The minimum cash you need for a $550,000 home in Miami-Dade
Nelson Paredes · REALTOR® · One Stop Realty Center Inc
Updated October 20, 2026
$25,141.30
This is what you need on closing day with the minimum FHA down payment, not counting what only your lender can tell you.
Calculable cash at 3.5% down on a single-family house. It is a floor, not the total. It does not include the deed tax, which the standard Florida purchase contract puts on the seller: confirm it in yours.
Florida rates and HUD minimums read at the official sources on October 18, 2026.
If you are between $500,000 and $600,000, this is the middle tier: closing rises evenly and the list of assistance barely moves.
A single-family house (a standalone home) in Miami-Dade, with both title policies issued at the same time. Taxes from the Florida Department of Revenue; title insurance per the OIR rule; recording per the county Clerk. Each one is explained in closing costs in Florida. If you add the upfront FHA premium to the loan, the two loan taxes go up a little.
Line With 3.5% down With 10% down Down payment $19,250 $55,000 Resulting loan (price minus down payment) $530,750 $495,000 Tax on the loan ($0.35 per $100 or fraction) $1,857.80 $1,732.50 Intangible tax ($2 per $1,000 of the loan) $1,061.50 $990 Owner's title insurance $2,825 $2,825 Lender's title insurance (issued at the same time) $25 $25 Recording (2-page deed and 12-page mortgage) $122 $122 Calculable closing costs $5,891.30 $5,694.50 Calculable cash $25,141.30 $60,694.50 Separate: deed tax ($0.60 per $100 of the price), normally paid by the seller $3,300 $3,300 Closing costs barely change between the two columns ($196.80 apart): title insurance depends on the price, not on the loan. What separates the two totals is the down payment. The deed tax is not added: the standard Florida purchase contract puts it on the seller (source). Confirm it in yours: if you pay it, the cash goes up to $28,441.30 at 3.5% and to $63,994.50 at 10%.
These are HUD's minimums (the federal housing agency) for the FHA loan, the government-backed one: 3.5% with a credit score of 580 or higher, 10% between 500 and 579 (Mortgagee Letter 2026-11). Meeting them is not an approval; the details are in FHA loan minimum requirements.
This tier does not lose a big group of programs the way the previous one did. Compared with $500,000, it loses just one: City of Miami District 5.
Program Price cap At $550,000 Lauderhill Purchase Assistance Program (SHIP and HOME) $451,000 or $679,324 Depends on the source: this price falls between the two caps. Confirm it before counting on it. The cap changes with where the money comes from. City of Homestead Down Payment Assistance $494,000 Drops out: $56,000 over the cap. City of Miami District 5 Expanded First-Time Homebuyer Program $500,000 Drops out: $50,000 over the cap. It applies only inside District 5. Tamarac First-Time Homebuyer Program $568,577 The cap of “Tamarac First-Time Homebuyer Program” exists and this home meets it, but it is not taking applications today. Which ones are taking them is on the Down Payment Assistance Tracker. The next wall is the cap of Hialeah and the first cap of the Broward County programs. Up to there, what changes your assistance map is not the price but the city where you buy.
Tamarac has a cap and this home meets it. Whether the city is taking applications today, and how to apply, is in the Tamarac guide.
Hialeah applications are made online, and the city can close or pause the program depending on the money it has. The Broward County program is handled through the lender: there is no online application.
- With the cap far above, they allow the home: City of Hialeah First-Time Homebuyer Program (cap $636,806), Broward County purchase assistance for Pembroke Pines (Homebuyer Purchase Assistance) (cap $636,806 or $679,324), Broward County purchase assistance for Hollywood (Homebuyer Purchase Assistance) (cap $636,806 or $679,324), Tax discount on the interest of your home loan (Mortgage Credit Certificate) (cap $679,324), Pembroke Pines First-Time Homebuyer Program (SHIP) (cap $679,324), State loan for the down payment (FL Assist) (cap $697,889) and State loan for the down payment (FL HLP) (cap $697,889).
- With the cap far below, they leave it out: City of North Miami First-Time Homebuyer, with federal funds (HOME) (cap $370,000 or $415,000), City of Miami Gardens Purchase Assistance Program (cap $382,195), City of Miami First-Time Homebuyer Program (cap $451,000 or $494,000), Miami-Dade County Homebuyer Down Payment Assistance (cap $451,000, unconfirmed), Miami-Dade County Homebuyer Loan Program (cap $451,000, unconfirmed) and City of North Miami First-Time Homebuyer, with state funds (SHIP) (cap $460,000).
“Fits” only says the price does not exceed the program's maximum; not that it is open, that you have the income it asks for, or that money is left (each program's card in Assistance and the Down Payment Assistance Tracker cover that). No assistance is added to or subtracted from the totals. Caps read between October 12 and 19, 2026 at: City of Lauderhill · City of Homestead · City of Miami, District 5 · City of Tamarac · City of North Miami · City of Miami Gardens · City of Miami · Miami-Dade County · Miami-Dade County · City of Hialeah · Broward County (HPA) · Housing Finance Authority of Broward County · City of Pembroke Pines · Florida Housing.
- Your lender's and the title company's charges: fees for opening the loan, the appraisal (when an expert says what the home is worth), the credit report, processing and title services. Each one sets its own and you will see them on the Loan Estimate, the cost sheet your lender hands you.
- Your homeowner's insurance and the deposits: the first year of insurance is prepaid, the lender sets money aside for taxes and insurance, and the home's taxes are split by days between seller and buyer.
If your loan is FHA there is one more line, outside the totals: the upfront FHA insurance premium, 1.75% of the loan, which is $9,288.13 at 3.5% and $8,662.50 at 10% (HUD, Handbook 4000.1). It is paid at closing or added to the loan; if it is added, it does not come out of your pocket that day.
- A $550,000 residential condo in Miami-Dade pays the same deed tax as the house, $0.60 per $100: Statute §201.031 treats a residential condominium unit as single-family and charges no $0.45 surtax. Calculable cash is the same as in the table above, plus the association certificate (legal cap of $299 to $597). With FHA, the building must be HUD-approved: here is how it is checked.
- The same house in Broward pays Florida's general deed tax rule, $0.70 per $100: $3,850, which under the standard contract is also paid by the seller. Calculable cash is the same as in the table above.
We help you turn this floor into your number.
The math above is for an example home; yours depends on your lender, your credit and the property. Leave us your number and we take care of building your figure with you.
This guide orients you, it does not advise you. The ranges are estimates, and final terms are set by the lender, the insurance company, or the homeowners or building association, based on your specific case.
