How to Buy a House in Florida, Step by Step (2026 Guide)

How to buy a house in Florida: the steps at a glance

A Florida purchase usually runs in this order: money first, then an agent agreement if you use one, then the search, the offer, the deposit, inspections, insurance and closing. The list below follows that Florida home buying process and works as a checklist.

1. Get a lender's preapproval letter, or gather proof of the cash you plan to use.
2. If an agent will show you homes, sign a written buyer agreement before the first tour.
3. Decide between a house, a condo and a home in an HOA community, then search.
4. Make a written offer on a Florida contract form.
5. Deliver the deposit to the escrow agent by the date the contract sets.
6. Order inspections within the inspection period.
7. Line up homeowners insurance, and flood insurance where it applies.
8. Review the title work and the Closing Disclosure, close, and have the deed recorded.
9. Apply for the homestead exemption if the home becomes your permanent residence.

This is general information, not legal advice; talk to a Florida real estate attorney about your own purchase.

What do you need to buy a house in Florida?

You need a way to pay (a lender's preapproval or proof of funds), money for the deposit and closing costs, and a signed contract. If an agent who uses the MLS will show you homes, you also need a written buyer agreement with that agent before touring.

The Florida Bar's consumer guide suggests checking your agent's license with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation license search.

Step one: Get preapproval or document your cash

Get a lender's preapproval letter, or gather proof of funds, before you make offers. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says preapproval letters give useful information about your likelihood of getting a loan but are not a promise of a loan, and that lenders use the terms "prequalification" and "preapproval" differently.

Once you apply for a mortgage, the lender must give you a Loan Estimate within three business days. With it, the lender must give you a written list of closing service providers, and you can shop for the services listed in section C of page two. Questions about loan programs, terms or what you qualify for go to a licensed loan originator (look for the NMLS number).

Step two: Sign a written buyer agreement before you tour

MLS rules require a written agreement with your agent before touring a home, in person or live virtual. The requirement is one of the NAR settlement practice changes in effect since August 17, 2024 (NAR's settlement summary). It is an MLS and NAR rule, not a Florida statute, and you do not need an agreement just to talk with an agent at an open house.

The agreement must define compensation clearly, not as an open-ended amount or a range, according to the NAR consumer guide. Broker compensation is not set by law and is fully negotiable.

Florida Realtors adds that "the NAR settlement does not change Florida brokerage relationship law." Under Fla. Stat. § 475.278, every licensee is presumed to be a transaction broker, giving limited representation that is not fiduciary, unless a single agent or no brokerage relationship is set up in writing. Dual agency is not allowed.

Step three: Choose the property type and search

Property type decides which documents come with the purchase. A condo adds the association's declaration, budget and structural reports, and a house in an HOA community adds the HOA disclosure summary (both covered below).

To compare areas, start with the county pages: Miami-Dade County homes and data, Broward County homes and data and Palm Beach County homes and data. If you are looking in the city itself, see homes for sale in the City of Miami.

Step four: Make an offer with a Florida contract

Your offer sets the price, the deposit, the deadlines and the conditions on a written contract. Florida Realtors' legal library describes two Florida Realtors/Florida Bar residential forms, the standard and the "AS IS" contract, plus its own Contract for Residential Sale and Purchase.

Standard contract or the "AS IS" contract

Under the "AS IS" contract, Florida Realtors says the buyer has "a very strong right of cancellation during the inspection period." There is no automatic three-day right to cancel after the seller accepts, unless the contract includes one, according to the same page.

The deposit and escrow

Your contract sets the deposit amount, who holds it and when it is due. When a broker receives it, Florida law requires the broker to "immediately place" it in escrow (Fla. Stat. § 475.25), and the Florida Real Estate Commission's Rule 61J2-14.008 defines "immediately" as no later than the end of the third business day after receipt. That deadline binds the broker; your deadline to deliver the deposit is the one in the contract.

The financing contingency

A financing contingency makes your obligation to buy depend on loan approval for a stated amount and terms. Florida Realtors warns that, depending on the contract, buyers "may risk losing their escrow money" if they cannot get financing before the contingency period ends.

Disclosures that come with the contract

Several statutory disclosures come at or before signing, including the flood disclosure and HOA summary covered below. The property tax disclosure summary (§ 689.261) warns, in capital letters, that the buyer "SHOULD NOT RELY ON THE SELLER'S CURRENT PROPERTY TAXES" to estimate the next year's taxes. The radon notice (§ 404.056) must be on at least one document signed at or before the contract.

Step five: Inspect the home during the inspection period

Inspections happen inside the inspection period your contract sets. Under the "AS IS" contract, that is also when the buyer's cancellation right applies, so book inspectors early.

The Bar's pamphlet suggests settling in the contract when inspections must be done, whether they may include mold, whether the buyer may cancel afterwards and who pays if termite damage is found. It also says a survey "is typically recommended" for any home purchase, including cash purchases, and that lawyers typically suggest a municipal lien search for open or expired permits on a recently built or repaired home.

For insurance, a wind mitigation inspection is reported on the state's Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form, which the Office of Insurance Regulation updated in April 2026 and says is valid for up to five years if the structure does not change materially. Ask a licensed Florida insurance agent which inspections the insurer will want.

Step six: Line up homeowners and flood insurance before closing

Start insurance quotes once you are under contract, and treat flood separately: FEMA's FloodSmart site says "most homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage." Settle in the contract, as the Bar's pamphlet suggests, what happens "if the property is uninsurable or the costs to insure the property exceed your budget or impact your loan."

Check the property on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center, the official public source for flood hazard information. High-risk zones start with A or V, and FEMA says that if you own a property in one and have a government-backed mortgage, you must buy flood insurance. National Flood Insurance Program coverage usually starts thirty days after purchase, with no wait when you buy it while making a mortgage.

