Florida real estate: property tax, closing costs & insurance
Florida has no state income tax and a homestead cap that rewards owner-occupants, but coastal counties carry real insurance exposure — wind, flood and hurricane deductibles all show up in your holding costs before you ever collect rent.
Property tax in Florida
The effective rate runs about 0.86% of assessed value. Save Our Homes: homestead capped at 3%/yr; non-homestead capped at 10%. Full reassessment to just value on sale. Annual assessment growth is capped at 3% for an owner-occupant. A homestead exemption of $50,000 reduces the taxable basis for a primary residence.
Transfer tax & closing costs
Doc stamps on deed $0.70/$100 (Miami-Dade $0.60 + $0.45 surtax on non-SFR). Buyer pays doc stamps on mortgage $0.35/$100 + intangible 0.2%. Recording runs a flat $150. Title insurance is customarily paid by the seller, with a minimum owner’s premium of $100.
Insurance & capital gains
Wind-borne debris region uplift; flood mandatory in SFHA with federally backed loan. No state income tax.
Worked example: a $350,000 ARV flip in Florida
Six-month hold, $45,000 rehab, 15% target profit margin, all-cash. This is the same reverse waterfall the calculator runs — see it live for your actual property.
- After-repair value$350,000
- Rehab budget−$45,000
- Closing costs — acquisition−$5,875
- Closing costs — disposition−$20,850
- Holding costs, 6 months−$3,882
- Target profit, 15%−$52,500
- Maximum Allowable Offer$221,893
If you’re investing
Run the flood zone before you run the numbers. A house one block from a AE-zone boundary can carry a materially different insurance bill than an identical house across the street — check the FEMA flood zone for the exact parcel, not the ZIP code average.
If this is your home
If this will be your primary residence, the Save Our Homes homestead exemption caps annual assessment growth at 3% — file for it the year after closing, and budget the first year at the full uncapped rate since the cap only applies going forward.
Best suited for: Cash-flow investors who can underwrite insurance costs precisely; no state income tax on the exit.
Florida FAQ
Does Florida reassess property tax when a house is sold?+
Yes. Florida removes the Save Our Homes cap at sale and reassesses to full just value, then the cap (3% for homestead, 10% for non-homestead) applies again from the new basis going forward.
Who pays the Florida documentary stamp tax on a deed?+
By custom the seller pays the deed doc stamps ($0.70 per $100 of price, $0.60 in Miami-Dade for single-family), while the buyer pays doc stamps on any new mortgage ($0.35 per $100) plus a 0.2% intangible tax on the loan amount.
Is flood insurance mandatory in Florida?+
Only if the property sits in a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area (zones A, AE, V, VE) and carries a federally backed mortgage. Lenders in zone X are not required to escrow it, though many owners buy it anyway given the state’s exposure.
See the exact number for your Florida property
Free for your first three properties. No credit card.
Other state guides
Sources: state and county assessor publications, state department of revenue transfer-tax schedules, and title-rate manuals filed with each state’s insurance regulator, effective 2025-01-01. Figures are estimates for planning purposes, not tax or legal advice — confirm with a licensed professional before closing. How the calculator works