Seller closing costs in Florida: what you pay when you sell

When you sell, part of what you pay at closing is set by law. Another part is decided by your contract. And the biggest one, the commission, is yours to negotiate. This guide separates the three, so you know what actually reaches you.

Most home sales in Florida use the Florida Realtors purchase contract (the CRSP form). Its paragraph 5 says what each side pays. We read it on November 6, 2026. On the seller side it lists:

• Taxes and surtaxes on the deed. The seller's largest fixed cost; the rate is below.
• Recording fees for documents needed to cure title. For example, the document showing your mortgage was paid off.
• Repairs, wood-destroying organisms and permits, up to a limit. The contract sets one limit for repairing what you warrant, another for termite and other wood-destroying organism damage (WDO), and another for closing out open permits and getting the missing ones. If the contract leaves them blank, each limit is 1.5% of the price. It is a ceiling, not a sure cost: if nothing needs repair, you pay nothing.
• Special assessments already approved by a public body. If a public works assessment was already placed on the property before closing, you pay it in full. This does not include homeowners' or condo association dues.

All of this can change in negotiation: the contract is the starting point, not the law. Source: Florida Realtors CRSP contract, paragraph 5.

The state charges it on the sale price, and the rate is set by law: nobody negotiates it.

A residential condominium unit counts as single-family and pays no surtax, per Statute §201.031. Source for the rates: Florida Department of Revenue.

Title insurance protects the buyer against problems in the property's legal history. In Florida the premium is set by the state and every company charges the same one. On a $450,000 sale, the owner's policy costs $2,325 (OIR official rate).

Who pays it is marked in the contract. In Miami-Dade the contract requires the "abstract" option: the seller pays the title and lien searches up to closing, and a checkbox says who pays the owner's policy. In Broward and the rest of the state the other option can also be used, and it lets the parties choose: the seller picks the title company and pays the policy, or the buyer picks it and pays, or the buyer picks it and the seller pays. Check which box is marked in yours: it is a $2,325 difference on a $450,000 sale. Source: CRSP contract, paragraphs 5(c) and 10(a).

In Florida property tax is paid at the end of the year: each year's bill is due November 1 (Statute §197.333). If you sell mid-year, you have not yet paid for the months you owned the home. So at closing you give the buyer a credit for those days: the buyer pays the full bill in November.

The contract prorates taxes, association dues and other current expenses as of the day before closing. If this year's bill is not out yet, the prior year's is used and readjusted later if either side asks. Source: CRSP contract, paragraph 5(d).

The association estoppel certificate states how much is owed in dues on closing day. Its fee is capped by law: $299 base, $119 more if expedited and $179 more if the account is delinquent. The law sets the cap but not who pays it: your contract decides that. What is always yours is getting current: past-due dues are paid at closing out of your money, because the buyer is liable for them together with you. Source: Statute §718.116.

• What you owe on your mortgage. It is paid off in full at closing with the sale money. The exact amount comes from the payoff letter the title company requests from your lender, with interest up to that day.
• The commission. It is not set by law and there is no standard percentage: it is fully negotiable, and agreed in the contract with your agent (the listing agreement). Since August 2024 the offer to pay the buyer's agent no longer goes on the MLS; if you choose to pay it, it is negotiated separately. Source: NAR settlement FAQs.
• The title company's fees. The settlement fee and other services are not official rates: each company sets its own.
• Whatever you negotiate with the buyer. Help with the buyer's closing costs (seller concessions), a home warranty or other items. All optional, and all written into the contract.

If you are a "foreign person" to the IRS, the federal FIRPTA law requires the buyer to withhold 15% of the price and send it to the IRS. That money is not a cost: it is a prepayment of your tax, and you get back what you did not owe when you file. But it does not reach you on closing day.

There are exceptions. If the buyer will live in the home and the price is $300,000 or less, nothing is withheld. If it is between $300,000 and $1 million and the buyer will live there, the withholding is reduced. The standard contract warns that FIRPTA may require extra cash from you at closing. Sources: IRS, FIRPTA withholding, IRS, exceptions and CRSP contract, paragraph 5(f).

Add the "to be confirmed" lines: the commission you agree to, the title company's fees and, if you have a mortgage, its payoff. If the contract puts the owner's policy on the buyer, your share drops to $6,655. In Broward the deed tax would be $3,150 instead of $2,700.

Want to see your property the way a buyer sees it before you price it? Check it here.

• "Sellers pay 6% to 10% in costs." There is no official percentage. The commission, the big part, is negotiable; the rest is exact rates plus whatever your contract says.
• "In Miami-Dade the deed pays $0.70." That is the rest-of-state $0.70. In Miami-Dade a house or a residential condo pays $0.60.
• "Whoever owns it in November pays the year's tax." They pay it in November, yes, but at closing you pay them back for the days you owned it.