The short answer
Your Florida commercial building is worth what the next buyer will pay, and most buyers can pay only what their lender will finance. To find that number, run three checks: what similar buildings in your county recently sold for per square foot, what your net operating income is worth at a market cap rate, and how large a loan a bank would make on that income. The three rarely agree. The lowest one is usually closest to a real offer.
What buildings like yours sold for
Pick your county, property type and building size. The range is the middle half of 8,614 recorded arm's-length sales from the Florida tax roll, so a quarter of similar buildings sold for less and a quarter for more.
Florida tax-roll sales, November 2026 update. A starting range, not an appraisal: location, condition, land, tenants and lease terms move a single building well outside it. Check it against income (below), then get a free broker opinion of value.
Why the county's number isn't the price
Owners often start with the property appraiser's just value (see assessed value). It is a tax number, set once a year by mass appraisal across thousands of parcels. It does not see your leases, your roof or your tenant's credit, and it is often well off a market price in either direction. No buyer and no lender prices a commercial building on it. For a full walk-through with a Marion County example, read What Is My Ocala Commercial Building Worth?
Lens 1: Recorded sales (price per square foot)
Price per square foot is the quickest check and the one most owners know. It is also the bluntest: a county median mixes old and new buildings, good and weak locations, full and empty ones. Use it to find the range, then place your building inside it:
- Toward the top: newer construction, strong road frontage, long leases to creditworthy tenants, extra land or parking, a location buyers are competing for.
- Toward the bottom: deferred maintenance, roof or HVAC near the end of its life, short or below-market leases, vacancy, flood-zone or environmental questions.
To see the actual sales near you, open the commercial parcel map for your county. Each parcel shows its last qualified sale and price per square foot: Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Volusia, Marion, Lake, Polk, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Brevard, Broward, Miami-Dade, Duval, Palm Beach, Lee, Pasco, Sarasota, Manatee, Collier, Charlotte, Bay, Leon, Okaloosa, Alachua, Citrus, Santa Rosa.
Lens 2: Income and the cap rate
Investors buy income. They take your net operating income (rent collected, minus vacancy and the costs you pay as owner, before any loan payment) and divide it by a cap rate. The cap rate works as a multiple: at a 7% cap, every dollar of NOI is worth about $14.29; at 6%, about $16.67. That is why a half-point move in the cap rate can move the price more than a year of rent growth. Try it:
- Value at market cap rate
- $3,598,346
- Value if cap rate +0.5 pt
- $3,346,713
- Value if cap rate −0.5 pt
- $3,890,894
- Asking vs market value
- $1,654
Value = NOI ÷ cap rate, so small cap-rate changes move value a lot. Pre-filled with the example on this page; hypothetical figures, not advice. Open the Cap Rate Calculator →
Lens 3: What a bank will lend
Most buyers borrow. The lender sizes the loan on your income first: the property must earn more than the loan payment by a margin, measured by the debt service coverage ratio (DSCR). Many Florida commercial lenders look for 1.25x or more, and they also cap the loan at a share of the price (loan-to-value) and check debt yield. The smallest of those limits sets the loan. The buyer's price is that loan plus the down payment they are willing to make. If your price needs a bigger loan than your income supports, the buyer has to bring more cash, ask for a lower price, or walk.
- By loan-to-value
- $2,340,000
- By DSCR
- $2,220,125
- By debt yield
- $2,658,778
- Binding test
- DSCR
- DSCR at that loan
- 1.30×
Lenders size to the most restrictive test; the gap from the LTV loan is extra equity you need. Pre-filled with the example on this page; hypothetical figures, not advice. Open the Loan Sizer →
One building, three lenses
A hypothetical 12,000 SF warehouse in Orange County, leased at $14/SF triple net. The rent, costs, cap rate and loan terms below are example inputs; the price per square foot is the county's recorded median.
| Gross rent | 12,000 SF × $14 | $168,000 |
| Less 5% vacancy and credit loss | $159,600 | |
| Less management (3%) and reserves ($0.20/SF) | Net operating income | $152,412 |
| Lens 1: recorded sales | $221/SF Orange County industrial median × 12,000 SF | $2,652,000 |
| Lens 2: income | NOI ÷ 7.0% cap rate | $2,177,314 |
| Lens 3: lender | Loan at 1.25x DSCR, 6.75%, 25-yr amortization = $1,470,637, at 65% LTV | $2,262,518 |
The three answers spread from $2,177,314 to $2,652,000. The recorded-sales number is the highest because the county median includes newer and better-located buildings, and because $14/SF may be below market for this one. A buyer will offer near the income and lender numbers unless the owner can show the rent can rise. That is the real work of pricing: finding out which lens is wrong, and why.
