Marion County, Florida
Sell your land in Florida Highlands for cash
Parcel Buyers buys vacant lots in Florida Highlands, a Dunnellon-addressed plat in southwest Marion County with no recreation or road district and mostly private well-and-septic lots, for cash. You get a written, no-obligation cash offer within 24 hours, and closings run through an independent title company, typically in about 10 days, with no fees or commissions.
By Parcel Buyers · · Lot figures from the 2026 Florida property tax roll · How we made this page
Quick answers
- Who buys land for cash in Florida Highlands?
- Parcel Buyers is a direct land buyer that makes written, no-obligation cash offers on vacant lots and acreage in Florida Highlands, Marion County, usually within 24 hours. Sales close through an independent title company, typically in about 10 days, with no fees or commissions to the seller.
- What did vacant lots in Florida Highlands sell for in 2025?
- In 2025, vacant lots in Florida Highlands sold for a median of $28,000 across 43 arm's-length sales; the middle half sold for $24,200 to $38,000.
- How many vacant lots are in Florida Highlands?
- The 2026 Florida property tax roll lists 1,035 vacant residential lots in Florida Highlands; 91% are 1.25-acre homesites, and the median lot is 1.25 acre.
- How is a cash offer for land in Florida Highlands set?
- We start from recent sales of similar lots nearby, like the 2025 prices on this page, then adjust for water and sewer, road access, flood zone, lot size and any title issues, and for the time and cost of reselling. You get one written number, not a range.
- How do I know a land buyer in Florida Highlands is legitimate?
- A real buyer closes through an independent, licensed title company and never asks you to pay anything up front. We never charge sellers a fee, deposit or closing-cost advance, and the title company pays you by check or wire at closing.
- Who is buying lots in Florida Highlands?
- In 2025, companies bought 16% of the vacant lots that sold in Florida Highlands. Individuals bought the rest.
- Are vacant lot prices in Florida Highlands going up or down?
- Vacant lot prices in Florida Highlands went up 12.0%: the median moved from $25,000 across 56 recorded sales in 2024 to $28,000 across 43 recorded sales in 2025. These are recorded sales, not list prices. From January to October 2026, 24 vacant lots in Florida Highlands sold at a recorded median of $34,500.
- How much are estimated annual ad valorem taxes on a typical vacant lot in Florida Highlands?
- A typical vacant lot in Florida Highlands has estimated 2025 ad valorem taxes about $232 a year; most lots here also pay non-ad valorem charges (listed below).
- Are vacant lots in Florida Highlands in a FEMA high-risk flood zone?
- About 32% of vacant lots in Florida Highlands have their center point in a FEMA high-risk flood zone (effective maps dated August 28, 2008 to September 26, 2014). This is map screening, not a determination; check FEMA's Map Service Center for your parcel.
- How many vacant lots in Florida Highlands got a home on the tax roll in 2025?
- 14 vacant lots in Florida Highlands changed from vacant-residential use to a home with new-construction evidence on the 2026 final tax roll.
Local data
Florida Highlands land at a glance
Tax-roll figures cover the Marion County parcel-ID plat prefixes verified as the Florida Highlands plat sections in southwest Marion County, all addressed Dunnellon in Marion County. Local rules and services are sourced below.
Property addresses here read Dunnellon (100%).
