The Ultimate Guide to Investing in Miami Real Estate

As all Miami real estate investors know, the potential return on your real estate investment is the most important consideration when in the process of selecting a home. That’s because you want to make sure your real estate investments will thrive. Luckily, in Miami, ROIs rarely disappoint. This is in part due to the high demand for housing. This demand is fueled by a population that prefers to rent. This creates a great opportunity for rental housing investors.

Did you know that almost 70% of Miami’s residents rent? And if you are wondering why, it's because most of the people work in temporary or seasonal jobs. Specifically, in the tourism industry which employs over 145,000 people. Moreover, the city’s housing supply is low, which results in high home sale prices. This creates more demand for rental housing because it’s more affordable than buying a house. And that’s why many investors are buying single-family homes and then renovating them into many rentable units.

You’re probably wondering what that means. You will be happy to learn that it means that Miami is one of the few places that offer landlords and real estate investors more freedom than most other states.

For example:

• Miami doesn’t have any laws on rent control.
• It doesn’t put a cap on security deposits.
• Landlords can initiate an eviction if a tenant is at least three days late on rent (most states set the minimum number of days for late-rent evictions to seven).
• Also, repeated infractions on the lease agreement allow for a 7-day unconditional move-out notice.

Another great reason to invest in Miami real estate is because of all the tourism. In 2017 alone, Miami had a record-breaking 15.86 million unique visitors. Moreover, during the same year, overnight visitors spent a whopping $25.97 billion in direct expenditure. Impressive, right? So, what does that mean for rental buyers and investors? Miami offers vacation home buyers, landlords and investors numerous opportunities to earn from tourism.

Aside from leisure, many people relocate to Miami for work. Why? Well, Miami is not only Florida’s biggest urban economy, but it also has America’s 12th largest GDP (by metropolitan areas). Thanks to its thriving tourism industry, growing economy, and strong rental market, Miami’s unemployment rate sits at 3.9%. Which is slightly below the national average.

Due to its great weather and vibrancy, Miami’s population keeps growing by the day. One important point to note is that the city has a big retiree population and most of them come to live out their days in South Florida. So, what does this mean for you? For starters, housing value fluctuations rarely affect most retirees. And since they don’t have a reason to sell their homes, there are fewer homes on the real estate market for property buyers. Obviously, we all know that without sufficient supply, demand goes up and so do properties’ prices and the demand for rental properties.

Beaches are some of Miami’s main tourist attractions. Most people travel to the city just to spend a day on its stunning beaches. And sometimes, some even decide to stay because of the beautiful scenery. And who can blame them? Miami is not only stunning and serene but it also has one of the best climates in the U.S. This explains why the city’s population grows by roughly 2% every year. Obviously, a growing population eventually leads to a higher demand for housing, right? And that’s good news for any investor.

Statistics show that foreign-born citizens constitute more than half of Miami’s population. This means that the city is very immigrant friendly. And this is one of the reasons why Miami remains attractive to foreign investors. There are many reasons why foreign investors are taking so much interest in Miami’s real estate industry.

For example:

• Some consider real estate investing in a safe and promising market.
• Others – mostly expats – are looking for a fresh start or to live the American dream.
• Others opt to buy condos that act as their vacation properties or homes.