Seller closing costs in Florida: what you actually pay when you sell (2026 guide)

The short list: what a Florida seller pays

• Brokerage compensation: negotiated in your listing agreement. Since August 2024 any compensation offered to the buyer's agent is negotiated separately and no longer appears on the MLS, so you decide both numbers with your listing agent.
• Documentary stamp tax on the deed: US$0.70 per US$100 of the sale price statewide. Miami-Dade County charges US$0.60 per US$100 on single-family homes and adds a US$0.45 surtax per US$100 on other property types, such as condos.
• Title insurance and settlement fees: who pays follows county custom. In Broward and Miami-Dade the buyer usually chooses the title agent and pays for the owner's policy; in most other Florida counties the seller pays. It is always negotiable in the contract.
• Prorated property taxes: Florida bills taxes in arrears in November, so at closing you credit the buyer for the days of the year you owned the property.
• HOA or condo estoppel certificate, a statutory fee of roughly US$300, more if expedited or if the account is delinquent, plus prorated dues.
• Mortgage payoff, including per-diem interest until the lender is funded, and the recording fee for the satisfaction of mortgage.
• Repairs or credits negotiated after the buyer's inspection, and a home warranty if you offered one.
• Attorney or settlement fee if you use your own lawyer at closing.

A worked example: US$600,000 sale in Weston, Broward County

Documentary stamps on the deed come to US$4,200 (600,000 divided by 100, times 0.70). Under Broward custom the buyer pays for the owner's title policy, so that line is zero for the seller unless the contract says otherwise. If the closing happens on June 30 and the annual tax bill is US$9,000, the tax proration credited to the buyer is about US$4,460. The estoppel certificate is around US$300 and recording the satisfaction of mortgage a few dollars more.

Brokerage compensation is the largest line and the one you control: on this price every 1% represents US$6,000, which is why the conversation about what the fee buys, marketing, negotiation and the closing itself, matters more than the percentage. Your net is the price minus the mortgage payoff minus these lines; I prepare this sheet for every seller before we sign a listing agreement, with the real numbers of the property.

Miami-Dade is different

Miami-Dade is the only Florida county with its own deed stamp rate and surtax. A single-family home pays US$0.60 per US$100, less than the rest of the state, but a condo pays US$0.60 plus the US$0.45 surtax, US$1.05 per US$100 in total, which is more. On a US$500,000 condo in Miami that is US$5,250 versus US$3,500 in Weston or Fort Lauderdale. If you own in both markets, the difference shows up in your net.

Foreign sellers: FIRPTA withholding

If you are not a U.S. citizen or resident, the buyer's closing agent must withhold 15% of the gross sale price and send it to the IRS, unless an exception applies: no withholding when the price is US$300,000 or less and the buyer will use the home as a residence, and 10% between US$300,001 and US$1,000,000 with the same residence use. The withholding is not the tax; it is a deposit. You can apply for a withholding certificate before closing to reduce it to the actual tax due, and you file a U.S. return to recover any excess.

Many of my clients own in Florida and live in the Dominican Republic or elsewhere. Planning FIRPTA weeks before closing, with the right accountant, is the difference between waiting months for a refund and receiving your money at the table.

What the seller does not pay

• The buyer's loan costs, appraisal and inspection.
• The lender's title policy when the buyer has a mortgage.
• Documentary stamps on the buyer's mortgage note and the intangible tax on the mortgage.
• The buyer's share of prorated taxes and HOA dues after the closing date.

How to keep more of your price

Negotiate compensation with clarity about what it includes. Decide title custom in the contract instead of leaving it to habit. Order the estoppel early so a delinquent balance does not surprise you at the table. A pre-listing inspection avoids credits later, because the buyer does not get to discover problems you could have fixed for less. And if you are a foreign owner, start the FIRPTA paperwork the day you accept an offer.

Frequently asked questions