Who pays for the owner’s policy in Wakulla County?
The buyer customarily pays for the owner’s title policy in Wakulla County.
Owner’s policy The title policy that protects the buyer, issued for the full insurable value of the property, in a sale ordinarily the price. More in the glossary: Owner’s policy
Custom is not law. The purchase contract decides it, and in a negotiated deal either side can end up paying. Read the contract before assuming which line it falls on.
How the custom runs in the other counties is on who pays for title insurance in Florida.
What does title insurance cost in Wakulla County?
The same as anywhere in Florida — the premium is promulgated.
Premium The price of a title insurance policy. In Florida it is set by rule, applies throughout the state, and no one may knowingly quote, charge or collect a different one; it runs per $1,000 of coverage, in bands. More in the glossary: Premium
- Owner’s policy, $500,000
- $2,575
- Original rate, R. 69O-186.003(1)(a)
- At the reissue rate
- $1,530
- Where the prior title was insured and conditions are met
- Lender’s policy alongside
- $125
- Our charge; the rule’s minimum is $25
The Office of Insurance Regulation sets the premium by rule under Fla. Stat. § 627.782, and an owner’s policy is written for the full insurable value of the property. The Florida title insurance rates, both schedules, are printed in full on the calculator; what each side pays is on the buyer closing costs and seller closing costs pages.
More detail on what title insurance costs
The reissue rate applies where the owner’s or the seller’s own title was insured and the rule’s conditions are met. The rule sets $25 as the least a lender’s policy issued at the same time can be. That $25 is a minimum, not a price: Bayit Title charges $125 to issue the policy alongside the owner’s, and that is the figure the estimate prints. Where the loan is larger than the owner’s amount, the coverage above it adds the difference between the original rate at the loan amount and at the owner’s amount.
Read from Fla. Admin. Code R. 69O-186.003 on September 14, 2026. The rule was last amended January 27, 2002. Tell us if a figure here does not match what you are quoted and we will check it against the rule again.
Documentary stamp tax on a Wakulla County sale
The deed is taxed by the state, not by the county.
Documentary stamp tax Florida’s tax on documents, paid at the closing. More in the glossary: Documentary stamp tax
The deed rate here is the rate in 66 of the 67 counties — Miami-Dade is the exception. The stamps are charged on each part of $100, so they round up. Which side pays is decided by the contract, not the statute.
A cash closing carries neither mortgage tax. The Florida doc stamp tax calculator works it out for a specific price and loan.
More detail on documentary stamp tax
Deed stamps. 70¢ per $100 of consideration, or part of $100. Charged on each part of $100, so the figure rounds up, not down.
Mortgage stamps. 35¢ per $100 of the amount secured, or part of $100. The $2,450 cap in § 201.08(1)(a) is on the tax on a note or other written obligation to pay money. There is no cap on the tax on a mortgage recorded against Florida property.
Intangible tax. 2 mills on each dollar secured — $2 per $1,000. One time, on the obligation the mortgage secures.
Each figure was read from the statute that sets it on September 14, 2026 and is linked to its section. Which county ch. 83-220 describes comes from the Department of Revenue’s documentary stamp tax guidance. Rates change by act of the Legislature — if one of these no longer matches what you are being charged, tell us and we will correct it.
Recording in Wakulla County
Deeds and mortgages record with the Wakulla County Clerk of Circuit Court & Comptroller.
Recording Entering a document in the county’s official records, which makes it notice to everyone. More in the glossary: Recording
- First page
- $10.00
- Then $8.50 a page
- A 3-page deed
- $27
- Same at every office
- A 25-page mortgage
- $214
- Same at every office
Set by statute and charged by the page — Fla. Stat. § 28.24(13) — so a Wakulla County deed and a Levy County deed of the same length record for the same money.
More detail on recording
Recording, first page: $10.00. $5.00 service charge, plus $1.00 to the Public Records Modernization Trust Fund, plus $4.00. Fla. Stat. § 28.24(13)(a), (d)1., (e)
Recording, each page after the first: $8.50. $4.00 service charge, plus 50¢ to the trust fund, plus $4.00. Fla. Stat. § 28.24(13)(b), (d)2., (e)
Indexing, per name over four: $1.00. Reached by a deed with several grantors, or by a mortgage naming a trust. Fla. Stat. § 28.24(13)(c)
The office’s own fee schedule covers the other things it does — certified copies, searches, its own e-recording arrangements — and a third-party e-recording vendor may add a fee of its own, which is not the office’s charge and not this.
