What Does It Cost to Sell a House in Florida?
Most Palm Beach County sellers pay somewhere between roughly 6% and 9% of the sale price to get from listing to closing. The largest pieces are real estate commission (now separately negotiated with each side), the state documentary stamp tax on the deed at $0.70 per $100 of the sale price, and the owner's title insurance policy, which by local custom the seller pays here in Palm Beach County. Everything else - prorated taxes, association estoppel and transfer fees, repairs or credits, and payoff costs - depends on your specific property. The only number that matters in the end is your net, and you can know it before you list.
The line items, one at a time
Real estate commission
Since the 2024 National Association of REALTORS settlement changed practice nationwide, the listing fee and any compensation offered to a buyer's broker are negotiated separately, and buyer compensation can no longer be advertised in the MLS. In practice most Palm Beach County sellers still decide whether to offer buyer-side compensation as part of their pricing strategy, because a large share of buyers now sign their own broker agreements and will ask for it in the offer. Commission is fully negotiable and always has been. What matters is not the headline percentage but what the fee buys: pricing discipline, photography and presentation, exposure to the right buyer pool, and someone who keeps the transaction from falling apart at inspection or appraisal.
Documentary stamp tax on the deed
Florida charges documentary stamp tax on the transfer of real property. For property in every Florida county except Miami-Dade, the rate is $0.70 per $100 of consideration, or portion of $100 (Florida Department of Revenue, s. 201.02, Fla. Stat.). On an $800,000 Boca Raton sale, that is $5,600. By custom in Palm Beach County the seller pays it.
Owner's title insurance
Florida title insurance rates are set by rule. Under Fla. Admin. Code R. 69O-186.003 the promulgated risk premium is $5.75 per $1,000 of liability up to $100,000, plus $5.00 per $1,000 from $100,000 to $1 million, then $2.50 per $1,000 above $1 million up to $5 million. On an $800,000 sale that is $575 plus $3,500, or $4,075, before settlement fees and endorsements.
Who pays is local custom, and it is not uniform in South Florida: in Palm Beach County the seller customarily pays for the owner's policy; in Broward County the buyer customarily pays. It is negotiable in both counties, and on a cross-county deal you should expect it to come up.
The smaller, easy-to-forget items
- Prorated property taxes through the closing date. Florida taxes are paid in arrears, so at closing you credit the buyer for your share of the current year.
- Association estoppel fees and transfer fees on condominiums and HOA homes. Florida law caps the estoppel certificate fee, and the amount depends on how quickly it is ordered and whether the account is delinquent.
- Municipal lien search and recording fees, plus the cost of clearing any open permit found in that search.
- Mortgage payoff, plus per-diem interest and any release-of-lien recording.
- Repairs or repair credits negotiated after inspection.
- Wind mitigation and 4-point inspections, if you order them to help the buyer's insurance quote. On older Florida homes, spending a few hundred dollars here often protects the whole deal - our guide to Florida insurance costs explains why the buyer's premium is now a deal term.
- Seasonal carrying costs if the property is vacant: insurance, electricity for humidity control, lawn service, and association dues right through closing.
A worked example
Take an $800,000 single-family sale in Palm Beach County with no repairs and a $300,000 mortgage payoff:
| Item | Estimate |
|---|---|
| Documentary stamps on deed | $5,600 |
| Owner's title policy (promulgated rate) | $4,075 |
| Settlement, lien search, recording, misc. | $1,000-$1,800 |
| Prorated taxes and association items | varies |
| Commission (negotiated) | varies |
| Mortgage payoff | $300,000 |
Before commission and prorations, the fixed transfer costs land near $11,000, or about 1.4% of price. Add a negotiated commission and any credits, and you are in the 6-9% band. That is why the seller net sheet, not the list price, is the document to argue about.
