What a closing actually costs in Miami — buyer and seller sides, with Miami-Dade County doc stamps, promulgated title premiums, and local property tax. In Miami-Dade the buyer customarily pays the owner’s policy.
Buyer and seller costs for a Miami closing — Miami-Dade County doc stamps, promulgated title premium, and local property tax.
Higher than what the seller pays? That is normal. Florida’s Save Our Homes cap holds a long-time owner’s assessed value far below market, and that cap resets to full market value when the property sells. Your first tax bill is based on what you paid, not on what the seller was paying.
Title premium uses Florida’s promulgated rates, identical statewide. Doc stamps on the deed are $0.60 per $100 in Miami-Dade County. Miami-Dade also adds a surtax on non-single-family transfers. Property tax uses the 2025 City of Miami total millage of 19.9878 — the rate for property inside city limits, which is higher than the unincorporated Miami-Dade County rate. See our Miami-Dade County property tax page for the countywide picture. This covers title, state taxes and recording — it does not include lender origination and appraisal fees, prepaid interest, or escrow reserves on the buyer side, or real estate commission on the seller side, which is why the full buyer range is 2–5% and the full seller range is 6–10%. Estimate for planning, not a quote.
A Miami buyer financing a purchase typically pays 2–5% of the price in closing costs; a cash buyer usually lands nearer 1–2%, because the loan-side charges disappear. A Miami seller typically pays 6–10% once the real estate commission is counted, or roughly 1–3% without it.
Those ranges hold across Florida because the two largest components are set at state level: title insurance premiums are promulgated by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation and identical in every county, and doc stamps are fixed by statute. What actually changes from city to city is who pays which line, the deed rate, and the property tax millage — and in Miami all three are worth knowing before you sign.
Miami follows the Miami-Dade County custom: the buyer ordinarily pays the owner’s title insurance premium. This is the single biggest structural difference between Florida markets — Miami-Dade is a buyer-pays county, while much of the state runs the other way.
It matters for a second reason. By long-standing Florida practice the party who pays for the owner’s policy generally chooses the title and closing agent, so in Miami that choice customarily sits with the buyer. Custom is a default, not a rule — the FAR/BAR contract lets the parties allocate it however they agree, and it is negotiable in every transaction.
Miami-Dade County charges $0.60 per $100 of the sale price on the deed, which is the one Florida exception — every other county is $0.70. A surtax also applies to transfers that are not single-family residences. The seller customarily pays it, and it is collected when the deed is recorded.
Property inside Miami city limits carries a 2025 total millage of 19.9878 — the combined levy of every taxing authority that overlaps the parcel. That is higher than the unincorporated Miami-Dade County rate of about 19.8 mills, because the municipal levy stacks on top. On a $400,000 homestead property that is roughly $6,996 a year. Miami-Dade is the one Florida county that charges a different deed rate. Where the rest of the state is $0.70 per $100, Miami-Dade is $0.60 per $100, plus a surtax on transfers that are not single-family residences. Condo and commercial buyers are the ones who feel that surtax.
Miami is also a buyer-pays county for the owner’s title policy, so a Miami buyer carries a cost that a Jacksonville or Orlando buyer does not — typically the single largest swing between the two markets. For the full county picture including homestead, see our Miami-Dade County property tax page.
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The calculator above covers title insurance, state taxes and recording — the charges that are fixed by Florida statute or promulgated rate, and therefore the same at every title company. Several other closing costs are set by other parties and are not included.
On the buyer side the largest omissions are lender charges — origination or discount points, the appraisal, credit report and underwriting — which commonly run $3,000 to $6,000 on a conventional loan. Add prepaid interest from closing to month end, the first year of homeowner’s insurance paid in advance, and escrow reserves of several months of taxes and insurance. In Florida, insurance is often the single most volatile line, and on coastal property it can exceed every title charge combined.
On the seller side the omission is real estate commission, typically 5–6% of the sale price. On a $400,000 Miami sale that is $20,000–$24,000 — several times every other seller line put together. Sellers should also expect the mortgage payoff, any municipal lien or code enforcement items, and repair credits negotiated after inspection.
That gap is exactly why the buyer figure above is well under the 2–5% rule of thumb: the rule covers the whole closing, while the calculator covers the part that is fixed by law.
If the property was insured within the last three years, Florida’s promulgated schedule allows a reissue rate on the new owner’s policy. It is not applied automatically — someone has to produce the prior policy and request it. On a $400,000 policy the saving is meaningful, and the request has to be made before the settlement statement is finalized. Ask the seller for their policy the week you go under contract.
Florida promulgates the title insurance premium, so shopping title companies on premium alone is pointless: every licensed agency charges the same. What is not promulgated is the settlement or closing fee, lien search, courier and document preparation charges. Those are set by each company and they are where real differences appear. Ask for those line items specifically.
Who pays what in Miami is custom, not law. The FAR/BAR contract lets the parties allocate every cost, and in a slower market sellers routinely agree to pay 1–3% of the buyer’s closing costs as a concession. If you are buying, that concession is usually easier to win than a price reduction of the same size, because it costs the seller the same but closes your cash gap directly.
A cash purchase records no note, so there is no doc stamp on the note, no intangible tax, no lender’s policy and no lender fees at all. Toggle the loan amount to zero above and the buyer figure typically drops by more than half. Cash buyers still owe the deed doc stamps if they have agreed to pay them, and should still buy an owner’s policy — there is no lender requiring one, which is precisely why it gets skipped and precisely why it matters.
The Miami-Dade surtax is the line most buyers miss. On top of the $0.60 per $100 deed rate, transfers of property that is not a single-family residence carry an additional surtax. A condo, a duplex, a commercial unit or vacant land all fall on the wrong side of that line, and in a market as condo-heavy as Miami it applies constantly.
Miami condo closings carry a second cost that has nothing to do with title: the association estoppel letter. Florida statute caps the fee and sets a deadline for delivery, but a slow association is still one of the most common reasons a Miami closing slips. Order it the week you go under contract.
Ready to close in Miami? See what we handle as a Miami title company. For the statewide picture, use the statewide Florida closing cost calculator, or compare another metro: Jacksonville, Tampa, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale.
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A financed buyer in Miami typically pays 2-5% of the purchase price, and a cash buyer nearer 1-2%. A seller typically pays 6-10% including real estate commission, or about 1-3% without it. Use the calculator above for your exact price and loan.
The buyer customarily pays the owner’s title policy in Miami-Dade County, and by Florida practice the paying party generally chooses the closing agent. It is negotiable and the contract controls.
$0.60 per $100 of the sale price on the deed in Miami-Dade County, plus a surtax on transfers that are not single-family residences. Every other Florida county charges $0.70.
No. Florida title insurance premiums are promulgated by the Office of Insurance Regulation and are identical in every county. What differs by market is who pays the premium, not what it costs.
Property inside Miami city limits carries a 2025 total millage of 19.9878, combining county, school board, municipal and special district levies. On a $400,000 home with homestead that is roughly $6,996 a year. Unincorporated Miami-Dade County is lower, around 19.8 mills.
Considerably less. A cash purchase records no note, so there are no doc stamps on the note, no intangible tax, no lender’s title policy and no lender fees. That commonly cuts buyer closing costs by more than half.
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