Closing costs in Florida: what each one is and what it costs

Part of your closing costs has an official rate and can be worked out to the cent. The other part is known only to your lender. This guide separates them, so you know which is which.

These are rates set by law: nobody negotiates them. Closing costs are what you pay the day you sign the purchase. We read the rates in this guide in the official sources on October 18, 2026 (links at the end of each section).

1. Documentary stamp tax on the deed. The deed is the document that moves the home into your name. The tax is figured on the full price, which includes the money paid and any mortgage on the property.

Miami-Dade is the only county with that base rate. A residential condominium unit counts as single-family and pays no surtax, per Statute §201.031. Who pays this tax is set by your contract. The standard Florida purchase contract (Florida Realtors CRSP form, paragraph 5) puts it on the seller: confirm it in yours before you sign.

2. Documentary stamp tax on the note and mortgage. If you buy with a loan, the state also taxes the debt: $0.35 per $100 of the loan amount. The $2,450 cap the law mentions applies to the promissory note, the paper where you promise to pay. When there is a mortgage, the tax is paid on the mortgage when it is recorded, and that cap does not apply there. Pay cash and this line does not exist.

3. Nonrecurring intangible tax on the mortgage. A one-time tax, it does not repeat every year, on the debt secured by the mortgage: 2 mills, which is $0.002 per dollar, or $2 per $1,000 of the loan. It is paid when the mortgage is recorded. No mortgage, no tax.

Sources: Florida Department of Revenue, documentary stamp tax, Florida Statutes §201.02, §201.031 and §201.08, Rule 12B-4.012 of the Florida Administrative Code, and Statute §199.133.

Title insurance protects against problems in the property's legal history. In Florida the premium is set by the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) and every company charges the same one for the same coverage. You cannot haggle over the premium. What changes between companies is their service fees, covered below.

The owner's policy protects you, for the full insurable value of the property, and is paid once. The first $100,000 costs $5.75 per $1,000; from $100,000 to $1 million, $5.00 per $1,000. The minimum premium is $100.

The lender's policy protects the bank, not you. If it is issued together with the owner's policy (simultaneous issue), its premium is a $25 minimum as long as its amount does not exceed the owner's policy.

The law sets the premium, not who pays it. The lender's policy exists because of your loan and your lender requires it. The owner's policy is split according to your contract: your contract decides it.

Recording. Recording the deed and the mortgage with the county costs $10 for the first page of each document and $8.50 for each additional page. The first 4 names are indexed at no charge, and each additional name costs $1. It is a statewide statutory fee: the same in Miami-Dade as in Broward.

Sources: Rule 69O-186.003 of the Florida Administrative Code (OIR) and the Miami-Dade Clerk official records page (Statute §28.24).

The association estoppel certificate is the document where the association states how much is owed in dues. Its fee is capped by law: $299 base, $119 more if you ask for it expedited (3 business days), and $179 more if the account is delinquent. In the worst case, up to $597. The DBPR, the state department that regulates these matters, publishes the caps and adjusts them for inflation every five years.

The municipal lien search and other certificates also exist and the title company orders them, but their price is not an official rate: to be confirmed.

Source: Florida Statute §718.116, subsection (8): the law sets the base caps and requires adjusting them every five years; the DBPR publishes the adjusted amounts. These are legal caps: confirm the current one with the association.

These lines come from your case. That is why we give you no figure: it would be made up.

• Your lender's charges. Origination (opening the loan), appraisal, credit report, processing: each lender sets its own and no amount is official. You see them in the Loan Estimate, which the lender must give you, and confirm them in the Closing Disclosure, which by law you receive at least 3 business days before you sign. The CFPB, the federal agency that protects financial consumers, recommends comparing the two documents. Source: CFPB.
• The settlement fee and the title search. The insurance premium is a set rate; these two services are not. Each title company sets its own.
• Homeowner's insurance and escrow. The first year of your insurance, and the deposits your lender holds in advance for taxes and insurance (escrow). They depend on your policy and your lender.
• Prorations. Property taxes and association dues are split between seller and buyer by the closing date: each side pays for the days it owned the home. The amount comes from that property's real bill and your closing date.

If your loan is FHA, the loan's own requirements are in this guide. To build the total cash with ranges, see how much cash you need. And if the math falls short, short on cash to close explains what to do, in order.

That figure includes the deed tax; the standard Florida purchase contract puts it on the seller (source): confirm it in yours. If your contract leaves the deed tax on the seller's side, your core drops to $4,452. Your real total is that core plus the "to be confirmed" lines from your Loan Estimate. Anyone who gives you a closed total without that document is making up half the bill.

What changes if the property changes, with the same example:

• The same house in Broward: the deed tax would be 4,500 × $0.70 = $3,150, $450 more. Everything else is the same.
• A $450,000 residential condo in Miami-Dade: it pays the same deed tax as the house, 4,500 × $0.60 = $2,700, because Statute §201.031 treats a residential condominium unit as single-family and charges no surtax. Add the association certificate. Confirm it with your title company.
• A cash purchase of the same house: with no loan, the loan tax, the intangible tax and the lender's policy disappear. The core drops to $5,043.50: deed tax, owner's policy and recording of the deed ($18.50).

• "In Miami-Dade the deed pays $0.70." That is the state's general-rule $0.70. The county's base is different.
• "The $2,450 cap protects me on the loan tax." The cap belongs to the promissory note as a standalone document. With a recorded mortgage, the tax is paid on the mortgage, with no such cap.
• "I will shop for a cheaper title company." The premium is identical by law. What you can compare are their service fees.
• "Closing costs run about 2% or 3% of the price." There is no official percentage: there are exact rates plus lines that depend on your lender and your property. A percentage with no breakdown hides both halves.