Miami-Dade County real estate closings follow customs that differ from most of Florida. The most important one: in Miami-Dade, the buyer—not the seller—customarily pays for the owner’s title insurance policy and chooses the title company. Add Miami-Dade’s own documentary stamp tax structure and a market full of condos, waterfront property, and international buyers, and it pays to know who pays what before you sign. Here is how closings work in Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Aventura, Doral, Miami Lakes, and the rest of the county.
Miami-Dade’s Custom: The Buyer Pays for Title Insurance
In most Florida counties, the seller pays for the buyer’s owner’s title insurance policy. Miami-Dade County (like neighboring Broward) is different: the buyer customarily pays for the owner’s policy and selects the title company. Customs are not law—the purchase contract controls, and the Florida Realtors/Florida Bar contract has a box for exactly this—so it can be negotiated. But if the contract follows local custom, expect the buyer to pay.
Paying for the policy comes with a real advantage: you control the process. You choose the title company, you drive the timeline, and you decide who is protecting your interests. (New to title insurance? Start with What Is Title Insurance in Florida?)
What it costs, using Florida’s promulgated (state-set) rates:
- $500,000 home: $2,575 for the owner’s policy
- $1,000,000 home: $5,075
- $3,000,000 condo: $10,075
The premium is paid once, at closing, and the policy protects you for as long as you own the property. If a defect surfaces years later—a forged deed, a missing signature on a prior transfer, an unreleased lien from a previous owner—the policy covers your legal defense and reimburses covered losses.
Lender’s title insurance is a separate policy your mortgage lender requires. When it is issued at the same time as your owner’s policy, Florida’s simultaneous-issue rate applies: a flat $25 for coverage up to the owner’s policy amount. Lender-required endorsements typically add a few hundred dollars. The lender’s policy protects only the lender and ends when the loan is paid off.
Who Chooses the Title Company in Miami-Dade?
Customarily, the buyer does. When you hire a title company like Complete Choice Title Services, we:
- Order and examine the title search
- Issue your owner’s and lender’s policies
- Prepare the deed, closing statement, and closing documents
- Coordinate with your lender, the seller, the agents, and the condo or homeowners’ association
- Conduct the closing and disburse funds
- Record the deed and mortgage with the Miami-Dade County Clerk of Courts and Comptroller
How to choose: ask your agent for firms with experience in your property type—luxury condo, single-family, commercial, or investment. Read Google reviews and check the BBB. Then call and ask how they handle Miami-Dade-specific issues: condo estoppel delays, special assessments, waterfront easements, and foreign-seller withholding. Complete Choice Title holds a 5.0-star Google rating and an A+ BBB rating, and has been closing transactions across all 67 Florida counties since 2018. See our title services.
Miami-Dade Documentary Stamp Tax: How It Differs From the Rest of Florida
Florida charges a documentary stamp tax on deeds, customarily paid by the seller. Statewide, the rate is $0.70 per $100 of the sale price. Miami-Dade has its own structure:
- Single-family residence: $0.60 per $100 (lower than the rest of Florida). A single condominium unit conveyed on its own deed is treated as a single-family residence.
- Anything else (commercial property, multi-unit buildings, vacant land, several units on one deed): $0.60 plus a $0.45 county surtax, for a total of $1.05 per $100.
On a $500,000 sale:
- Single-family home or single condo unit: $3,000
- Commercial, multi-family, or vacant land: $5,250
Source: Florida Department of Revenue, Documentary Stamp Tax. How your property is classified matters—ask your title company before you sign.
What Sellers Typically Pay in Miami-Dade
- Documentary stamp tax on the deed (above)
- Real estate commissions, per the listing agreement
- Payoff of any existing mortgage, plus the fee to record the satisfaction
- Condo or HOA estoppel certificate fees
- Prorated property taxes and association dues through the closing date
- Attorney fees, if the seller retains separate counsel
Sellers do not customarily pay for the buyer’s owner’s title policy in Miami-Dade.
