Transaction coordinator in Tampa: Stellar MLS, Pinellas flood rules and costs

What is different about TC work in Tampa Bay?

Tampa Bay agents use the statewide AS IS contract, and the deadlines, licensing line and closing rules are on our Florida page. What sets the metro apart is scale, plus a county flood program in Pinellas. Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater closed more single-family homes in 2025 than the Miami, Orlando or Jacksonville metros. Pinellas County adds its own flood disclosure brochure and a 49% test on repairs and improvements.

Which MLS and board does a Tampa TC work with?

Two Tampa Bay boards, the Suncoast Tampa Association of REALTORS (STAR) and West Pasco Hernando REALTORS, are shareholders in Stellar MLS. Stellar says it serves nearly 80,000 customers across 20 REALTOR associations in Central and Southwest Florida and Puerto Rico. STAR also runs the Pinellas flood disclosure program with the county.

How busy is the Tampa Bay market?

Florida Realtors defines the metro as Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties. Its 2025 year-end metro summary shows single-family sales up slightly while prices and condo sales fell.

Both medians sat below the statewide figures. Florida Realtors put the 2025 statewide median at $413,990 for single-family homes and $305,000 for condos and townhouses, against $400,000 and $275,000 in the Tampa metro. The condo figure stands out in another way too. Townhouse and condo sales fell almost 12% in a year when single-family sales grew. Condo files that do close still need the 718.503 documents the Florida page describes, and a TC should request them at contract.

What is the Pinellas County flood disclosure program?

Pinellas County and STAR run a joint Real Estate Flood Disclosure Program that covers the whole county, including its cities. At its center is a Flood Information and Disclosure Brochure with a fillable section where a real estate professional enters the property's flood risk, evacuation level and insurance requirement. The county says real estate professionals give the completed brochure to clients to explain the flood hazard and flood insurance purchase requirements.

For a TC on a Pinellas file, the brochure is one more document to collect and log. Ask the agent whether it has gone to the buyer and save a copy in the file. It sits naturally beside the AS IS contract's own flood clause. Under ¶10(d) of the AS IS contract, a buyer of a property in a Special Flood Hazard Area whose lowest floor is below minimum flood elevation, or that is ineligible for flood insurance, may terminate within 20 days of the Effective Date unless another number is written in.

The same paragraph of the contract advises the buyer to verify the flood zone by elevation certificate, along with whether the lender requires flood insurance and what rebuilding restrictions apply. A TC can ask early whether an elevation certificate exists, so the buyer has it well before the 20-day window closes.

What is the 49% rule in Pinellas County?

Buyers who plan to renovate need to know about the county's substantial damage and improvement rule. If the cost to repair a home is 49% or more of its value without the land, the county treats it as substantially damaged. It then cannot be repaired without bringing it up to current floodplain codes, for example by elevating or replacing it. The county says all improvements are subject to the same 49% test, and that do-it-yourself work must be costed at average commercial rates. Market value here means the value of the building and structures, not the land. The county notes that the federal government requires every city and county in the National Flood Insurance Program to follow this process.

Pinellas County runs these assessments for unincorporated areas and tells residents of a city to contact the city about its own plan. That matters when a buyer's plans depend on renovation budgets. A TC can't advise on the rule, but can make sure the agent knows which jurisdiction the property sits in, and that inspection and contractor quotes arrive inside the 15-day default Inspection Period.

What does a Tampa transaction coordinator cost?

We found no public price card from a Tampa-based TC to quote. Two Florida-based TC companies publish prices: $375 per transaction at one, and $400 to $500 for one side at another. Use the fee per file calculator to compare a per-file fee with a salaried assistant, and our transaction coordinator checklist to test a TC's process.

When you interview a Tampa Bay coordinator, ask about the local paperwork as well as the statewide contract. A good answer covers when they request the Pinellas flood brochure, whether they ask for an elevation certificate early, and how they log the date the buyer receives condo documents. Ask too whether they charge for a file that falls through, and how often they report status to you.

Freelance TC, TC company or DeedSpring: which fits a Tampa agent?

The table sets the usual options side by side. A good freelance TC is worth every dollar on a messy file. What most agents are really paying for, though, is someone who never misses a date and always chases the lender. Software does that on every file at once.

To see what the gap means across a year of files, put your numbers into the TC fee per file calculator.

Compare plans on the DeedSpring pricing page.