Relocating to Miami in 2026: A Local Agent’s Guide

If you have been watching the headlines, you already know something is happening here. Google just grew its office in Brickell in a big way, going from a small satellite space to several times that footprint on Brickell Avenue. Its co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, have reportedly spent hundreds of millions of dollars on South Florida homes over the past year, including a waterfront compound in Coconut Grove. To be clear, Google is not closing Mountain View or moving its headquarters. But the direction of travel is hard to miss, and it is not just one company.

I’m Julien Drieu, and I help people relocating to Miami actually land here well. Not just close on a property, but pick the right neighborhood for how you live, get your family settled, and avoid the mistakes people make when they buy in a city they do not know yet. If you are thinking about the move, here is how I see it.

This is a trend, not a one-off

The Google story is getting attention because of the names attached to it, but it fits a pattern that has been building for a few years. Companies and the people who run them keep planting flags in Miami. Finance firms, hedge funds, venture and crypto shops, tech founders, and a steady stream of families who are done with long winters and high taxes somewhere else.

A big part of the pull is simple. Florida has no state income tax. When you are comparing that to a high-tax state, especially at higher incomes, the gap is real money every year, and it is one of the first things people mention to me when they call about a move. There is talk right now of California adding a new wealth tax on its richest residents, which is part of what is driving this latest wave of attention. I will let the tax specialists speak to the details, but you do not need to be a billionaire for the basic math to matter.

The point for you as a buyer is that this migration is not slowing down, and it shapes the market you are buying into. More demand for good homes in good neighborhoods, more new construction aimed at people moving in, and a city that keeps adding the offices, restaurants, schools, and flights that make a move like this workable.

Where people are actually landing

Miami is not one place. The right neighborhood depends entirely on how you live, and this is where having someone local saves you from an expensive guess. Here is the short version of how I steer people.

If you want the urban, walk-to-the-office life, and especially if your company is putting you near the financial district, Brickell is the obvious center of gravity. It is dense, it is where a lot of the new towers and offices are, and you can live without needing your car for everything. A lot of the newcomers I work with start here, sometimes in a luxury rental while they figure out where they want to buy.

If you have a family and you want space, trees, water, and a slower feel, Coconut Grove is where I send a lot of people. It is no accident that is where one of the Google founders reportedly bought. It has the waterfront, the sailing, good schools nearby, and a village feel that people moving from a house rather than an apartment tend to want. Coral Gables sits right next to it with the same family logic: established, green, strong schools, beautiful older homes alongside a new wave of luxury buildings.

If you want the water and the beach life, Miami Beach, Key Biscayne, and the barrier-island communities are their own world. And if you want the culture, the arts, and the newest urban core, Downtown has changed a lot in the last few years.

There is no single right answer. The mistake I see is people buying in the first neighborhood they visited on a good-weather weekend. I would rather show you three or four that actually fit your life first.

What a relocation buy really involves

Moving to a new city and buying in it at the same time is a lot. A few things I always talk through with people relocating here.

Rent first or buy now. If you are not sure which neighborhood is yours yet, there is nothing wrong with renting for a season while you learn the city, then buying with real knowledge. I do both, and I will tell you honestly which one fits your situation instead of pushing you to buy on day one.

Timing the market and the build. If you are open to new construction, pre-construction can line up nicely with a relocation, because the build timeline gives you room to sell where you are, move, and settle before you take delivery. If you need to be in a home this year, that is a different search, and I will point you at what is actually available now.

The money and legal side. Financing works differently here for some buyers, especially if you are coming from abroad, and how you hold the property and what you owe in taxes depends on your specific situation. I am not going to give you tax advice, but I work with a network of mortgage brokers, CPAs, and real estate attorneys, and I coordinate them so you are not chasing four people at once. If you are moving from another country rather than another state, my guides on buying as a foreign national and financing as a non-resident are a good place to start.

Why work with me

I do this personally, one client at a time, in English, French, or Spanish. I am not handing you off to a team. When you are moving your life to a new city, you want one person who actually knows the neighborhoods, has the developer and rental relationships, and will tell you the truth about a building or a block instead of just trying to close you.

Tell me where you are moving from, what your life looks like, and what you are trying to get out of the move. I will tell you which parts of Miami to look at first and which to skip, and we go from there.

Call or WhatsApp me at (786) 238-0927, or email julien@luxemiamirealty.com.

A note on the tax and financing topics above: I am a licensed real estate agent, not a CPA, tax advisor, or attorney. This page is general information, not tax, legal, or financial advice, and it creates no liability for me or Luxe Miami Realty. Tax rules, including anything about state income taxes or proposed wealth taxes, change often and depend entirely on your own situation, so please confirm anything tax or legal with a qualified CPA and attorney before you make a move based on it. I am glad to connect you with trusted professionals in my network.