What a closing actually costs in St. Augustine — buyer and seller sides, with St. Johns County doc stamps, promulgated title premiums, and local property tax. In St. Johns the seller customarily pays the owner’s policy.
Buyer and seller costs for a St. Augustine closing — St. Johns 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 $0.70 per $100 in St. Johns County. Property tax uses the 2025 City of St. Augustine total millage of 19.5552 — the rate for property inside city limits. Unincorporated St. Johns County has no single comparable rate — its total varies by service and improvement district. See our St. Johns 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 St. Augustine 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 St. Augustine 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 St. Augustine all three are worth knowing before you sign.
St. Augustine follows the St. Johns County custom: the seller ordinarily pays the owner’s title insurance premium. St. Johns is a seller-pays county, and that single fact is the biggest structural difference between Florida markets. See who pays closing costs in Florida for all 67 counties.
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 St. Augustine that choice customarily sits with the seller. Custom is a default, not a rule — the FAR/BAR contract lets the parties allocate it however they agree.
St. Johns County charges $0.70 per $100 of the sale price on the deed, the standard Florida rate. The seller customarily pays it, and it is collected when the deed is recorded.
Property inside St. Augustine city limits carries a 2025 total millage of 19.5552 — the combined levy of every taxing authority that overlaps the parcel. Unincorporated St. Johns County parcels carry no municipal levy, though totals there still vary by fire and service district. On a $400,000 homestead property that is roughly $6,844 a year. St. Augustine carries a municipal levy well above St. Johns County’s unincorporated rates, which themselves vary across six separate districts.
St. Johns follows the majority Florida custom: the seller pays for the owner’s policy and customarily selects the closing agent. For the full county picture including homestead, see our St. Johns County property tax page.
“Atlantic Title made our first home purchase so smooth. They explained every document clearly and closed on time. Couldn’t recommend them more highly.”
“As a Realtor I send every single client to Atlantic Title. Their team is responsive, professional, and always closes on time. My go-to title company in Florida.”
“We did a RON closing from out of state and it was absolutely seamless. The technology was easy to use and the team walked us through every step. Exceptional.”
The calculator above covers title insurance, state taxes and recording — the charges 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, appraisal, credit report and underwriting — commonly $3,000 to $6,000 on a conventional loan. Add prepaid interest to month end, the first year of homeowner’s insurance paid in advance, and escrow reserves. In Florida, insurance is often the 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 St. Augustine 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 why the buyer figure above sits well under the 2–5% rule of thumb: the rule covers the whole closing, while the calculator covers the part fixed by law. For statewide dollar figures see how much closing costs are in Florida.
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, before the settlement statement is finalized. Ask the seller for their policy the week you go under contract.
Florida promulgates the title premium, so shopping agencies 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. Those are set by each company and are where real differences appear. Ask for those line items specifically.
Who pays what in St. Augustine 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. 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. Set the loan amount to zero above and the buyer figure typically drops by more than half. Cash buyers 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.
St. Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the United States, and its chains of title reflect it — Spanish and British colonial land grants, and parcels whose boundaries predate modern survey. Older searches here routinely take longer than a platted-subdivision closing.
The city requires archaeological review before ground disturbance in much of the historic core, and its historic district restrictions on exterior alteration are recorded and run with the land. Low-lying areas also sit in mapped flood zones where elevation requirements affect rebuild rights.
Ready to close in St. Augustine? For the statewide picture, use the statewide Florida closing cost calculator, the St. Johns County calculator, or compare another metro: Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale.
Questions about your numbers, or ready to open a title order? Leave your info and our team will reach out — fast, accurate, statewide.
A financed buyer in St. Augustine 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 seller customarily pays the owner’s title policy in St. Johns County, and by Florida practice the paying party generally chooses the closing agent. It is negotiable and the contract controls.
$0.70 per $100 of the sale price on the deed in St. Johns County, the standard Florida rate. The seller customarily pays it.
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 St. Augustine city limits carries a 2025 total millage of 19.5552, combining county, school board, municipal and special district levies. On a $400,000 home with homestead that is roughly $6,844 a year. Unincorporated St. Johns County carries no municipal levy, so totals there are lower but vary by fire and service district.
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.
Already have a signed contract? Send it over and we’ll open your file today.
Submit a Contract →