Home Seller FAQ
Foyer and staircase inside a house
This home seller FAQ is what Jacksonville owners ask before they pick a list price. The net sheet, who pays title, the CDD line, homestead, the time of year, and what to do if orders just dropped.
Bring the payoff. We will not invent a walk-away number. Call (904) 309-0609 and we will run the sheet against that payoff.
Table of Contents
What is a seller net sheet?
A net sheet is the price minus what comes off before you see a wire. Payoff, deed stamps, owner's title policy, commission, estoppel, prorations, and any repair credit. The working version is the seller net sheet. A second look at the math is the home sale calculator.
Deed documentary stamps, section 201.02, are $0.70 per $100, or fraction of $100, in every Florida county except Miami-Dade. A $400,000 price is $2,800 in stamps. A price of $400,050 rounds up to the next $100 and the tax is $2,800.70. That is a stamp example, not a list price for your house.
Who pays for title?
Northeast Florida custom on FAR and Florida Bar contracts: the seller pays the owner's title policy. The buyer pays the lender's title policy. The title company is a checkbox. The contract controls. Whoever you check is the company that gets the file.
Amelia Island is the local exception people ask about. Buyer-side title custom there. If you are in Duval, Clay, St. Johns, or Nassau and you are not on that island custom, do not give the checkbox away without reading it. The seller also customarily pays deed stamps, the listing commission, the HOA or condo estoppel, and the payoff.
What is a CDD, and is it the HOA?
A community development district is Florida Statutes Chapter 190. It can issue bonds for infrastructure. The debt often shows as a non-ad valorem line on the tax bill. It is not the HOA dues. A buyer will ask. You should already know the line.
eTown has a CDD. Other newer pockets do too. We will not invent the annual amount. Read the tax bill and the estoppel. If you do not have the bill, get it before the first showing, not after a buyer flags it.
What happens to homestead when I sell?
Selling does not hand your homestead to the buyer. If you owned and occupied on January 1, your exemption can already be inside this year's bill, and the closing proration uses that bill. The buyer files their own homestead for the next year if they qualify. Own and occupy on the next January 1, then file by March 1.
Portability is Form DR-501T. File it with the new county at the same time as the new homestead. The old county certifies the Save Our Homes difference. We will not invent a dollar amount that will port. One permanent residence. A wrongful claim can become a lien with a 50 percent penalty and 15 percent interest under section 196.161. The Save Our Homes cap for 2026 is 2.7 percent. That cap is about assessed value, not about your sale price.
When is a good time of year to list?
Spring is when a lot of families want to be settled before a new school year, including PCS moves into NAS Jacksonville and Mayport. That is a pattern. It is not a percent we are going to invent, and it is not a promise the price will be higher in March than in July.
Hurricane season runs June through November. Roofs and insurance get more attention then. A named storm will pause showings. The holidays are quieter. They are not a closed market. If your report date is December or January, do not wait for a mythical perfect month. List when the house is ready and the orders are real.
I have PCS orders. What do I do first?
Read the orders. Note the report date and whether you need a rent-back or a fast close. Then call (904) 309-0609. We sell the Jacksonville house. If the next duty station is outside this market, that buy is a referral, not a guess from here.
Do not pick a list price off a website before you know the payoff and the items a buyer will see. The checklist side is the PCS seller checklist, and the longer version is selling during a PCS. Orders do not replace the inspection or the appraisal.
What should I fix before I list?
Fix what is unsafe and what every showing will smell or see. A leaking water heater, a pet odor, a front door that will not latch. Cosmetic work is a judgment. In older Duval houses, a panel or a roof can decide whether a VA buyer can close, because the VA appraisal checks minimum property requirements.
Get a contractor bid before you promise a credit in a counteroffer. Matt is a Florida registered building contractor. That helps the vendor conversation. It does not skip permits, and it does not replace the buyer's inspector.
How do showings work?
Once the house is active, buyers expect to get in on short notice. Pets, cameras, valuables, and a lockbox are your plan. We will set hours you can live with. We will also tell you if those hours are why the feedback is thin.
A vacant house shows the condition and nothing else. A lived-in house can still sell. Walk it the way a stranger will, from the front door through the back yard. The photo on the flyer is not the whole house.
Which costs belong to the buyer's loan?
Buyer custom is to pay note stamps under section 201.08, at $0.35 per $100 of a new mortgage, and nonrecurring intangible tax at $2 per $1,000 of a new mortgage. The buyer also customarily pays the lender's title policy, the appraisal, and the inspections.
Those loan costs are not your bill unless the contract says you pay them. If you agree to a concession, put the number on the net sheet before you agree to the price. Call (904) 309-0609 and we will run it against the payoff you actually have.
Keep going
Call (904) 309-0609.
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