Newlyweds Juan Diego Devia and Hayley Milam Devia faced a common millennial dilemma last year: They were determined to stay in their hometown of Miami, even as housing costs seemed to be stretching out of their reach.
Ms. Milam Devia, 31, was born in Florida and joined her family’s business, the upscale grocer Milam Markets, in 2022. Mr. Devia, 32, grew up in Colombia and moved to Miami in 2012 for college. Six years later, alongside his sister Diana Devia, he opened Devia Juice Bar, which now has two outposts. The couple met in 2020 at a party hosted by one of Ms. Milam Devia’s cousins.
“I liked her a lot — I just felt comfortable talking to her — but she did play hard to get,” Mr. Devia said. “She was also my friend’s cousin, so I was very respectful in the beginning. I knew this couldn’t be a fling.”
As their relationship grew, so did their rent. In 2023, a year before their wedding, the couple moved into a one-bedroom apartment in the Edgewater neighborhood, on the coast of Biscayne Bay, paying about $3,200 a month. When they re-signed the lease last year, it had climbed to over $4,000.
“Rent was getting up to what a mortgage payment would be, and we wanted to start building equity,” Ms. Milam Devia said. “But it was definitely going to be challenging.”
A sharp rise in the cost of living has pushed many Miami residents toward more affordable parts of Florida. From 2024 to 2025, Miami-Dade County saw the nation’s third-largest population decline, according to recent census data. But the Devias were resolved to stay.
“It’s not like I can transfer to an office in another city,” Ms. Milam Devia said. “Both of our businesses are here. And our family and friends.”
They hired Santiago Rodriguez, a friend of Mr. Devia’s and the founder of the property management firm Stayplus, as their broker. The couple wanted a three-bedroom home, since they envisioned starting a family. A single-family house would be ideal, but they were open to townhouses, which are often cheaper. They didn’t look at condos, which typically come with steep homeowner association fees, particularly in older buildings, which are required to levy special assessments for structural repairs.
The pair zeroed in on the area in and around Shenandoah, one of Miami’s oldest districts, nestled inland between two sought-after areas, Coconut Grove and Coral Gables. Their budget ranged up to about $800,000.
“The ideal for them was Little Gables or Coral Gables,” Mr. Rodriguez said. “But of course, there’s nothing available for under $1.3 million.”
Built in 2007, this three-bedroom, 2.5-bath townhouse with 2,255 square feet was the youngest of the bunch, and had yet to be updated. The ground floor, with tile flooring, had an open layout, with a breakfast bar setting off the kitchen. Upstairs, two of the bedrooms had balconies, and the primary suite had a walk-in closet. The compact backyard area was taken up by a small private pool, and the home came with an attached one-car garage and a large gated driveway. The semidetached house was just west of Coconut Grove, about 15 minutes from Downtown Miami. The asking price was $899,000, with annual taxes of about $15,900.
Find out what happened next by answering these two questions:
