Florida Real Estate Exam Math: Doc Stamps, Proration & Commission

Math questions appear on every Florida real estate exam. Most candidates lose 3-5 points to avoidable math errors. Here are the formulas you must know cold, with worked examples.

Documentary Stamp Taxes (Florida-Specific)

Florida imposes documentary stamp taxes on deeds and mortgages — a heavily tested topic unique to Florida.

Deed Documentary Stamps - Rate: $0.70 per $100 of purchase price (Broward County: $0.60) - Round the purchase price UP to the nearest $100 before calculating - Formula: (Purchase Price ÷ 100) × $0.70

Example: Home sells for $347,500 - Round up: $347,500 → use $347,500 (already ends in 00... actually $347,500 ÷ 100 = $3,475) - Doc stamps: $3,475 × $0.70 = $2,432.50

Mortgage Documentary Stamps - Rate: $0.35 per $100 of loan amount - Formula: (Loan Amount ÷ 100) × $0.35

Intangible Tax on New Mortgages - Rate: $0.002 per $1 of loan amount (or $2 per $1,000) - Formula: Loan Amount × 0.002

Full Example: $300,000 sale, $240,000 mortgage - Deed doc stamps: (300,000 ÷ 100) × 0.70 = $2,100 - Mortgage doc stamps: (240,000 ÷ 100) × 0.35 = $840 - Intangible tax: 240,000 × 0.002 = $480

Proration Calculations

Proration appears in almost every Florida exam. The exam uses a 360-day year (30 days/month) for most calculations.

Property Tax Proration Seller pays taxes from Jan 1 through closing day. If taxes are paid in arrears (typical in Florida), the seller owes a credit to the buyer.

Example: Annual taxes = $3,600. Closing date = April 15. - Daily rate: $3,600 ÷ 360 = $10/day - Days seller owned: Jan 1 – Apr 15 = 3 months × 30 = 90 days + 15 days = 105 days - Seller's share: 105 × $10 = $1,050 credit to buyer

Commission Calculations

Example: Property sells for $425,000. Listing broker charges 6%. Listing side splits 50/50 with buyer's broker. Listing salesperson earns 55% of listing side. - Total commission: $425,000 × 0.06 = $25,500 - Listing side: $25,500 ÷ 2 = $12,750 - Salesperson share: $12,750 × 0.55 = $7,012.50

Loan-to-Value (LTV) and PMI

LTV = Loan Amount ÷ Purchase Price
PMI required when LTV exceeds 80% on conventional loans

Example: $350,000 home, 10% down payment - Down payment: $35,000 | Loan: $315,000 - LTV: $315,000 ÷ $350,000 = 90% → PMI required

Net to Seller

Example: Seller wants to net $200,000 after 6% commission. What must the property sell for? - Net = Sale Price × (1 - commission rate) - $200,000 = Sale Price × 0.94 - Sale Price = $200,000 ÷ 0.94 = $212,765.96

Exam Strategy for Math Questions

Write down the formula before plugging in numbers
Doc stamps: always check if Broward County is mentioned ($0.60 rate)
Proration: confirm whether using 360-day or 365-day year (exam typically states this)
Show your work — on the Pearson VUE exam you get scratch paper

[Practice Florida math at CARealestate.com/states/florida](https://carealestate.com/states/florida)