What Buyers Typically Pay in Miami-Dade
- Owner’s title insurance premium (promulgated rate)
- Lender’s title policy ($25 simultaneous issue) plus endorsements
- Documentary stamp tax on the promissory note: $0.35 per $100 of the loan amount
- Florida intangible tax on the mortgage: 0.2% of the loan amount
- Recording fees, lender fees, appraisal, and homeowner’s insurance
- Prorated taxes and association dues from the closing date forward
On a $400,000 mortgage: $1,400 in note stamps plus $800 in intangible tax, or $2,200 in state taxes on the financing alone.
Title Insurance Rates: The Same in Every Florida County
Florida’s title insurance premiums are set by rule (Florida Administrative Code 69O-186.003) and are identical in all 67 counties, including Miami-Dade:
- $5.75 per $1,000 on the first $100,000
- $5.00 per $1,000 from $100,000 to $1,000,000
- $2.50 per $1,000 from $1,000,000 to $5,000,000
- $2.25 per $1,000 from $5,000,000 to $10,000,000
- $2.00 per $1,000 over $10,000,000
Because the premium is the same everywhere, what you are really choosing is service: how fast the search comes back, how problems get solved, and whether you can reach the person handling your file. A Miami-Dade firm understands waterfront property, condo resale requirements, international buyer documentation, and the title issues that are common here.
The Miami-Dade Closing Timeline
- Week 1–2: Your agent sends the executed contract and escrow deposit to the title company you selected. We order the title search and, for condos, the estoppel certificate.
- Week 2–3: The title commitment is issued, listing every mortgage, lien, easement, and restriction that must be cleared or excepted.
- Week 3–4: Title issues are resolved, your lender issues final approval, and the closing is scheduled.
- Closing day: Documents are signed (in person or by mobile notary), lender funds arrive, and the deed and mortgage are executed.
- 1–3 business days after closing: Documents are recorded with the Clerk and the property is officially yours.
Common Title Issues in Miami-Dade
- Condo association liens and special assessments: unpaid dues or assessments become liens that must be paid or negotiated before closing.
- Estoppel certificate delays: associations have a statutory window to respond, and slow or conflicting estoppels are a leading cause of delayed closings.
- FIRPTA withholding: when the seller is a foreign person, federal law generally requires the buyer to withhold a percentage of the sale price and remit it to the IRS—your title company coordinates this.
- Open or expired permits and code liens: common on renovated properties and a routine part of the municipal lien search.
- Environmental and waterfront matters: submerged land leases, seawall obligations, and coastal construction restrictions.
- Tax certificates: unpaid prior-year property taxes must be redeemed before title can transfer clean.
Finding these during the search—and clearing them before closing—is the title company’s job. The owner’s policy is your protection if something was missed.
Why Local Miami-Dade Expertise Matters
Miami-Dade is not like the rest of Florida: more condos, more international buyers and sellers, more waterfront, and more associations with their own rules. A title company that closes here every week can move an estoppel along, spot a municipal lien before it becomes a problem, and coordinate a foreign-seller closing without surprises. Complete Choice Title Services has been doing exactly that since 2018, from our office in Miami Lakes.
Next Steps: Prepare for Your Miami-Dade Closing
- Choose your title company as soon as you have a signed contract. The sooner the file opens, the sooner the search and estoppel are ordered.
- Budget for buyer-side costs: owner’s policy (roughly half a percent of the price on a typical residential purchase), lender’s policy and endorsements, note stamps, and intangible tax.
- Review the title commitment. Ask about every exception you do not understand.
- Have documentation ready. Lenders and title companies may request extra verification for foreign buyers and high-value purchases.
- Ask questions. A good title company explains every line on the closing statement. Our FAQs are a good place to start.
Ready to Close in Miami-Dade?
Whether it is a single-family home in Coral Gables or a waterfront condo in Miami Beach, Miami-Dade’s customs put the buyer in control. You choose the title company—so choose one that answers the phone. Contact Complete Choice Title Services or call (305) 603-8393. We are based in Miami Lakes, licensed across all 67 Florida counties, and Luis and Yeni personally oversee every file.
Closing elsewhere in South Florida? See our guides to Broward County closing customs and Palm Beach County closing customs.
