How Much Will You Net Selling Your Home in Key West?

How much do Key West home sellers actually take home after closing?

Selling a home in Key West typically costs 8–10% of the sale price in combined fees — including realtor commission (~5.57%), Florida documentary stamp tax ($0.70 per $100 of sale price paid by the seller in Monroe County), title insurance, attorney settlement fees, and prorated property taxes. On a $1.5M sale, that's roughly $104,000–$150,000 in costs before your mortgage payoff. Your exact number depends on your specific property, flood zone, insurance situation, and any transient rental license value — which is why every Key West seller needs a personalized Seller's Net Sheet before they list.

By Jimmy Lane | May 20, 2026

Every Key West seller asks the same question before they decide to list: What will I actually walk away with?

It's a fair question — and a complicated one. The Zestimate tells you what your home might sell for. But it doesn't tell you what you'll keep after commissions, transfer taxes, title fees, attorney costs, and the taxes your closing statement will prorate to the day.

Here in the Florida Keys, there are also a few variables that don't exist anywhere else — flood zone designations, assumable insurance policies, and transient rental licenses that can add hundreds of thousands of dollars to your sale price. Getting your net right means accounting for all of it.

Here's a complete breakdown of what it costs to sell a home in Key West, and how to estimate what you'll actually take home.

What Goes Into a Seller's Net Sheet

The Seller's Net Sheet is the document that puts a real number on your proceeds. Every reputable real estate agent in Florida will prepare one for you before you sign a listing agreement. If they don't offer it, ask for it.

The net sheet starts with your expected sale price and subtracts every seller-side cost — commissions, taxes, title fees, prorations, and your remaining mortgage balance. What's left is your net.

Here's what goes into it for a Key West property.

Realtor Commission

Commission is typically the largest single cost for sellers. In Florida, the average total commission runs around 5.57% of the sale price — roughly 2.75% to the listing agent and 2.82% to the buyer's agent.

On a $1.5M home, that's $83,550. On a $2M sale, $111,400. It's negotiable, and some sellers in the luxury market successfully negotiate slightly lower rates — but this depends on your property, your agent, and market conditions.

Florida Documentary Stamp Tax

This is the one that catches mainland sellers off guard. Florida charges a documentary stamp tax on every real estate deed — and in Monroe County (along with every other Florida county except Miami-Dade), it's $0.70 per $100 of the sale price. The seller pays it.

The math is straightforward:

• $1,000,000 sale → $7,000 in doc stamps
• $1,500,000 sale → $10,500
• $2,000,000 sale → $14,000
• $3,000,000 sale → $21,000

It's a meaningful number at Key West prices. And it's non-negotiable — it's a state tax, not a fee you can shop around.

Title Insurance and Closing Fees

In most Monroe County transactions, the buyer pays for the owner's title insurance policy — which is one of the few costs that, by custom, doesn't fall on the seller here. However, sellers still pay the attorney settlement fee, title search, and recording costs.

Expect $1,500–$2,500 in combined title and closing fees on the seller side, depending on the complexity of the transaction and which closing attorney handles it.

Here in Key West, closings are handled by a real estate attorney who also holds escrow — a different setup than you might be used to from other states, but it's how transactions work in the Keys and throughout Florida.

Property Tax Proration

Florida property taxes are paid in arrears, which means at closing you'll owe the buyer a credit for taxes that have accrued from January 1 through your closing date. If your Monroe County property taxes are $15,000 per year and you close on June 1, you'll owe about $6,200 in prorated taxes.

Non-homesteaded properties — vacation homes and investment properties — tend to have higher tax bills, since they don't benefit from the homestead exemption or the Save Our Homes cap that limits assessment increases for primary residences.

A Sample Net Sheet for a $1.5M Key West Home

Let's make it concrete. Here's how the numbers stack up on a $1,500,000 sale with no mortgage:

Item	Amount
Sale Price	$1,500,000
Realtor Commission (5.57%)	−$83,550
Documentary Stamp Tax (0.70%)	−$10,500
Attorney / Title Fees	−$2,200
Property Tax Proration (mid-year, $15k/yr)	−$7,500
Recording Fees	−$250
Estimated Net (before mortgage payoff)	≈ $1,396,000

If you have a mortgage balance, subtract that, too. And if your buyer negotiates seller concessions — closing cost credits, repair credits, a furniture package — those reduce your net further.

Your actual number will differ. Every property in Key West is different, and a Seller's Net Sheet from a local agent who knows this market will be far more accurate than any online calculator.

The Key West Variables That Change Your Net

This is where selling in the Florida Keys gets interesting — and where sellers can either lose money by not understanding these factors, or gain leverage by using them strategically.

Your Assumable Flood Insurance Policy

Insurance costs in Key West are no longer a quiet footnote. In late 2025, local news reported that soaring flood, wind, and property insurance costs were pushing buyers out of the Key West market — with total annual insurance bills of $10,000 to $20,000+ per year making it harder for financed buyers to qualify.

If you have a FEMA flood insurance policy with a low grandfathered rate, that policy is assumable by the buyer — meaning they take it over at your rate instead of applying for a new policy. New NFIP policies in the Florida Keys regularly run $3,000–$5,000 or more per year. An older policy at $900–$1,200 is worth real money to a buyer, and you can use it as a negotiating tool.

