A method, not an opinion
Every record in this method is public. None of it requires a licence, a subscription or a phone call.
Buyers ask me whether a pre-construction tower will deliver on time. The useful answer is not my opinion — it is a method they can run themselves, on public records, in about ten minutes.
1. Find the developer’s own published date
Not the date a listing site repeats. The date the developer published, in a brochure, a filing or a press statement, with a date attached to it. Write it down along with where you found it. This is your baseline, and most people skip it.
2. Check the building permit record
Permits are dated and public. You are looking for two things: whether a vertical construction permit exists, and whether inspections are progressing through it. A permit issued eighteen months ago with no subsequent inspection activity is the clearest signal available that a project is not moving.
3. Look for a recorded construction loan
Large towers are not built out of deposits alone. A construction mortgage is recorded in the county’s official records and is searchable by the developer entity or the folio. Its presence is not a guarantee. Its absence, on a project claiming to be under construction, is a question you should get answered in writing.
4. Check whether the county has issued folios
When a condominium declaration is recorded, the Property Appraiser creates a folio for each unit. No folios means no recorded declaration, which means the building is not close to closing units, whatever the sales schedule says. It is a blunt instrument and a reliable one.
Then compare
Put the developer’s published date next to what the permits, the loan record and the folio status actually show. If they agree, you have a schedule. If they do not, you have a marketing document.
This is the same method behind our own tracker, which is why 22 of the 38 towers we follow are recorded as having moved a published date. None of that came from a source you cannot check yourself.
Frequently asked questions
Can I check a Miami construction schedule without a real estate agent?
Yes. Permits, recorded mortgages and Property Appraiser folio records are all public and searchable, and together they show whether a project is actually progressing.
What does it mean if a building has no folios yet?
It means no condominium declaration has been recorded for it. The building cannot close individual units until that happens, regardless of what the sales timeline says.
Is a missing construction loan always a problem?
Not always, but on a tower marketed as under construction it is the question most worth getting answered in writing before you commit a deposit.
Sources and further reading
- Josh Stein Realtor — Miami Pre-Construction Delivery Trackerjoshsteinrealtor.com
- Florida Statute 553.899 — mandatory structural inspectionsflsenate.gov