Buying in Central Florida, with the real numbers up front.
Principal and interest is the easy part. Insurance, the property tax reset, HOA dues and the CDD line on your tax bill are what decide whether a house actually works — and most people meet them too late.
The quick read
- The market has moved your way. Metro Orlando was at 4.4 months of supply and 64 days on market in July 2026, and 68% of local REALTORS® reported more seller concessions than a year earlier.
- But it’s split by neighborhood. Longwood sat at 2.6 months of supply while Davenport sat at 8.3 — same metro, 35 miles apart, completely different negotiating position.
- Budget the whole payment. Insurance runs roughly $3,150–$3,650 a year at $300K dwelling coverage, your taxes reset to market value when you buy, and a CDD adds $1,500–$3,000 a year in the new-build corridors.
- Homestead and portability are worth real money — and if you’re moving within Florida, failing to port your Save Our Homes differential is an expensive mistake.
- Flood is not just for flood zones. Standard policies exclude flood entirely, and every Citizens policy must carry flood insurance from 1 January 2027 regardless of zone.
- You’ll sign a buyer agreement before touring. That’s the rule now. It’s negotiable, and it should be explained to you before you sign it.
Reviewed September 2026
What owning here actually costs each month
Four line items sink more Central Florida pre-approvals than interest rates do. None of them show up on the portal’s estimated payment.
1. Homeowners insurance
For a standard owner-occupied home with about $300,000 of dwelling coverage, 2026 estimates across Central Florida counties run roughly $3,150 to $3,650 a year — Osceola at the top, Seminole and Lake at the bottom. Roof age and construction type move that number enormously; a 2004 shingle roof and a 2021 architectural roof are different insurance products.
The direction has genuinely improved. Citizens filed a statewide average rate decrease of 8.7% in January 2026, several private carriers filed decreases of 5–8%, and 17 new insurers entered the Florida market. Levels are still high, but the trend finally isn’t.
County premium figures are agency estimates at an assumed $300K dwelling coverage, published July 2026 — not filed rates. Get a real quote on a specific address before you write an offer.
2. The property tax reset
This is the one that surprises out-of-state buyers most. The seller’s tax bill is not your tax bill. When ownership changes, the assessment resets to market value — so a home whose long-time owner paid $3,400 a year can easily bill you double.
On the other side: Florida’s homestead exemption reduces taxable value by up to $50,000, and once homesteaded the Save Our Homes cap limits annual assessed-value increases to 3% or CPI, whichever is less.
If you already own in Florida, portability lets you carry up to $500,000 of accrued assessment difference to your new homestead — but you have to establish the new homestead within three years and file form DR-501T by 1 March. Missing that is a five-figure mistake.
3. HOA dues and CDD assessments
These are two different things and most new-construction communities have both. HOA dues are billed directly by a private association. A CDD assessment is a non-ad valorem line on your county property tax bill — a special-purpose local government repaying the bonds that built the neighborhood’s roads, stormwater and amenities.
In Horizon West, Lake Nona, ChampionsGate and much of Osceola and Polk, single-family CDD assessments commonly run $1,500–$3,000 a year, on top of HOA. Because it sits inside your escrowed tax bill, it hits your debt-to-income exactly like taxes do.
4. Flood — even in Zone X
Most of inland metro Orlando is Zone X, where flood insurance isn’t federally required with a mortgage. But standard homeowners policies exclude flood damage entirely, and Hurricane Ian produced what meteorologists called a 500-year flood event in parts of Orlando in September 2022 — Orlo Vista needed boat rescues.
Inland Zone X policies are comparatively inexpensive, and Orange County participates in the FEMA Community Rating System, which discounts NFIP premiums for residents.
A deadline that applies to a lot of Central Florida
Citizens Property Insurance is phasing in a flood insurance requirement for all of its policies. Inside a Special Flood Hazard Area it already applies. Outside one it has been phasing down by dwelling value — and from 1 January 2027 it applies to every Citizens policy, regardless of flood zone or dwelling amount (condo unit-owner, tenant contents and wind-excluded policies are exempt). If you’re buying a home that will be insured through Citizens, price that in now rather than meeting it at renewal.
How buying here actually goes
Eight steps. No mystery, no theatre.
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A real budget, not a pre-qualification
Full monthly carrying cost on the specific kinds of homes you’re considering — payment, insurance estimate, reset taxes, HOA, CDD. Then a genuine pre-approval with documents reviewed, because in a market with options, a credible offer still wins.
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The buyer agreement
Since August 2024, agents working through an MLS need a written agreement with you before the first tour, stating compensation in specific, objective terms. It’s negotiable — including its length — and you should understand it before you sign it, not after.
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Narrowing where, not just what
Commute, schools, flood zone, insurance profile, HOA and CDD load, short-term-rental rules if that matters, and whether the neighborhood is currently a 2.6-month market or an 8.3-month one. That last one changes your entire offer strategy.
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Touring with a filter
Roof age, HVAC age, electrical panel, window type, elevation and grading, retention adjacency, orientation. In Florida these aren’t details — they’re the insurance premium and the resale.
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The offer
Price, yes — but also concessions, repair credits, rate buydown contributions, closing date, and inspection period. Across every Central Florida county sellers are still netting roughly 97–98% of list, so the win is usually in terms rather than a lowball.
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Inspection and the real negotiation
General inspection, plus wind mitigation and four-point where the age warrants it — those two directly affect insurability and premium. Buyers are currently negotiating roofs, air conditioning, even water heaters.
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Appraisal, title and underwriting
Survey, title search, lender conditions. This is where a deal quietly dies if nobody is chasing it, so it gets chased.
