Closing Table Notes

One dated issue a month: the real numbers from the closing table — promulgated rates, doc stamps, surtax exceptions, recording fees — with the statute or rule linked next to every figure. No filler, no forecasts we can’t support.

Issue № 4 · September 2, 2026

The two taxes on a Florida mortgage — and the $25 lender's policy that changes cash-to-close math

Financed and cash estimates for the same price never match, because Florida taxes the loan itself: $0.35 per $100 in documentary stamps on the note and a 2-mill intangible tax on the mortgage. Issue #4 walks both, plus the flat $25 simultaneous-issue lender's policy — with a worked $500,000 file.

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Issue № 2 · August 1, 2026

FIRPTA has three brackets, not one rate — and the buyer is the one the IRS bills

When a foreign person sells U.S. real estate, federal law makes the BUYER withhold. Issue #2 walks the three brackets — 15%, 10%, and zero — the certification that unlocks the lower two, and why withholding is computed on the price, not the profit.

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Issue № 3 · August 1, 2026

The reissue credit: the reduced rate most sellers leave on the table

Florida sets title premiums by rule, so no company can discount them — but the same rule writes in reduced-rate categories, and the one sellers most often miss is the reissue credit. Issue #3 explains what it is worth in real dollars and the single document that unlocks it.

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Issue № 1 · July 28, 2026

The five numbers on every Florida closing statement — and the Miami-Dade exception

Florida's title premium is set by the state, not negotiated — and four more government-charge lines follow fixed formulas. Issue #1 of Closing Table Notes walks the five numbers, including the Miami-Dade surtax exception that surprises out-of-area agents.

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