Reference Guide  ·  Last updated July 31, 2026

What It Costs to Sell a Home in Palm Beach County

Most sellers know roughly what commission runs. Almost nobody can name the other seven or eight line items that come out of the sale price, and those are the ones that turn a confident net proceeds estimate into a surprise at the closing table.

What are the fixed numbers I can count on?

Item	Detail
Documentary stamp tax on the deed	$0.70 per $100 of sale price in every Florida county except Miami-Dade
Owner's title insurance policy	$5.75 per $1,000 on the first $100,000, then $5.00 per $1,000 up to $1 million
Who pays the owner's policy	Seller, by long-standing Palm Beach County custom
Association estoppel fee cap	$299 standard, $119 expedited, $179 additional if the account is delinquent
Estoppel delivery deadline	10 business days. If the association misses it, no fee may be charged.
Property tax proration	January 1 through the closing date, charged to the seller
Real estate commission	Negotiable in every transaction. Not set by law, by any association, or by any multiple listing service.

How much is documentary stamp tax when I sell?

Florida charges documentary stamp tax on the deed at a rate of $0.70 per $100 of the sale price. Miami-Dade County uses a different rate. Everywhere else in the state, including Palm Beach County, the $0.70 rate applies and the seller customarily pays it.

The math is simple enough to do in your head. Move the decimal on the sale price two places left, then multiply by seventy cents. A $900,000 sale produces $6,300 in documentary stamp tax. A $1.5 million sale produces $10,500.

Who pays for title insurance in Palm Beach County?

In Palm Beach County the seller customarily pays for the owner's title insurance policy, which protects the buyer's ownership interest. This is county custom rather than state law, and it is negotiable, but it is the default assumption in most contracts here.

Florida title insurance rates are promulgated, meaning the state sets them and they do not vary between companies. The first $100,000 of coverage is charged at $5.75 per $1,000. Coverage from $100,000 to $1 million is charged at $5.00 per $1,000. Higher tiers apply above $1 million.

On a $900,000 sale that produces a $4,575 owner's policy. If the buyer is financing, they pay separately for a lender's policy, and that charge sits on their side of the statement.

What does the association estoppel certificate cost?

If your home sits in a homeowners association or condominium association, the closing agent orders an estoppel certificate confirming what you owe the association as of the closing date. Florida statute caps what the association or its management company may charge.

The current caps are $299 for a standard certificate, $119 more for expedited three business day delivery, and $179 more if the account is delinquent. The association has 10 business days to deliver. If it misses that deadline, it cannot charge for the certificate at all.

Keep your copy after closing. It is the association's own written statement of what was owed as of that date, and it protects you if a different figure surfaces later.

How do property tax prorations work when I sell?

Florida property taxes are billed in arrears, so at closing the seller owes the portion of the year they owned the home. That runs from January 1 through the closing date, and it appears as a debit on the seller's side and a credit to the buyer.

The proration is usually calculated from the most recent available tax bill, which means it reflects your assessed value rather than the buyer's future assessed value. On a long held homestead those two numbers can differ substantially.

A proration is not really a cost. It is money you already owed. But it reduces your check at closing, so it belongs in any honest net proceeds estimate.

What does representation cost, and what should you compare?

Real estate commission is negotiable in every transaction. It is not set by law, by any association of Realtors, or by any multiple listing service. What follows is what I charge. It is not a market rate and it is not a standard.

The percentage is the easiest thing to compare between agents and the least informative. On a $900,000 sale, one percentage point is $9,000. Whether that $9,000 is worth paying depends on what it funds and what it returns, and most sellers are never given enough information to answer that question. So before the tiers, here is what actually distinguishes one listing plan from another.

Questions worth asking any agent you interview

My three listing tiers

Every tier includes professional photography, cinematic video, a pre-launch campaign, print marketing, interactive signage, an open house program, a weekly listing performance review, and a dedicated property website. The difference between tiers is depth of reach, not the presence or absence of a plan. Each includes a $649 brokerage processing fee in addition to the percentage.

What applies at every tier

• Easy exit. If the service falls short of what was promised, you can cancel the listing agreement at any time, with no penalty and no complication.
• Communication standard. Calls returned within 24 hours and a weekly update on your sale. If I miss either, you receive $100.

How the fee is allocated, including whether any portion is offered to a broker representing the buyer, is a separate decision you make and it is negotiated as part of the listing agreement. Since August 2024, offers of compensation to buyer brokers cannot be published on the multiple listing service, and no seller is required to make one.

What does a full net proceeds calculation look like?

An illustration on a $900,000 sale, using the Enhanced tier, a June 30 closing, an assumed annual property tax bill of $7,200, and an assumed remaining mortgage balance of $300,000. Every figure will move with your actual numbers.

What is not on this list?

• Mortgage payoff. Not a cost, but it comes out of proceeds. Request a written payoff statement, since it includes per diem interest through the disbursement date.
• Repairs and credits negotiated after inspection. Frequently the largest variable in the entire calculation.
• Open permits, code liens, or unrecorded municipal charges. These surface in the lien search and must clear before closing.
• Capital gains tax. Owed at filing, not at closing, and often reduced or eliminated by the Section 121 exclusion. This is a question for your CPA.
• Pre-listing preparation. Cleaning, staging, landscaping, and cosmetic work, depending on the service tier and what the property needs.
• Survey. Sometimes seller paid, sometimes buyer paid, sometimes waived. Contract dependent.

Frequently asked questions