What It Really Costs to Sell on 30A

Before commission, the two biggest costs for a seller here are set by the State of Florida: the tax on the deed and the owner's title insurance. In Walton County the seller customarily pays both. The deed tax alone is $0.70 for every $100 of the price. On a $2 million sale that's $14,000.

Commission is negotiable. Everything else is smaller, and your contract decides who pays what.

Commission is always negotiable.

Since the rules changed, how the buyer's agent gets paid is part of the negotiation too. It can happen three ways:

• The seller offers it up front.
• The buyer asks the seller to pay it, even if the seller hasn't offered it.
• The seller covers part of it.

Sellers still offer it. Offering it can widen the pool of buyers, since some buyers can't or won't pay their agent out of pocket.

The tax on the deed. Florida charges $0.70 for every $100 of the sale price. This is the one that surprises sellers most at closing.

Owner's title insurance. The rate is set by the state, and in Walton County the seller customarily pays it. The buyer usually chooses the title company. On a $1 million sale it's about $5,075, and on a $2 million sale about $7,575.

By local custom, written into the standard Florida contract:

The seller usually pays: owner's title insurance, the deed tax, commissions, their own closing fee, the HOA's estoppel letter, and their share of the year's property taxes.

The buyer usually pays: everything tied to their loan, recording, a lien search, the survey, inspections, and their own closing fee.

All of it is negotiable. Your contract decides.

Florida property taxes are paid at the end of the year. So at closing, you credit the buyer for your share of the months you owned the home that year.

Most homes along 30A are already furnished short-term rentals, so full staging is less common here than in other markets.

What sellers do spend on is getting the home to look its best before the photos: pressure washing, yard upkeep and curb appeal. It can get a little pricey, but it's an investment in getting the home sold. In a buyer's market, putting your best foot forward matters more than ever.

Buyers from other places are often surprised by this. When a rental home sells here, the furniture usually conveys, and so do the housewares, all the way down to the coffee makers, plates and forks. Sellers can keep certain items they love, but that needs to be agreed in the contract.

Some costs land on the buyer, but they still shape what buyers will offer:

• New-buyer fees. Some of the area's best-known neighborhoods charge buyers a one-time fee at resale, often a percentage of the price. On a multi-million-dollar home, that can add $25,000 or more to the buyer's closing costs.
• Insurance. Wind, flood and homeowners coverage is a real line in a buyer's budget, and it moves with each hurricane season.

• If the home is with a rental company, the new owner can often stay with them and keep the bookings going.
• If it's the owner's own Airbnb account, it doesn't transfer. The new owner starts over, and the same is true when switching property managers. The upside is a fresh start with no old review issues.

When choosing who manages the home next, it's worth looking for companies with a long list of returning guests who book directly instead of through Airbnb. Booking direct means they control the rental agreement and know who's coming and going in the house.

Questions about your home? Reach out. I work alone, so you'll always be talking to me.

— Garett Huber