How to sell a house in Florida: steps, timeline and what you'll net

The Florida home-selling process step by step

Most Florida sales follow the same sequence whether you list with an agent, sell it yourself or take a cash offer. The order matters, because some steps (disclosures, the payoff letter, the HOA paperwork) take time to arrange and can hold up a closing if you leave them late.

Step 1: Decide your timeline and your next home

Work out when you need the money and where you are moving. If you are buying again in Florida, read the portability note in after the sale first, because the timing of your next homestead can save you thousands in property tax. Our guide to buying a house in Florida covers the other side of the move.

Step 2: Get your numbers

Request a mortgage payoff estimate, find your last property tax bill, and gather HOA or condo association contacts and fee statements. Run a rough net figure with the seller net proceeds calculator so you know your floor before anyone quotes a price.

Step 3: Choose how to sell

Decide between a listing agent, selling it yourself and a cash buyer. Each is covered in ways to sell below.

Step 4: Price the home

Set the price from recent closed sales of similar homes nearby, adjusted for condition. In a market where most homes sell below their original list price, an accurate first price matters more than a high one.

Step 5: Prepare the home and the paperwork

Fix what an inspector will flag, clear and clean, and gather permits, warranties, the roof age and any wind mitigation report. Older homes may need a four-point inspection before a buyer's insurer will write a policy, and a wind mitigation report can lower the buyer's premium, which helps your sale.

Step 6: Complete the disclosures and list

Fill in the flood disclosure and any other required notices before a contract is signed, then market the home. The rules are summarized in Florida disclosure duties.

Step 7: Accept an offer and manage the contract

Compare offers on net proceeds and terms, not only price: financing, deposit, inspection period and closing date. Once signed, the buyer inspects, arranges insurance and, if borrowing, gets an appraisal. Respond to repair requests within the deadlines in your contract.

Step 8: Close

A title company or attorney prepares the settlement statement, pays off your mortgage, collects the deed tax and records the deed. Review the statement line by line before you sign, and cancel your insurance and utilities only after the sale records.

How long it takes to sell a house in Florida right now

The statewide answer is about three months from listing to closing. In September 2026 Florida single-family homes took a median 47 days to go under contract, down from 53 a year earlier, and a median 87 days to close, down from 93, according to Florida Realtors. The gap between those two medians, about 40 days, is a rough guide to how long the contract-to-closing stage takes.

The statewide market in September 2026

Source: Florida Realtors, September 2026 single-family market summary (released October 16, 2026). Active listings were 95,799, down 9.8% on the year, and closed sales were 20,537, down 3.5%.

Sale speed by metro

Speed varies a lot across the state. Zillow's August 2026 data, which measures the mean days from listing to pending, shows the range:

Zillow metro market data. The US average was 53 days to pending. Zillow's measure is a mean across all listings, so it runs longer than Florida Realtors' median.

Is it hard to sell a house in Florida now?

It is slower than it was. With 4.4 months of supply and a median sale at 95.7% of the original asking price, buyers have time to compare and negotiate. Homes priced right still sell: the statewide median sale price rose 1.2% on the year. Southwest Florida is the hardest market, with Naples and Cape Coral-Fort Myers taking around four months to reach a contract. Our Florida housing market guide and the monthly housing tracker have county and city detail.

Ways to sell: listing agent, for sale by owner or cash buyer

Florida gives you three practical routes. The right one depends on the home's condition, how fast you need to close and how much of the work you want to do yourself.

List with a real estate agent

A listing agent prices the home, markets it, handles showings and negotiates. Commission is negotiable and no law sets the rate. Since August 17, 2024, buyers working with a Realtor sign a written agreement with their own agent before touring homes, and a buyer can still ask the seller to pay their agent, so decide your policy on buyer-agent compensation before you list. Our Florida real estate commission guide covers typical rates and how to negotiate.

Sell it yourself (for sale by owner)

Florida does not require you to hold a real estate license to sell your own home (section 475.011). You take on pricing, marketing, showings, negotiation and the contract, and you still owe the same disclosures. Many owners hire a flat-fee service for an MLS listing or a real estate attorney for the contract. If the buyer has an agent, expect to be asked to contribute to that agent's pay.

Sell to a cash buyer

Cash buyers range from owner-occupants paying cash to investors and instant-offer companies. In September 2026, 5,743 of the 20,537 single-family homes sold in Florida were bought for cash, about 28%. A cash sale skips the buyer's loan approval and appraisal, so it can close faster, but investor offers are usually below market value. If speed matters most, compare offers on net proceeds with a listing estimate; our city guides, such as selling an Orlando house fast, work through that comparison with local numbers.

Selling as-is

Any of the three routes can be an as-is sale, where you make no repairs. As-is does not remove the duty to disclose known defects. The as-is selling guide covers the AS IS contract and who buys these homes, and inherited homes in Lake, Volusia, Orange, Seminole and Sumter have their own Central Florida guide.

Pricing your Florida home

Price is the decision that most affects how long you wait and what you net. A home that sits gets price cuts; a home priced at the market from day one gets the most attention in its first weeks.

