Hillsborough County Sellers
How Much Does It Cost to Sell a House in Hillsborough County?
Every line item, with the statute or promulgated rate behind it, and a worked example on a $400,000 sale.
Quick answer
Selling a $400,000 house in Hillsborough County costs about $4,894 in charges that are fixed by statute or by promulgated rate — $2,800 in documentary stamp tax on the deed, $2,075 for the owner's title insurance policy, and $18.50 to record a two-page deed. Add a closing agent's settlement fee and a municipal lien search and most sellers land between $5,344 and $5,994.
Four more items sit on top and none of them have a fixed number: prorated property taxes, an HOA or condo estoppel fee, any repair credits you agree to after inspection, and whatever brokerage compensation you negotiate. Florida has no standard commission rate, so no honest page can put a figure there for you.
Which closing costs does a Hillsborough County seller actually pay?
Ten lines show up on a Hillsborough seller's closing statement. Three of them are set by law and cannot be shopped. Four are service fees you can absolutely shop. Three depend entirely on your house and your contract. Knowing which is which is most of the job.
| Cost | Amount | Who sets it | Can you move it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Documentary stamp tax on the deed | 0.70 per $100 of price | Fla. Stat. 201.02(1)(a) | No — it is a tax. Who pays it is contractual. |
| Owner's title insurance policy | $5.75 / $1,000 to $100K, then $5.00 / $1,000 | Fla. Admin. Code R. 69O-186.003 | Rate no, payer yes |
| Title search and closing (settlement) fee | Roughly $350 to $900, varies by closing agent | The title company or closing attorney | Yes — shop it |
| Municipal lien / estoppel search | Roughly $100 to $200, varies by vendor | The search vendor | Yes |
| Recording the deed | $10.00 first page, $8.50 each additional | Fla. Stat. 28.24(13) | No |
| HOA or condo estoppel certificate | Capped — $250 base, plus up to $100 expedited | Fla. Stat. 720.30851(6) / 718.116(8) | No, but the cap protects you |
| Prorated property taxes | Your actual annual bill, divided by day — see below | Fla. Stat. 197.162 and your closing agent | No, but it is calculable |
| Repairs or repair credits after inspection | Varies entirely — $0 on some sales, five figures on others | Negotiated after the inspection period | Yes |
| Brokerage compensation | Negotiated. No standard rate exists in Florida. | Your listing agreement | Yes, always |
| Payoff of your mortgage and any liens | Your payoff statement, including per-diem interest | Your lender | No |
What do doc stamps and title insurance cost at my price?
These two are the biggest fixed costs and both are pure arithmetic, so you can check my math. Documentary stamp tax is 0.70 per $100 of price under Florida Statute 201.02(1)(a). The owner's title policy premium is promulgated by the state under Rule 69O-186.003 at $5.75 per thousand on the first $100,000 of coverage and $5.00 per thousand after that, which is why every title company in Florida quotes you the identical premium. The price points below are the Tampa Bay medians plus round numbers bracketing them.
| Sale price | Deed doc stamps | Owner's title policy | These two combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| $300,000 | $2,100 | $1,575 | $3,675 |
| $350,000 | $2,450 | $1,825 | $4,275 |
| $400,000 | $2,800 | $2,075 | $4,875 |
| $427,000 | $2,989 | $2,210 | $5,199 |
| $500,000 | $3,500 | $2,575 | $6,075 |
| $609,000 | $4,263 | $3,120 | $7,383 |
Two notes most pages skip. First, the statute taxes each $100 “or portion thereof,” so a $400,050 contract is taxed on 4,001 increments, not 4,000.5. Second, when a buyer is financing, a lender's policy issued at the same time as the owner's policy costs a minimum of $25 rather than a second full premium — that simultaneous-issue rate is in the same rule.
How are Florida property taxes prorated at closing?
Florida real property taxes are assessed as of January 1 and cover that calendar year, but you pay them in arrears — the Tax Collector's bill does not go out until on or about November 1 for a year that is already almost over. That one fact drives the whole proration, and it is where most sellers get surprised.