Read from the statute on September 14, 2026. If a charge here no longer matches what you are being charged, tell us and we will correct it.
How Wakulla County records, in its offices’ own words
What the office that records deeds and mortgages says about how it works.
- Witnesses
- The Clerk rejects a document without witness addresses if it was notarized on or after January 1, 2024, and returns it with a rejection form. A document notarized before that date is recorded without the witnesses’ addresses. Source: Witnesses
- Where to record
- The Official Records Department is in Room 121 of the Wakulla County Courthouse in Crawfordville. The Clerk suggests bringing a time-sensitive document to the courthouse in person or using an e-recording vendor. Source: Where to record
- Fraud alert
- The Clerk’s Recording Activity Notification Service sends free alerts when a document is recorded using a subscriber’s name or business name. The Clerk notes that it cannot remove a document from the Official Record without a court order. Source: Fraud alert
- Foreclosure sales
- Foreclosure sales are held in person in the first-floor courthouse lobby at 11:00 A.M. Bidders register with the Clerk in Room 136 by 10:30 a.m. on the day of the sale, and the balance is due by 4:00 p.m. EST the following day. Source: Foreclosure sales
Each line restates what the page linked beside it said when it was read, on October 7, 2026: a page of one of the county’s own offices, or one it links to. Offices change these pages without notice; on a file where one of them matters, ask us and we will check it again.
All Wakulla topicsNext Liens and charges that stay with the property
County liens, utility charges and assessments in Wakulla County
What the county’s offices and its code say about charges and liens a buyer can inherit.
- Lien reductions for buyers
- A new owner who fixes a code violation soon after buying can ask the County to reduce the lien once the property complies, for a $25 fee. The Board won’t go below the County’s costs plus 20 percent. Source: Lien reductions for buyers
- Reduced lien deadline
- An approved reduction holds for 60 days. If the reduced amount isn’t paid by then, the full lien is owed again. Source: Reduced lien deadline
- Sewer liens
- Unpaid County sewer bills are a lien that ranks with taxes. On an owner’s account a lien is recorded once the bill is 60 to 90 days late, but none is recorded when the account is a renter’s. Source: Sewer liens
- Landlords and sewer accounts
- A landlord stays responsible for sewer service until the tenant opens an account. An outgoing customer must give the County written notice at least three days before the change. Source: Landlords and sewer accounts
- Mandatory sewer hookup
- Once County sewer is available, an owner has 365 days from notice to connect, or 90 days if the septic system needs repair. If the owner won’t, the County can connect it and lien the land for the cost at the rank of taxes. Source: Mandatory sewer hookup
- New-construction assessments
- A building permit can carry an interim service assessment for the rest of the fiscal year. It is a lien from the day the permit issues, and it stays owed even if the permit went out unpaid. Source: New-construction assessments
Each line restates what the page linked beside it said when it was read, on October 16, 2026: a page of one of the county’s own offices, or the county’s code. Offices change these pages without notice; on a file where one of them matters, ask us and we will check it again.
Law particular to Wakulla County
What the county’s charter, its code or a Florida law sets for Wakulla in particular.
- A charter county
- Wakulla’s home rule charter leaves the Property Appraiser, Tax Collector and Clerk as elected officers with their duties unchanged. The Clerk remains the county recorder. Source: A charter county
Each line restates what the page linked beside it said when it was read, on October 16, 2026: the county’s charter or code, a page of the county government, or the Florida Constitution. Offices change these pages without notice; on a file where one of them matters, ask us and we will check it again.
Foreclosure and tax deed sales in Wakulla County
How the county’s offices run the sales, as they describe them.
- Airport noise warning
- Land in the Wakulla County Airport noise zone can’t be sold or leased until the buyer or tenant gets the County’s written noise warning. Source: Airport noise warning
Each line restates what the page linked beside it said when it was read, on October 16, 2026: a page of the office that runs the sale, or one it links to. Offices change these pages without notice; on a file where one of them matters, ask us and we will check it again.
How Bayit Title handles a Wakulla County file
Opened by the same four people who close it.
We order the search, examine what comes back, and put anything that could hold up the closing in writing — with what it would take to clear it — rather than waiting for it to surface at the table.
Wherever the signer is
We send a notary to the signer, including outside office hours.
About mobile notary signings →Remote online
Signed online with a Florida-commissioned online notary.
How remote online notarization works →
Each kind of file has a page of its own: home purchases and sales, refinances and commercial title. Everything we handle is on title, escrow and closing services in Florida.