In Florida the conveyance of a property is undertaken by what are called locally a Title Company, these Title companies are licensed by the state to undertake the legal process which means that you will not require the services of a solicitor.
The conveyancing transaction is referred to locally as closing and will usually take about 6 to 8 weeks to complete. In the event that anything should go wrong with the closing process, the title company can be held liable. You should allow around 4% of the property purchase price for fees and taxes, this can be halved to 2% if you buy without a mortgage as stamp duty is levied on the outstanding mortgage amount and not the purchase price.
For UK residents and most non residents repayment mortgages over 30 years are available up to 75% of the valuation typically at an interest rate of approximately 7.2% subject to status. Any rental income you may expect is not normally taken into consideration.
Depending on the county within Florida in which it is located, If you decide to rent out your property, a tax of either 10 or 11% is levied on all rental income, which must be collected from the tenant and paid to the State. 15% Capital Gains Tax is paid on the profit from a property sale. If you are a UK resident for tax purposes you will be liable to pay CGT in the UK too at the rate at which you pay income tax. A double taxation treaty between the UK and US means you will not pay CGT twice i.e. in both countries.
Florida Property For Sale Mortgages for buying property in Florida
