The Quick Read: Most of what a Miami-Dade closing adds to a VA cash-out comes from government charges, not from the lender. Florida taxes the new note and the recorded mortgage, and the county adds recording fees. The county’s well-known rate difference sits on deeds, which a normal cash-out refinance does not use. Ask the title agent for a line-item estimate of these charges before you apply.
What Counts as a Fee on a VA Cash-Out?
Four separate layers show up on a VA cash-out closing, and mixing them up is the main reason borrowers get surprised. Each layer has a different owner, a different basis, and a different rule.
VA cash-out estimate
Seeded with an example value, a typical balance, and a round cash request at the first-use fee; change any field.
Editable benchmark: 7.18% as of November 5, 2026 · Freddie Mac 30-year average via FRED®. A conventional market reference, not a VA cash-out refinance quote.
Illustrative starting assumptions: a $350,000 home value, a $193,000 current balance, the full-value VA cap with the first-use funding fee financed, a thirty-year term at the current Freddie Mac benchmark, and property taxes and insurance estimated at typical national rates. Every field is editable.
Illustrative estimate only — not a Loan Estimate, approval, quote, or commitment to lend. The rate field carries the weekly Freddie Mac thirty-year conventional benchmark, a market reference and not a VA cash-out refinance quote; a VA loan is priced by the lender at lock. The total loan, funding fee included, is capped at the program leverage on the reasonable value; the fee follows the tier chosen. The cash available is what the cap allows less the balances paid off and the fee, before closing costs, which are not included. The HELOC line is the line program’s combined loan-to-value ceiling applied to the same value and balance. Taxes and insurance are editable estimates. The debt-to-income figure is a guideline; residual income decides a VA file. Licensed in sixteen states for consumer mortgages.
| Layer | Who sets it | Based on | Can it be financed? |
|---|---|---|---|
| VA funding fee | VA | Loan amount, use, down payment | Yes |
| Lender charges | Lender, within VA limits | Loan amount | Depends on the file |
| Third-party fees (appraisal, title) | Vendors | Flat or scaled by vendor | Depends on the file |
| Government charges (recording, doc stamps) | State and county | Per document or loan amount | Depends on the file |
The funding fee goes to VA. It does not pay for your closing costs. Government charges go to the state and county. Third-party fees go to the appraiser and title company. Prepaids and escrow deposits, such as insurance and property tax reserves, are a fifth bucket that sits apart from all of these.
On a VA cash-out, the funding fee is 2.15% for first use and 3.3% for later use. Veterans who receive compensation for a service-connected disability, and a few other exempt groups, owe no funding fee. That exemption covers only the funding fee. County and state recording taxes still apply. Figures are subject to lender guidelines and full file review.
How Does the VA Cash-Out Work, Start to Finish?
A VA cash-out refinance replaces your current loan with a new VA loan. The new loan can pay off a VA loan or a non-VA loan, such as a conventional, FHA, or USDA mortgage. Anything above the payoff and costs comes to you as cash.
Here is the sequence across the wholesale programs Lendmire places VA files with:
1. Eligibility. Your certificate of eligibility (COE) from VA decides whether you qualify. Service requirements are VA’s rules, not the lender’s.
2. Net tangible benefit. The refinance has to leave you better off in a way VA recognizes. VA lists eight acceptable benefits, and the file has to show one.
3. Appraisal. A VA appraisal sets the value the loan is measured against.
4. Underwriting. Residual income is the controlling test. That is the money left each month after debts and living costs. The 41% debt-to-income figure is a guideline, not a cap.
5. Closing. You receive a Loan Estimate early and a Closing Disclosure before you sign. Both list every charge by category.
The VA cash-out reaches up to 100% of the appraised value, including the financed funding fee. VBA Circular 26-19-05 sets that ceiling and confirms the net tangible benefit applies to all VA cash-outs. Across the wholesale lenders Lendmire works with, the decision-score floor starts at 580. Some lenders elsewhere set stricter limits of their own, so a lower ceiling you hear about may be a lender rule rather than a VA rule.
Lendmire’s VA cash-out refinance program page covers the program side.
Which Charges Can VA Let You Pay?
VA publishes a schedule of permissible fees and charges. Under 38 CFR 36.4313, that schedule applies to all VA-guaranteed loans, and its amounts are maximums. The schedule lets the veteran pay reasonable and customary amounts for listed items. Recording fees and recording-related taxes are on that list.
The lender’s own charges work differently. A lender may charge an origination fee of no more than 1 percent of the loan, in place of the other scheduled fees. The VA Federal Register notice describes that cap.
Read that carefully. A common misreading is that VA caps all closing costs at 1%. It does not. The 1% limit applies to the lender’s own charge. Appraisal, title work, and government recording charges sit outside it.
VA also wants everything in one place. Lenders document the allowable fees and charges on the standard Closing Disclosure rather than on a separate VA itemization. So the Closing Disclosure is where you check every line.
