To sell land in Florida, you need to confirm clear title, give the buyer every disclosure the law requires for your particular parcel, sign a vacant land contract, deliver a deed executed before two witnesses and a notary, and budget for the state’s documentary stamp tax of $0.70 per $100 of the sale price along with federal capital gains on any profit. Vacant land skips the appliance and roof questions that come with a house, but it brings its own set of statutory notices, environmental questions, and access issues that can sink a deal if you discover them late.
Pull Your Documents Before You List
Every land closing needs the same core paperwork, and gathering it early keeps the transaction from stalling.
Start with the legal description from your current deed. Florida parcels use either a lot-and-block description (common in platted subdivisions) or a metes-and-bounds description (common for rural acreage). Whatever appears in your contract has to match the official records exactly, because small discrepancies create title problems.
Pull the existing deed itself to confirm how title is vested. If more than one owner is on it, every owner has to sign the transfer documents. Get current property tax records from the county property appraiser’s office showing taxes are paid through the current year; anything outstanding becomes a lien that must be cleared at closing.
Check your zoning designation with the county planning department. Zoning controls what the buyer can do with the land, and the setback and density rules vary by zone. A zoning verification letter answers the first question most buyers ask.
A boundary survey by a licensed Florida surveyor is often necessary to confirm acreage and flag encroachments or discrepancies between the legal description and the physical boundaries. Survey costs generally run from several hundred to a couple thousand dollars depending on parcel size, vegetation, and whether corner markers are already in place. Sellers who skip this step often pay for it later when a title company flags a boundary issue days before closing.
Disclosures You Owe the Buyer
Florida’s baseline disclosure duty comes from the 1985 Florida Supreme Court decision in Johnson v. Davis. When a seller knows facts that materially affect the property’s value and those facts aren’t readily observable, the seller must disclose them. The court said this duty applies to “all forms of real property, new and used,” which covers vacant land.1Justia. Johnson v. Davis For raw land, that means telling the buyer about drainage problems, contamination history, boundary disputes, access limitations, or anything else a walk-through wouldn’t reveal. Hiding a known defect opens you to a fraudulent concealment suit or gives the buyer grounds to unwind the deal after closing.
On top of that general duty, specific statutory disclosures attach to specific kinds of parcels.
HOA and Covenant Disclosure
If the land sits inside a mandatory homeowners’ association, you must hand the buyer a written disclosure summary before the contract is signed. The summary has to state that the buyer will be required to join the association, that restrictive covenants govern use of the property, and that regular and special assessments will apply. The statute dictates the form. If you don’t provide it before signing, the buyer can cancel the contract within three days of receiving it.2Florida Senate. Florida Code 720.401 – Prospective Purchasers Subject to Association Membership Requirement; Disclosure Required
Severed Subsurface Rights
If mineral, oil, or other subsurface rights have been severed from the surface title, you must give the buyer a separate disclosure summary before the contract is executed. The notice explains that the owner of those rights may have a perpetual right to drill, mine, or extract resources from the property.3Florida Senate. Florida Code 689.29 – Disclosure of Subsurface Rights to Prospective Purchaser
Coastal Construction Control Line
If any part of the parcel sits seaward of the coastal construction control line, you must provide a written disclosure at or before contract signing. It warns the buyer that the land may be subject to coastal erosion and to federal, state, and local coastal regulations including building restrictions, beach nourishment programs, and marine turtle protections. Unless the buyer waives it in writing, you also must provide a survey or affidavit showing exactly where the control line falls on the property before closing.4The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 161.57 – Coastal Properties Disclosure Statement
Flood History
Florida has no statewide statute requiring a flood zone disclosure. The Johnson v. Davis duty likely covers known flooding history, but the scope is uncertain. Some counties, including Leon and Miami-Dade, have passed their own mandatory flood disclosure ordinances. If your land is in a FEMA-designated flood zone, disclosing it is the safest approach even where local law doesn’t require it.
What Doesn’t Apply
Florida’s radon disclosure requirement under Section 404.056 applies to the sale of buildings.5Justia. Florida Code 404.056 – Environmental Radiation Standards and Projects If your parcel is raw land with no structures, the radon notice is not required. If a building sits on it, include the statutory notification.
Environmental and Access Issues That Scare Off Buyers
Vacant land can carry conditions that don’t appear in a title search but will come up in a serious buyer’s due diligence. Flagging them yourself is better than letting the buyer surface them mid-contract.
Gopher Tortoises
Gopher tortoises are protected under Florida law, and their burrows are common across the state. Before any clearing or construction, the owner or developer has to obtain a relocation permit from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The permit requires a mitigation contribution and adds time and cost to development. If you know your land has active burrows, telling the buyer up front helps them price the land accurately.
Wetlands
Land that contains or borders wetlands triggers permitting from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or the relevant Florida water management district before any development that fills or alters the wetland. Where impacts can’t be avoided, the developer usually buys mitigation credits, which can run into the tens of thousands of dollars. A wetland delineation report, or even approximate boundaries, gives you a stronger negotiating position.
