Do You Need a New Survey to Sell a House in Florida?
4 min read · Last updated 2026-08-03 · Reviewed by Joseph Mena, CFO of Cash Flow Deals. · Reviewed by Camilo Palacio, Licensed Florida Real Estate Professional (License #3280644, REALTOR®)
No Florida law requires a survey to sell a house. Your buyer's lender or title insurer usually does, though, since a current survey removes the survey exception from a title insurance policy. Cash Flow Deals coordinates survey needs directly with Silver Door Realty's title partner, so you know upfront whether your file needs a new one. You choose between the Fast Cash Offer, where we buy your house as-is and close, and the Premium Cash Offer, where a pre-approved FHA or conventional buyer we already have, ready to go, pays more and buys directly from you.
| Factor | Traditional Listing | Cash Flow Deals |
|---|---|---|
| Timeline | A new survey takes about 5 to 10 business days, and ordering it late can push back closing if the buyer's lender won't clear to close without it | Survey needs get flagged early through Silver Door Realty's title partner, so ordering doesn't become a last-minute scramble |
| Repairs | A survey can reveal an encroachment or setback issue that turns into its own repair or negotiation, separate from the inspection | You choose the Fast Cash Offer, bought as-is, or the Premium Cash Offer, where only repairs required by your buyer's lender get scoped, separately from survey issues. The number is agreed before any work starts, and it changes only if you agree. The one exception: if something structural surfaces that was not visible or disclosed before we signed — foundation issues, hidden moisture, old wiring, cast-iron drain failure — we re-cost it and bring the number back to you. You decide. You can walk away. We disclose what we know at offer time so this almost never happens. |
| Fees / Costs | A residential survey typically runs $300 to $700, and in Florida the buyer usually pays for a new one, though it can become a negotiation point | Cash Flow Deals is paid as a separate line item on the closing statement, and survey costs get handled as part of getting to closing, not folded into a percentage fee |
| Who Decides | Lender, title insurer, or either party under the FAR/BAR contract's survey provision | Silver Door Realty's title partner tells you upfront whether your specific file needs one |
Whether Florida Law Actually Requires a Survey
No Florida statute requires a survey before you can sell a house. The requirement, when it shows up, comes from three other places instead: the buyer's mortgage lender, the company issuing title insurance, or the FAR/BAR contract itself, which includes a survey provision either party can invoke as a condition of closing. A buyer who doesn't need lender approval and doesn't ask for a survey contingency can close without one. A buyer using a conventional or FHA loan almost always ends up needing one, because their lender requires it to confirm the property matches its legal description and that nothing sits outside the boundary lines or setbacks.
Why Title Insurance Companies Care About a Survey
A title insurance policy without a current survey usually includes what's called a survey exception, a carve-out that excludes coverage for boundary disputes, encroachments, and undisclosed easements. That means if a fence turns out to sit on the neighbor's property, or a shed built years ago encroaches on a utility easement, the buyer's title policy won't cover the resulting dispute. A current survey lets the title company remove that exception and issue broader coverage instead. For a seller, that matters because a buyer's attorney or lender frequently pushes back on a policy that still carries a survey exception, which can stall a closing that's otherwise ready to happen.
Cash Flow Deals' Process for Handling the Survey Question
Cash Flow Deals' Process: 1. Request your net-price walkthrough with Cash Flow Deals before anyone talks about ordering a survey. You choose between the Fast Cash Offer, where we buy your house as-is and close, and the Premium Cash Offer, where a pre-approved FHA or conventional buyer we already have, ready to go, pays more and buys directly from you. 2. With the Premium Cash Offer, Cash Flow Deals connects your property with that buyer, and Silver Door Realty's title partner checks whether an existing survey on file is recent enough to use or whether the lender requires a new one. Your home may be listed through Silver Door Realty, a licensed Florida brokerage, with a licensed agent and scheduled showings. 3. If a new survey is needed, it gets ordered early in the file instead of surfacing as a surprise days before closing. 4. Anything the survey finds, like an old fence a few feet off the recorded line, gets flagged and worked through the title partner rather than disrupting the closing date. 5. On the Premium Cash Offer, title transfers once, directly from you to the buyer, with any survey issue already resolved. Cash Flow Deals is a Florida real estate investor working with its licensed Florida brokerage partner, Silver Door Realty. We cover repair costs, and we figure out a way, so nothing comes out of your pocket. On Premium, only what the buyer's lender requires gets fixed, with costs covered upfront and settled from the sale proceeds, from our share. On Fast Cash, we buy as-is, with no repairs for you to make. For either offer, the number is agreed before any work starts, and it changes only if you agree. The one exception: if something structural surfaces that was not visible or disclosed before we signed — foundation issues, hidden moisture, old wiring, cast-iron drain failure — we re-cost it and bring the number back to you. You decide. You can walk away. We disclose what we know at offer time so this almost never happens. If the Premium Cash Offer buyer's loan falls through, that is our problem, not yours, and you can still take the Fast Cash Offer at its own number.
When You Can Probably Skip a New Survey
A condo sale usually doesn't need a boundary survey at all, since a condo unit's boundaries come from the recorded plat and the condominium documents, not from a physical line on the ground. A seller with a survey from the last few years, and no additions, fences, or structures built since, can sometimes hand that existing survey to the title company instead of paying for a new one, as long as the title company and lender both agree it's current enough. Every file is different, and the decision ultimately sits with whoever is underwriting the buyer's loan and title policy, not with the seller.
What a Survey Actually Shows You, Beyond the Boundary Line
A survey does more than mark where your property ends and the neighbor's begins. It shows every structure on the lot measured against the recorded setback lines, which matters if a shed, pool, or addition was built without checking those lines first. It shows easements physically, not just as a paragraph in the deed, so you can see exactly where a utility company or a shared driveway has the right to cross your land. It shows encroachments in either direction: something of yours sitting on someone else's land, or something of a neighbor's sitting on yours. Any one of those findings can turn into a conversation before closing, and it's better to have that conversation early than to have a buyer's attorney raise it the week of closing.
Common questions
Is a survey legally required to sell a house in Florida?
No. There's no Florida statute requiring a survey to sell a house. Lenders, title insurers, and the FAR/BAR contract's survey provision are what typically create the requirement in practice.
Who pays for a new survey in a Florida home sale?
In Florida, the buyer typically pays for a new survey as part of their closing costs, though it can become a negotiation point between buyer and seller depending on the contract.
How much does a survey cost in Florida?
A typical residential boundary survey costs $300 to $700 and takes about 5 to 10 business days, though cost and timeline vary by lot size, terrain, and how recently the property was last surveyed.
Do condos need a survey to sell in Florida?
Usually not. A condo unit's boundaries come from the recorded plat and condominium documents rather than a physical survey of the land, so most condo sales skip this step entirely.