Selling
What does it cost to sell a house in Florida?
Plan for the deed tax (documentary stamps) of 70 cents per $100 of the price, the agent compensation you negotiate, title and closing fees, and your share of the year's property taxes. On a $350,000 sale the deed tax alone is $2,450.
Florida's documentary stamp tax on deeds is 70 cents for each $100 of the price in every county except Miami-Dade. It is customarily a seller cost, and your contract says who pays it.
Agent compensation is negotiable and set in writing; Florida law does not fix a rate. Mortgage payoffs, any liens, an association estoppel letter if you have an HOA or condo, and the property-tax proration for the part of the year you owned the home are the other lines on a seller's settlement statement.
Send the address and you get a net sheet: the price we would list at, the costs above, and what you would walk away with.
Source: Florida Department of Revenue, documentary stamp tax
Do I have to tell buyers my Florida home flooded?
Yes. Florida sellers must give buyers a written flood disclosure at or before signing the contract. Since October 1, 2025 it covers flooding you know damaged the home while you owned it, flood insurance claims, and flood assistance from any source.
The requirement is section 689.302 of the Florida Statutes, created in 2024 and expanded on October 1, 2025. The form also tells buyers that homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage.
Separate from the form, Florida courts have long required sellers to disclose known facts that materially affect value and are not readily observable (Johnson v. Davis, 1985). Completing the form before the first showing keeps the question from surfacing in the middle of a contract.
Selling a home that has flooded? Send the address and get the price we would list at, with a cash offer beside it: (904) 790-3212.
Source: Florida Statutes, section 689.302
Is a cash offer better than listing my home?
It depends on the house and your timeline. A cash offer usually trades some price for speed and certainty: no repairs, no showings, and fewer ways for the sale to fall apart. Listing usually brings the higher price for a home in good condition.
The only way to know for your home is to compare both numbers. Send the address once and you get a written cash offer within 10 days or less and the price we would list at, side by side, with no obligation to take either.
How do I find out what my home is worth?
Start from recent sales of similar homes nearby, then adjust for condition, updates, lot and, near the water, flood zone and insurance cost. Automated estimates cannot see condition or insurance, so treat them as a starting range.
Ask for a written valuation built from the comparable sales for your address. Ours is free, usually arrives within one business day, and comes with no obligation.
Do I owe tax when I sell my Florida home?
Florida has no state income tax. Federally, you can exclude up to $250,000 of gain, or $500,000 on a joint return, if you owned the home and lived in it as your main home for at least two of the five years before the sale. Gain above that is taxed as a capital gain.
Your gain is the sale price minus selling costs and your basis, and improvements raise the basis, so keep those records. Rentals, second homes and homes owned under two years follow different rules. General information, not tax advice; a CPA can run your numbers.
Want the sale-price side of that math? Your price in writing, free: (904) 790-3212.
Source: IRS, Topic 701, sale of your home
Can I sell a house with tenants in it?
Yes. The lease goes with the house: the buyer becomes the landlord for the rest of the term, and Florida law requires you to hand the security deposit to the new owner when the property is sold. Investors will buy a leased home; owner-occupant buyers usually want it vacant, so the lease's end date and its notice rules set your timing and your buyer pool.
Give tenants proper notice for showings and keep the lease, the deposit records and the rent history ready for buyers. If the lease is month to month, the notice period in the lease or in Florida law decides how soon the home can be delivered empty.
Selling a rental? We price it two ways, leased and vacant: (904) 790-3212.
Source: Florida Statutes, section 83.49
How do I sell a home I inherited in Florida?
It depends on how the home passed to you. If the deed already moved it to you (joint ownership with survivorship, a lady bird deed or a trust), you can sell once title is updated. If it was only in the deceased's name, the estate usually goes through probate first and the personal representative sells with the court's authority. Federally, your tax basis steps up to the value at death, so the gain on a prompt sale is usually small.
Florida homestead property has extra rules when a spouse or minor child survives, and the probate court can restrict a sale until the estate is settled. Talk to a probate attorney before listing; we coordinate with them on timing, and a cash offer can close as soon as the court allows.
Inherited a home you need to settle? Call or text (904) 790-3212.
First-time buyers
What help is there for first-time buyers in Florida?
Florida Housing, the state's housing finance agency, pairs a 30-year fixed first mortgage with down payment and closing cost help: Florida Assist (up to $10,000 at 0 percent, deferred until you sell or refinance, not forgivable), the HFA Preferred and Advantage PLUS second mortgages (3, 4 or 5 percent of the loan, forgivable), the Homeownership Loan Program (a 3 percent second mortgage with a monthly payment) and Hometown Heroes for eligible full-time workers. You reach all of them through a participating lender, take a homebuyer education course, stay under your county's income and purchase price limits, and must not have owned and lived in a home of your own in the last three years.
