Florida

Florida has three structural features that shape residential closings: a substantial documentary stamp tax that splits across the deed and any new mortgage, state-promulgated title insurance rates, and a complicated property insurance market driven by hurricane risk. There's no state income tax, so no state cap-gains tax on home sales.

The deed documentary stamp is $0.70 per $100 of sale price (about 0.7%), customarily paid by the seller. On a $400,000 sale, that's $2,800. There's a separate mortgage documentary stamp of $0.35 per $100 of the loan amount, customarily paid by the buyer (about 0.35% of the loan), plus a small intangible tax on the mortgage. Combined, these are among the higher transaction taxes in the country.

Closings are handled by title companies, with attorneys involved on a case-by-case basis. Florida is not an attorney-required state for residential closings, but real estate attorneys are common, especially in higher-value or unusual transactions.

What property taxes look like

Florida's Save Our Homes provision caps annual assessed-value increases for homestead properties at the lesser of 3% or the change in the Consumer Price Index. The cap applies as long as the same owner holds the property; on transfer, the assessed value resets to current market value for the new owner.

The homestead exemption itself reduces the assessed value by $25,000 plus an additional $25,000 on the portion above $50,000 (so up to $50,000 total reduction for non-school-tax purposes). New owners apply through the county property appraiser, with the deadline typically March 1 of the year following purchase. The exemption applies to primary residences only, and it's limited to one property per family.

A meaningful Florida-specific feature is portability, homestead owners moving from one Florida home to another can transfer up to $500,000 of their accumulated Save Our Homes savings to the new property, preserving the assessed-value protection. The portability filing is separate from the homestead exemption itself and has its own deadline.

What buyers should know

Property insurance in Florida is its own consideration. Hurricane and flood risk drives premiums that are often 3–5x national averages, with carriers periodically pulling out of the market. Insurability has become a meaningful contingency on some transactions, a property that can't be insured at a reasonable cost has a constrained buyer pool.

Wind mitigation inspections (separate from the standard home inspection) document hurricane-resistance features and can produce material insurance discounts. The four-point inspection (roof, electrical, plumbing, HVAC) is required by many insurers for homes over a certain age. New buyers in Florida should expect to engage with their insurance agent earlier in the process than in lower-risk states.

The Florida residential purchase contract uses standard contingency structures (financing, inspection, appraisal) with state-specific timing. The title insurance owner's policy is state-promulgated, so there's no shopping; the seller customarily pays it.

What sellers should know

Florida sellers face the documentary-stamp burden as the largest single line item beyond commissions. On a $1M sale, the deed stamp alone is $7,000.

Required disclosures are less prescriptive than in some states (no equivalent of California's TDS), but Florida case law (the Johnson v. Davis doctrine) requires sellers to disclose facts materially affecting the property's value that are not readily observable. Failure to disclose known issues (water intrusion, sinkhole activity, prior insurance claims) produces post-closing liability risk.

Without a state income tax, sellers benefit from the same federal-only capital gains treatment as Texas. Long-held appreciated Florida homes selling above the § 121 exclusion pay federal long-term cap gains plus NIIT (for higher earners), but no state layer.

How closing typically works

Florida closings happen at the title company, with documents sometimes signed remotely via mobile notary or remote online notarization (which Florida adopted relatively early). The title company prepares the closing disclosure (with the lender), the settlement statement, and the deed. After signing and wire transfers, the deed records at the county clerk's office, typically electronically.

For contract or disclosure questions, a Florida real estate attorney can review the specific language. For the closing process and the documentary-stamp calculations, the title company's closing officer is the primary point of contact. The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation handles real estate licensee complaints; the Office of Insurance Regulation handles property-insurance and title-insurance complaints.