Its Own City, County Deed Tax
North Miami permits its own building and demolition work through its own department. Neither the City of Miami nor the county permits inside its limits, and the design review regimes that govern parts of the county do not apply here.
What does apply is county-wide: the documentary stamp tax at $0.60 per $100, the $0.45 surtax on anything other than a single-family dwelling, and the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone construction standard on any rebuild. The county-wide position is on our page for property inside Miami-Dade.
Do the City of Miami's Rules Apply in North Miami?
A Mixed Stock, Which Puts the Classification First
Most of the housing dates from the 1940s through the 1960s, with later infill. Deeds record with the Miami-Dade Clerk of the Court at $0.60 per $100 of consideration on a single-family transfer, or $1.05 per $100 where the $0.45 surtax applies. Florida requires notice of an initial claim within one year of the date of loss, and eighteen months for a supplemental one.
The housing here spans single-family, duplex and small multi-family across neighbourhoods that were built out at different times, much of it post-war. That mix means the first question on any fire sale is the one that decides the closing cost.
A single-family transfer carries the deed tax at $0.60 per $100 with no surtax. Anything else carries $1.05 per $100. On the same sale price that is a 75 per cent difference in the deed tax line, and in a city with this much mixed stock it is not a marginal consideration.
How Do I Confirm My Property's Classification?
North Miami sets its own permit fees, review times and demolition requirements. We have not confirmed the current schedule and publish no figures here. The city's building department will quote them for your address.
Older Construction and the Rebuild Standard
Much of the stock predates the current building code by decades, which produces a specific tension after a fire. The existing structure was built to a standard that no longer applies, and anything rebuilt must meet the hurricane zone requirements in force now.
That gap is where out-of-market buyers get the number wrong. A rebuild here costs more per square foot than the original construction would suggest and more than a national figure implies, and a buyer who has not accounted for it will either offer low or offer well and reduce once a contractor prices it properly.
North Miami in Context
The other dense city where the surtax applies to a majority of transfers is covered on our page about a dense city where the surtax bites. Where no municipal layer applies at all and the county does everything, see our page for territory permitted by the county.
North Miami Questions
Is North Miami the Same as the City of Miami?
No. They are separate incorporated cities with separate governments and separate building departments, and the similarity of the names causes real confusion.
My Property Is a Duplex. Does That Cost Me More to Sell?
Yes, in deed tax. A duplex is not a single-family dwelling for surtax purposes, so the transfer carries $1.05 per $100 rather than $0.60.
Will You Buy an Older House That Would Not Meet Current Code?
Yes. The gap between the existing construction and the current standard is priced into our figure rather than being a reason to decline.