Which one fits depends on your income, the loan type and how long you plan to stay: deferred help costs nothing until you sell, forgivable help goes away if you stay long enough, and the 3 percent loan adds a monthly payment but leaves the first mortgage rate alone.
Program terms and funding change during the year, so the table below shows the date each program was last checked.
For more information, questions, or to be connected with a participating lender, reach out to Micha Kiel at (904) 790-3212.
Source: Florida Housing, homebuyer programs
What is the Florida Hometown Heroes program?
Down payment and closing cost help for eligible full-time Florida workers: up to 5 percent of the first mortgage, at least $10,000 and at most $35,000, as a 0 percent second mortgage with no monthly payment, repaid when you sell, refinance, transfer the deed or stop living in the home. Florida Housing lists who qualifies: health care workers, school staff, first responders, public safety and court employees and child care workers employed full time by a Florida employer, service members, and veterans employed full time by a Florida employer.
The money comes from the Legislature in rounds and runs out; when a round is exhausted, lenders stop reserving funds until the next appropriation. If you plan to use it, get pre-approved with a participating lender before you shop so the reservation can be made the day you go under contract.
Eligibility has changed more than once since the program launched on June 1, 2022, so check the official page for the current occupation list and income limits before you count on it.
For more information, questions, or to be connected with a participating lender, reach out to Micha Kiel at (904) 790-3212.
Source: Florida Housing, Hometown Heroes
What local down payment help exists in Northeast Florida?
Each county runs purchase assistance with state SHIP money and its own rules, and the City of Jacksonville runs Head Start to HOME Ownership (H2H) for income-eligible buyers in Duval County. St. Johns County's Housing and Financial Counseling Program layers SHIP funds, when available, with state and federal programs and assigns a housing counselor to first-time buyers. Nassau, Clay and Flagler counties fund purchase assistance through the same state program in most years; each county's housing office posts when applications open.
Amounts, income caps and open windows are set each funding year and change, so confirm with the county before you count on a figure. Most require a homebuyer education class, a home inside the county and a purchase price under the county's limit.
St. Johns County housing counselors: 904-209-6062 or 904-209-6146.
For more information, questions, or to be connected with a participating lender, reach out to Micha Kiel at (904) 790-3212.
Source: St. Johns County Housing and Financial Counseling Program
How much do I need for a down payment?
Less than most people assume. FHA loans start at 3.5 percent down. VA loans, for eligible veterans and service members, and USDA loans, for eligible rural areas that include parts of Nassau, Clay, St. Johns and Flagler counties, start at zero. Conventional HomeReady and Home Possible loans start at 3 percent for buyers under their income limits. With less than 20 percent down you pay mortgage insurance; on conventional loans it drops off once you have enough equity, and on most FHA loans it stays for the life of the loan.
Closing costs come on top of the down payment, and sellers can agree to pay part of them in the contract. Down payment help from the programs above can cover some or all of the cash to close.
For more information, questions, or to be connected with a participating lender, reach out to Micha Kiel at (904) 790-3212.
Source: HUD, FHA loans
First-time buyer programs at a glance
Terms and funding change during the year. The last column is the date we last re-read each program's official page; confirm current terms with a participating lender before you count on a figure.
Buying
Do I have to sign an agreement with an agent before touring homes?
In most cases, yes. Since August 17, 2024, agents who are MLS participants must have a written agreement with a buyer before touring a home, in person or by live video. It states what the agent will be paid, and that amount is negotiable.
The rule came from the National Association of Realtors settlement. The agreement must state the compensation as a specific amount or rate, not an open-ended one. Compensation is not set by law: you can negotiate it, the length of the agreement and the services.
Read it before the first tour and ask about anything unclear, especially how compensation is paid if a seller offers none.
Want to read our written agreement before you tour anything? Call or text (904) 790-3212.
Source: National Association of Realtors, consumer guide to written buyer agreements
When do I file for Florida's homestead exemption?
Own the home and live in it as your permanent residence on January 1, then apply with your county property appraiser by March 1 (the next business day when March 1 falls on a weekend). The exemption takes at least $50,000 off the assessed value and starts the Save Our Homes cap.
The first $25,000 applies to all property taxes, including school taxes; the second portion applies to non-school taxes and now adjusts for inflation (St. Johns County lists a $51,411 total for 2026). The seller's exemption does not transfer to you, so file your own.
Save Our Homes limits yearly increases in a homestead's assessed value to 3 percent or the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower. Moving from another Florida homestead? Portability can carry up to $500,000 of that accumulated benefit to the new home if you establish it within three years.
Buying this year? Tell us what you want and matching listings arrive the same day: (904) 790-3212.
Source: St. Johns County Property Appraiser, homestead exemption and portability
How do I check if a Northeast Florida home is in a flood zone?
