One of the most important things you can do as a homeowner is to take advantage of the benefits you are able to receive from owning your own home. Today I will be writing about what homestead exemption is and how you can actually transfer it to your next home.

First, let’s talk about what homestead exemption is. If you currently own the home you are living in here in Florida, then you qualify! The taxes you pay for your home are based on the assessed value. Having the homestead exemption gives you a $25,000 exemption that is applied to the first $50,000 of your primary residence’s assessed value. Keep in mind, this is something you do have to apply for with your local property appraiser’s office one time. You will need to apply before March 1^st, to receive this exemption.

As we all know, taxes and insurance can vary over the years. Thankfully, in 1995 the Save Our Homes Assessment Limitation was created. This limits the annual increase in the assessed value of your home to 3% OR the change in the National Consumer Price Index. whichever is less. This is why people who have lived in their home for a long period of time, generally pay less in taxes.

So what happens if you want to move to another home here in Florida? Don’t worry… because the Save our Homes Assessment allows you to transfer this benefit to your next home! You may transfer the difference between the assessed and market values from your previous homestead to your current homestead. Either the full amount or a percentage can be transferred, depending on the value of the new property because there is a maximum amount of $500,000.

Again, this is something you have to apply for, so don’t forget to do so before March 1^st. To apply you’ll want to go to your local property appraiser’s office and fill out the appropriate forms. Most counties have two of them.

I know this is a lot to take in, so feel free to check out some article links: Duval Property Appraiser,  Florida DOR, Save our Homes and Tax Estimator.

Of course, if you have additional questions about this topic or any other real estate related matter, feel free to reach out to me directly.

Published on August 17. 2022 / Tags: Buying and Selling homes, Florida Homestead exemption portability / no comments.