What Florida Charges on a Refinance
Florida’s documentary stamp tax is the big one. The Florida Department of Revenue says it applies to deeds and to written obligations to pay money, such as promissory notes and recorded mortgages.
On notes, the tax is 35 cents per $100 of the obligation. On a recorded mortgage, the rate is the same 35 cents per $100 of the amount secured, and the state says there is no cap on the mortgage tax. A cash-out is secured by your home, so do not plan around a cap.
Because the tax tracks the new note, it scales with the loan. A bigger cash-out means a bigger tax. Cash out more, and the percentage-based charges grow with it.
Florida also has a separate one-time intangible tax on mortgage-secured debt. Ask the title agent for the current amount and have it shown as its own line in your estimate.
Where Miami-Dade Is Actually Different
The county’s reputation comes from deeds. Miami-Dade charges a different deed rate.
That difference mostly does not reach a cash-out refinance. A typical cash-out creates a new note and a new mortgage. It does not transfer the title, so it has no deed. The note and mortgage doc stamp rates are the same statewide.
So the honest answer is this: Miami-Dade does not make refinancing special. It makes buying and selling special.
There is one exception worth knowing. If you add or remove a borrower by deed as part of the transaction, a deed enters the picture. A county surtax can also attach to certain deed transfers, including some non-single-family properties. Both are deed matters. Ask the title company to confirm whether anything on your file triggers them.
Miami-Dade does have its own local color on other lines. Condo and HOA paperwork, municipal lien searches, and flood and wind insurance all vary by property and neighborhood. Those are property-level items, not county taxes. Budget for them as part of the third-party and prepaid buckets.
How Fees and Cash Out Interact
Percentage-based charges rise with the loan, while per-document recording fees stay the same regardless of loan size. That split helps you estimate. A small cash-out and a large one pay roughly the same flat recording fee, but the doc stamp tax moves with the balance.
Now add the 100% ceiling. The total loan, including a financed funding fee, divided by reasonable value cannot go above 100%. Every dollar of cost you roll into the loan uses part of that room. Financed costs therefore reduce the cash you receive, and a large fee stack can limit how much cash is available at all.
Picture a homeowner whose appraisal supports a loan near the top of the ceiling. The payoff, funding fee, and financed costs eat most of that room, and the cash in hand shrinks. The same homeowner who pays government charges out of pocket keeps more proceeds but needs cash on closing day. Neither choice is wrong. The right one depends on whether you want maximum proceeds or minimum cash due.
Two outcomes shape the math:
- Payoff only: The new loan, including the funding fee, does not exceed the payoff of the loan being refinanced. No cash goes to you.
- Cash out: The new loan exceeds the payoff and costs, and anything above them comes to you as cash.
Florida doc stamps are computed on the new note amount either way, so a loan that only pays off the old balance still carries the tax on the full new balance.
A Budget Walk-Through in Percentages
Skip the dollar guesses. Run the sequence with your own numbers from the title agent.
1. Start with the appraised value. Your ceiling is 100% of it. 2. Subtract the payoff on your current loan, including accrued interest. Forgotten payoff interest is a classic surprise. 3. Subtract the funding fee, unless you are exempt. Use 2.15% of the loan for first use or 3.3% for later use. 4. Subtract the lender, third-party, and government charges you plan to finance. 5. What remains is your cash out.
The doc stamp tax runs from the 35-cent rate above. Work out your base first, then apply the rate yourself or ask the title agent to. Compare the result with the “Taxes and Other Government Fees” section on the Loan Estimate.
What About a Streamline Instead?
The IRRRL, VA’s streamline refinance, is a different product. It refinances an existing VA loan to a lower rate or from adjustable to fixed, with no VA appraisal. Its funding fee is 0.5% unless you are exempt. It does require a net tangible benefit and seasoning, the later of 210 days from the first payment and the sixth payment.
| Feature | VA Cash-Out | IRRRL |
|---|---|---|
| Funding fee | 2.15% first use, 3.3% after | 0.5% unless exempt |
| Appraisal | Yes | No VA appraisal |
| Cash to you | Yes, up to the ceiling | No |
| Existing loan must be VA | No, any loan type | Yes |
The last row matters. A streamline is cheaper on the funding fee, but government recording taxes still apply to the new note and mortgage. The rate-reduction and fee-recoupment tests belong to the IRRRL. They do not apply to the VA cash-out.
Where the General Rule Breaks
A few edge cases change the plan.
Exempt veterans. An exemption removes the funding fee only. County and state taxes remain.
Non-VA to VA. You can refinance an FHA, USDA, or conventional loan into a VA cash-out. The net tangible benefit still applies.
Rolled-in costs. Any cost you finance counts toward the 100% ceiling and lowers your net proceeds. On a purchase, permission to finance the funding fee does not automatically extend to other closing costs, so do not carry purchase assumptions into a cash-out.
