A Miami luxury sale is decided long before the first showing. The price has to hold up against a short list of recorded sales, the disclosures have to be complete on the day the contract is signed, and the closing statement carries Miami-Dade charges that a seller arriving from another state has never seen. Each of those has a rule behind it, and most of the rules are local.

We are The Audrey Ross Team at Compass Florida, and our office sits at 4699 Ponce de Leon Boulevard in Coral Gables. Audrey Ross opened her own firm in 1984, and the team has worked this market for more than 40 years. This guide walks through the sale in order, then explains the Miami-Dade and Florida costs, disclosures and taxes, each with its source.

What Are the Steps to Sell a Luxury Home in Miami?

There are seven, and the order matters because several Florida obligations attach on the day the contract is signed, not on the day of closing.

1. Price the home from recorded sales in the same enclave, waterway or building.
2. Build the seller file: survey, existing title policy, elevation certificate, permit history, association documents, insurance and flood history, and the Florida flood disclosure.
3. Choose how the home reaches buyers: the MLS at once, a delayed marketing listing, or an office exclusive.
4. Negotiate the listing agreement, including compensation, which is negotiable.
5. Sign the contract. The Florida Realtors and Florida Bar “AS IS” Residential Contract for Sale and Purchase, revised December 2024, gives the buyer a 15-day inspection period if the blank is left empty.
6. Clear the buyer’s inspections, title commitment, appraisal and any association approval.
7. Close. The closing agent collects documentary stamp tax, prorates property taxes, withholds FIRPTA tax if it applies, and wires the net proceeds.

How Do You Price a Luxury Home When So Few Homes Sell?

Price from recorded sales of homes that compete with yours, in the same enclave, on the same kind of water, or in the same building, then adjust for lot, frontage, condition and age. A city or county median blends products that never compete for the same buyer.

The thin market is the reason. A small enclave may record only a few arm’s length sales in a year, and one sale can move any average. The Miami-Dade Property Appraiser’s Property Search lets anyone search by subdivision name and view the sales information for each folio, and its Comparable Sales application lists nearby sales with a qualification description for each. Asking prices show what owners hope for; recorded sales show what buyers paid.

On the water, value turns on physical facts: depth at the dock, any fixed bridge between the dock and Biscayne Bay, frontage, seawall condition and elevation against the flood map. Our guide to Miami’s guard-gated waterfront communities explains how those differ by enclave. For a specific address, you can request a valuation on our What’s My Home Worth page.

What Should a Seller Prepare Before Listing?

Prepare the documents a buyer’s attorney, lender and insurer will ask for. Under the AS IS contract, the seller must furnish any existing survey and owner’s title policy within 5 days after the effective date, so having them ready saves days.

• Survey and elevation certificate. For certain flood-zone conditions, the contract gives the buyer 20 days to cancel if the blank is left empty.
• Permit history. The seller states that it knows of no improvements made without permits or under permits never closed, unless disclosed in writing.
• Association documents and the association’s estoppel contact.
• Insurance declarations and the flood history the statutory disclosure asks about.
• For waterfront homes, dock, lift and seawall permits.

The AS IS form also requires the seller to keep the property, including lawn, shrubbery and pool, in its condition as of the effective date, or 125 percent of the estimated cost is escrowed at closing. And beginning February 1, 2027, under section 689.261, Florida Statutes, as amended in 2026, printed listing materials may not show the current owner’s property taxes.

When Should You List a Miami Home for Sale?

Timing turns on three calendar facts more than on a season: Florida’s January 1 homestead date, the June 1 to November 30 Atlantic hurricane season, and the November property tax bill.

A buyer qualifies for the homestead exemption for a tax year only by holding title and making the home a permanent residence on January 1 (section 196.031, Florida Statutes), so a buyer who will live in the home has a reason to close by December 31. The National Hurricane Center dates hurricane season from June 1 to November 30, and the AS IS contract extends closing when a force majeure event makes hazard, wind, flood or homeowners’ insurance unavailable, so a storm can move a closing date. The November tax bill changes the proration, explained below.