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Closing — and the week after
Final walkthrough, funds, keys. Then the part most agents skip: filing your homestead exemption, and your portability if you’re moving within Florida.
Your neighborhood is not “the market”
Months of supply is the single most useful number for a buyer, because it tells you how much room you have. Under about three months favors sellers; six or more favors you. Here’s how wide the spread was across one metro in September 2026.
| Submarket | Months of supply | Days on market | What that means for you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Davenport / ChampionsGate | 8.3 | 56 | Decisively a buyer’s market. Only 11% of listings under contract. |
| Kissimmee | 6.2 | 62 | A buyer’s market. Sellers collecting about 94.9% of asking. |
| St. Cloud | 4.8 | 46 | Balanced, tilting to buyers. Room to negotiate terms. |
| Winter Park | 4.2 | 32 | Balanced, but moving quickly when priced right. |
| Windermere | 3.5 | 40 | Still seller-leaning. |
| Winter Garden | 3.6 | 39 | Seller-leaning; new construction competes hard here. |
| Clermont | 3.3 | 41 | Seller-leaning, with heavy new-build supply nearby. |
| Oviedo | 3.0 | 32 | Tight. Schools keep demand high. |
| Apopka | 3.0 | 42 | Tight — 41% of active listings already under contract. |
| Longwood | 2.6 | 28 | A seller’s market. Come prepared. |
Submarket figures compiled from licensed-MLS-fed brokerage market dashboards, dated 1–10 September 2026. These are a single brokerage’s data feed and are useful for direction rather than precision — ask for a current Stellar MLS pull on the specific area you’re targeting before you price an offer. Metro-level figures are from the Orlando Regional REALTOR® Association, July 2026.
Before you tour anything, know what it costs to own it.
Send me what you’re thinking and you’ll get back a real monthly number for the kind of home you’re describing — insurance estimate, reset taxes, HOA and CDD included — plus an honest read on whether that area currently favors you or the seller.
- Full carrying cost, not the portal’s estimate
- Which submarkets currently give you leverage
- Insurance and flood exposure before you fall in love with a house
- Homestead, Save Our Homes and portability handled properly
- Buyer agreement explained in plain English, and negotiable
Tell me what you're looking for
Price range, area, timeline — whatever you've got. No obligation and no drip campaign.
Buyer questions, answered straight
Is it a good time to buy in Central Florida right now?
For a buyer with a multi-year horizon, conditions are better than they’ve been in years. Metro Orlando reported 4.4 months of supply and 64 days on market in July 2026, 49% of active listings in the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford area carried a price reduction in late August 2026, and 68% of local REALTORS® saw more seller concessions than a year earlier.
The honest caveat: sellers are still netting 97–98% of list across every county here, and some submarkets remain genuinely tight. “Good time to buy” is a neighborhood-level question, not a metro one.
Why is my property tax bill so much higher than the seller’s?
Because a change of ownership resets the assessed value to market value. The previous owner may have held a homestead exemption and years of Save Our Homes cap protection, which limits assessed-value growth to 3% or CPI a year. All of that resets when you buy. Always budget from a reset assessment, never from the current bill — and file for your own homestead exemption once you close.
Do I have to pay my buyer’s agent out of pocket now?
Not necessarily. You and your agent agree a fee in writing before the first tour. That fee can be covered by compensation the seller offers off-MLS, by seller concessions applied to it, or by you. What changed in August 2024 is that the amount is disclosed and negotiated up front, stated in objective terms, and your agent cannot collect more than that agreed figure from any source.
Why do I have to sign something before I’ve even seen a house?
Because agents working through an MLS are now required to have a written buyer agreement before the first tour, in person or virtual. It defines scope, duration and fee. It’s negotiable — including how long it lasts and whether it covers one property or a whole search. An open-house visit doesn’t require one; touring does.
How much do I need for a down payment?
Less than most people assume. Nationally the median down payment was 10% for first-time buyers and 23% for repeat buyers in NAR’s 2025 survey. Conventional loans start at 3%, FHA at 3.5%, and VA and USDA can be zero down. Florida also runs down-payment assistance programs worth asking your lender about specifically — eligibility and funding change, so get current terms rather than relying on an article.
Should I buy new construction or resale?
Right now new construction has unusual negotiating leverage — builders are carrying completed spec inventory and offering incentives several times their historical size. Resale generally wins on mature landscaping, established neighborhoods, no CDD in older areas, and a known quantity.
The critical practical difference: with a builder you must bring your agent at the very first visit or you may lose representation entirely. That’s covered in detail here.
What inspections should I get in Florida?
A general home inspection always. Then, depending on age: a wind mitigation inspection (documents roof-to-wall attachment, roof covering and opening protection — it directly reduces your insurance premium) and a four-point inspection covering roof, electrical, plumbing and HVAC, which many insurers require on older homes. A roof that fails a four-point can make a house effectively uninsurable, so it’s worth knowing early.
Can I short-term rent a home I buy near Disney?
Only in specific places, and the rules differ by county and by community. Osceola County permits short-term rentals only in designated overlay zones clustered near Disney and the US-192 corridor. St. Cloud restricts them to hotel and motel zoning. In Polk County, much of the Davenport and ChampionsGate resort product is eligible — but within ChampionsGate itself, the Resort district and specified vacation sections allow nightly rental while Country Club, Stoneybrook and Stoneybrook South are primary-residence only.
Verify any specific address with the county and the HOA before you buy. Never rely on a listing description for this.
The best offer isn’t always the highest one.
It’s the one built on knowing what the seller actually needs and what the neighborhood will actually bear. Let’s find out which house is worth it.