Start from closed sales, not list prices

Ask for the homes like yours that sold in the last three to six months nearby, then adjust for size, condition, lot, view and updates. Active listings show your competition, not the market price; in September 2026 the median Florida home sold for 95.7% of its original list price.

Use typical values as a check, not a price

Zillow's typical home value for Florida was $375,470 in August 2026, down 1.5% on the year. That is a mid-market benchmark for the whole state, useful for spotting whether your area is rising or falling but not a valuation of your home. City and ZIP figures are in our location guides, such as Tampa home values by ZIP.

Account for insurance and HOA costs

Buyers price in what they will pay to own the home. A newer roof, a wind mitigation report that earns credits, or impact windows can make your home cheaper to insure than the one down the street; a large special assessment or a condo facing milestone repairs does the opposite. Put the favorable documents in the listing.

Plan your first price review

Agree in advance what you will do if there are no offers after a set number of showings or weeks, so a reduction is a plan rather than a reaction.

Florida disclosure duties in brief

Florida has no single mandatory disclosure form, but under the Florida Supreme Court's Johnson v. Davis decision a seller who knows of facts materially affecting the home's value that the buyer cannot readily see must disclose them. On top of that duty, several notices are required by law. The full list, with statutes, is in our Florida seller disclosure guide; these are the ones that catch sellers out.

Flood disclosure

Section 689.302 requires a seller of residential property to complete and give the buyer a flood disclosure at or before the time the contract is signed. The form asks whether you have filed a flood insurance claim and whether you received federal flood assistance, such as from FEMA. See the flood zones guide for how zones affect buyers.

Lead-based paint for homes built before 1978

Under the federal rule, you must give buyers the EPA's lead hazard pamphlet, disclose any known lead-based paint and records, include a lead warning statement in the contract and give the buyer a 10-day opportunity to inspect, which can be changed or waived in writing.

HOA, condo and CDD paperwork

Homes in an HOA, condominium or community development district come with their own disclosure summaries and documents. Order them from the association as soon as you list so they are ready for the buyer; the seller disclosure guide lists what each one requires.

What comes out of your proceeds

Your net is the sale price minus your mortgage payoff, commission, the deed tax, title and closing fees, any credits you agree to give the buyer and your share of the year's property tax. The full line-by-line list is in our Florida closing costs guide.

The deed tax

Florida's documentary stamp tax on a deed is 70 cents per $100 of the price everywhere except Miami-Dade, where it is 60 cents per $100 plus a 45-cent surtax on deeds that are not for a single-family home. The contract sets who pays it, but the Department of Revenue notes that all parties to the deed are liable for the tax regardless of which one agrees to pay. Our doc stamps guide has worked examples.

Property tax at closing

Florida property taxes are due November 1 for the current calendar year and become delinquent on April 1 of the following year, so a closing partway through the year means sorting out who pays for which months. Ask the closing agent to show how the current year's taxes are prorated on your settlement statement.

Worked example: selling at the Florida median

This example uses the September 2026 statewide median sale price. The commission, closing costs and payoff are assumptions for illustration only; your own figures will differ.

Change any line in the seller net proceeds calculator to see your own figure.

After the sale: taxes and your next homestead

How much tax do you pay when you sell a house in Florida?

Florida has no state income tax on the gain, so a home sale owes only federal tax, if any. If you owned and lived in the home as your main residence for at least two of the last five years, you can exclude up to $250,000 of gain, or $500,000 on a joint return. If you receive a Form 1099-S, you must report the sale even when the gain is excluded. Our capital gains guide covers rates and the ways to reduce the tax.

Foreign sellers

If you are a foreign person for US tax purposes, the buyer generally must withhold 15% of the price under FIRPTA. There is an exception when the price is $300,000 or less and the buyer, an individual, will live in the home.

Carry your Save Our Homes benefit to the next home

If the home you are selling has a homestead exemption and you buy another Florida home, portability lets you transfer up to $500,000 of your Save Our Homes difference, the gap between market value and capped assessed value. Lee County's appraiser, for example, says the new homestead must be established within three years of January 1 of the year you left the old one, and you apply with your homestead application by March 1. The statute was amended in 2026 for the 2027 tax roll, so confirm the timing with your county appraiser. The rules are in our homestead exemption guide.

Common questions

Sources

• Florida Realtors: September 2026 single-family market summary (statewide)
• Florida Realtors: Market data
• Zillow Research: Home Value Index and metro market data, August 2026
• Florida Department of Revenue: Documentary stamp tax
• Florida Statutes: section 475.011, exemptions from licensing
• Florida Statutes: section 689.302, flood disclosure
• Florida Statutes: section 197.333, when taxes are due and delinquent
• Florida Statutes: section 193.155, Save Our Homes and portability
• Lee County Property Appraiser: Portability
• National Association of Realtors: Consumer guide to written buyer agreements
• US EPA: Real estate disclosures about potential lead hazards
• IRS: Topic no. 701, sale of your home
• IRS: FIRPTA withholding
• IRS: Exceptions from FIRPTA withholding
• Florida Realtors: A detailed look at Florida real estate disclosure laws (Johnson v. Davis duty)