At closing, the seller is debited for January 1 through the day before closing and the buyer picks it up from there. If you close in May, nobody has the current bill yet, so the closing agent estimates from the prior year's bill. Standard K of the FAR/BAR AS IS Residential Contract then lets either party demand a re-proration once the real bill shows up, and that provision survives closing. If your assessment jumped — new construction, a lost homestead cap, a big reassessment after a sale — that survival clause is the thing that protects you, and it is worth asking your closing agent to walk you through it in writing.
The question to ask your closing agent
Florida Statute 197.162 gives a 4 percent discount for paying in November, 3 percent in December, 2 percent in January and 1 percent in February, with no discount in March and delinquency on April 1. Ask whether your proration was figured on the gross tax or on the discounted November amount. On a four-figure tax bill the difference is real money, and it is a coin-flip which convention your closing agent used unless you ask.
I am deliberately not printing a Hillsborough County millage rate here. Published county millage figures disagree with each other depending on whether they include the school board, the city, and which special districts your parcel sits in, and a number that is wrong by two mills is worse than no number at all. Pull your actual annual tax amount off your most recent Hillsborough County Tax Collector bill — that is the figure your proration will be built from, and it is the only one that matters.
What does this add up to on a $400,000 sale?
$400,000 is not a random round number. It sits between the Brandon single-family median of $390,000 and the Valrico median of $427,000 for closed sales over the twelve months ending October 2026, so it is a realistic east Hillsborough sale.
| Line | On $400,000 | Where the number comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Deed documentary stamps | $2,800 | 4,000 increments of $100 × $0.70 (Fla. Stat. 201.02) |
| Owner's title insurance policy | $2,075 | $575 on the first $100,000, then 300 × $5.00 (Rule 69O-186.003) |
| Recording a two-page deed | $18.50 | $10.00 + $8.50 (Fla. Stat. 28.24) |
| Subtotal, fixed by law | $4,894 | 1.22 percent of the sale price |
| Settlement fee + municipal lien search | $450–$1,100 | Set by the closing agent. Shop this. |
| Prorated property taxes | Varies | Your annual bill ÷ 365 × days you owned it this year |
| HOA or condo estoppel | $0–$250+ | $0 with no association; statutory cap applies if you have one |
| Repairs or repair credits | Varies | Negotiated after the inspection period |
| Brokerage compensation | Negotiated | No standard rate exists in Florida. Your listing agreement sets it. |
| Running total before taxes, HOA, repairs and compensation | $5,344–$5,994 | 1.34–1.50 percent of the sale price |
Note what this total does not include: your mortgage payoff. That is not a cost of selling, it is a debt you already owe, but it is the biggest number on the closing statement and it is the one sellers forget when they estimate their walk-away.
What about the commission?
Brokerage compensation in Florida is negotiable and is not fixed by law, by my brokerage, or by any association. There is no standard rate, and any page that prints one as if it were the going number is telling you something that is not true. Since the National Association of REALTORS® practice changes took effect on August 17, 2024, compensation to a buyer's broker is also negotiated separately rather than published through the MLS, which means it is a second conversation rather than an assumption baked into your list price.
What I will do is put your actual number in writing before you sign anything, and show you what it does to your net at your likely sale price. I break the whole topic down on the Tampa Bay realtor commission page, including how to compare two listing proposals that are structured differently.
Three things worth reading next
Costs only matter against a price, so start with what your house is worth in Tampa Bay. If you are trying to work out your calendar, see how long it takes to sell a house in Tampa Bay. And for the buyer's side of the same closing statement, there is a full walkthrough of what buyers and sellers actually pay in Florida closing costs.
Does the number change by city inside Hillsborough County?
The rates do not. Doc stamps, title premiums and recording charges are identical in Valrico, Brandon and everywhere else in the county, because they are set at the state level. What changes is the price they are applied to, and that moves a lot: $390,000 in Brandon, $427,000 in Valrico, $392,500 in Riverview and $609,000 in Lithia for single-family closed sales over the twelve months ending October 2026. The same 1.2 percent of fixed cost is a different dollar amount in each.
The other local variable is your association. A no-HOA sale skips the estoppel line entirely. A CDD community in Riverview or FishHawk adds a bond balance the buyer needs disclosed, which is a disclosure issue rather than a cost, but it is one that kills contracts late when nobody raised it early.
Get your Hillsborough County net sheet
Tell me the address and I will run every line above against your actual tax bill, your actual association and a current price. Or call or text me directly at (813) 733-7907. Barrett Henry, Broker Associate, REMAX Collective, license BK3313308, with 23+ years of real estate experience. You can also start with a free home valuation or read how I approach a listing on my sell your home page.
