FSBO Paperwork Florida Requires

One of the biggest concerns for Florida FSBO sellers is the paperwork. The good news: Florida has standardized real estate forms that simplify the process. Here's every document you need from listing to closing — what it is, where to get it, and when you need it.

The FSBO paperwork Florida requires before you list

Required before or at contract: (1) Florida Seller's Disclosure form — discloses all known material defects. Available from the Florida Association of Realtors or as part of your flat fee MLS package. (2) Lead-Based Paint Disclosure — required for all homes built before 1978 (federal law). (3) HOA Disclosure — if the property is subject to an HOA or condo association, Florida law requires disclosure and an estoppel letter from the HOA. (4) Radon Gas Disclosure — Florida requires sellers to disclose the potential presence of radon and the right to test.

The contract, which you are not writing yourself

The Florida FAR/BAR contract (As-Is or Standard version) is the universal purchase agreement for Florida residential sales. It covers: purchase price, deposit, financing contingency, inspection period, closing date, and standard terms. Available from Florida Association of Realtors or real estate attorneys. When a buyer agent submits an offer, they'll typically use this form. For buyer offers not using the FAR/BAR, have a real estate attorney review before signing. Never use a generic or out-of-state contract for a Florida sale.

The FSBO paperwork Florida closing agents prepare

Your title company prepares closing documents: (1) Deed (General or Special Warranty Deed) — prepared by the title company; you sign at closing. (2) Closing Disclosure (CD) — shows all costs, credits, and net proceeds. (3) FIRPTA Affidavit — certifies you're not a foreign national (required for all U.S. real estate sales). (4) Title Commitment and final title policy — from the title company. (5) Settlement Statement (HUD-1 or ALTA form) — breakdown of all funds. (6) Any payoff letters for mortgages or liens. The title company handles all closing document preparation; you just need to review and sign.

Two disclosures Florida requires by statute

A radon gas notice has to appear in the contract or in a document delivered with it, in wording the statute sets. The standard forms already carry it, so this is usually a box somebody else ticked. The second is a notice about property taxes. It tells the buyer the figure may change after a sale and not to rely on the current owner number. That one matters more than it sounds. A homestead exemption and the assessment cap can leave a buyer with a tax bill far above yours.

The federal form, for anything built before 1978

If the house went up before 1978, three things follow. Hand the buyer the lead-based paint pamphlet. Disclose any known lead paint or hazards. And allow ten days for them to test. This is federal and applies in every state. It is a separate signed form rather than a clause in the contract, and in practice the ten days run alongside the rest of the inspection period. Houses built in 1978 or later are outside it, which covers most of the Florida stock but a long way from all of it.

The FSBO paperwork Florida ties to your marriage

If the property is your Florida homestead, your spouse has to join in the deed even if they are not on the title and never have been. That comes from the state constitution rather than from any form, and it has ambushed a great many sellers in the last week before closing. A divorce decree, a death certificate or a recorded disclaimer may be needed instead depending on the situation. Tell the closing agent who is on the deed and who you are married to on day one. It is a thirty-second conversation that occasionally saves a fortnight, and the version where nobody has it ends with a signing appointment being moved.

FSBO paperwork Florida adds for a condo or an HOA

An association adds a layer and it is the layer most likely to delay a closing. The buyer is entitled to the governing documents and the financial statements. The closing agent orders an estoppel letter from the management company stating the dues, any outstanding balance and any pending assessment. These cost money, the amount is capped by statute, and the association gets a statutory window to produce one. Order it the week the contract is signed, not the week of closing.

Condominiums carry extra obligations now

Florida tightened the rules on older multi-storey condominiums after 2021, and buildings above a set height face milestone structural inspections and reserve studies on a schedule. For a seller this is a disclosure question rather than a repair one. A buyer, their lender and their insurer will each ask what the building has been through and what is coming. Get the latest inspection report and the reserve position from the association before you list. The answer shapes the price and the pool of buyers who can finance it.

Coastal property has its own notice

Some parcels sit partly seaward of the coastal construction control line. Where that is the case, Florida requires the seller to give the buyer a notice before the contract is binding. Survey obligations are attached to it. This affects a small minority of Florida sales and matters enormously to the ones it does. If the property is on or near the beach, ask the closing agent early whether the notice applies rather than discovering it during the title search.

When the seller is not a US taxpayer

If the seller is a foreign person for federal tax purposes, the buyer generally has to withhold part of the sale price at closing. The rules are usually called FIRPTA. The withholding is not the tax. It is a prepayment against whatever the liability turns out to be, frequently more than the real figure, and recoverable on a return. Anyone in this position wants advice lined up before the contract is signed rather than after, because the paperwork runs through the closing.

Open permits: the FSBO paperwork Florida counties keep

A permit pulled years ago and never closed out sits on the property record until somebody deals with it. That somebody is usually the seller, during a title search. Work done without a permit is worse, because an appraiser cannot credit square footage the county does not know exists. Both are findable before you list: the building department will tell you what is open against the address. Finding out in week four, with a contract running, is the expensive version. Closing a permit out takes an inspection and sometimes a contractor, which is why the early phone call is worth so much more than the late one.

What varies by county

Who customarily pays for the owner title policy, and therefore who customarily chooses the closing agent. The documentary stamp tax is $0.70 per $100 of price statewide, except that Miami-Dade applies its own rate structure. Estoppel timing in practice varies with how well run the association is. None of this changes the documents you sign. It changes who you are negotiating with about who pays, and it is worth asking locally rather than assuming. A closing agent in the county does this every day and will tell you the local custom in one sentence.

Where the FSBO paperwork Florida requires comes from

The statutory disclosures and the federal lead paint pamphlet are published free by the state and the agency that requires them. The standard contract is produced for members of the realtor and bar associations, which is why a buyer agent normally brings it rather than you. With no agent on either side, a real estate attorney or the closing agent can supply the form. Paying a website for a packet of generic documents is almost always unnecessary, and generic documents are the ones most likely to be wrong for Florida.

Common questions

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