For sellers · Miami-Dade
What selling actually costs you in Miami-Dade
Two things make this county cheaper to sell in than the rest of Florida, and most online calculators get both of them wrong. Your documentary stamp tax is lower here, and by local custom the buyer pays for owner's title insurance — which is the single largest line a generic Florida net sheet will wrongly charge you for.
This is an estimate, not a closing statement. The title company produces the real one. Settlement fees, lien searches and repair credits vary by company and by contract, and a payoff figure is only exact on the day. What it is good for is knowing roughly what you walk away with before you decide to list.
Why Miami-Dade is different
Documentary stamp tax is $0.60, not $0.70
Everywhere else in Florida the seller pays 70 cents per $100 of the sale price in documentary stamp tax on the deed. Miami-Dade is the written exception: 60 cents per $100. On a $450,000 sale that is $2,700 instead of $3,150.
There is a catch, and it is the one people get wrong. Miami-Dade adds a 45 cent surtax per $100 — but the Department of Revenue is explicit that the surtax "is not due on a document that transfers only a single-family dwelling." Sell a house or a condo you lived in and you pay 60 cents. Sell a duplex, a small apartment building or anything commercial and you pay $1.05 per $100, which on that same $450,000 is $4,725. The calculator above switches between the two.
The buyer pays for title insurance here
In most Florida counties the seller buys the owner's title policy for the buyer. In Miami-Dade and Broward the custom runs the other way: the buyer selects the title company and pays the premium. It is custom rather than law, so it is negotiable and occasionally traded away in a tight deal — but the default favours you, and it is worth real money.
Florida title insurance premiums are promulgated, meaning the state sets them and every company charges the same: $5.75 per $1,000 on the first $100,000 and $5.00 per $1,000 above it. On a $450,000 sale that is $2,325 you are not paying, unless you agree to.
You owe property tax up to the day you close
Florida bills property tax in arrears, in November, for the calendar year. When you sell in June you have had the use of the property for roughly half the year and have not paid for it, so the closing statement credits the buyer for your share — January 1 to the closing date. Sell in January and it is almost nothing. Sell in November and it is almost the whole bill. That is why the month matters in the calculator, and why "wait until after the new year" is sometimes genuinely worth money.
The lines people forget
- Estoppel fee — if there is an association, it has to certify what you owe. Florida caps this at $299 for an account in good standing, with more allowed for a rush or a delinquent account.
- Municipal lien search — unpaid utilities, open permits and code violations attach to the property, not to you. Budget $150–$250, and expect open permits to be the thing that delays closing. There is a whole guide on that because it comes up constantly down here.
- Recording the satisfaction of your mortgage — small, usually under $50.
- Repair credits — not a closing cost, but it is where sellers actually lose money after inspection. Nothing can predict it; it is simply the number to keep some room for.
A word on the commission
The calculator defaults to 5% total because it has to default to something. It is not a legal rate, there is no standard rate, and since the 2024 NAR settlement what a seller offers a buyer's agent — if anything — is explicitly negotiable and separately agreed. Put your real number in. If you are interviewing agents, the figure to compare is not the percentage on its own but the percentage against what they will actually do to earn it.
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Common questions
How much are seller closing costs in Miami-Dade?
Excluding the real estate commission, a typical Miami-Dade seller pays roughly 1% to 1.5% of the sale price: documentary stamp tax at 60 cents per $100, prorated property tax up to the closing date, a settlement fee, a municipal lien search and, where there is an association, an estoppel fee capped at $299. Owner's title insurance, which is the largest single closing cost in most of Florida, is customarily paid by the buyer here.
Does the buyer or the seller pay title insurance in Miami-Dade?
By local custom the buyer pays for the owner's title policy and chooses the title company, which is the opposite of most Florida counties. It is a custom and not a law, so it can be negotiated, but the default position favours the seller and is worth around $2,325 on a $450,000 sale.
What is the documentary stamp tax in Miami-Dade County?
60 cents per $100 of the sale price on a deed transferring a single-family dwelling, against 70 cents per $100 everywhere else in Florida. For property that is not a single-family dwelling, Miami-Dade adds a 45 cent surtax, bringing it to $1.05 per $100.
How is property tax split when I sell in Florida?
Florida bills in arrears, so the seller owes tax for the part of the year they owned the property. At closing the buyer is credited for January 1 through the closing date and then pays the full bill in November. The later in the year you close, the larger that credit.
Will I pay capital gains tax when I sell?
Florida has no state income tax, so there is no state capital gains tax. Federal tax may still apply, though the primary-residence exclusion covers a large gain for many sellers who have lived in the home two of the last five years. That is a question for your accountant rather than your REALTOR, and it is worth asking before you list rather than after.
Sources
- Documentary stamp tax rates and the single-family surtax exception — Florida Department of Revenue.
- Title insurance premiums are promulgated by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation under Chapter 627, Florida Statutes — every agency charges the same rate.
- Estoppel certificate fee cap — sections 718.116 and 720.30851, Florida Statutes.
- Who customarily pays for title insurance is county custom, not statute, and is confirmed by multiple Florida real estate firms for Miami-Dade.
General information for Miami-Dade property owners, not legal, tax or accounting advice. Rates and statutory caps change. Your closing statement is produced by the title company and controls.