I am in the process of closing on new construction in Florida. Reviewing the mortgage docs, there is a sizeable charge itemized as "Transfer tax" that I have to pay at closing.
Based on some research, it seems that the seller is responsible for this. I reviewed my contract with the builder and didn't see anything about "transfer tax" there.
How does it usually work?
Watching out of curiosity - in IL it’s usually paid by the seller, but like anything else can probably be assigned contractually to the buyer. Which sounds like a dick move.
Ken
BBI: ...”you better not forget the safe word because shit's about to get weird”...
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We just closed on our new construction 7/13. I looked at our closing statement, and we paid both recording fees (deed and mortgage) as well as State Tax/Stamps (again, deed and mortgage) under the "Taxes and Other Government Fees" section. These are four figure sums. IIRC I've paid similar for other purchases. There's nothing listed as "Transfer Tax" on our closing statement, but I'd assume this is what they are talking about, to transfer the deed and mortgage to you for the State of FL. I can ask my wife (retired FL Realtor) when I get a chance.
Congrats on the house.
Edit: This might help:
https://www.listwithclever.com/real-...n-depth-guide/
Looks like it depends on how your contract was written. You might have already agreed to pay them, for example. Closing is probably too late to renegotiate.
My purchase agreement has the following lines in it:
Any and all costs and expenses in obtaining and recording said mortgage loan shall be paid by PURCHASER.I guess the tax is part of closing costs. At least the builder is giving me enough credit that I only have to pay $1k towards taxes.PURCHASER shall be responsible for all closing costs. PURCHASER shall further pay, without limitation: i) all mortgage or financing fees and costs, if PURCHASER finances the purchase of the Property, including mortgage title insurance and surveys of the property, and any fee charged by the closing agent for acting as closing agent.
As this is new construction you are the first owner (other than the builder who presumably bought the empty lot), yes?
And the purchase agreement is that you pay the closing costs - not great but somebody has to pay them.
What happens when you sell? Does the next purchaser then pay the closing costs, and so on? Hopefully so, otherwise somebody gets stabbed with two sets of costs.
When we lived in Texas in the 1980s one of the many things I thought was great (in addition to going to the range from the office during lunch) was the way the title companies handled the sale of (residential) properties. It was very simple, routine and inexpensive compared to the shenanigans that almost always require lawyers (for both the buyer and seller) here in Ontario. I suspect most of the actual work is done by paralegals or other non-lawyer admin types, but there is a lawyer's name on the paperwork and a lawyer's fee to be paid.
Yes, lawyers have to eat, but really the title companies seemed interested in making everything work while the lawyers are more interested in finding or at least trying to find problems where there are none.
Yes. I am the first owner of a newly built home.Originally Posted by Snapshot
The agreements are different between new construction and a standard P&S. The typical "new construction"/builder purchase agreement is heavily skewed in the builder's favor. When I sell, it would be paying the tax part of the closing. If I knew enough and the market was different, one could potentially negotiate with the builder as well.
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