Sell Your Florida House From Out of State — Without Flying Back to Manage It

Home › Seller Situations › Out-of-State Owner · Updated October 25, 2026

Owning a house a thousand miles away is a particular kind of stress. You cannot drop by after a storm, you rely on neighbors or a property manager to tell you what is happening, and every repair turns into a chain of phone calls with contractors you have never met. Selling it from afar raises its own questions: who will let people in, how you will sign the deed, and whether the person on the other end of the phone is actually who they say they are.

This page is written for absentee owners — people who already live somewhere else and need to sell a Florida house they are not occupying. If you still live in Florida and are about to move, our relocation page covers timing a sale with a move, employer relocation packages and military orders. Here we focus on the practical side of selling from a distance: verifying the buyer, protecting yourself from fraud, how remote closings work step by step, what to do about the house in the meantime, and what foreign owners should know about tax withholding.

Libera Capital Group is a Florida cash buyer of houses and improved commercial property, with Southwest Florida as our home market and an office at 10012 Gulf Center Dr in Fort Myers. Our team speaks Spanish, Haitian Creole, French, German and Portuguese, which helps when owners or heirs live abroad.

Why Out-of-State Owners Sell to Libera Capital Group

Who Sells a Florida House From Out of State?

Absentee owners arrive at a sale from very different starting points, and the right approach depends on which one describes you.

Heirs who inherited from afar

Many out-of-state sellers never chose to own a Florida house — a parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle left it to them. The house may still hold a lifetime of belongings, the utilities may be in the deceased owner’s name, and probate may be open in a Florida county where you know no one. A cash buyer cannot replace your probate attorney, but we can buy the house with its contents once the personal representative has authority to sell. Our inherited and probate page covers the court side, and the step-by-step inherited house guide explains the sequence. If several heirs are spread across states or the title is clouded, see title problems and heirs property.

Owners who moved away and kept the house

Some owners moved for work or family, intending to come back or sell “later.” Years pass, the house is vacant or rented, and the costs keep arriving: property taxes without a homestead exemption, insurance that is harder to place on a non-owner-occupied home, HOA dues, lawn and pool service. If your former primary residence is now a second property, keep in mind that the property tax treatment and possibly the federal capital gains treatment can change the longer you are away; a CPA can tell you how timing affects your situation. Our capital gains article explains the general rules.

Long-distance landlords

Remote landlords depend entirely on a property manager or a tenant’s goodwill. When a tenant stops paying, a manager quits, or a storm damages the roof, managing it from another state becomes exhausting. We buy rentals with tenants in place or vacant. See tired landlord and problem tenants.

Seasonal and second-home owners

Seasonal owners who no longer make the trip south, or whose health or family situation has changed, often have a condo or villa sitting empty eight or nine months a year. Associations may now be raising dues or levying assessments for structural repairs and reserves, which adds to the cost of keeping a unit you rarely use. Our condo special assessments page explains that issue.

Owners living outside the United States

Canadian, European and Latin American owners face the same logistics plus international document requirements and U.S. tax withholding at closing. Our language pages for French-speaking sellers in Canada, German-speaking owners abroad and Portuguese-speaking owners abroad cover the process in those languages.

How to Verify a Buyer You Cannot Meet in Person

When you live elsewhere, you are trusting a company you found online with one of your largest assets. Healthy skepticism is appropriate — including toward us. These checks take minutes and apply to any buyer.

• Look up the entity. Search the buyer’s company name on Sunbiz, Florida’s Division of Corporations, to confirm it is an active entity and see who its registered agent is.
• Check licenses where they claim them. If a buyer says its principals are licensed real estate brokers or contractors, ask for license numbers and confirm them with the Florida DBPR.
• Find a real address. A physical office, a Google Business Profile with a consistent address and phone number, and a website with real contact information are basic signs of a business that intends to be found.
• Insist on a Florida title company. Your deposit and the purchase funds should move through a title company or closing attorney you can call independently — never directly to the buyer.
• Ask for proof of funds and the buyer’s role. Ask whether the buyer will close in its own name or intends to assign the contract. Both are legal when disclosed, but you should know which.
• Read every page before you sign. Watch for long inspection periods, vague “subject to partner approval” clauses and earnest money that is never actually deposited. Have a Florida real estate attorney review the contract if anything is unclear.

Our page on we-buy-houses scams covers more red flags, and how we calculate our offer shows the math behind our numbers so you can judge an offer you cannot see in person.

Deed Fraud and Seller Impersonation: The Absentee Owner’s Biggest Risk

Vacant houses and land owned by people who live elsewhere are favorite targets for a specific scam: a fraudster pretends to be the owner, contacts an agent or buyer, and tries to “sell” the property using fake identification and a notarized deed — then disappears with the money. Owners sometimes learn about it only when a neighbor calls about strangers at the house or a tax bill stops arriving. Title companies screen for this, but you can make it harder.

• Sign up for your county’s property fraud alert. Many Florida clerks of court, including the Lee County Clerk, offer free alerts that notify you when a document is recorded under your name. It costs nothing and gives you early warning.
• Keep your mailing address current with the county property appraiser and tax collector so notices reach you.
• Tell a trusted neighbor you are not selling unless you tell them directly, and ask them to call you if they see signs, lockbox activity or unfamiliar visitors.
• Expect identity verification. A legitimate title company will verify your identity carefully when you sell. That extra step protects you; be wary of anyone who skips it.