This is a detail most online net sheet calculators won't address. It's one of the reasons I walk through the full picture with every seller before we list.

Transient Rental License

If your property has a City of Key West transient rental license, you're sitting on a significant asset that gets included in your sale. The city stopped issuing new licenses years ago, so the existing ones trade on the secondary market for $350,000 to $500,000 — and that value is reflected in your home's sale price.

Properties with a transient license can be rented by the night, giving buyers the option to generate substantial vacation rental income. Properties without one are limited to minimum 28-day rentals. The difference in buyer demand — and sale price — is substantial. If your home has a transient license, that belongs prominently in your marketing, and it should be factored into how you and your agent price the property.

Flood Zone Designation

All of Key West sits within FEMA coastal flood zones — but not all designations are equal. VE zones carry the highest risk and the highest insurance costs, with strict building standards that affect renovation budgets. AE zones are the most common, and premiums can vary widely depending on your home's elevation relative to base flood elevation (BFE). X zones carry lower risk and lower insurance requirements.

Your flood zone designation affects your buyer pool. Buyers financing their purchase must carry flood insurance in designated high-risk zones. Two homes on the same street in Old Town or Casa Marina can have meaningfully different carrying costs based on their flood zone and elevation — which affects what buyers are willing to pay.

Days on Market and Carrying Costs

In 2026, Key West homes are taking an average of 96–102 days to sell, and final sale prices are running about 6% below list price on average. That's not a disaster — it's a rebalancing after years of pandemic-era frenzy. But it does mean sellers need to price realistically from the start.

Every month your home sits on the market, you're paying mortgage interest, insurance, property taxes, utilities, and HOA fees if applicable. Those carrying costs erode your net, which is why getting the price right the first time matters more today than it did two or three years ago.

Why the Zestimate Isn't Your Net Sheet

Online valuations don't know your flood zone. They don't account for documentary stamp tax or attorney fees. They don't know whether your flood insurance policy is assumable. They don't know that your home has a transient rental license worth $400,000.

They give you a starting number — and sometimes a useful one — but they are not a Seller's Net Sheet. The gap between what Zillow shows and what you actually walk away with can be $100,000 or more at Key West prices.

The only way to know your real number is to sit down with someone who knows this market, runs these calculations regularly, and can factor in the specific features of your property. Your specific number depends on your home's flood zone, elevation, insurance history, and any unique assets like a transient license — that's where a local market analysis comes in.

That's a conversation I have with sellers every week. It takes about 20 minutes and it answers the most important financial question in any home sale: what will you actually keep?

Frequently Asked Questions

Who pays closing costs in Monroe County, Florida — the buyer or the seller?

Both parties pay closing costs, but different items. Sellers in Monroe County typically pay the realtor commissions, Florida documentary stamp tax on the deed ($0.70 per $100 of sale price), their share of the attorney/settlement fees, and the prorated property tax credit. Buyers typically pay for the owner's title insurance policy, lender fees, and their own attorney costs. The exact split is negotiable and outlined in the purchase contract, but Monroe County custom generally follows this pattern.

What is the Florida documentary stamp tax and how much will it cost me?

The documentary stamp tax is Florida's transfer tax on real estate deeds. In Monroe County — along with most Florida counties outside Miami-Dade — it's charged at $0.70 per $100 of the sale price, and the seller pays it at closing. On a $1.5M home sale, that's $10,500. On a $2M sale, it's $14,000. It's calculated on the full sale price and is non-negotiable — it goes to the state of Florida.

Can I assume the seller's flood insurance policy in Key West?

Yes — FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policies are the one type of insurance that can be assumed by a buyer. In the Florida Keys, where new flood policies can run $3,000–$5,000 or more annually, a seller with an existing lower-rate policy has a meaningful selling advantage. Buyers should ask about flood insurance policy status early, and sellers should understand that their existing policy can be a marketing asset.

How does a transient rental license affect the sale price of a Key West home?

The City of Key West stopped issuing new transient rental licenses years ago, which means homes that have one are permitted to rent by the night — and that license trades on the secondary market for $350,000 to $500,000. Homes with a transient license command a substantial premium over comparable unlicensed properties because of the short-term rental income potential. If your home has a transient license, it should be prominently featured in your listing and factored into your pricing strategy.

What is a Seller's Net Sheet and how do I get one?

A Seller's Net Sheet is a document prepared by your real estate agent that estimates how much money you'll walk away with after all selling costs are deducted — commissions, taxes, title fees, prorations, and your mortgage payoff. Any licensed Florida real estate agent should provide one before you sign a listing agreement. In Key West, where there are several unique cost factors (documentary stamp tax, flood insurance considerations, transient license value), a locally prepared net sheet is more accurate than any generic online calculator.

If you're thinking through the numbers for your own property, I'm happy to walk you through them. I've been helping Key West and Florida Keys sellers calculate their net proceeds for over 25 years — and I can usually get you a solid estimate in one conversation.

Reach out anytime at jimmylane@islandlifere.com or through islandlifere.com.

About Jimmy Lane
Jimmy Lane is a licensed Florida Real Estate broker serving Key West and the Florida Keys. Jimmy has been a full time broker for over 25 years and sold thousands of Florida Keys properties.