Landlocked Parcels
If the land has no direct access to a public road, deal with it before listing. Florida recognizes two access easements for landlocked property. The common-law implied easement of necessity arises when a parcel was historically part of a larger tract and became landlocked through subdivision. The statutory easement of necessity is broader and applies when land used for residential, agricultural, or timber purposes is cut off from the nearest practicable road, regardless of ownership history.6Justia. Florida Code 704.01 – Common-Law and Statutory Easements Defined and Determined A buyer who learns about an access problem after signing will demand a price cut or walk. Nail down the access before you list.
The Contract and Due Diligence Period
Most vacant land deals in Florida use the Florida Realtors/Florida Bar Vacant Land Contract, a standardized form built for unimproved property.7Florida Realtors. Vacant Land Contract VAC-14xxx It covers the price, deposit, closing date, and a due diligence period during which the buyer can investigate zoning, soils, environmental conditions, and access.
Fill in the legal names of every party exactly as they appear on identification, and copy the legal description verbatim from the deed. A misplaced comma in a metes-and-bounds description can cloud title. The contract also allocates the title insurance premium, the survey cost, and the documentary stamp tax. These are negotiable, but Florida custom in most counties puts the documentary stamp tax and the owner’s title insurance premium on the seller.
During due diligence, the buyer orders inspections and confirms the land suits their use. Discovering a problem in this window usually lets them cancel and recover the deposit. Your goal is to have the disclosures and documentation ready before signing, so nothing new surfaces to kill the deal.
Signing and Recording the Deed
Once due diligence closes, a title company, escrow agent, or real estate attorney coordinates the closing.
Florida law requires that any deed transferring real property be signed by the seller in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.8Florida Senate. Florida Code 689.01 – How Real Estate Conveyed For the deed to be eligible for recording, the signature also has to be acknowledged before a notary or other authorized officer.9Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 695.03 – Acknowledgment and Proof Both requirements apply. A deed with witnesses but no notary is valid between the parties but won’t record, which means it gives no public notice of the ownership change.
If you can’t attend closing in person, Florida permits remote online notarization. The notary and signer connect through a secure audio-video platform, and the notary verifies identity with government-issued identification and knowledge-based authentication. The notary has to be physically in Florida during the session, but the seller can be anywhere.10The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 117.265 – Online Notarizations That option matters most to out-of-state sellers who don’t want to fly in for a signing.
After execution, the deed goes to the Clerk of Court in the county where the land sits. Recording fees start at $5.00 for the first page and $4.00 for each additional page, with surcharges and indexing fees on top.11The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 28.24 – Service Charges by Clerks of the Circuit Court Once the deed is on record, the title company or escrow agent wires the sale proceeds to you after satisfying liens, mortgages, and unpaid taxes.
What the Sale Will Cost You
The biggest line item for most sellers is the Florida documentary stamp tax, an excise tax on documents that transfer an interest in real property. The rate is $0.70 per $100 of the total sale price (or any fraction of $100) everywhere except Miami-Dade County. On a $150,000 land sale, that is $1,050. Miami-Dade charges $0.60 per $100 for single-family dwellings, but vacant land is non-single-family property, so a $0.45 per $100 surtax applies on top, bringing the effective rate to $1.05 per $100.12Florida Dept. of Revenue. Documentary Stamp Tax All parties are technically liable under the statute, but in practice the seller pays as part of standard closing custom.
Title insurance is the next big cost. In most Florida counties, the seller pays for the buyer’s owner’s title policy. The exceptions are Broward, Collier, Miami-Dade, and Sarasota counties, where the buyer customarily pays. The point is negotiable, but if the contract is silent, local custom controls. Florida title premiums are set by a rate schedule tied to the purchase price, so you can shop for service but not for a lower premium.
Florida property taxes run on a calendar year and are paid in arrears, with bills going out in November. At closing, you are responsible for taxes from January 1 through the closing date. If the current year’s bill hasn’t been issued yet, the proration usually runs off the prior year’s bill with an adjustment after the new bill arrives. The standard Florida Realtors/Florida Bar contract covers this calculation; confirm the method before you sign.
Federal Tax on the Gain
Florida has no state income tax, so nothing goes to the state on the gain. The IRS is a different story.
Vacant land held for more than a year qualifies for long-term capital gains rates, which for 2026 are 0%, 15%, or 20% depending on taxable income. Single filers pay 0% on long-term gains up to $49,450 of taxable income, 15% up to $545,500, and 20% above that. For married couples filing jointly, the 0% bracket extends to $98,900 and the 15% rate runs to $613,700.13Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Adjusted Items Land held a year or less is taxed as ordinary income at your regular federal rate. Your cost basis includes the original purchase price plus the cost of improvements like clearing, grading, and installing utilities.
If you are a foreign person selling U.S. real property, the buyer is generally required to withhold 15% of the total sale price under the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act and send it to the IRS.14Internal Revenue Service. FIRPTA Withholding The withholding is a prepayment of your U.S. tax on the gain, not an extra tax, and you can file a U.S. return to recover any excess. Plan for the withholding when you estimate net proceeds, because 15% of a land sale can sit with the IRS for months before a refund comes through.