If you suspect fraud, contact the title company handling any closing, the clerk of court and local law enforcement promptly, and speak with a Florida real estate attorney. If someone is actually living in the house without permission, our page on squatters and holdover tenants explains the options.

How Does a Remote Closing Work in Florida?

You do not need to attend a Florida closing in person. The title company handles the closing, and you sign the documents where you are. Here is how the pieces usually fit together when you sell to us from another state.

Step 1: Title opens the file and checks who must sign

Once we have a signed contract, the title company searches the public records, orders payoff figures for any mortgage, and identifies everyone who must sign — co-owners, a spouse in some homestead situations, a personal representative or trustee, or an attorney-in-fact under a power of attorney. This is where absentee sales most often slow down, so we encourage you to tell us early if more than one person is on title or if the owner has passed away.

Step 2: You choose how to sign

Florida has authorized remote online notarization since January 1, 2020, under Chapter 117 of the Florida Statutes. With a registered online notary, you verify your identity and sign on camera through a secure audio-video platform, and the required witnesses for a deed can generally participate the same way. Many Florida title companies offer it. If you prefer paper, the title company can send a “mail-away” package for you to sign before a notary where you live, with two witnesses for the deed, and return by overnight courier. If you are outside the United States, ask the title company early; documents signed abroad may need a U.S. consular notary or an apostille, depending on the country and what the title insurer accepts.

Step 3: Access without you

We need to see the property once before finalizing our offer, and occasionally once more before closing. A lockbox, a neighbor with a key, a property manager or a code you share with us is usually enough. You can join by video while we walk through, and we will send you photos of what we find.

Step 4: Funds are wired to you — safely

After the documents are recorded or the title company is ready to disburse, your proceeds are sent by wire or check. Confirm wiring instructions by calling the title company at a number you looked up yourself, never one from an email. Changes to wiring instructions by email are a classic fraud signal.

What about a power of attorney?

If the owner cannot sign — for example, an elderly parent — a properly executed durable power of attorney that specifically grants real estate authority may allow an agent to sign. Florida has particular execution requirements for powers of attorney, and title companies review them closely before accepting one. Our page on selling a parent’s house discusses that in more detail; your attorney should confirm the document will work.

Protecting the House While You Wait to Close

An empty Florida house can deteriorate quickly: humidity, a slow roof leak or a failed air conditioner can lead to mold in a matter of weeks, and storms can do far more. Our vacant property page covers vacancy clauses, vandalism and code issues in depth. For an absentee owner in the short window before closing, the essentials are simple: keep insurance in force until the deed transfers, keep power on so the air conditioning and any sump or well pump can run, ask someone to check the house weekly and after storms, and do not cancel utilities until the title company confirms closing. If something does go wrong before closing — a leak or storm damage — tell us. We buy damaged houses, and we would rather adjust the plan than have you scramble. If the house already has a mold problem, see selling a house with mold.

Foreign Owners: FIRPTA Withholding Basics

If the seller is a foreign person for U.S. tax purposes, a federal law known as the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act (FIRPTA) generally requires the buyer to withhold a portion of the amount realized and send it to the IRS. The general withholding rate is 15%; reduced or zero rates apply in certain cases where the buyer will live in the home and the price is below set thresholds, which usually does not apply when the buyer is an investor like Libera Capital Group. The title company typically calculates and remits the withholding at closing.

Withholding is not necessarily the final tax. A seller may be able to apply to the IRS for a withholding certificate to reduce it, and the seller generally files a U.S. return to report the sale and claim any refund. The IRS explains the rules on its FIRPTA withholding page. Because the details depend on your residency status, ownership structure and tax treaty, talk with a CPA experienced in U.S. taxation of foreign sellers before you sign a contract — timing a withholding certificate application can affect when you receive your money.

Comparing Your Options When You Live Far Away

Distance changes the math of every option, because anything that requires coordination costs more when you cannot be there. The comparison below is qualitative and general.

If you list with an agent, you will still need someone local for repairs, cleaning and lawn care, and you will want to see disclosures and inspection responses promptly. A cash offer can be a useful benchmark even if you choose to list; our cash offer vs. listing page explains the trade-offs, and the net proceeds calculator lets you run your own numbers.

Our Process for Out-of-State Sellers

1. Call or send the address. Tell us who is on title, whether anyone lives there, and what you know about its condition. If you have not seen the house in years, that is fine — say so.
2. We inspect and report back. We arrange access, walk the property and share photos and observations with you, then send a written as-is cash offer with our reasoning.
3. Sign the contract electronically. If the numbers work for you, you sign the purchase agreement online. A Florida title company opens escrow and contacts you directly.
4. Close remotely on your date. Sign by remote online notarization or a mail-away package, in as little as 7–14 days when title is clear or later if you need time. No commissions, and we cover normal closing costs.

Where we buy

We buy throughout Florida, and most of our purchases are in our home market of Southwest Florida — including Lee County, Collier County, Charlotte County and Sarasota County, where many seasonal and inherited homes are owned by people living up north or overseas. We also buy improved commercial property from absentee owners; see we buy commercial property.

Related Pages

• How it works
• Code violations on a vacant house
• Listing that didn’t sell

Frequently Asked Questions about Selling a Florida House From Out of State