We Buy Houses in Miami-Dade County

Florida is a judicial foreclosure state, meaning every foreclosure must go through the courts. In Miami-Dade, the 11th Judicial Circuit handles one of the largest foreclosure caseloads in the nation, over 9,000 active filings as of early 2026. The typical timeline from missed payment to final judgment is 12–18 months, but cases involving title disputes or bankruptcy filings can stretch to 3+ years. If you've received a lis pendens (the formal notice that a foreclosure lawsuit has been filed), you still have options. Florida law allows you to sell the property right up until the certificate of sale is filed. A cash sale can close in as little as 7 days, often fast enough to satisfy the lender and avoid the foreclosure hitting your credit.

Miami proper is where every problem unique to South Florida real estate shows up at once. Insurance costs here are the highest in the state, running $8,000 to $20,000 per year on older single-family homes, and that's before flood coverage. The city's code enforcement office doesn't wait around either: violations carry daily fines of $250 to $500, and they compound fast on properties with expired permits or unauthorized additions. Homes built before 1975 across Little Havana (33125), Liberty City, and Overtown almost always have original cast iron drain lines that have corroded through. A full repipe on those CBS block houses runs $15,000 to $25,000, and most buyers with conventional financing won't touch them once a sewer scope comes back bad. We buy these properties as-is because we're set up to do the work ourselves.

The post-Surfside condo market has created its own category of distressed seller. SB 4-D now requires structural reserve studies and 40-year recertification inspections for buildings three stories and above. Associations in Brickell (33130), the Design District corridor near Wynwood (33127), and across Miami Beach are hitting owners with special assessments ranging from $30,000 to $200,000 or more to fund concrete restoration, electrical upgrades, and waterproofing. Older towers that deferred maintenance for decades are facing the bill all at once. Owners who can't pay the assessment can't sell on the open market because buyers see the financials and walk. A cash sale bypasses the financing approval that kills these deals.

We buy in every Miami neighborhood. In Coconut Grove (33133) and Coral Way (33155), we see 1950s ranch homes where the original terrazzo is cracked and the flat roofs have been patched three or four times. Kendall (33176) has a different set of issues: cookie-cutter CBS homes from the 1980s with aging shingle roofs and aluminum wiring that insurers won't cover. Down in Homestead, properties sit closer to the agricultural line and tend to have septic systems, well water, and larger lots that complicate inspections for financed buyers. Each neighborhood has its own cost profile, and because I'm a licensed GC, I can price repairs accurately instead of guessing and lowballing.

Miami also has a large population of international and out-of-state property owners. Selling a U.S. property as a foreign national triggers FIRPTA withholding, typically 15% of the gross sale price held by the IRS at closing. Absentee landlords dealing with non-paying tenants, deferred maintenance, and code liens from 2,000 miles away don't have the bandwidth to manage a 71-day listing process. We handle FIRPTA coordination with the title company, work directly with overseas sellers on scheduling, and close on timelines that make sense for people who aren't local. If you own a Miami property you can't manage from where you are, that's exactly the situation we're built for.

Hialeah and Miami Gardens

Hialeah is the densest city in Miami-Dade, packed with CBS block homes built between the 1950s and 1970s. Unpermitted additions are the norm here, not the exception. Enclosed carports, converted garages, and added bedrooms without permits show up on nearly every deal. The city's building department has gotten more aggressive about flagging these during resales, which kills financing for traditional buyers. Miami Gardens, just north, has one of the higher foreclosure rates in the county. Many of the homes there are investor-owned rentals from the post-2008 wave that haven't been updated since. Between deferred maintenance, title issues from quick-claim transfers, and tenants who aren't cooperating with showings, these properties sit on the MLS for months. We close on occupied and tenant-in-place properties regularly, and we don't need the house to be empty or pretty to make a fair offer.