How does transactional funding work in Florida?

On the closing day the funder wires the A to B purchase price into the closing agent’s trust account, usually once the end buyer’s money is already there. Florida title rules let the agent pay out only collected funds, so the seller is paid and the deed to you records first. Then the B to C leg closes, the funder is repaid its principal and fee out of the end buyer’s money, and what remains, after your costs, is your spread, typically within hours.

Is double closing legal in Florida?

Generally, yes. No Florida statute prohibits buying a property and reselling it the same day, and a double close is two ordinary sales, each with its own deed and its own documentary stamp tax. It can become illegal in how it is done: advertising a property you do not yet own can be unlicensed brokerage under Chapter 475, and hiding facts from the end buyer’s lender can be mortgage fraud, so have a Florida real estate attorney review the structure.

How much does transactional funding cost in Florida?

The funding fee is commonly quoted in the market at about 1% to 2.5% of the amount funded, charged once and settled out of the B to C proceeds. A Florida double close also carries two sets of closing and title charges and documentary stamp tax on two deeds, so price the spread against all of it, not the fee alone.

Will a Florida seller accept a transactional funding proof of funds letter?

Often, when the letter names the property, the price and the exact buyer on the offer, is recent, and checks out by a call to the lender at an independently found number. Some sellers, including some sellers of bank-owned homes, require a bank statement instead, and no lender letter satisfies that.

Is Florida a wet or dry funding state?

Florida is a wet funding state: loan funds are disbursed at closing rather than days later. Its title rules also bar a title agent from disbursing anything but collected funds, with listed exceptions, so each leg’s money has to be in the agent’s trust account before that leg pays out.

Who pays documentary stamps on a Florida double close?

Each deed is taxed, at 70 cents per $100 of price, or 60 cents in Miami-Dade plus a 45 cent surtax on property other than a single-family residence. Standard Florida contracts put the deed tax on the seller, so on the B to C deed that is usually you, though every party to a deed is liable to the state.

Are title insurance rates the same at every Florida title company?

The premium is, because Florida sets it by rule statewide; closing and search charges are separate and vary. In a double close, the end buyer’s owner’s policy can qualify for the lower reissue rate if you bought an owner’s policy on the A to B leg.

How long does a Florida HOA or condo estoppel certificate take?

The association has 10 business days from the request, or 3 business days if you pay the expedited fee. The certificate is effective for 30 days if delivered by hand or email and 35 days if mailed, so time the request to cover your closing day.

Transactional Funding in Florida: Same Day Double Closes

How a double close runs in Florida

A Florida double close is two sales on one day, ideally with one closing agent: the seller deeds the property to you, and you deed it to the end buyer. Each deed must be signed before two subscribing witnesses under section 689.01 of the Florida Statutes, each is recorded, and each owes documentary stamp tax.

The closing agent holds every party’s money in a trust account, and section 626.8473 allows those funds to be used only under the instructions on which they were accepted. The end buyer’s money arrives to buy the property from you. Using it to fund your purchase takes the end buyer’s agreement and a closing agent willing to do it; without both, the A to B leg needs its own money. That is the gap transactional funding fills.

The end buyer’s funds, or their lender’s, reach the closing agent’s trust account and are collected.
The funder wires the A to B price to the closing agent against its written closing instructions.
A to B disburses: the seller’s mortgage and the seller are paid, and the seller’s deed to you records first.
B to C disburses: your deed to the end buyer records second, the funder is repaid its principal and fee, and your spread is wired to you.

Who uses transactional funding in Florida

Transactional funding is for an investor with a property under contract and an end buyer ready to close, who needs to take title for a few hours rather than assign the contract. In Florida that is usually a wholesaler, and the reasons to double close instead are practical. On the standard Florida Realtors and Florida Bar AS IS contract, a buyer may not assign unless a box allowing it is checked; HUD and Fannie Mae sell their homes on contracts that cannot be assigned without the seller’s written consent; and on an assignment the end buyer sees your fee on the closing statement.

The end buyer’s financing decides it too. Some lenders will not accept an assigned contract, and an FHA-insured buyer cannot close the B to C leg of a double close at all, because a home resold 90 or fewer days after the seller acquired it is not eligible for FHA insurance. Double closing vs assignment of contract sets the two routes side by side, the FHA 90 day flip rule covers the end buyer’s loan, and is wholesaling legal in Florida covers the licensing line a Florida wholesaler has to stay behind.

On the day, the order of money and recording is fixed, because you cannot sell what you do not yet own; signatures can come earlier, and Florida allows online notarization and witnessing. How to double close a wholesale deal walks through every stage, and title companies that do double closings covers finding a closing agent who will run both legs.

