What a Florida seller pays
- Commissions. The listing broker fee, and the buyer's broker fee if you agreed to pay it. Since 2024 buyer broker compensation is negotiated separately and is often requested in the buyer's offer.
- Deed doc stamps. $0.70 per $100 of the price. In Miami-Dade it is $0.60, plus $0.45 for anything other than a single-family home.
- Owner's title insurance. In most of the state, including Tampa Bay, Orlando and Jacksonville, the seller buys the buyer's owner's policy. In Miami-Dade, Broward, Collier, Sarasota, Martin and much of the Panhandle the buyer usually pays.
- Estoppel certificate. The HOA or condo association charges a fee to state what you owe through closing. Florida law caps the standard fee. Any unpaid dues come out of your proceeds too.
The property tax proration
Florida property taxes cover the calendar year and are billed in November, after most of the year has passed. If you close before the bill is paid, you have not paid anything for this year yet, so you credit the buyer for each day you owned the home from January 1 through the day before closing. The buyer then pays the full bill in November. Closing in mid-December on a $9,800 bill means a credit of about $9,340.
If you close in late November or December after paying the current bill, the math flips and the buyer reimburses you for the rest of the year. This calculator assumes the bill is still unpaid.
Repairs and concessions
Credits agreed after the inspection are deducted at closing like any other cost. A credit is often simpler than doing repairs before closing, and lenders limit how much the seller can contribute toward the buyer's costs.
Questions
Does the seller pay the buyer's doc stamps on the mortgage?
No. Note stamps and intangible tax on the new loan are customarily the buyer's costs.
What if my homestead exemption makes my tax bill low?
The proration uses the actual current bill, so your homestead savings help you at closing. The buyer's future bill will be higher because the assessment resets after the sale.
