Taxes & Savings

Don't Leave Your Tax Savings Behind: How Save Our Homes Portability Works

If you've owned your Florida home a while, there's a good chance you're paying property taxes on an assessed value well below what the home is actually worth today — thanks to a benefit called Save Our Homes. The good news: when you sell and buy another Florida home, you don't have to leave that benefit behind. It can move with you. Here's how.

What Save Our Homes Actually Does

Once a home is homesteaded, Florida caps how much its assessed value can increase each year — the lower of 3% or the inflation rate (CPI) — even if the actual market value climbs much faster. Over years of ownership, that gap between market value and assessed value can add up to a meaningful, ongoing tax discount.

What Happens When You Sell

That accumulated gap doesn't automatically transfer to whoever buys your old home — their taxes reset based on the sale price. But it also doesn't just disappear for you. Through portability, you can transfer that accumulated savings to a new Florida homestead, reducing what you'd otherwise pay on the next home.

The Key Numbers

Up to $500,000 of accumulated savings can be ported to your new home
You have until January 1 of the third year after leaving your old homestead to establish a new one and claim portability
You file Form DR-501T along with your new homestead exemption application, by March 1 of the year you're claiming it

Upsizing vs. Downsizing Changes the Math

If your new home's market value is equal to or higher than your old home's, you can generally transfer your full accumulated savings (up to the $500,000 cap). If you're downsizing to a less expensive home, you only carry over a proportional share — roughly the same percentage discount your old home had, applied to the new home's value, not the full dollar amount.

Getting It Right

Portability isn't automatic — it has to be filed, and every county's property appraiser can give you an estimate of exactly how much you've accumulated before you commit to a purchase price. That's worth doing early in the process, not as an afterthought after closing. If your move involves Brevard County, the Brevard County Property Appraiser's portability page (opens in a new tab) walks through the process and required forms directly.