The seller’s own dates often decide more. The federal home-sale exclusion turns on 24 months of ownership and residence in the 5 years before the sale, and portability to a new Florida homestead runs on a three-year clock.

Can You Sell a Home Privately or Off-MLS in Miami?

Yes, within the National Association of REALTORS MLS policies. A seller can keep a listing out of the MLS as an office exclusive, or delay its public marketing, but under the Clear Cooperation Policy, once a home is marketed to the public the listing broker must submit it to the MLS within one business day.

NAR’s Clear Cooperation Policy, adopted in November 2019, defines public marketing broadly: yard signs, window flyers, public websites, email blasts and multi-brokerage listing sharing networks. Its Multiple Listing Options for Sellers policy, effective March 25, 2025, with MLS implementation by September 30, 2025, recognizes two exempt listings:

• An office exclusive is filed with the MLS but not shared with other MLS participants and not publicly marketed.
• A delayed marketing exempt listing is filed with the MLS and visible to MLS participants, while public marketing through IDX and syndication waits for a period each local MLS sets.

Either requires a signed seller disclosure acknowledging the exposure being waived or delayed. NAR also states that one-to-one, broker-to-broker conversations do not trigger the policy, while multi-brokerage communications do.

Compass Private Exclusives

Compass, our brokerage, offers Compass Private Exclusives: listings available to agents across Compass’s network of brokerages and their buyers before any public launch, with photos and floor plans shared only within that network and no public days on market. Compass presents it as the first of three phases, followed by Compass Coming Soon and then public websites, and publishes a disclosure form describing each option. The seller disclosure records what the seller gives up, broad and immediate exposure through the MLS; Compass presents the return as privacy, an early test of price, and exposure before the home is market-ready.

How Does Commission Work After the NAR Settlement?

Commission is negotiable and set in the listing agreement. Since August 17, 2024, offers of compensation to buyer brokers cannot be placed on the MLS, and any payment to a buyer’s broker must be disclosed to the seller in writing and approved in advance, with the amount or rate stated (NAR, Home Sellers: What the NAR Settlement Means for You).

A seller may still offer buyer-broker compensation off the MLS, and may advertise buyer concessions, such as a credit toward closing costs, on the MLS. Buyers now sign a written agreement with their agent before touring a home (NAR Settlement FAQs). For a seller, compensation is a pricing and marketing choice to make at listing, not at the offer.

What Are Seller Closing Costs in Miami-Dade?

Under the AS IS contract, the seller pays documentary stamp tax and any surtax on the deed, association estoppel fees, costs to cure title, the seller’s attorney, and FIRPTA withholding and reporting charges. Under the Miami-Dade regional title option, the seller also pays the title search, tax search and municipal lien search, a search for unrecorded government liens. Commission is whatever the listing agreement says, and property taxes appear as a proration credit.

Documentary Stamp Tax on the Deed

Documentary stamp tax is Florida’s excise tax on the deed. Under section 201.02, as the Florida Department of Revenue states, the rate is 70 cents per $100 of consideration in every county except Miami-Dade, where it is 60 cents. Miami-Dade adds a 45-cent surtax under section 201.031, Florida Statutes, which does not apply when the deed conveys only a single-family residence. The tax is paid when the deed is recorded, and all parties are liable for it whichever agrees to pay.

Hypothetical sale	Rate per $100	Deed tax
$5,000,000 home, Miami-Dade	60 cents	$30,000
$10,000,000 home, Miami-Dade	60 cents	$60,000
$5,000,000 vacant lot, Miami-Dade	60 cents plus 45 cents	$52,500
$5,000,000 home, other Florida county	70 cents	$35,000

Source: Florida Department of Revenue, Florida Documentary Stamp Tax, and sections 201.02 and 201.031, Florida Statutes (2026), rates as of October 2026. Hypothetical round-number sales; a home here means a deed conveying only a single-family residence, including a condominium unit.

