Guide
What documents do you need to sell a house?
You need proof of what you owe, proof of what you own, and the records behind the work that has been done to the house. In Florida that is a lender payoff figure, your association paperwork, the recorded deed and your survey, the permit history, the current tax bill, and the insurance file.
Which documents take the longest to get?
The ones another organization has to produce for you. A mortgagee or mortgage servicer has 10 days after receiving a written request to send an estoppel letter giving the unpaid balance of the loan, itemized into principal, interest, and any other charges, plus interest accruing per day after the date stated in the letter. Put the request in writing and note the date you sent it.
Association figures run on a separate clock. A homeowners association has 10 business days after a written or electronic request to issue an estoppel certificate, and a condominium association works to the same 10 business days. Either certificate is effective for 30 days when it is hand delivered or sent electronically and 35 days when it goes by regular mail.
Order of operations matters here. The association paperwork already in your own files is what you collect now. The estoppel certificate itself is ordered later, usually by the closing agent, because the effective window would run out long before a contract exists.
What does the HOA have to give a buyer?
A prospective purchaser of a parcel in a community with mandatory membership receives a disclosure summary before executing the contract. It states that membership is mandatory, that recorded covenants govern the use of the property, that assessments are owed and can change, that special assessments may be levied, and that failure to pay assessments levied by a mandatory homeowners association could result in a lien on the property.
If the summary is not provided before signing, the buyer may cancel by delivering written notice within 3 days after receiving it or before closing, whichever comes first. That right cannot be waived and it terminates at closing. Having the recorded documents on hand the day you list keeps the question from turning into a cancellation window.
Communities regulated under chapters 718, 719, 721, and 723 fall outside that section and follow their own disclosure rules, so confirm which chapter governs yours before you assume anything about the form.
Where do you find the deed, the survey, and the permits?
The clerk of the circuit court is the recorder for the county and keeps the official records, which include deeds, leases, bills of sale, mortgages, notices or claims of lien, notices of levy, and the other instruments relating to ownership, transfer, or encumbrance of real property. In Orange County the Comptroller runs that department, records and indexes the documents, and publishes a public search.
A survey is normally not recorded. The copy from your own purchase is in the closing package or with the title agency that closed it, while the recorded plat for the subdivision sits in the official records. Permits stay with the building department that issued them, which is the city when the house is inside city limits and the county when it is not.
Orange County's Fast Track searches permits by address, parcel number, or file number. Seminole County's building division searches by application number, address, parcel number, or owner name and keeps permitting documentation back to late 1984. An open permit is not a dead end: Florida law sets out who may close one, and the building department that issued it decides whether the requirements are substantially complete.
Do you ask the property appraiser or the tax collector?
Both, for different questions. The county property appraiser establishes the value of your property each year as of January 1 and reviews and applies exemptions, assessment limitations, and classifications. The county tax collector sends tax bills, collects payments, approves deferrals, and sells tax certificates on properties with delinquent taxes.
So parcel records, exemptions, and assessed value go to the appraiser, while the bill itself and its payment status go to the collector. Sending the question to the wrong office is the most common reason a seller waits a week for an answer that takes a minute.
A buyer will ask what the taxes are going to be. Florida requires a disclosure summary stating that the buyer should not rely on the seller's current property taxes as the amount of property taxes the buyer may be obligated to pay in the year after the purchase. Homestead property is assessed at just value as of January 1 of the year following a change of ownership, which is the mechanism behind that warning.
What do you sign at contract rather than before?
Before a contract exists you are gathering. At contract you are signing notices that attach to that moment. A seller completes a flood disclosure and provides it to the purchaser of residential real property at or before the time the sales contract is executed, covering flooding damage during your ownership, prior claims for flood damage, and any assistance received for flood damage.
The radon notification has to appear on at least one document, form, or application executed at or before a contract for sale and purchase. For a home built before 1978, federal rules add the EPA pamphlet, disclosure of known lead-based paint and hazards, copies of any records and reports you hold, a lead warning statement attached to the contract, and a 10-day period for the buyer to have a paint inspection or risk assessment done.
Florida does not name a seller disclosure form in statute. The obligation comes from case law: where a seller knows of facts materially affecting the value of the property which are not readily observable and are not known to the buyer, the seller has a duty to disclose them. Most sellers complete the Florida Realtors form as the customary way of putting that knowledge in writing.
From the Sell Ready Checklist
Payoff statement
Your lender can produce a current payoff figure, which is not the same as the balance on your monthly statement. Your agent needs it to estimate what you walk away with at closing.
HOA documents and dues
Find the declaration, the current rules, the dues amount, and the name of the management company. Florida sellers in an association have to give a buyer these, and tracking them down late is what delays a contract.
Survey
The survey from your own purchase shows the lot lines, the easements, and anything that sits on them. A buyer's lender may want a newer one, but yours answers fence and setback questions on day one.
Permit history for past work
Pull the permit record for the roof, the windows, the panel, the water heater, and any addition. An open or missing permit on work already done is the item most likely to surface during inspection.
Most recent tax bill
The bill shows the assessed value, the exemptions on the property, and the non-ad-valorem assessments. Buyers ask what the taxes will be, and the honest answer depends on what they are today.
Insurance policy and claim history
Keep the declarations page and any claim paperwork together. Roof age and past water or wind claims drive what a buyer can insure the house for in Florida, so the questions come early.
Repair and replacement receipts
Collect receipts and warranties for the roof, the HVAC, the water heater, the panel, and any re-pipe. A dated receipt settles an age question that would otherwise be answered by a guess.
Appliance manuals and warranties
Put the manuals, model numbers, and any transferable warranties in one folder. It takes twenty minutes now and it is one of the few things a buyer remembers after closing.
Utility accounts and typical bills
List the electric, water, sewer or septic, gas, and trash providers, plus a normal summer and winter bill. Buyers ask what it costs to run the house, and a real number is better than a shrug.
Keys, remotes, and codes
Round up house keys, mailbox keys, gate cards, garage remotes, pool and gate codes, and any smart lock or alarm code. Missing pieces turn up on the day of closing, which is the worst day to look for them.
Talk to a listing agent
Talk to a listing agent
A licensed agent who works your area will call at the time you choose.
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Related guides
Sources
- Fla. Stat. 701.04, estoppel letter from a mortgagee or mortgage servicer
- Fla. Stat. 720.30851, homeowners association estoppel certificates
- Fla. Stat. 718.116(8), condominium association estoppel certificates
- Fla. Stat. 720.401, disclosure summary before a parcel purchase contract
- Fla. Stat. 28.222, clerk of the circuit court as county recorder
- Orange County Comptroller, Official Records department and search
- Orange County Fast Track, permit search by address, parcel, or file number
- Seminole County Building Division, permit lookup and records
- Fla. Stat. 553.79, who may close a building permit
- Florida Department of Revenue, duties of the property appraiser and the tax collector
- Fla. Stat. 689.261, property tax disclosure summary
- Fla. Stat. 193.155(3), homestead assessment after a change of ownership
- Fla. Stat. 689.302, flood disclosure for residential real property
- Fla. Stat. 404.056(5), radon notification on contracts for sale
- EPA, real estate disclosure rules for lead-based paint in pre-1978 housing
- Florida Realtors, Florida real estate disclosure laws and the Johnson v. Davis duty
Last updated September 16, 2026