| Vacant residential lots | 1,035 parcels classified vacant residential on the 2026 tax roll [1] |
|---|---|
| Most common lot size | 1.25-acre homesite (52,000–58,000 sq ft): 91% of vacant lots; next, mini-estate (2-3 acres) at 7%. Median lot: 1.25 acre (54,450 sq ft). [1] |
| Typical assessed value | $27,500 median just (market) value for a vacant lot; the middle half fall between $27,500 and $27,500 [1] |
| Recent lot sale prices | $28,000 median across 43 arm's-length sales of vacant lots in Florida Highlands (Jan 2025–Dec 2025); the middle half sold for $24,200–$38,000 [1] |
| Who bought lots in 2025 | Companies made 16% of those purchases; individuals made the rest [1] |
| Owners who live elsewhere | 27% of vacant lots have an owner mailing address outside Florida (most often NY, PA, NJ) [1] |
| No city hall, just a Dunnellon ZIP | Every Florida Highlands lot is unincorporated land with a Dunnellon mailing address; the City of Dunnellon has no say over it. Zoning, setbacks and building sign-off go through the county, not city hall. [2],[3] |
| Unlike Rolling Hills, no district here | Next-door Rolling Hills and Hills of Ocala have run a county recreation taxing unit since 1983. Florida Highlands owners never organized one, so the plat has no clubhouse fund, no advisory board and no district line item on the tax bill. [4],[5] |
| Paving here means petitioning the county | Marion County's engineer's office publishes a checklist for getting a residential street paved or accepted for maintenance. With no HOA or MSTU to pool funds, a Florida Highlands owner wanting that work done would start from that same countywide process. [6] |
| No utility, so plan on a well | Florida DEP, not a water or sewer utility, is the relevant agency for a new onsite system here; it took over Marion County septic permitting from the health department on July 1, 2025. [7] |
| A stricter nitrogen rule may reach here | DEP's Rainbow Springs Group plan, covering the corridor Florida Highlands sits in, was rewritten in June 2025 to require nitrogen-reducing septic equipment on any lot size inside its mapped line, not only the smaller lots the old rule targeted. [8] |
| Halpata Tastanaki Preserve | Southwest Florida Water Management District places this 8,146-acre preserve in southwest Marion County, east of Dunnellon, with public access off County Road 484 at its north boundary and State Road 200 along its east boundary. [9] |
| Lot sales, 2025 vs 2024 | 2025: 43 recorded sales, $28,000 median; 2024: 56 recorded sales, $25,000 median. Median +12.0%; matching-reviewed-month count -22.4%. [1] |
| Vacant lots that got a home on the tax roll in 2025 | 14 recorded with new-construction evidence. [1] |
| Owner-type shares | Individuals 86.6%; companies 10.5%; trusts 2.6%; estates/heirs 0.2%; government/associations 0.1%. [1] |
| Typical annual ad valorem taxes | A typical vacant lot in Florida Highlands has estimated 2025 ad valorem taxes about $232 a year; most lots here also pay non-ad valorem charges (listed below). |
| 2026 so far (Jan-Oct) | 24 recorded vacant-lot sales; median $34,500. [1] |
| FEMA high-risk flood-zone screen | About 32% of vacant lots in Florida Highlands have their center point in a FEMA high-risk flood zone (effective maps dated August 28, 2008 to September 26, 2014). This is map screening, not a determination; check FEMA's Map Service Center for your parcel. |
| Springs BMAP small-lot screen | About 0% of located vacant lots in Florida Highlands are 1 acre or less and have their center point in an adopted Florida springs BMAP. |
Pricing
What is a lot in Florida Highlands worth?
In 2025, vacant lots in Florida Highlands sold for a median of $28,000 across 43 arm's-length sales; the middle half sold for $24,200 to $38,000. [1]
These are open-market sale prices. A direct cash offer is usually lower, because a cash buyer closes in days and takes on the time and cost of reselling the lot.
See what similar lots sold for
What moves the price in Florida Highlands
No clubhouse fund, and no road fund either
Next door, the Hills of Ocala MSTU has pooled a .18 millage rate from more than 5,100 property owners since a 1983 referendum. Florida Highlands owners never organized anything comparable: Marion County's list of municipal service taxing units and districts has nothing built around these plats. The upside is a lighter tax bill, limited to standard county and school levies. The downside shows up if owners ever want a shared amenity or a paving fund; there is none already collected, so a push for either would have to start from scratch through the county process rather than draw on an existing district. [4],[5]
Getting a street recognized takes a petition
Marion County's engineer's office puts out a step-by-step sheet for figuring out who looks after a given street and, separately, how an owner applies to have one paved or taken into the county system. Florida Highlands has no homeowners association or taxing district to fund that work collectively, so an individual owner or a small group of neighbors would be the one filing that application, not a board acting for the whole plat. Buyers should treat an unpaved or unmaintained frontage road as a cost item rather than assume the county will eventually take it over. [6]
A DEP rule, not a utility bill, sets septic cost
Because no water or sewer utility claims Florida Highlands as a service area, the practical question for a buyer is not which company to call but which DEP permit applies. DEP has handled Marion County's onsite-system permitting since July 1, 2025. Its Rainbow Springs Group basin plan, rewritten in June 2025, now requires nitrogen-reducing equipment for a new system on any lot size within its mapped corridor, a corridor Florida Highlands sits inside. That is a design requirement, not merely a paperwork step, and it changes the cost of a first septic install here. [7],[8]