Florida costs that come out of the price
- Property tax resets on sale. Florida limits yearly increases in the assessed value of non-homestead property to 10% (for non-school taxes), but the limit resets when the property sells. The buyer underwrites taxes on the purchase price, and the higher bill lowers the NOI they will pay for. Estimate it with the Florida property tax estimator.
- Insurance. Wind and flood premiums are underwritten on the buyer's quote, not your current policy. A higher premium cuts NOI dollar for dollar.
- Documentary stamp tax. Deeds carry $0.70 per $100 of price ($0.60 plus a $0.45 surtax in Miami-Dade for most commercial property); the buyer's mortgage adds $0.35 per $100 plus 0.2% intangible tax. See the doc stamp calculator.
- Flood zone and roof age. Both drive insurance and lender requirements, so both show up in the price.
County snapshot: median sale price per square foot
The 12 counties with the most recorded commercial sales, November 2026 update. All 37 counties, with charts and quarterly detail, are in the Florida Commercial Sale Price Report.
| County | Industrial & warehouse | Office & medical | Retail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miami-Dade | $313 | $499 | $455 |
| Hillsborough | $160 | $282 | $250 |
| Lee | $242 | $234 | $219 |
| Duval | $113 | $181 | $182 |
| Broward | $280 | $346 | $304 |
| Orange | $221 | $319 | $357 |
| Pinellas | $145 | $245 | $216 |
| Palm Beach | $285 | $392 | $370 |
| Volusia | $142 | $181 | $187 |
| Sarasota | $240 | $281 | $276 |
| Brevard | $130 | $184 | $132 |
| Polk | $107 | $219 | $153 |
What to do next
- Run your county and size in the estimator above, and note where your building should sit in the range.
- Pull your trailing 12 months of rent and expenses and work out NOI. The NOI calculator lays it out line by line.
- Test the price against a lender with the loan sizer.
- Ask for a free broker opinion of value. I will put the three lenses on your actual building, with the recorded sales nearest to it and the buyers active today, and tell you whether selling, refinancing or holding pays best.
The thinking behind this method is in my book Think Like a Banker, written for commercial property owners.
Frequently asked questions
What is my commercial property worth in Florida?
What a buyer will pay, which is usually limited by what that buyer's lender will finance. Start with what similar buildings sold for in your county (the recorded-sale range on this page), then test it against the building's net operating income divided by a market cap rate, and against the loan a bank would make at a 1.25x debt service coverage ratio. The lowest of the three is usually closest to the price.
Is the property appraiser’s just value what my building is worth?
No. Just value is a mass-appraisal number for taxes, set once a year from broad models. It can be well above or below what a buyer pays. Buyers and lenders price the building on its income and on recorded sales of similar property.
Where do the sale prices on this page come from?
Florida Department of Revenue tax roll sale records in LGData, Linton Global's property database: 8,614 qualified arm's-length commercial sales of $100,000 or more in 37 counties, single parcels with at least 1,000 SF of building. A median is shown only with at least 8 sales. Updated monthly.
Why do my price per square foot and my income value disagree?
They measure different things. Price per square foot reflects what buyers paid for buildings that may have had better locations, newer construction or higher rents. The income value reflects your building’s actual rent. When they disagree, the gap usually points to below-market rent, deferred maintenance, extra land, or a vacancy a buyer will price in.
How does a sale change my Florida property taxes?
Florida caps increases in the assessed value of non-homestead property at 10% a year (for non-school taxes), and the cap resets when the property sells. A buyer underwrites taxes on the purchase price, so the higher tax bill comes out of the price they can pay.
Do I need an appraisal or a broker opinion of value?
For a loan, the lender orders an appraisal. To decide whether to sell, refinance or hold, a broker opinion of value is faster and costs nothing: it uses the same recorded sales and income math, plus who is buying right now.
Sale data: Florida Department of Revenue tax roll via LGData, November 2026. This article is general information, not an appraisal, legal or tax advice. Michael R. Linton, Florida Broker #BK703722.
