exception on lower-priced residences the buyer intends to occupy. It is withheld at closing, not billed later. Speak to a tax professional before you sign a contract.
Know what it takes before you list.
Every residence has two numbers: what it lists for, and what it closes for. We prepare a confidential analysis of both, specific to your building and your line, whether you end up listing with us or selling on your own.
We also publish a 13-page South Florida seller's guide covering the full sequence, from pricing through the closing table.
Salome Penailillo, Broker/Owner
Real Estate Sales International Inc.
2031 Harrison St, Hollywood, FL 33020
Florida Real Estate License 3275437
Serving Miami-Dade and Broward Counties. English and Spanish.
Market data: MIAMI Association of REALTORS, Miami-Dade County Townhouses and Condos report, July 2026. National sale-method data: National Association of REALTORS, 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. Migration and segment data: Gay Cororaton, Chief Economist, MIAMI REALTORS and RWorld, "Follow the Money, Find the Opportunity," Rock The Market Miami, September 18, 2026. Florida requirements per Fla. Stat. 718.503, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, and the Florida Department of Revenue. This article is general information, not legal or tax advice..
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