Buying Fees Charges

Fees & Charges

As a general rule of thumb when buying property in Florida, allow two per cent of the purchase price for closing costs if you do not require an American mortgage - five per cent if you do require an American mortgage.

Florida law requires that a buyer is given a full list of all the costs incurred - a Settlement or HUD statement prior to signing the HUD statement. These statements can arrive a day or so before closing from the closing agent, which is a constant source of frustration to buyers.

Fees may include the following:-

Title search and insurance is real estate ownership insurance and guards the purchaser against loss. The title underwriting company defends the policyholder in the event of a claim against their title. Costs are based on the price of the property.

HINT

We can brief you on how to obtain a refund from the previous owners policy that can substantially reduce costs.

Inspection Fees

Termite Report - pretty important in Florida - approx $50

House Inspection / condition - This report covers the condition of the house and equipment in it - ie air conditioning, irrigation system etc - approx $300

Land survey - This deals with the plans and layout of the property. - it may be necessary to verify property boundaries. It may be possible to obtain an updated document from the surveyor who carried out the previous survey.

Legal fees - The cost of these services will depend if you just use a Title Company (Most Americans buying in Florida do) or a local attorney or overseas lawyer. The services of a lawyer in the UK can be considerably higher than a Florida attorney specialising in property. Most experts agree that when buying a property in Florida you should employ the services of an experienced local Attorney.

Insurance premiums - These will depend on how extensive a policy you require - are you in a flood zone? These are paid a year in advance in Florida.

Government recording fees - for the transfer of ownership and mortgage to be recorded at the county courthouse.

Property tax - Paid a year in arrears in Florida - depend entirely on the property. Florida discounts the bill by various percentages if the bill is paid ahead of the final payment date .

Mortgage fees - These should be estimated by the mortgage company via a "good faith estimate". If you obtain a mortgage the costs will total around three per cent of the mortgage sum, which may include the following:- mortgage application fee; credit report fee; appraisal fee; lender's legal fees; lender's title insurance fee; loan origination fee; loan discount fees (referred to as points you are basically paying in advance for a discount for the mortgage); document preparation and documentary stamps.

When you buy a new property you may find certain builders offer an allowance against these legal and mortgage fees - if you use their stated mortgage and closing companies. Of course how much of a saving this is depends on the quality of service given and if the house represents the best value in the first place - call me a cynic but there is never a free lunch!

Finally there is the question of your agents fee - as mentioned previously this is usually met by the splitting of the sellers commission between the sellers agent and the buyers agent - thus technically you should not pay anything - although most of the bigger companies have a small administration fee in the region of $250. It is therefore pretty pointless and frankly can be potentially dangerous to buy a property without using an agent but equally selecting an agent who is lacking expertise in your specific needs or worst of all using the sellers agent can be against your best interests.

For further information on how to obtain specialist advice on relocating or buying property in Florida, the advantages and disadvantages of different locations, and importantly How to obtain details of specialised fully licensed Real Estate Agents, experienced in explaining options from a British perspective. Click here

Thinking about buying a property in Florida - click here

Thinking about selling a property in Florida - click here

Just want to be sent details of suitable agents with excellent testimonials and a proven track record of working with British buyers – click here

Just want details of every available property in Florida – click here

Andrew Bartlett an acknowledged expert on property trends and relocation in Florida, writes articles and answers readers’ questions for several British publications including Florida Magazine, Escape Magazine, Place in the Sun, Sunday Times, America, and The Red guide to buying Property in America and is regularly consulted by journalists and broadcasters. His consumer web guides have received numerous accolades.

Andrew was a Senior Government Official for 20 years before relocating to Florida several years ago where he was headhunted to set up specialist British property and relocation teams for Coldwell Banker and Remax - America’s largest estate agents. He then established a uniquely impartial and independent relocation and property briefing company working between Britain and Florida. He has written a number of watchdog style articles on overseas property and emigration selling techniques.