Deed events. Adding or removing a borrower by deed, or any title transfer, can bring the deed rate and surtax into play.
Condos. Condo and HOA documents add third-party charges and sometimes extra review. The county surtax is a deed matter, not a closing cost on a refinance.
Changes between estimate and closing. Recording fees and other third-party charges fall into different tolerance buckets under federal disclosure rules. Government charges can still shift between the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure. Ask for the government-charge estimate early.
Key Terms Defined
Documentary stamp tax: A Florida excise tax on deeds and on written obligations to pay money, including notes and recorded mortgages.
Intangible tax: A separate one-time Florida tax on mortgage-secured debt, distinct from doc stamps.
Surtax: An added county tax that, in Miami-Dade, attaches to certain deed transfers rather than to a standard refinance.
Funding fee: A one-time VA charge, financeable and waived for exempt veterans, that goes to VA and not to the lender.
Net tangible benefit: A VA test showing the refinance leaves you better off in one of VA’s listed ways.
Residual income: The money left each month after debts and living costs, which controls VA underwriting.
Common Mistakes
- Assuming Miami-Dade has a special refinance tax. The county difference is on deeds.
- Treating doc stamps and intangible tax as one charge.
- Expecting the funding fee to cover closing costs.
- Believing a disability exemption erases all government fees.
- Applying a flat 90% limit. VA’s ceiling is 100% including the funding fee, and a lower number is usually a lender overlay.
- Forgetting payoff interest and escrow resets when estimating cash out.
- Applying the streamline’s no-appraisal rule to a cash-out. A cash-out needs an appraisal.
Your Planning Checklist
1. Ask the title agent for a line-item government-charge estimate: recording fees, doc stamps, and any intangible tax.
2. Confirm in writing whether any deed or surtax is triggered.
3. Compare that estimate with the Loan Estimate’s “Taxes and Other Government Fees” section.
4. Decide up front whether you will finance costs or pay them in cash.
5. Re-check the Closing Disclosure against the Loan Estimate before you sign.
If you are weighing a cash-out refinance against keeping the loan you have, Lendmire can help you compare the programs and the equity each one reaches.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Miami-Dade charge extra on a VA cash-out refinance?
Not through its deed rate. That difference applies to deeds, and a standard cash-out creates a new note and mortgage instead. The note and mortgage doc stamp rate is the same statewide. Ask the title agent to confirm that nothing on your file involves a deed.
Can I roll Florida’s taxes and fees into the loan?
Often, yes, because a cash-out can finance costs within the loan. Every financed dollar counts toward the 100% ceiling and lowers your net cash. Whether a given charge can be financed depends on lender guidelines and your full file.
Does a disability exemption remove county and state taxes?
No. It waives the VA funding fee only. Recording fees and doc stamps still apply to the new note and mortgage.
Is there a cap on Florida doc stamps on a cash-out?
Plan as if there is none. The state describes no cap on the mortgage tax, and the cap Florida’s form mentions applies to unsecured notes.
What is easy to overlook on these closings?
The doc stamp base, because the tax follows the new note rather than just the cash portion. Payoff interest on the old loan is another item to check. A line-item estimate early in the process helps you see both.
For your own numbers, request a scenario review with Lendmire.
About Lendmire
Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a mortgage brokerage serving homeowners and home buyers in 16 states. FHA, VA, conventional and jumbo purchase and refinance loans are arranged through wholesale lending channels; Lendmire brokers the financing and the lender underwrites each application. Scotsman Guide named Lendmire a Top Mortgage Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.
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Informational only. Not a Loan Estimate, approval, or commitment to lend. Program availability and eligibility are subject to lender guidelines, credit approval, property review, and underwriting.
References
1. VA
3. 38 CFR 36.4313, Cornell LII
4. VA Federal Register notice, April 13, 2017
5. Florida Department of Revenue, Documentary Stamp Tax
This article is part of Lendmire’s VA cash-out refinance program — full qualification details, guidelines, and scenarios live on the program page.
Related reading: Can a Veteran Use a VA Cash-Out to Buy Out a Partner? · How a VA Cash-Out Lender Treats a Home in Probate · VA Cash-Out Refinance Requirements With the Closing Costs Rolled Into the Loan
Guides: VA Cash-Out Refinance in Miami, FL · VA Cash-Out Refinance in Florida
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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Legal disclosures. Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) is a state-licensed mortgage brokerage that arranges financing through wholesale lender relationships. Lendmire is not a direct lender, depository institution, or registered financial advisor. The discussion above is general informational content about real estate financing — it is not financial, legal, or tax advice, and readers should consult licensed professionals for guidance on their individual circumstances. Loan inquiries are subject to lender underwriting; this article does not represent a commitment to lend. Loan terms, rates, and qualification standards vary by borrower, property, and state, and are subject to change at any time. Equal Housing Opportunity. NMLS Consumer Access: nmlsconsumeraccess.org.