The seller must also give you a flood disclosure at or before signing (§ 689.302). It asks about flooding the seller knows damaged the property during their ownership, flood insurance claims, and flood-damage assistance received, including from FEMA. The law took effect October 1, 2024 (the 2024 bill) and was amended in 2025 (the 2025 bill).

If private insurers decline the home, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation is the state-created insurer for applicants entitled to buy coverage in the private market who cannot find it (§ 627.351). Get quotes and coverage answers from a licensed Florida insurance agent.

Buying a condo or a home with an HOA: documents and cancellation rights

Condo and HOA purchases come with seller documents and a short statutory window to cancel, and the two windows differ in length.

For a condo resale, the seller must give the buyer, at the seller's expense, the governing documents and rules, the budget and annual financial statement, a frequently asked questions document, a governance form and, where they apply, the milestone inspection summary, the latest structural integrity reserve study (or a statement that none exists) and the turnover inspection report (§ 718.503). What to look for in that study is in our guide to the structural integrity reserve study.

Step seven: Title, closing and the Closing Disclosure

Closing follows the title work and, with a loan, the Closing Disclosure waiting period; your lawyer or closing agent first examines the title and issues a title commitment.

Title insurance

When you finance, the lender requires a loan policy for its own protection. The Bar's pamphlet says buyers "are almost always advised to obtain their own owner's title insurance policy even though it may not be required by the lender." Premiums are set by rule (§ 627.782), and who picks the closing agent and who pays for the title policy are terms of your contract. Ask your closing agent or attorney what an owner's policy covers.

The Closing Disclosure and the closing

With a mortgage, the lender must give you the Closing Disclosure at least three business days before you close on the loan, which, the pamphlet notes, can affect the closing date in the contract.

The seller's documents are signed before two witnesses and a notary. Your funds are wired to the closing agent before or on closing day. The Florida Bar recommends a walk-through before closing in its section on new and recently built homes. If the seller is a foreign person, FIRPTA withholding can apply, and "in most cases, the buyer (transferee) is the withholding agent," according to the IRS. Ask a CPA.

The deed is then recorded with the county. In Miami-Dade the Clerk of the Circuit Court is the official recorder and collects fees, mortgage taxes and transfer taxes at recording.

How much does it cost to buy a house in Florida?

Beyond the price, plan for the deposit, any down payment if you finance, lender fees, title insurance, government taxes and recording fees, inspections, a survey, insurance premiums and the new year's property taxes.

Florida taxes deeds (§ 201.02), notes and mortgages (§ 201.08) through the documentary stamp tax, plus a one-time intangible tax on mortgages (§ 199.133). Miami-Dade has its own deed rate and a surtax with an exemption for single-family residences (§ 201.031). The Florida Department of Revenue lists the current rates and says "all parties to the document are liable for the tax regardless of which party agrees to pay the tax." There are local customs about who pays which cost, and the Florida Bar advises making it explicit in the contract.

A homestead is reassessed at just value as of January 1 of the year after a change of ownership (§ 193.155), which is why the seller's current bill is not a guide. Tax questions go to the county property appraiser or a CPA. For prices, see the Miami-Dade County market report.

How long does it take to buy a house in Florida?

The contract sets the clock: the inspection period, the financing deadline and the closing date are all written into it. Florida Realtors says time periods in the Florida Realtors/Florida Bar contracts are counted in calendar days, and a period that ends on a Saturday, Sunday or national legal holiday moves to the next calendar day that is not a weekend or holiday.

Other rules add waits: the Closing Disclosure three business days before a loan closing, the condo review window described above, and the usual thirty-day start for a National Flood Insurance Program policy not bought with the mortgage. Allow for them in your closing date.

After closing: apply for the homestead exemption

If you own the home and make it your permanent residence on January 1, you can apply for the homestead exemption with the county property appraiser on or before March 1 (§ 196.011). Missing it waives the exemption for that year, except under the statute's late-filing provisions. The deed has to be recorded before the exemption is granted (§ 196.031).

A buyer who closes in October 2026 and lives in the home on January 1, 2027 files for the 2027 tax year by March 1, 2027. Each county has its own homestead page: Miami-Dade Property Appraiser, Broward County Property Appraiser and Palm Beach County Property Appraiser. For amounts and eligibility questions, ask the property appraiser's office or a CPA.

Buying in Miami-Dade, Broward or Palm Beach: local pointers

A few details change by county. Each deed is recorded "in the official records of the county in which the property is located" (§ 196.031), and Miami-Dade has its own deed tax rate and surtax (see the cost section). Each county's property appraiser takes its own homestead filings.

For buying a house in Miami, the Miami-Dade County homes and data page shows homes for sale and local data.

Buying from out of state

Buying here does not require Florida residency; the Florida Constitution lists the right "to acquire, possess and protect property" among every person's basic rights (Declaration of Rights, § 2). Florida law also restricts purchases of real property by certain foreign principals (Fla. Stat. § 692.204); a Florida real estate attorney can tell you whether it applies to you. If you will not be present to sign loan documents on closing day, the Bar's pamphlet says to arrange a mail-away closing well in advance. For a cash purchase, the buyer's documents may be signed electronically, but loan documents must be notarized. For property taxes, the homestead exemption needs the home to be your permanent residence on January 1, so a second home does not get it.

Talk to Marina

Marina Garan, REALTOR®, Broker Associate
London Foster Realty

FL lic. BK3336901 · Brokerage lic. CQ1046685

Call (786) 751-5111Send a message

How we wrote this: This article has no market figures. It is general information, not legal, tax or insurance advice. Spot an error? Call or text (786) 751-5111 · London Foster Realty.