Florida is a wet funding state

A wet funding state is one where loan funds are disbursed at closing, the day the documents are signed; in a dry funding state the money can follow days later. Florida is a wet funding state, and its title rules require the money to be in the account, not promised.

Under rule 69O-186.008 of the Florida Administrative Code, a title insurance agent may not disburse funds unless they are collected funds, meaning deposited, finally settled and credited to the trust account, with listed exceptions such as cashier’s checks and lender loan proceeds checks. The A to B money has to land before the seller is paid, and the end buyer’s money before the funder and you are paid.

Ask the closing agent which forms of funds they accept from each party.
Check every bank’s wire cut-off, and sign the A to B leg early enough for both legs to fund that day.

Documentary stamp tax on both deeds

Florida taxes each deed at 70 cents per $100 of consideration under section 201.02. Miami-Dade is the exception: 60 cents per $100, plus a 45 cent surtax under section 201.031 on any deed conveying something other than a single-family residence, a term that includes a condominium unit.

Florida’s standard residential contract forms put the deed tax on the seller, the usual practice according to Florida title companies, though the Department of Revenue holds every party to the document liable. Your A to B contract decides who pays on the first deed; on the B to C deed you are the seller, and customarily pay on the full resale price.

$200,000 A to B deed outside Miami-Dade: $1,400.
$240,000 B to C deed outside Miami-Dade: $1,680.
The same two deeds on a single-family home in Miami-Dade: $1,200 and $1,440.
Notes and mortgages are taxed too: 35 cents per $100 under section 201.08, plus a one-time 2 mill intangible tax under section 199.133 on debt secured by Florida property. Ask how your A to B leg is documented.

Title insurance premiums are set by the state

Florida title insurers do not compete on premium. Section 627.782 requires the premium to be adopted by rule and applied statewide, and rule 69O-186.003 sets it: $5.75 per $1,000 of coverage up to $100,000, then $5.00 per $1,000 up to $1 million. Closing services and title searches are separate charges under section 627.7711, and those vary by agent.

Two policies on one day is where the rule helps. The reissue rate applies when a prior owner’s policy insured the seller in the current transaction, the new policy is effective less than three years later, and the agent and underwriter keep copies. If you buy an owner’s policy at the A to B closing, the end buyer’s policy can take the reissue rate up to your policy amount, with any excess at original rates.

Original rate on $200,000 of coverage: $1,075 (100 × $5.75 plus 100 × $5.00).
Reissue rate on the same $200,000: $630 (100 × $3.30 plus 100 × $3.00).
A lender’s policy issued with an owner’s policy on the same land: a $25 minimum for coverage up to the owner’s policy amount.

HOA and condo estoppel certificates

An estoppel certificate is the association’s signed statement of what is owed on a unit or parcel; amounts beyond those stated are waived against anyone who relies on it in good faith. Florida makes a buyer jointly and severally liable with the previous owner for unpaid assessments, so the certificate is how the closing agent collects what is owed from the seller.

Order it when the A to B contract is signed, so its effective period covers closing day, and ask whether the closing agent will rely on one certificate for both legs or want a second, at a second fee.

Timing: 10 business days from a request by the owner, the owner’s designee or a mortgagee, under sections 718.116(8) for condominiums and 720.30851 for HOAs.
Effective period: 30 days if hand delivered or emailed, 35 days if mailed.
Fees: capped by statute and adjusted for inflation; the Department of Business and Professional Regulation currently publishes $299, plus $119 for delivery within 3 business days and up to $179 more if the account is delinquent.
No fee may be charged if the association misses the 10 business day deadline, and a payor other than the owner can recover it on written request if the sale does not close.

Association approval, first refusal and resale documents

Florida condominium and HOA documents can require board approval of a transfer, or give the association or its members a right of first refusal; the statutory estoppel form asks about both. Each leg of a double close is a transfer, so approval can be needed twice, and the declaration, not a statute, sets how long the board has.

On the B to C leg you are the seller, so the resale deliveries are yours. Make them when the end buyer signs, so no cancellation window is still open on closing day.

Approval fees: a condominium association may charge one only if its documents require approval and provide for a fee, capped at $150 per applicant under section 718.112(2)(k).
Condo resale documents: under section 718.503(2) a buyer who did not receive the declaration, bylaws, budget and other listed documents more than 7 days (excluding weekends and legal holidays) before signing can void the contract within 7 such days after signing and receipt, until closing.
HOA disclosure summary: a buyer not given the section 720.401 summary before signing can cancel within 3 days after receiving it or before closing, whichever comes first.

Municipal lien searches

A municipal lien search checks city and county records for debts and violations that may not appear in the land records a title search covers: unpaid utility charges, code enforcement fines, open or expired permits and special assessments.