An unusually uniform platted lot
Florida Highlands is one of the more tightly standardized plats in this part of the county. 1.25-acre homesites make up 91% of the 1,035 vacant lots counted, with a median size near 1.25 acres. The tax roll's median just value is $27,500, and its middle-50% range is $27,500–$27,500, a narrower spread than most comparable subdivisions, which reflects how evenly these sections were originally cut into lots. [1]
What these Dunnellon lots sold for in 2025
In 2025, 43 arm's-length, single-parcel vacant-lot sales closed in this scope at a median of $28,000; the middle half ran from $24,200–$38,000. That sale set includes lots that were vacant when sold and remained vacant on January 1, 2026. The assessed just-value median sits below the sale median, which is typical, because the tax roll is a valuation figure rather than a market price or a Parcel Buyers offer. [1]
Common situations
Selling land in Florida Highlands in these situations
You own a lot with no district fees at all
Yes, you can sell a Florida Highlands lot even though it carries none of the special district assessments some neighboring southwest Marion County subdivisions do. That absence does not mean the lot has no obligations: county and school property taxes still apply every year, and a buyer still has to confirm the road, septic and zoning status for the specific parcel before building. We check utilities, access and title on every lot before writing an offer, and the only contingency is our land inspection. [4]
You never built on the lot and have no plans to
Yes, you can sell even if you never intended to build. Most lots in this scope are 1.25-acre homesites at 91% of the total, and an empty lot can still have cash value even without a well or septic system already in place. We buy vacant land with no water, sewer or road work; our land inspection is the only contingency, and a failed inspection costs the seller nothing. [1]
You live out of state and have never seen the lot
Yes, plenty of Florida Highlands owners are in the same position. 27% of the vacant lots in this scope carry a mailing address outside Florida. A title company handles the paperwork end to end, electronic signature, closing, payment, so there is no need to fly down just to sell a lot you have never stood on. [1]
Your taxes on the lot have fallen behind
Yes, a past-due bill does not rule out a sale. Because Florida Highlands carries no district assessment, a delinquent notice here is just the county and school portion, which the Tax Collector turns into an auctioned certificate for whoever covers the unpaid amount. A holder who waits out a two-year redemption window without the owner paying up can then move toward a tax deed. Rather than untangle that process yourself, you can let us pay off liens or back taxes directly from your sale proceeds at closing. [10]
Step by step
How do I sell my land in Florida Highlands?
From your first message to money in hand, with nothing left out. Requesting an offer costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
See every detail of the process-
Tell us about your land
Fill out the short form (about 60 seconds) or email us. A land specialist reaches out to confirm the details, usually the same business day.
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Get your cash offer within 24 hours
We review the property and send a written, no-obligation cash offer within 24 hours. It is a real number, not a range. Take it or leave it, with no pressure either way.
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Sign electronically
If you accept, everyone signs the purchase agreement electronically. There is nothing to print or mail at this stage.
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We inspect, the title company verifies
Our team inspects the land and an independent title company runs a title search for liens or taxes owed. If the land does not pass inspection, you are never charged anything.
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Close and get paid
The title company prepares the closing documents for notarization and issues your funds by standard check, overnight check, or wire transfer. A typical sale closes in 10 days.
Questions
Selling land in Florida Highlands: common questions
Is Florida Highlands part of a city?
No. Florida Highlands is unincorporated Marion County land, all addressed Dunnellon. Growth Services and Building Safety, not the City of Dunnellon, handle zoning and building permits here, under the Florida Building Code, 8th edition.
Does Florida Highlands pay into a recreation or road district the way Rolling Hills does?
No. Rolling Hills and Hills of Ocala fund a recreation MSTU created by a 1983 owner referendum; Florida Highlands never organized an equivalent district. Only standard county and school property taxes apply here unless a specific parcel carries its own assessment.
Will a new septic system in Florida Highlands need special nitrogen treatment?
Possibly. Florida DEP's June 2025 update to the Rainbow Springs Group basin plan requires an enhanced nitrogen-reducing septic system on any lot size inside the mapped boundary, not just lots of 1 acre or less. Florida Highlands sits in the same southwest Marion corridor that plan covers, so check DEP's basin map for the specific parcel.
Can I get an unpaved Florida Highlands street paved or taken over by the county?
Possibly, but it takes a petition. With no district or association to fund the work here, Marion County's engineer's office puts the application process in a published guide for owners who want a street paved or formally accepted for maintenance. Without that step, an unpaved road generally stays the status it already has.
Can I sell my Florida Highlands lot if I live in another state?
