Most sellers do the math backward. They take the list price, subtract whatever discount the market seems to be demanding, and call that the number. For a foreign national selling a residence at The Estates at Acqualina South, that number is wrong in a specific and predictable way, and the gap shows up at the closing table, not before.
Here is the arithmetic nobody runs early enough. Federal law requires the buyer to withhold 15 percent of the gross sales price on most sales by a non-resident alien, not 15 percent of the profit. At the building's median list price of $9.1 million as of June 2026, down slightly from $9.425 million a year earlier, that 15 percent works out to roughly $1.37 million held back at closing before anyone calculates what the seller actually owes in tax. If the sale lands closer to where the current resale market is trading, the number changes but the shock does not.
The Withholding Is on the Sale Price, Not the Gain
The Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act, generally known as FIRPTA, exists to make sure the IRS collects tax from a seller who might otherwise take the proceeds and leave the country before filing a return. The mechanism is simple and unforgiving: the buyer, not the seller, is legally responsible for withholding the money and remitting it to the IRS, typically within 20 days of closing. The IRS's own guidance spells out the exceptions, but the default rate applies to nearly every transaction at this price point.
There are carve outs. A sale at $300,000 or less can avoid withholding entirely if the buyer intends to occupy the property as a residence. Sales between $300,001 and $1,000,000 can drop to a 10 percent rate under the same residency condition. Above $1,000,000, the full 15 percent applies regardless of what the buyer plans to do with the property. Every unit currently listed at Estates South sits well above that threshold, which means the reduced rates are not in play for this building's typical seller.
The seller does have a real option. Filing IRS Form 8288-B before closing lets a seller ask the IRS to certify a lower withholding amount based on actual expected gain rather than the full sale price. According to Finberg Firm's 2026 FIRPTA guide, this is the tool that can save a seller with a modest gain from having a much larger sum frozen than their actual tax liability requires. The catch is timing, and this is where the local market comes in.
The 90-Day Clock Doesn't Care How Fast Your Closing Moves
A Form 8288-B application can take the IRS 90 days or more to process. If the certificate has not arrived by the closing date, the full 15 percent still gets withheld, though it can be held in escrow by the closing agent rather than sent immediately to the IRS, provided the application was filed before or at closing. Miss that window entirely and the money goes straight to the federal government, where the seller waits to recover any overpayment through a 1040-NR filing during the following tax season, a process that commonly takes six to twelve months to resolve.
Sunny Isles Beach is not a market where sellers get much advance warning that a contract is coming. Luxury condo days on market averaged 135 to 138 days across Q4 2025 through Q1 2026, the longest of any major Miami luxury submarket, well above the roughly two-month pace seen in faster-moving pockets of greater downtown Miami over the same stretch. Resale condos at the $5 million and above tier have been closing near 10 percent below original ask in that same window, a sign that buyers are taking their time and negotiating hard once they do come to the table.
None of that changes once a buyer is under contract. A meaningful share of buyers in this market pay cash, and cash transactions close quickly because there is no lender underwriting to wait on. That combination is the trap. A seller who spends four-plus months waiting for a contract, then finally starts thinking about a withholding certificate only after signing, is racing a 90-day federal clock against a closing timeline that a cash buyer can move through in a fraction of that time. The certificate almost never arrives before the money changes hands, and the seller ends up with the full 15 percent of gross sale price sitting with the IRS rather than in escrow, waiting on a refund cycle instead of a faster certificate release.
Who This Actually Affects at This Address
Estates at Acqualina South is a 154-unit tower at 17901 Collins Avenue, sitting on roughly 502 feet of direct Atlantic frontage across a 5.6-acre site, anchored by the 45,000-square-foot Villa Acqualina amenity center designed by Rafael Portuondo and shared with the sibling North Tower next door. It is priced at a real premium to the broader Sunny Isles Beach market, and it was built for exactly the buyer profile that makes FIRPTA relevant on the way back out.
South Florida's foreign buyer share of residential dollar volume ran at 15 percent in 2025, according to the MIAMI Association of Realtors' international report, roughly seven times the national average. Colombia held the largest single share of foreign buyers for a third consecutive year at 15 percent, with Argentina close behind at 12 percent, and about half of all international buyers in the region paid cash rather than financing, per data compiled by Capital Analytics Associates. A building at this price point, in this location, was largely sold to that same buyer pool when it delivered in the early 2020s. Those original owners are the sellers who will eventually face this exact withholding question, often without having thought about it since the day they closed on the purchase.
What to Ask Your Closing Team Before You List
The fix is not complicated, but it has to happen earlier than most sellers expect.
- Get a real basis calculation done before you set a list price, not after you accept an offer. Your adjusted basis, including the original purchase price, closing costs, and any capital improvements, determines whether your actual gain is meaningfully lower than 15 percent of a $9 million sale.
- Ask your CPA or real estate attorney whether a Form 8288-B application makes sense to file the moment you are under contract, rather than waiting for a closing date to be set. The 90-day clock starts on the application date, not the contract date.
- Confirm with your closing agent, the title company or attorney handling the transaction, how they plan to escrow withheld funds if the certificate has not arrived by closing. Not every closing team handles this the same way, and the difference affects how quickly you see your money.
- If you are a dual citizen or hold a green card, confirm your actual filing status early. FIRPTA applies to non-resident aliens, foreign corporations, foreign trusts, and foreign estates, and the definition can catch people who assume their long-term U.S. residency exempts them.
A seller who runs this sequence before listing turns FIRPTA from a surprise at the closing table into a line item they planned for months in advance.
Quick Answers Before You Call Your CPA
Does FIRPTA apply if my buyer is also a foreign national? Yes. The withholding obligation is based on the seller's status, not the buyer's. A foreign buyer purchasing from a foreign seller does not change the requirement.
What if I'm selling as an entity rather than as an individual? Foreign corporations, partnerships, trusts, and estates are all subject to the same rules as individual non-resident aliens. A U.S. corporation majority owned by foreign interests can also be treated as a foreign person for this purpose.
Can the withholding certificate eliminate the withholding entirely? It can reduce it substantially if your expected tax liability is low or if a loss is likely, but it rarely eliminates it outright unless a specific exemption, such as the $300,000 residency threshold, applies.
This is general information, not tax or legal advice, and every seller's basis, gain, and filing status is different enough that the exact numbers deserve a conversation with a qualified CPA or Florida real estate attorney before a listing goes live.
If you own at The Estates at Acqualina South and want to talk through what a sale actually nets once withholding, timing, and current market conditions are factored in together, Acqualina Rentals works on-site with the closing relationships this building requires. Request a private viewing or owner consultation and we will walk the numbers with you before you set a price, not after.
