Last reviewed: July 2026
The taxes (the state's cut)
- Documentary stamps on the deed — $0.70 per $100 of price statewide; Miami-Dade runs $0.60 for single-family, $1.05 with surtax for everything else. Customarily seller-paid.
- Documentary stamps on the note — $0.35 per $100 financed. Follows the loan: buyer pays.
- Nonrecurring intangible tax — 0.2% of the mortgage amount. Buyer pays, once.
The title work
- Owner's title premium — promulgated by state rule ($5.75/k first $100k, $5.00/k to $1M, less above). County custom decides the payer; the contract can override.
- Lender's policy at simultaneous issue — $25 plus any excess-coverage charge. Buyer.
- Title search / closing or settlement fee — the service charges; allocation varies by contract and custom.
- Reissue credit — a premium reduction when a qualifying prior policy exists. Ask; it's real money.
The diligence and the county
- Municipal lien search — city-level violations, permits, utilities. Modest cost, five-figure savings potential. Typically buyer-side on purchases; smart sellers order their own at listing.
- HOA/condo estoppel — statutorily capped association certificate; allocation per contract.
- Recording fees — $10 first page, $8.50 each additional; deed (buyer) and mortgage (buyer), payoffs/satisfactions (seller).
- Prorations — property taxes (paid in arrears in Florida) and association dues split to the closing date. Not a fee; an allocation.
Rules of thumb that survive contact with reality
Financed South Florida buyers commonly land in the 2–4% of purchase price range all-in (heavily driven by loan costs and prepaids); cash buyers run dramatically lighter. Sellers' cost center is commission plus deed stamps plus payoff. And every one of those sentences loses to the actual numbers — which is why the calculators on this site compute your specifics instead of quoting ranges.