Who Pays Closing Costs in Florida? What buyers and sellers actually pay

What “closing costs” actually means

Closing costs are everything paid at the closing table other than the price of the house: state taxes on the transfer and the loan, title insurance, the closing agent’s fee, recording, the lender’s charges, and the money set aside in advance for insurance and property taxes. Some are fixed by Florida law. Some are set by the lender. Some are custom, and custom is negotiable.

Two rules make Florida different from most states. First, title insurance premiums are promulgated, meaning the state sets the rate and every title agent charges the same base premium. Second, the state taxes both the deed and the mortgage, so a financed purchase carries two tax lines a cash purchase does not.

The state taxes

Documentary stamp tax on the deed

Florida taxes the transfer of real property at 70 cents per $100 of the consideration, per the Florida Department of Revenue. Miami-Dade is the exception: 60 cents per $100, plus a 45-cent county surtax that does not apply when the document transfers only a single-family dwelling. So a Miami-Dade house pays 0.60%; a Miami-Dade condo, duplex or commercial property pays 1.05%; a Broward house pays 0.70%.

By custom, and under paragraph 9(a) of the Florida Realtors/Florida Bar contract, the seller pays the deed stamps. On a $650,000 Miami-Dade single-family sale that is $3,900; the same house in Broward is $4,550.

Documentary stamp tax on the note

The mortgage note is taxed at 35 cents per $100 of the amount borrowed. There is no cap on a mortgage. Paragraph 9(b) places “taxes and recording fees on notes and mortgages” on the buyer. Cash buyers skip this line entirely.

Nonrecurring intangible tax

Florida also charges a one-time 2 mills, or 0.2%, on the obligation secured by a mortgage on Florida real property. The Department of Revenue notes the lender is the taxpayer “but the lender may pass the amount of the tax to the borrower,” and every lender does. Again, no loan, no tax.

Title insurance at promulgated rates

An owner’s policy protects you against defects in the title you are buying. A lender’s policy protects the lender for the loan amount. Florida sets the premium by rule (69O-186.003), so the base cost does not change from one title company to another:

• $5.75 per $1,000 on the first $100,000 of coverage
• $5.00 per $1,000 from $100,000 to $1 million
• $2.50 per $1,000 from $1 million to $5 million
• $2.25 per $1,000 from $5 million to $10 million, and $2.00 above that
• Minimum premium $100

When the lender’s policy is issued at the same time as the owner’s policy, the simultaneous-issue rate is a flat $25 for coverage up to the owner’s amount. If the seller has an owner’s policy that is recent enough, ask about the reissue rate, which starts at $3.30 per $1,000 instead of $5.75; the rule requires the prior policy to be produced.

On a $650,000 purchase the owner’s premium is $575 for the first $100,000 plus $2,750 for the next $550,000, or $3,325, plus $25 for the lender’s policy.

Who pays for title in Miami-Dade and Broward

This is the line where South Florida differs from the rest of the state. The 2026 Florida Realtors/Florida Bar contract offers three boxes in paragraph 9(c):

• (i) Seller designates the closing agent and pays the owner’s policy and charges. This is the custom in most of Florida.
• (ii) Buyer designates the closing agent and pays the owner’s policy and charges.
• (iii) Miami-Dade/Broward regional provision. Buyer designates the closing agent and pays the owner’s and lender’s premiums and endorsements; seller pays the actual cost of the title search (not to exceed $200 unless the blank is filled in), the tax search and the municipal lien search.

In practice, Miami-Dade and Broward deals are written under (ii) or (iii): the buyer pays for the owner’s policy. Read the box on your contract; it controls, whatever anyone says at the table.

Closing agent, recording and survey

Settlement or closing fee. The title company or closing attorney charges a fee to prepare documents, handle the escrow and disburse funds. The contract has each side pay its own “Closing Services.” Our calculator shows a typical South Florida figure; your title company’s quote replaces it.

Recording. The Miami-Dade Clerk records the deed and mortgage at $10 for the first page and $8.50 for each additional page, plus $1 for each name indexed beyond four. A deed and a mortgage together usually run a few pages to a few dozen, so this line is small.

Survey. Paragraph 9(d) lets the buyer order a survey at the buyer’s expense, and lenders generally require one. If the seller has a recent survey, ask for it; a title company may accept it with an affidavit.

Municipal lien and estoppel. The seller pays the association estoppel fee and, under option (iii), the municipal lien search. If you are buying in a condo or HOA, the buyer’s application or transfer fee shows up on your side.

Lender fees, prepaids and escrows

This group only exists on a financed purchase, and it is where the Loan Estimate matters most.

• Origination and points. The lender’s own charges, shown in section A of the Closing Disclosure. Our calculator assumes 1% of the loan; your lender’s figure may be higher, lower or zero with a higher rate.
• Appraisal, credit report, flood certification. Section B, services you did not shop for.
• Prepaid interest. Interest from the closing date to the end of the month.
• Prepaid homeowners insurance. The first year’s premium is usually paid at closing, on cash and financed purchases alike. In Miami this is often the largest single line after the taxes.
• Initial escrow deposit. The lender collects a few months of property taxes and insurance to seed the escrow account. Our calculator assumes three months of taxes; the exact count depends on the closing month and the tax cycle.
• FHA upfront MIP. On an FHA loan, 1.75% of the base loan amount, usually financed into the loan rather than paid in cash. See our FHA vs conventional guide.

A worked example

A $650,000 single-family home in Miami-Dade, conventional loan with 20% down, using our calculator’s default assumptions:

The seller’s side of the same deal is the deed stamps ($3,900), the seller’s closing fee, the title and lien searches, any estoppel, brokerage compensation as set in the listing agreement, the mortgage payoff and the seller’s prorated share of the year’s property taxes.

The tax and insurance percentages are the calculator's editable defaults, not quotes. Miami insurance and flood premiums vary widely by address; get a binder early.

Reading the Loan Estimate and the Closing Disclosure

Federal rules give you two standardized forms, and the timing is the protection.

The Loan Estimate is a three-page form the lender must deliver within three business days of receiving your application. Every lender uses the same layout, so two estimates can be compared line by line: rate, monthly payment, closing costs, and the cash to close.

The Closing Disclosure is the final version, and you must receive it at least three business days before closing. Its five pages follow a fixed order:

• Page 1: loan terms, projected payments, and the headline Closing Costs and Cash to Close.
• Page 2: Loan Costs (A. origination charges, B. services you did not shop for, C. services you did shop for) and Other Costs (E. taxes and other government fees, where the doc stamps and intangible tax live; F. prepaids; G. initial escrow payment; H. other, including the owner’s title policy).
• Page 3: the Cash to Close reconciliation and the summaries of the borrower’s and seller’s transactions, including prorations.
• Pages 4 and 5: loan features, escrow status, the total of payments, finance charge, APR and total interest percentage.

How to lower what you pay

• Ask about the reissue rate if the seller’s title policy is recent.
• Shop the lender fees with two Loan Estimates; the promulgated title premium will not change, but section A will.
• On a house with no competing offers, a request for seller-paid closing costs is normal; on a house with several, it weakens your offer.
• Bring the insurance quote forward. A flood-zone check with our flood zone tool before you write the offer avoids a premium surprise on the Closing Disclosure.
• Close late in the month to shrink prepaid interest, and ask your closing agent to walk you through the property-tax proration before the Closing Disclosure arrives.

None of this is exotic. Closing costs are mostly arithmetic on published rates, and the few lines that are not are negotiable if you know which ones they are.