Florida Seller Closing Costs: Doc Stamps, Title Insurance and What a Cash Sale Skips

A Florida seller typically pays the documentary stamp tax on the deed, the owner's title insurance policy in most counties, prorated taxes and association dues, and whatever is owed on the mortgage. The stamp tax is $0.70 for every $100 of the price, so a $400,000 sale carries $2,800 in doc stamps before any other line. A cash sale to a direct buyer removes the agent commission, the repair requests and the buyer's financing delays, and the written offer states who pays the rest.

Florida taxes the deed that transfers real estate. Section 201.02 of the Florida Statutes sets the rate at 70 cents on each $100 of consideration, and the consideration includes the amount of any mortgage or other lien the buyer takes the property subject to. By long custom the seller pays it, although the purchase contract can assign it to the buyer.

Miami-Dade County is the exception. Under section 201.031 the deed tax there is 60 cents per $100, and the county adds a 45-cent surtax that does not apply when the deed transfers only a single-family dwelling, which includes a condo unit. Broward and Palm Beach sellers pay the standard 70 cents.

It depends on the county. In most Florida counties the seller buys the owner's title policy for the buyer, and the seller usually picks the title company too. In a few counties the buyer pays instead, so the contract and your title agent are the places to confirm it. The premium scales with the price, so ask the title company for the exact figure on your address rather than relying on a general percentage.

Expect smaller title-related lines as well: the search and examination, the closing or settlement fee, and recording fees for any documents that clear old liens. If the house has a code violation fine or an open permit, the title search will surface it and it has to be settled before the deed records.

Property taxes and HOA or condo dues are prorated to the closing date, so you pay for the days you owned the house and the buyer pays the rest. If you have paid ahead, the buyer credits you. The largest line is almost always the mortgage payoff, which includes the principal, interest through the closing date and any late fees. A foreclosure lawsuit adds the lender's legal costs to that number, which is one reason timing matters; see our guide to the [Florida foreclosure timeline](/blog/florida-foreclosure-timeline).

On a traditional listing the statement also carries the agent commission, and the contract often brings repair credits and a home warranty request after the inspection. Those lines are negotiated, not fixed by law, so we show them as lines rather than as percentages.

Take a $400,000 sale in Broward or Palm Beach County. Deed doc stamps are $2,800 ($400,000 divided by 100, times $0.70). In Miami-Dade a single-family home or condo unit pays $2,400 at 60 cents. The loan payoff, the title premium, the prorations and the commission are the other lines, and they depend on your loan, your county and the contract, so this example does not guess at them.

The difference between the two routes is in which lines exist at all. A listing carries a commission, repair credits after inspection, a buyer whose loan can fall through, and weeks of carrying cost on the mortgage and taxes. A cash sale carries none of the first three and compresses the fourth. Compare net to net: the check you receive after every line, not the headline price.

A cash buyer has no lender, so the lender-driven costs that come with a financed purchase never appear: the appraisal, the loan fees and the lender's title policy. There is no financing contingency, which removes the most common reason a contract collapses and a house goes back on the market. And because a direct buyer purchases as-is, there are no repair negotiations after an inspection.

Doc stamps are a tax on the deed, so some version of them exists on every sale, and the contract decides who pays. At Sell House Fast FL the written cash offer is the amount you receive: we offer within 24 hours, can close in as little as 7 days, and our offers carry no agent commission and no fees. Read the closing statement before you sign, with any buyer.