Question 1

What do documentary stamps actually cost on a Fort Lauderdale double close?

Accepted Answer

Broward pays the standard statewide rate, not the Miami-Dade rate. The Florida Department of Revenue sets the deed rate at 70 cents per $100 of consideration in every Florida county except Miami-Dade, and notes and mortgages at 35 cents per $100 statewide, including Broward. In an A-to-B-to-C double close there are two deeds, and if both legs are financed, two notes, so the tax lands twice. On a $300,000 A-to-B leg and a $360,000 B-to-C leg, deed stamps alone run roughly $2,100 and $2,520. Consideration expressly includes the amount of any mortgage or other encumbrance, whether or not the underlying debt is assumed. Florida also imposes a nonrecurring intangible tax on mortgages, and we will not quote you a rate for it. Price the full stamp stack into your spread before you sign, and confirm the exact figures with your closing agent.

Question 2

Is Broward's transfer tax really different from Miami-Dade's?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and this is the single most common error wholesalers working both counties make. Miami-Dade alone runs a 60 cent base deed rate plus a 45 cent discretionary documentary stamp surtax, and that surtax is not due on a document that transfers only a single-family dwelling. Broward is not on that structure. Broward pays the standard statewide 70 cents per $100 on the deed and 35 cents per $100 on notes and mortgages, the same rate as the rest of Florida outside Miami-Dade. A wholesaler who works both counties will hear the Miami-Dade numbers quoted as though they applied to a Broward parcel, and they do not. Do not let a title company or a coaching group's generic "South Florida" cheat sheet apply the Miami-Dade surtax to your Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, or Pompano Beach closing.

Question 3

Is Broward's 1 percent surtax the same thing as Miami-Dade's documentary stamp surtax?

Accepted Answer

No, and conflating the two is the second common error in this market. Broward County levies a 1.0 percent discretionary sales surtax, in effect from January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2048. That is a sales tax adder, and it exists in most Florida counties. It has nothing to do with Miami-Dade's discretionary documentary stamp surtax, which is a real estate transfer tax that exists in Miami-Dade only and does not apply in Broward at all. Broward has the first tax and not the second. Keep the two separate when you talk through closing costs with a buyer or seller.

Question 4

Do I need a Florida real estate license to wholesale in Broward?

Accepted Answer

It turns on whether you are acting for yourself or for another. Florida Statutes section 475.01(1)(a) requires a license to sell, exchange, buy or rent real property "for another" for compensation, with no express exemption for a person selling their own equitable interest under contract. The customary reading is that assigning your own contract sits outside "for another," while marketing the underlying property on a seller's behalf does not. That is a legal characterization, not settled ground, and we are a lender, not your counsel. Assignments and double closes are both common across Florida, Broward included. Have a Florida real estate attorney review your contract and your marketing language before you run the play. If the deal needs a fast bridge on the acquisition leg, our fix and flip loan is the tool once you are holding the property rather than assigning the contract.

Question 5

How does Florida's judicial foreclosure process affect a Broward wholesale pipeline?

Accepted Answer

Distressed supply moves through the circuit court, not a fast courthouse auction. Every Florida foreclosure runs through the circuit court, and the national average time to complete a foreclosure was 563 days in the second quarter of 2026, with Florida leading the nation in foreclosure filing rate in the first half of that year. A Broward-specific completion timeline was not available at a citable source, so we will not put a number on it. What that means for a wholesaler: pre-foreclosure and lis pendens leads tend to have a longer runway than in a non-judicial state, and our own remedy on an A-to-B leg runs through the same court system, which is part of why Florida transactional terms price the way they do.

Question 6

What should I price into a Fort Lauderdale wholesale deal beyond the doc stamps?

Accepted Answer

Insurance, not the transfer tax, is usually what breaks an end buyer's underwriting. Broward's average homeowners premium including wind was $6,136 as of March 2026, and $3,008 excluding wind, the highest carry cost of any tax or insurance line in this market. South Florida property claims are also litigated at 27.27 percent, against 8.16 percent in the rest of Florida, which is part of why that premium runs high. If your parcel is a condominium, confirm the building has cleared its milestone inspection and structural integrity reserve study before you count on financing being available to your end buyer: Florida Statutes sections 553.899 and 718.112(2)(g) require both for condo buildings of three or more habitable stories, and an unresolved inspection, reserve shortfall, or active special assessment can knock an agency loan off the table for your buyer. Get a real insurance quote and check the building's compliance status before you lock a closing date.

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