Look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center, ask the seller for the Florida flood disclosure, and get a flood insurance quote during your inspection period. Standard homeowners policies do not cover flood.
The flood zone shapes the monthly cost as much as the price does. Lenders require flood insurance on homes in high-risk zones, and elevation, construction year and past claims all move the premium. Near the St. Johns River, the creeks and the coast, get the quote before your inspection deadline, not after it.
We pull the flood zone and an insurance quote on any home before you offer. Send the address: (904) 790-3212.
Source: FEMA Flood Map Service Center
What inspections will an insurer ask for on an older Florida home?
Commonly a four-point inspection (roof, electrical, plumbing, and heating and air) and a wind mitigation report, which can lower the windstorm part of the premium. Which homes need them depends on the insurer.
Schedule both alongside the general home inspection so the results arrive inside your inspection period. Many insurers set limits on roof age, so ask the seller for the roof's age and permit history early.
Ask us for the roof age and permit history on any listing before you tour: (904) 790-3212.
What does a buyer pay at closing in Florida?
Lender fees, the appraisal, title work and the lender's title policy, prepaid property taxes and insurance, and two Florida taxes tied to the mortgage: documentary stamps on the note at 35 cents per $100 borrowed and a one-time intangible tax of 2 mills, which is 0.2 percent of the loan. On a $300,000 mortgage that is $1,050 plus $600. Who pays for the owner's title policy is a box in the contract, negotiated with the price.
Ask your lender for a Loan Estimate before you offer; it lists every cost by line. Sellers can agree to pay part of your closing costs, and each loan type caps how much. Cash buyers skip the two mortgage taxes entirely.
The intangible tax is section 199.133 of the Florida Statutes; the note tax is in the Department of Revenue's documentary stamp rules.
Want matching listings the same day? Tell us what you want: (904) 790-3212.
Source: Florida Department of Revenue, documentary stamp tax
How does the inspection period work in Florida?
The contract sets a number of days after the effective date for inspections. Under the standard Florida AS IS contract you can cancel for any reason inside that window and get your deposit back; after it ends, the deposit is at risk if you walk. Schedule the general inspection, the four-point and wind mitigation reports, a termite inspection and an insurance quote to land inside the window.
Your deposit is negotiable and is held in escrow by the title company or a broker, not by the seller. Ask for a longer window only when the home is older, on a well or septic, or near the water, where insurance quotes take longer.
We line up the inspectors and the insurance quote for you. Ask before you offer: (904) 790-3212.
What is a CDD fee?
A Community Development District is a special district that borrowed money to build a neighborhood's roads, drainage, utilities and amenities. The bond repayment plus yearly upkeep shows up on your property tax bill as a non-ad valorem assessment, often for 20 to 30 years, on top of any HOA dues. Florida law requires the contract to disclose that a home sits in a CDD, and the assessment for each lot is public record.
Many newer neighborhoods in St. Johns, Nassau and Clay counties have one. Ask for the current year's assessment for the exact address and whether the bond portion can be paid off early, then add it to the monthly cost before you compare homes.
We pull the CDD, HOA and flood numbers on any home before you offer: (904) 790-3212.
Source: Florida Statutes, section 190.048
Living here
Which Northeast Florida school districts rate highest?
In Florida's 2024 district grades, released in January 2025, St. Johns County ranked second in the state and Nassau County third, both with an A. Clay County ranked 14th, Flagler 24th and Duval 33rd.
Rankings move from year to year and zoning is set address by address. Check the current grades with the Florida Department of Education and confirm the zoned schools for a specific home with the district before you make an offer.
Want listings zoned to specific schools? Tell us the schools and the price range: (904) 790-3212.
Source: Jacksonville Today, January 3, 2025
Owning a rental
Do Florida landlords have to disclose flooding to tenants?
Yes, for leases of one year or longer entered on or after October 1, 2025. The landlord must give the tenant a flood disclosure at or before signing, covering known flooding during the landlord's ownership, flood insurance claims and flood assistance received.
If you own a rental, add the form to the lease packet for every lease of a year or more.
Own a rental you would rather not manage yourself? See property management
Source: Henderson Franklin, summary of Senate Bill 948 (2025)
How do I run the numbers on a rental?
Take the yearly rent, subtract vacancy, property tax, insurance, HOA or CDD, maintenance and management to get net operating income, and divide it by the price for the cap rate. Then subtract the mortgage payment to see cash flow. In Florida, property taxes reset to market value when a home sells, because the 10 percent yearly cap on non-homestead assessments starts over with a new owner, so use the new tax, not the seller's.
Get the insurance quote and the flood zone before you offer; on the coast and along the river they change the answer more than a small price cut does. Management typically costs a share of collected rent plus a placement fee; ask for both numbers up front.
Own or buying a rental? Property management with one licensed point of contact. See property management
