With its abundant sunshine, premier golf courses and pristine beaches, Florida is a dream location for millions to chase the American Dream of buying a home.
But nice places can come with high buy-in costs. In Florida’s case, the median price of a home, according to Redfin as recently as December 2024, clocked in at $410,900, with single-family homes at $432,700. So, it takes some planning and saving for most to afford.
To make matters easy, let’s say you find a deal and get a home you like for $400,000. When it comes to buying a home in Florida, how much do you need to save each month?
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Down Payment
Assuming you can qualify for and afford a mortgage, you’ll have to come up with a down payment. To avoid private mortgage insurance (PMI), you’ll typically need to put down 20% or $80,000 on a $400,000 home.
If you are OK with PMI, plan on an additional $30 to $70 a month per $100,000 borrowed, according to LendingTree. But this allows you to put less than 20% down, the minimum amount depending on the type of loan and your qualifications. According to Rocket Homes, Veterans Affairs (VA) loans allow zero percent down, Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans have a minimum of 3.5% and conventional loans range from 3% to 5%.
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Closing Costs
In a perfect world, all you’d need is a down payment and proof you can handle your mortgage payments. Alas, we are not in a perfect world. “The average closing costs in Florida for a home priced at $375,368 are $8,554, which makes up 2.3% of the home’s price tag,” according to Florida’s Marina Title, who cite a report by ClosingCorp. For a $400,000 home, 2.3% is $9,200.
Reserves
Understandably, the bank wants to be reasonably sure you’ll be able to make your monthly mortgage payment, even if something bad happens — like you lose your job. So, they sometimes require you to have enough money to handle your mortgage and your bills during those bad times.
According to LendingTree, depending on the amount you borrow, your creditworthiness and other factors, this amount can be anywhere from zero to six months of cash on hand. Assuming a mortgage payment of approximately $2,000, plus bills, we’ll assume three months of reserves at $9,000.
Start Saving
Now comes the math. If you’ve been following along, to buy a $400,000 home in Florida, you’ll have to save approximately $98,200 if you want to make a 20% down payment. That includes money for closing costs and reserves. Assuming you began saving January first, that works out to $8,183 per month saved.
Of course, if you put only 5% down, the total comes down to $38,200, with $3,183 needed to be saved each month. Still quite a bit.
Here’s a breakdown of various savings to illustrate and inspire:
|
Amount Needed |
Years Until Purchase |
Amount Per Month Saved |
|
$98,200 (20% down) |
3 |
$2,728 |
|
$98,200 (20% down) |
5 |
$1,637 |
|
$38,200 (5% down) |
3 |
$1,061 |
|
$38,200 (5% down) |
5 |
$637 |
Buying a home is a major, life-changing decision and usually something best saved for over time. Luckily, time has a funny way of making things much more manageable.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Here’s How Much You Need To Save Monthly To Buy a House in Florida in 2025