Florida’s home-buying process runs on the same broad framework as most states — offer, inspection, financing, title, closing — but several pieces of it are handled differently here than in a lot of the country, and a few risks (flood, sinkhole, windstorm) come up in Florida transactions more than almost anywhere else. This walks through where Florida’s process diverges from the generic version, and where RefPages’ own directories and guides go deeper on a specific step.
Florida closings usually don’t involve an attorney
In a lot of states, a real estate attorney runs the closing by default. Florida isn’t one of them: state law allows a title company to handle a routine residential closing on its own, and that’s how most Florida sales close in practice. The title company (or its closing agent) prepares the closing documents, handles the funds, and issues title insurance — the same functions an attorney would perform elsewhere.
That said, “usually don’t need one” isn’t “never” — an attorney is genuinely worth the fee for an out-of-state or international buyer, a cash purchase with any title complication, an estate or probate sale, or anything where the contract terms are being negotiated rather than boilerplate. Nothing stops you from hiring one for a routine purchase either; it’s simply not required the way it is in some other states.
The title search happens whether or not you notice it
Your lender (or you, if paying cash) will have a title search run against the county’s recorded records before closing — confirming the seller actually owns the property free of undisclosed liens, judgments, or competing claims. RefPages has a full walkthrough of how a Florida title search actually works, and the County Records directory links directly to your specific county’s Property Appraiser and Clerk of Court search tools if you want to look at the record yourself before or during the process.
The documentary stamp tax, and who typically pays it
Florida charges a documentary stamp tax on the deed at closing — $0.70 per $100 of the sale price in every county except Miami-Dade, where it’s $0.60 per $100 for a single-family home (Miami-Dade also adds a surtax on other property types). This tax gets collected by the closing/title agent and remitted to the state; you won’t need to handle it directly.
By long-standing custom (not by statute), the seller typically pays the deed’s documentary stamp tax, while the buyer typically pays the stamp tax on the mortgage note, the intangible tax on the mortgage, the lender’s title insurance premium, and recording fees. None of this is fixed — the purchase contract controls, and which side picks up which cost varies somewhat by county custom and negotiating leverage.
What sellers have to tell you — and what they don’t
Florida’s seller-disclosure rule comes from a court decision, not a specific form: a seller has a duty to disclose facts materially affecting the property’s value that aren’t readily observable and that the buyer wouldn’t otherwise discover. That’s narrower than a checklist. In practice, most Florida sales still use a standard seller’s disclosure form as a matter of custom and to reduce disclosure disputes, but the underlying legal obligation is about known, hidden, material defects specifically — not a guarantee that everything about the property has been surfaced. This is exactly where a property’s own recorded history is worth checking directly: RefPages’ guide on looking up Florida property liens and encumbrances covers how to search for the kind of recorded problems a disclosure form won’t necessarily catch.
The risks that come up more in Florida than almost anywhere else
A handful of property-condition questions are disproportionately a Florida issue, and each has its own deeper guide:
- Flood zone and elevation — Florida has more FEMA-mapped flood zone exposure than most states, and it directly affects insurance cost and availability. See Florida flood zones and elevation certificates explained.
- Wind mitigation — a wind mitigation inspection can meaningfully lower a Florida homeowners insurance premium, and some lenders/insurers effectively expect one. See wind mitigation inspections in Florida.
- Sinkhole history — west-central Florida in particular sees real sinkhole activity, which affects both property value and insurability. See the Florida sinkhole map guide for how to check a specific property’s history.
The homestead exemption — apply for it the moment you close
Once you close and move in, Florida’s homestead exemption is worth filing for promptly: it reduces your taxable assessed value and, longer-term, caps future assessment increases under Save Our Homes. There’s a hard filing deadline (March 1 of the year you’re claiming it for), so this isn’t something to leave for later — see understanding Florida homestead exemptions for the deadline, qualification rules, and how to file with your county property appraiser.
If the property needs work before or after closing
If an inspection turns up something that needs a permit to fix — roof, electrical, a prior unpermitted addition — RefPages’ Building Permit Departments directory links to the relevant city or county permitting office. An open, expired, or missing permit on the property’s history is also worth asking about directly before closing, since it can affect insurability and resale later.