Buying in Florida from another state: how it actually works

Can I buy without being in Florida?

Yes, start to finish. Remote closings are routine here, and Florida has permitted remote online notarization since 2020 — which removes the last step that used to require a plane ticket.

In practice, out-of-state buyers close one of three ways:

• Remote online notarization. You sign electronically with a Florida-commissioned notary over video. Most title companies support it; some lenders still do not, so confirm with the lender early rather than assuming.
• Mail-away. The closing package is couriered to you, signed in front of a local notary, and couriered back. Slower, universally accepted.
• Power of attorney. Someone you trust signs on your behalf. The lender must approve the form in advance, and some will not.

None of this is unusual and none of it costs meaningfully more. What does need attention is the wire: confirm wiring instructions by phone, using a number you looked up yourself, not one in an email. Wire fraud targeting real estate closings is common, and it is aimed squarely at buyers who are not physically present.

What’s different from buying in my state?

Four things, and each one has caught buyers from every state we work with.

1. Insurance is a condition, not a formality

In most of the country you buy the house and then arrange insurance. In Florida the insurability of the specific house — its roof age, its four-point inspection, its flood zone — determines whether the deal can close at all. A house with a 19-year-old roof may be uninsurable at any sensible price, and the lender will not fund without a policy.

2. The seller’s tax bill is not yours

Florida’s assessment cap holds long-time owners’ taxable value far below market, and it resets when the property sells. A listing showing $2,400 of annual tax can become $7,000 in your first full year, on the same house, with nothing changed but the owner.

3. There may be a fee that arrives inside the tax bill

A Community Development District assessment is collected on your property tax notice rather than as a separate bill, so it hides inside a number you thought you had checked. In communities that have one, the median is about $168 a month.

4. Who pays for title insurance depends on the county

In 63 of Florida’s 67 counties the seller pays for the owner’s title policy. In Miami-Dade, Broward, Sarasota and Collier the buyer does — over $2,000 on a $400,000 home. And whoever pays chooses the closing company.

Do I need to establish residency first?

No — you can buy as a non-resident. But if the plan is to move, the order matters for two different reasons, and they pull in opposite directions.

For the homestead exemption, what counts is whether you own and occupy the home as your permanent residence on January 1, with a filing deadline of March 1. Buying in June means claiming the following year regardless of what you do in between.

For your former state, what counts is when you genuinely stopped being domiciled there. High-tax states audit departing residents, and New York is known for it. Days spent, where your licence is, where you vote, where your doctors are, where your dog lives — all of it is evidence, and it is far easier to assemble as you go than to reconstruct two years later.

How does the inspection period work, and why is it the whole game?

Florida’s standard contract gives the buyer a defined inspection period to investigate and, in the “as-is” version, to walk away for any reason and get the deposit back. For an out-of-state buyer, that window is where everything happens.

It is typically 10 to 15 days, and it is negotiable. Use it for five things, in parallel rather than in sequence:

1. The home inspection, plus a wind mitigation inspection and a four-point inspection if the home is older. The last two are for the insurer, not for you.
2. An actual insurance quote on the actual address. Not an estimate, a quote.
3. A flood zone determination, and a flood quote if it is anywhere near a boundary.
4. The association documents — reserve study, financials, minutes, leasing restrictions, and the CDD’s assessment schedule.
5. The county’s tax estimate for a new owner, not the current bill.

How do I choose where to buy, sight unseen?

Narrow by the three things that actually differ across Florida — insurance, commute and inventory — before you look at a single listing.

The insurance spread inside Florida is wider than the gap between most states. Actual average premiums per policy, from the federal data:

U.S. Department of the Treasury, Federal Insurance Office, 2018–2022 collection: 330 insurers, 246 million policies.

Kissimmee against Plantation is about $4,100 a year on the insurance line alone — more than the property tax saving most people move here to collect. Deciding the area before the house, with that number in hand, is worth more than any amount of listing-scrolling.

Then the practical filters: how far you are actually willing to drive in South Florida traffic, whether you want a community with amenities and the dues that come with them, and whether you are buying resale or new construction — which changes the closing costs, the timeline and who pays what.

What about the mortgage — does it change?

The loan itself does not. What changes is how much of your payment is not the loan, and therefore how much you qualify for.

Underwriting works from the total monthly payment, and in Florida taxes and insurance are a much larger share of it. On a $400,000 home those two lines run around $1,280 a month — roughly 63% of the size of the mortgage payment itself. In most states people move from, they are a third of that.

The consequence: the same income supports a smaller mortgage in Florida. A pre-approval issued against New Jersey cost assumptions will overstate what you can buy here. Get pre-approved with a lender who is quoting Florida taxes and Florida insurance on the actual county.

If the property is a second home or an investment, expect a higher rate and a larger down payment than for a primary residence — typically 10–15% for a second home and 20–25% for an investment property.

What if I’m buying it to rent out?

Three things change: the tax treatment, the association rules, and the fact that someone has to answer the phone at 11pm.

• No homestead exemption and no 3% cap. You pay on full assessed value with a 10% annual cap. On a $250,000 assessed home in Miami-Dade that is roughly $4,623 a year against $3,846 for an owner-occupant.
• The association may forbid it. Minimum lease terms, board approval of tenants, caps on the number of rentals, and waiting periods after purchase are all common. Check before the inspection period closes.
• Short-term rental is regulated locally, and the rules vary sharply between municipalities — some prohibit it outright in residential zones. Do not assume a listing that mentions “great Airbnb potential” has verified anything.
• Property management runs roughly 8–12% of collected rent for long-term, more for short-term. Budget it as a cost, not as something you will do yourself from another state.

What order should I do all of this in?

Money first, area second, house third. Most out-of-state buyers do it backwards and lose weeks.

1. Get pre-approved with Florida numbers. Not a national calculator — a lender quoting the actual county’s taxes and insurance.
2. Pick two or three areas, using insurance and commute rather than listing photos.
3. Line up your people before you need them — agent, lender, insurance agent, inspector. The insurance agent is the one buyers forget, and the one whose lead time bites.
4. Then look at houses, and when you write the offer, negotiate the length of the inspection period as deliberately as you negotiate the price.
5. Run everything in parallel during the inspection period — inspection, insurance quote, flood, association documents, tax estimate.
6. Close remotely, verifying wire instructions by phone.
7. File for homestead by March 1 of the first year you own and occupy on January 1 — and file portability at the same time if you already owned in Florida.