Who Pays for Title Insurance in Miami-Dade?

In Miami-Dade the buyer customarily pays for the owner’s title insurance policy and chooses the closing agent. That arrangement is the contract’s paragraph 9(c)(iii), labeled the Miami-Dade/Broward Regional Provision. It is custom, not law: the box checked on the contract controls.

Under the regional provision, the buyer pays the owner’s and any lender’s policy premiums, and the seller pays the title search or continuation, capped at $200 if the blank is left empty, plus the tax and municipal lien searches. Under option (i), the seller designates the closing agent and pays the owner’s policy. Each party pays its own closing services fees.

Item	Who pays under the regional option	Contract reference
Deed stamp tax and surtax	Seller	9(a)
Owner’s policy premium	Buyer	9(c)(iii)
Title, tax and lien searches	Seller	9(a), 9(c)(iii)
Association estoppel fees	Seller	9(a)
Association transfer fees	Buyer	9(b)
Survey, lender’s policy, mortgage taxes	Buyer	9(b)

Source: Florida Realtors and The Florida Bar, “AS IS” Residential Contract for Sale and Purchase, ASIS-7, revised December 2024. Allocations are the form’s defaults and can be negotiated.

The premium does not vary by agent. Florida sets owner’s policy rates by rule (Florida Administrative Code Rule 69O-186.003): $5.75 per $1,000 up to $100,000, $5.00 to $1 million, $2.50 to $5 million, $2.25 to $10 million and $2.00 above. On a hypothetical $5,000,000 sale, the premium is $15,075, which is the value of the concession when a seller offers to pay it.

How Are Property Taxes Prorated at a Miami Closing?

Florida property taxes are paid in arrears. Taxes assessed for January 1 through December 31 become payable on November 1 of that year (Miami-Dade Tax Collector; section 197.333, Florida Statutes). A seller who closes before that year’s bill is paid credits the buyer for the days the seller owned the home.

The AS IS contract prorates through the day before closing, using the current year’s tax if known, otherwise the current assessment at the prior year’s millage, otherwise the prior year’s tax, and either party can ask to readjust when the bill arrives. The proration allows for the maximum early-payment discount, which Florida sets at 4 percent in November, then 3, 2 and 1 percent through February (section 197.162).

Hypothetical: the prior year’s bill was $100,000, or $96,000 after the 4 percent discount, and the home closes July 1, 2027. The seller owned it for 181 days that year, so the seller credits the buyer about $47,605, and the buyer pays the full bill in November.

What Must a Seller Disclose When Selling a Home in Florida?

A Florida seller must disclose known facts that materially affect the home’s value, are not readily observable and are not known to the buyer, and must give the statutory flood disclosure at or before the contract is signed.

In Johnson v. Davis, 480 So. 2d 625 (Fla. 1985), the Florida Supreme Court held that “where the seller of a home knows of facts materially affecting the value of the property which are not readily observable and are not known to the buyer, the seller is under a duty to disclose them to the buyer.” The Florida Senate’s 2025 staff analysis notes the duty applies even when the buyer agrees to buy residential property as is.

The Statutory Flood Disclosure

Section 689.302, Florida Statutes, created effective October 1, 2024 and expanded effective October 1, 2025, requires the seller of residential property to complete a flood disclosure at or before the contract is executed. The form states that homeowners’ policies do not cover flood, then asks whether the seller:

• knows of flooding that damaged the property during the seller’s ownership;
• has filed a flood damage claim with an insurer, including the National Flood Insurance Program;
• has received assistance for flood damage, including from FEMA.

Flooding means inundation from overflowing inland or tidal waters, rapid runoff from an established water source, or sustained standing water from rainfall.

