Pre-construction deposits

Sections 718.202 and 718.503 of the Florida Statutes, the ones this guide cites, deal with two things: where your payments are held while the building is unfinished and the 15 days to void the contract. Neither sets a percentage or payment dates. That is why two neighbouring projects can ask for different schedules, and why the only schedule that counts for you is the one in the contract you are about to sign. A “typical” percentage in an advert is not a rule.

Section 718.202 requires the developer to put all payments up to 10% of the price in escrow while the building is not substantially complete; the regulator may accept another assurance, such as a bond, instead. Anything you pay above that 10% is held in a special account the developer may not use before closing, unless the contract allows it and construction has begun. Each slice therefore has a different destination, which is why the schedule matters more than the total.

In the first example, three payments of 10% and a final 70% at closing: the first $60,000 sits in escrow and the next $120,000 in the special account. In the second, the 10 / 5 / 15 / 10 / 60 schedule that one broker publishes for one project is applied to that same price: $60,000 in escrow and $180,000 in the special account before closing. These figures are arithmetic on a hypothetical price, not an offer or an opinion about any building.

On 7 October 2026 we checked the official sites of 12 projects in Brickell, Downtown and Edgewater. Of the 11 that can be read without JavaScript, none publishes a deposit schedule; the 888 Brickell site cannot be read that way. The only schedules we saw come from brokers and they differ: one shows 10 / 5 / 15 / 10 / 60 for one project; another says “typically 10-30% deposit”. This page therefore gives no standard schedule: ask the seller for the current one and get it in writing.

If the contract lets the developer use your payments above 10% for the work, section 718.202 requires this warning in bold, on the first page and immediately above the place for your signature: “any payment in excess of 10 percent of the purchase price made to developer prior to closing pursuant to this contract may be used for construction purposes by the developer.” If it is there, that money no longer sits still until closing. If it is not, the contract cannot use it that way. Read it before you sign and within your 15 days.

The notice required by section 718.504 says oral representations cannot be relied upon as correctly stating the developer's representations and tells you to refer to the prospectus (the legal offering document) and its exhibits. Section 718.506 adds that anyone who pays in reasonable reliance on false or misleading information the developer publishes in brochures or advertising can seek to rescind the contract or collect damages before closing. A page like this one does not replace the prospectus: the figure that counts is the one in the document.