The minimum cash you need for a $550,000 home in Miami-Dade

If you are between $500,000 and $600,000, this is the middle tier: closing rises evenly and the list of assistance barely moves.

A single-family house (a standalone home) in Miami-Dade, with both title policies issued at the same time. Taxes from the Florida Department of Revenue; title insurance per the OIR rule; recording per the county Clerk. Each one is explained in closing costs in Florida. If you add the upfront FHA premium to the loan, the two loan taxes go up a little.

Closing costs barely change between the two columns ($196.80 apart): title insurance depends on the price, not on the loan. What separates the two totals is the down payment. The deed tax is not added: the standard Florida purchase contract puts it on the seller (source). Confirm it in yours: if you pay it, the cash goes up to $28,441.30 at 3.5% and to $63,994.50 at 10%.

These are HUD's minimums (the federal housing agency) for the FHA loan, the government-backed one: 3.5% with a credit score of 580 or higher, 10% between 500 and 579 (Mortgagee Letter 2026-11). Meeting them is not an approval; the details are in FHA loan minimum requirements.

This tier does not lose a big group of programs the way the previous one did. Compared with $500,000, it loses just one: City of Miami District 5.

The next wall is the first cap of the Broward County programs ($636,806). Up to there, what changes your assistance map is not the price but the city where you buy.

Tamarac has a cap and this home meets it. Whether the city is taking applications today, and how to apply, is in the Tamarac guide.

Hialeah applications are made online, and the city can close or pause the program depending on the money it has. The Broward County program is handled through the lender: there is no online application.

• With the cap far above, they allow the home: City of Hialeah First-Time Homebuyer Program (cap $679,324), Broward County purchase assistance for Pembroke Pines (Homebuyer Purchase Assistance) (cap $636,806 or $679,324), Broward County purchase assistance for Hollywood (Homebuyer Purchase Assistance) (cap $636,806 or $679,324), Tax discount on the interest of your home loan (Mortgage Credit Certificate) (cap $679,324), Pembroke Pines First-Time Homebuyer Program (SHIP) (cap $679,324), State loan for the down payment (FL Assist) (cap $697,889) and State loan for the down payment (FL HLP) (cap $697,889).
• With the cap far below, they leave it out: City of North Miami First-Time Homebuyer, with federal funds (HOME) (cap $370,000 or $415,000), City of Miami Gardens Purchase Assistance Program (cap $382,195), City of Miami First-Time Homebuyer Program (cap $451,000 or $494,000), Miami-Dade County Homebuyer Down Payment Assistance (cap $451,000, unconfirmed), Miami-Dade County Homebuyer Loan Program (cap $451,000, unconfirmed) and City of North Miami First-Time Homebuyer, with state funds (SHIP) (cap $460,000).

“Fits” only says the price does not exceed the program's maximum; not that it is open, that you have the income it asks for, or that money is left (each program's card in Assistance and the Down Payment Assistance Tracker cover that). No assistance is added to or subtracted from the totals. Caps read between October 12 and 19, 2026 at: City of Lauderhill · City of Homestead · City of Miami, District 5 · City of Tamarac · City of North Miami · City of Miami Gardens · City of Miami · Miami-Dade County · Miami-Dade County · City of Hialeah · Broward County (HPA) · Housing Finance Authority of Broward County · City of Pembroke Pines · Florida Housing.

• Your lender's and the title company's charges: fees for opening the loan, the appraisal (when an expert says what the home is worth), the credit report, processing and title services. Each one sets its own and you will see them on the Loan Estimate, the cost sheet your lender hands you.
• Your homeowner's insurance and the deposits: the first year of insurance is prepaid, the lender sets money aside for taxes and insurance, and the home's taxes are split by days between seller and buyer.

If your loan is FHA there is one more line, outside the totals: the upfront FHA insurance premium, 1.75% of the loan, which is $9,288.13 at 3.5% and $8,662.50 at 10% (HUD, Handbook 4000.1). It is paid at closing or added to the loan; if it is added, it does not come out of your pocket that day.

• A $550,000 residential condo in Miami-Dade pays the same deed tax as the house, $0.60 per $100: Statute §201.031 treats a residential condominium unit as single-family and charges no $0.45 surtax. Calculable cash is the same as in the table above, plus the association certificate (legal cap of $299 to $597). With FHA, the building must be HUD-approved: here is how it is checked.
• The same house in Broward pays Florida's general deed tax rule, $0.70 per $100: $3,850, which under the standard contract is also paid by the seller. Calculable cash is the same as in the table above.