Other Required Disclosures

The buyer must also receive the property tax disclosure summary (section 689.261), the homeowners’ association disclosure summary where membership is mandatory (section 720.401), and, for property seaward of the coastal construction control line, the coastal disclosure and a survey or affidavit unless waived (section 161.57). The contract also offers a Miami-Dade County Special Taxing District rider. Condominium sellers have a separate document package, covered in our guide to buying a Miami condo after Surfside.

What Is an Estoppel Certificate, and What Does It Cost?

An estoppel certificate is the association’s written statement of what is owed on a home: assessments, transfer fees and open violations. The seller customarily pays for it under the AS IS contract, and Florida caps the fee.

Under section 720.30851 for homeowners’ associations and section 718.116(8) for condominiums, the association must issue it within 10 business days of a request or charge no fee. It is good for 30 days if delivered by hand or electronically, 35 by mail. The homeowners’ association form asks whether the board must approve the transfer and whether a right of first refusal applies, both live questions in gated communities.

Fee	Amount in the statute	Current DBPR amount
Preparation and delivery	Up to $250	Up to $299
Expedited, within 3 business days	Additional $100	Additional $119
Account delinquent	Additional up to $150	Additional up to $179

Source: sections 720.30851(6) and 718.116(8), Florida Statutes (2026); Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Estoppel Certificate Fees, inflation-adjusted amounts in force until the next update due by July 1, 2027.

What Taxes Do You Pay When You Sell a Miami Home?

Federal tax only. Florida does not impose a personal income tax, so a Florida resident’s gain on a home sale is a federal question. A main home can qualify for the Section 121 exclusion of up to $250,000 of gain, or $500,000 for a married couple filing jointly (IRS Publication 523, for 2025 returns).

Publication 523 requires ownership and use as a residence for at least 24 months of the 5 years before the sale, and the exclusion may be taken only once in a 2-year period. Gain is the sale price minus selling expenses such as commissions and legal fees, minus the adjusted basis. Gain above the exclusion is taxed federally at 0, 15 or 20 percent depending on taxable income (IRS Topic 409, 2025), and the 3.8 percent net investment income tax can apply above income thresholds, though not to excluded gain (IRS Topic 559).

Hypothetical: a married couple filing jointly with an adjusted basis of $2,000,000 sells for an amount realized of $5,000,000. The gain is $3,000,000; if they qualify, $500,000 is excluded and $2,500,000 remains reportable. The tax itself depends on their whole return.

When the seller is a foreign person, the buyer generally must withhold 15 percent of the amount realized at closing under FIRPTA (IRS, FIRPTA Withholding), and the AS IS contract assigns the withholding charges to the seller. Our guide for foreign buyers in Miami covers how the rule applies when a foreign owner sells.

Can You Keep Your Save Our Homes Savings If You Buy Again in Florida?

Yes, through portability. The Miami-Dade Property Appraiser explains that a homeowner can transfer the difference between assessed and market value on the old homestead, up to $500,000, to a new Florida homestead established within three assessment years after abandoning the old one, with Form DR-501T filed by March 1.

The Property Appraiser’s example: a homestead abandoned in March 2024 requires the new homestead by January 1, 2027. Under Article VII, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution, a move to a home with a lower just value transfers a proportional share. The benefit carried is the Save Our Homes cap, which limits annual growth in assessed value to 3 percent or the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower. Our relocation and tax guide covers homestead filing.

Amendment 3 (HJR 1F), which the Legislature placed on the November 3, 2026 general election ballot, proposed raising the homestead exemption for non-school taxes to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, with people who were not Florida residents on December 31, 2026 receiving the current exemption until their fifth year of exemption, and lowering the non-homestead assessment cap from 10 to 5 percent from January 1, 2027 (ballot summary). It needed at least 60 percent of the vote; check the certified result with the Florida Division of Elections before relying on either figure.

Frequently Asked Questions About Selling a Luxury Home in Miami