What is worth spending money on before you list
Ask the question in reverse: which dollar changes the buyer's number? In our experience in Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach and Lake Worth Beach:
Usually worth it: deep cleaning, decluttering, landscaping and pressure washing, paint where it is dated or damaged, minor plumbing and electrical repairs that would otherwise show up on an inspection report, and professional photography (which is your listing agent's cost, not yours).
Usually not worth it: full kitchen or bathroom remodels done to your taste weeks before you leave, high-end appliance upgrades, and pools. Buyers rarely reimburse the cost, and a fresh renovation in the wrong style can narrow your buyer pool rather than widen it.
Depends entirely: roof and major systems. A roof past its insurable life is not a cosmetic issue - it changes who can buy the home and on what terms. Sometimes replacing it is the right call, sometimes pricing it in with two written quotes is better. That is a per-property decision, and it is one we make with the numbers on the table. If the answer is to sell without repairs, read selling a house as-is in Florida.
The cost nobody puts on the closing statement
Overpricing. A home that starts too high accumulates days on market, gets stale, and typically sells below where a correct initial price would have landed - after you have carried the mortgage, taxes, insurance and association dues for the extra months. We put numbers to that pattern in the real cost of overpricing your home.
For context on the current market: in July 2026 the median Palm Beach County single-family home sold for $660,090, up 7.6% year over year, with 3.7 months of supply, while the median condominium sold for $312,500 at 6.7 months of supply (Florida Realtors / BeachesMLS via RWorld, July 2026). Condominium sellers in particular should read how to sell a condo in Palm Beach County, because association documents and reserve funding are now part of the cost conversation. Current figures are on our Palm Beach County market report.
Get your net before you list, not at closing
Gia Freer is broker/owner of PBP Real Estate, LLC, licensed in Florida for twenty-five years. Before any listing appointment ends, we walk sellers through a written net sheet: the price we believe the property supports, every cost line above, and what lands in your account at closing. If you are selling to buy again, we run it twice - once for the sale and once for the purchase - because the two numbers only make sense together.
Call 561-395-8418 or see what your home is worth. More on our process: selling with PBP.
This article covers the real estate side of selling costs in Florida and is not legal or tax advice. Consult a Florida real estate attorney about title and contract questions and a CPA about the tax treatment of your sale.
Cost of Selling in Florida: Questions and Answers
How much does it cost to sell a house in Florida in 2026?
Most Florida sellers pay roughly 6% to 9% of the sale price all in. Fixed transfer costs - documentary stamps at $0.70 per $100, the owner's title policy at promulgated rates, settlement and recording fees - run about 1.5% of price in Palm Beach County. Negotiated commission and any repair credits make up the rest.
Who pays for title insurance in Palm Beach County?
By local custom the seller pays for the owner's title insurance policy in Palm Beach County. In Broward County the custom is the opposite: the buyer pays. It is negotiable either way and should be addressed in the contract, not assumed.
What is the documentary stamp tax when selling a Florida home?
$0.70 per $100 of the sale price, or portion of $100, in every Florida county except Miami-Dade, per s. 201.02, Florida Statutes. On a $500,000 sale that is $3,500, customarily paid by the seller.
Do sellers pay closing costs in Florida?
Yes, sellers have their own closing costs separate from the buyer's. Typical Palm Beach County seller items are documentary stamps, the owner's title policy, settlement and recording fees, prorated property taxes, association estoppel and transfer fees, the mortgage payoff, and any negotiated repair credits.
Are real estate commissions still 6% in Florida?
Commission has always been negotiable, and since the 2024 NAR settlement the listing fee and any compensation offered to a buyer's broker are negotiated separately and cannot be advertised in the MLS. Whether to offer buyer-broker compensation is now a pricing decision each seller makes.
What repairs should I make before selling my Florida home?
Prioritize anything that affects insurability or safety, then cleaning, landscaping and paint. Skip taste-driven remodels done immediately before a sale. Roof and major systems deserve a case-by-case decision comparing replacement cost against the price and buyer-pool effect of selling with two written quotes in hand.