Section 159.17 gives a municipality that has issued revenue bonds a lien for unpaid water, sewer or gas charges on the property served, ranking with property taxes and ahead of all other liens, and says nothing about recording it. Code enforcement fines become liens once the order is recorded under section 162.09; an open violation or expired permit may not be in the land records at all.

Standard Florida contract forms list it as a closing cost; check who pays under yours.
Order it when the A to B contract is signed. A fine found on closing day is a renegotiation you have no time for.

Who can close a Florida double close

A title insurance agent needs a license from the Department of Financial Services under section 626.8417, and a title insurance agency may act as escrow agent in the closings it insures. Attorneys in good standing with The Florida Bar, and title insurers acting through their officers, are exempt from that licensing requirement; an attorney acting as settlement agent must keep closing funds in a separate trust account.

A Florida law firm notes that some title insurers, title agents and closing agents decline simultaneous closings, so settle it before you sign either contract.

Confirm in writing that the agent will run both legs on the same day.
Ask what their underwriter requires, and connect them with your funder.

Funding the A to B leg in Florida

Entrusted Capital is a direct lender, and transactional funding is one of its direct products. It funds the A to B leg of a Florida double close the same day, for up to 100% of the A to B purchase price, priced per transaction with no credit pulled for that leg. It lends for business purposes only, never on owner-occupied property, and provides proof of funds on request against a real deal.

Entrusted Capital quotes the fee on the deal in front of it, and how much transactional funding costs sets a fee against the rest of a Florida double close: two sets of closing charges and the deed tax twice.

Both signed contracts, A to B and B to C.
The end buyer’s proof of funds, or their lender’s clear to close.
The closing agent’s written confirmation that they will run both legs.
The title commitment, any estoppel certificate, and your entity documents.

Questions we get

Double closing in Florida, answered

How does transactional funding work in Florida?: On the closing day the funder wires the A to B purchase price into the closing agent’s trust account, usually once the end buyer’s money is already there. Florida title rules let the agent pay out only collected funds, so the seller is paid and the deed to you records first. Then the B to C leg closes, the funder is repaid its principal and fee out of the end buyer’s money, and what remains, after your costs, is your spread, typically within hours.
Is double closing legal in Florida?: Generally, yes. No Florida statute prohibits buying a property and reselling it the same day, and a double close is two ordinary sales, each with its own deed and its own documentary stamp tax. It can become illegal in how it is done: advertising a property you do not yet own can be unlicensed brokerage under Chapter 475, and hiding facts from the end buyer’s lender can be mortgage fraud, so have a Florida real estate attorney review the structure.
How much does transactional funding cost in Florida?: The funding fee is commonly quoted in the market at about 1% to 2.5% of the amount funded, charged once and settled out of the B to C proceeds. A Florida double close also carries two sets of closing and title charges and documentary stamp tax on two deeds, so price the spread against all of it, not the fee alone.
Will a Florida seller accept a transactional funding proof of funds letter?: Often, when the letter names the property, the price and the exact buyer on the offer, is recent, and checks out by a call to the lender at an independently found number. Some sellers, including some sellers of bank-owned homes, require a bank statement instead, and no lender letter satisfies that.
Is Florida a wet or dry funding state?: Florida is a wet funding state: loan funds are disbursed at closing rather than days later. Its title rules also bar a title agent from disbursing anything but collected funds, with listed exceptions, so each leg’s money has to be in the agent’s trust account before that leg pays out.
Who pays documentary stamps on a Florida double close?: Each deed is taxed, at 70 cents per $100 of price, or 60 cents in Miami-Dade plus a 45 cent surtax on property other than a single-family residence. Standard Florida contracts put the deed tax on the seller, so on the B to C deed that is usually you, though every party to a deed is liable to the state.
Are title insurance rates the same at every Florida title company?: The premium is, because Florida sets it by rule statewide; closing and search charges are separate and vary. In a double close, the end buyer’s owner’s policy can qualify for the lower reissue rate if you bought an owner’s policy on the A to B leg.
How long does a Florida HOA or condo estoppel certificate take?: The association has 10 business days from the request, or 3 business days if you pay the expedited fee. The certificate is effective for 30 days if delivered by hand or email and 35 days if mailed, so time the request to cover your closing day.
Can a Florida title company use the end buyer’s money to pay the original seller?: Only with the end buyer’s agreement and a closing agent willing to do it. Florida law lets a title agency use escrow funds only under the instructions on which they were accepted, and some title insurers and agents decline simultaneous closings entirely. That is the gap transactional funding fills.

The product

How the funding itself works