Yes. 27% of the vacant lots in this scope are tied to an owner outside Florida, and nothing about this plat's lack of a district or HOA changes that process. A title company can close the sale by mail while you stay where you are.
Owner resources
Guides for your situation
- How to Sell Land During a Divorce
Florida land can be sold during a divorce when the people with authority to convey title sign and the sale follows every applicable agreement and court order. Divorce law may treat land as marital even when only one spouse appears on the deed.[1][2] If ownership, signing authority, or the division of proceeds is unsettled, have a Florida attorney and the closing title company resolve those issues before closing.
- Can You Sell Land With a Lien?
Yes. Land with a lien can often be sold, but signing a deed does not by itself erase a valid claim. The lien may need to be paid, released, discharged, or otherwise resolved under the law that applies. With the seller's consent, an approved payoff can come from sale proceeds at closing. If the balance or lien is wrong, dispute it before closing and require proof of the cure.
- Can You Sell Land With Back Taxes in Florida?
Yes. Florida land with back property taxes can often be sold if closing can redeem the tax lien before the tax-deed cutoff. With the seller's consent, the title company can use sale proceeds for the approved payoff. Move quickly: taxes generally become delinquent April 1,[1][2] and redemption ends once a tax-deed buyer makes full payment to the clerk.[4][7]
More places in Marion County
Your written offer
Get your cash offer
Four short steps, about 60 seconds. We review your property and send a written, no-obligation cash offer within 24 hours. You can take it or leave it.
What happens after you send this
- A land specialist reaches out, usually the same business day, to confirm the details.
- You get a written cash offer within 24 hours: a real number, not a range.
- You decide. Requesting an offer costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
You will never be asked to pay us anything. No deposit, no processing fee, no closing-cost advance.
Nearby areas we buy
- Rolling Hills
2,028 vacant lots · 2025 median lot sale $56,500
- Dunnellon
15,545 vacant lots · 2025 median lot sale $22,500
- Marion County
78,524 vacant lots countywide
How we made this page
Parcel Buyers is a land-buying company based in Florida. We buy vacant land directly from owners and publish these local pages so owners can see what land in their area is doing before they sell, to us or anyone else. We count the tax-roll figures ourselves from state data, take local rules and fees from the official sources listed below, and use AI tools to help research and draft the text. Every number links to its source, and we update the page when the data changes.
Method and sources
Tax-roll figures cover the Marion County parcel-ID plat prefixes verified as the Florida Highlands plat sections in southwest Marion County, all addressed Dunnellon. Source [1] is our own count of the Florida Department of Revenue's 2026 final property tax roll: "vacant residential" means land-use code 000; lot sizes use the land square footage on the roll; values are the county property appraiser's just (market) value as of January 1, 2026; sale prices count only arm's-length sales of a single lot that was vacant when it sold and was still vacant on January 1, 2026 (bulk and multi-parcel deeds removed). Page updated October 30, 2026. Holding-cost estimates use 2025 taxable values and 2025 millage for FDOR vacant-residential code 000 parcels. They cover ad valorem taxes only, not a parcel-specific bill or non-ad valorem assessments. The reviewed 2026 recorded-sale window runs from January through October 2026; unreviewed recent sales are excluded. Flood and springs-BMAP figures screen tax-roll parcel center points, not parcel boundaries. They are aggregate map screens, not flood-zone, insurance, buildability, elevation, septic, or permitting determinations.
- [1] Florida Department of Revenue (data); Parcel Buyers (analysis), Parcel Buyers analysis of the 2026 final Name-Address-Legal (NAL) property tax roll (accessed 2026-10-03)
- [2] Marion County Growth Services, Land Development Code (accessed 2026-10-30)
- [3] Marion County Building Safety, Building Safety (accessed 2026-10-30)
- [4] Marion County, Municipal Services (accessed 2026-10-30)
- [5] Marion County Municipal Services, About Hills of Ocala (accessed 2026-10-30)
- [6] Marion County Office of the County Engineer, Do you know how the road that leads to your driveway is maintained? (accessed 2026-10-30)
- [7] Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Onsite Sewage FAQ: Permitting (accessed 2026-10-30)
- [8] Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Final Silver Springs and Upper Silver River and Rainbow Springs Group and Rainbow River Basin Management Action Plan, June 2025 (accessed 2026-10-30)
- [9] Southwest Florida Water Management District, Halpata Tastanaki Preserve (accessed 2026-10-30)
- [10] Marion County Tax Collector, Tax Certificate & Deed Sales (accessed 2026-10-30)