This page is general information about Florida closing costs, not legal, tax or accounting advice. Statutes, promulgated rates and county customs change. Confirm your own figures with your closing agent, your attorney and your CPA before you rely on them.
Hillsborough County seller cost questions
How much does it cost to sell a house in Hillsborough County?
On a $400,000 Hillsborough County sale the costs that are fixed by statute or by promulgated rate come to about $4,894: $2,800 in documentary stamp tax on the deed, $2,075 for the owner's title insurance policy, and $18.50 to record a two-page deed. Add a closing agent's settlement fee and a municipal lien search, usually $450 to $1,100 together, and you are at roughly $5,344 to $5,994. On top of that sit your prorated property taxes, any HOA estoppel fee, any repair credits you agree to, and whatever brokerage compensation you negotiate.
What is the documentary stamp tax on a Florida deed?
Florida Statute 201.02(1)(a) sets the deed tax at 70 cents on each $100, or portion thereof, of the total consideration. Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Polk, Manatee and every other Florida county use that rate. Miami-Dade is the single exception: Florida Statute 201.031 charges 60 cents per $100 there, plus a 45-cent surtax that does not apply to single-family dwellings. By long-standing custom in Hillsborough County the seller pays the deed stamps, but that is custom, not law, and the contract controls.
Who pays for title insurance in Hillsborough County?
In Hillsborough County the seller customarily pays for the owner's title insurance policy and generally selects the closing agent. That is a county custom, not a statute — nothing in the Florida Statutes says who must pay, and the purchase contract can assign it either way. The custom differs elsewhere in the state: Sarasota County, for example, customarily puts the owner's policy on the buyer. The premium itself is identical at every underwriter because Florida promulgates title rates by rule.
How are Florida property taxes prorated when I sell?
Florida property taxes are assessed as of January 1 and cover that calendar year, but they are paid in arrears — the bill does not go out until on or about November 1. So at closing the seller is debited for January 1 through the day before closing and the buyer takes it from there. If you close before the current bill exists, the closing agent estimates from the prior year's bill, and Standard K of the FAR/BAR AS IS contract lets either party demand a re-proration once the real bill arrives. Florida Statute 197.162 also gives a 4 percent discount for paying in November, so ask your closing agent whether your estimate used the gross or the discounted figure.
Can an HOA charge me whatever it wants for an estoppel letter?
No. Florida Statute 720.30851(6) caps the preparation and delivery fee for a homeowners association estoppel certificate at $250 when nothing is delinquent, with up to $100 more for expedited delivery within three business days and up to $150 more if the account is delinquent. The statute directs the Department of Business and Professional Regulation to adjust those caps for inflation every five years and publish the current figures, so budget a little above the statutory base. The association has 10 business days to deliver the certificate, and it stays valid for 30 days when delivered by hand or email.
Sources
Every number and rule on this page traces to one of the following, checked October 2026. Statutes and lender guidelines change, so verify against the current version before you rely on it.
Florida Statute 201.02(1)(a) and 201.031 — Documentary Stamp Tax
The 70 cents per $100 deed rate used in every table on this page, and the Miami-Dade exception.
Florida Administrative Code R. 69O-186.003 — Title Insurance Rates
The promulgated owner's policy premium brackets ($5.75 per thousand to $100,000, then $5.00 per thousand), the $100 minimum premium, and the $25 minimum simultaneous-issue lender's policy charge.
Florida Statute 28.24(13) — Clerk's Recording Charges
The $10.00 first page and $8.50 each additional page recording charge for the deed.
Florida Statute 720.30851 — HOA Estoppel Certificates
The $250 base fee cap, the $100 expedited and $150 delinquent additions, the 10-business-day delivery deadline, the 30/35 day validity window, and the five-year CPI adjustment published by DBPR.
Florida Statute 197.162 — Discounts for Early Payment of Taxes
The 4 percent November, 3 percent December, 2 percent January and 1 percent February discount schedule referenced in the proration section.
Stellar MLS closed sales via the Bridge API, twelve months ending October 2026
The Brandon ($390,000) and Valrico ($427,000) single-family medians that set the $400,000 worked example. Rentals excluded.