Non-Warrantable Condo Loans in Brickell: Financing the Towers Banks Turn Down

Short answer

You finance a non-warrantable Brickell condo with a non-QM or portfolio loan that reviews the building on the lender's own rules instead of Fannie Mae's, usually with a larger down payment than a warrantable condo. Brickell towers often fail the conventional review for local reasons: retail, office or hotel space above 35% of the project, one owner holding more than 20% of units, or a new tower where the developer still controls the association. Rates vary daily; call for today's pricing.

Why Brickell condos fail the conventional review

Brickell is Miami's high-rise district, and its buildings are built differently from a garden-style condo in Kendall or Hialeah. The Miami Downtown Development Authority counts more than 101,000 residents in Greater Downtown Miami, which takes in Brickell, plus 200+ residential buildings and 30+ construction projects (as of October 2026). Most of that stock is towers with a mix of uses, and that mix is what trips Fannie Mae's project rules.

We cover the general rules in our Florida non-warrantable condo guide. This page is about the Brickell patterns we see. Fannie Mae's Selling Guide sets these limits, as of October 2026:

• Commercial space over 35%. Retail podiums, office floors, and hotel or rental-apartment components all count as non-residential. Many Brickell towers stack residences over shops, restaurants and offices.
• Single-entity ownership over 20% in a project with 21 or more units. In a newly delivered tower, the developer or a bulk investor often still holds a large block of units. Units under lease-purchase deals count too.
• Hotel features. A front desk, a rental program, a hotel brand, or marketing the building as an investment can make it a condo-hotel in the lender's eyes. See condotel loans.
• Non-incidental business income over 10% of the association budget, from things like a restaurant, spa or health club the association runs.
• Pending litigation where the association is a party, beyond the minor exceptions.

The three kinds of Brickell buildings that trip lenders

1. New towers in their first years. A just-finished building may still be under developer control, have unsold inventory, or have little budget history. Conventional lenders want an established association and a budget that sets aside at least 10% for replacement reserves. A non-QM lender can often close before the building settles. If you are buying pre-construction, see new construction condo loans.

2. Short-term-rental friendly buildings. Some Brickell towers allow nightly or weekly rentals and market that feature to investors. Fannie Mae treats marketing as an investment and a high investor share as hotel red flags, and flags projects where 75% or more of units are investor or second-home owned. For an investment unit, a DSCR loan is often the fit. DSCR loans are business-purpose loans.

3. Older Brickell Avenue towers. Florida law requires a milestone structural inspection once a condo building of three or more stories reaches 30 years from its certificate of occupancy, then every 10 years; the local agency can require it at 25 years for buildings near salt water. Associations must also have a structural integrity reserve study at least every 10 years, and for budgets adopted after December 31, 2024, owners generally cannot vote to skip SIRS reserves. A bad report, unfunded repairs of more than $10,000 per unit due within 12 months, or a big special assessment tied to critical repairs makes a building ineligible for Fannie Mae until it is fixed. Read what is a milestone inspection and what is SIRS.

How a non-warrantable loan works on a Brickell unit

A non-warrantable condo loan is a non-QM or portfolio loan. The lender keeps it or sells it to private investors, so it sets its own building rules. In practice:

• Down payment. Usually more than a warrantable condo. The minimum depends on the lender, whether you live there, your credit score and the building's specific problem.
• Income documentation. Full tax returns work, and so do bank statement loans for self-employed buyers, or DSCR for rentals. Foreign buyers can look at foreign national loans.
• Loan size. Brickell prices often sit above the 2026 conforming limit of $832,750 for one unit (FHFA, as of October 2026), so many of these loans are jumbo-sized anyway. Non-QM lenders lend above that limit.
• Reserves and HOA dues. Lenders count the full monthly HOA dues in your ratios and want months of reserves after closing. High-rise dues in Brickell can be a big part of the payment.

FHA is generally not an option in a non-warrantable building, because FHA has its own condo approval list and these towers rarely appear on it. Rates vary daily; call for today's pricing. All loans are subject to credit approval and building eligibility.

Brickell market and tax numbers to plan around

MIAMI REALTORS does not split out Brickell, but the City of Miami condo and townhouse numbers for Q2 2026 show the setting: 714 sales, a median price of $595,000 (down 2.5% from a year earlier), 16.0 months of supply, a median of 105 days to contract, and sellers getting a median of 92.7% of original list price (as of October 2026). With that much supply, buyers have room to negotiate, and a building that only non-QM lenders will finance gives you one more reason to ask for a credit or a lower price.

Property taxes. The City of Miami's 2025 adopted total millage was 19.9878 mills. Properties inside the Downtown Development Authority district, which covers Brickell, pay the DDA levy on top, for a total of 20.3778 mills, per the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser (as of October 2026). That is roughly $20.38 per $1,000 of taxable value before exemptions.

Flood. Brickell sits on Biscayne Bay and much of it is in FEMA high-risk zones. Check the unit on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center and get the master flood policy early. See what is a flood zone.

Checklist before you make an offer in Brickell

• Send us the building name and unit first. We can often tell you in a day whether it is warrantable, and which lenders will take it if not.
• Ask for the condo questionnaire, current budget, reserve balance, milestone and SIRS status, and any lawsuit details.
• Ask how many units the developer or any single owner holds, and how much of the building is commercial.
• Ask whether short-term rentals are allowed and whether the building runs a rental program.
• Give yourself a financing contingency long enough for a non-QM building review.

If you live in or are buying around Brickell, our Brickell page covers the neighborhood more broadly.