Educational information only — not tax or legal advice. Property tax rules vary by county and change over time. Always confirm specifics with your county property appraiser or a qualified Florida tax professional.
The law that keeps your tax bill tethered to reality.
A home with a market value of $650,000 can be taxed as if it's worth $410,000 — sometimes less. That gap is real, it's legal, and it's the reason long-time Florida homeowners pay a fraction of what their newest neighbors pay on identical houses. It's called Save Our Homes.
What Save Our Homes actually does.
Florida property taxes are calculated on a property's assessed value, not its market value. For homes that qualify for the homestead exemption, Save Our Homes (SOH) limits how fast that assessed value can climb each year — even as market values rise dramatically around them.
Save Our Homes caps your property's annual assessed-value increase at 3% or the change in CPI, whichever is lower — for as long as the home remains your primary Florida residence.
The cap was added to the Florida Constitution by voters in 1992 and took effect in 1995. Three decades later, it's the single largest property-tax benefit available to Florida homeowners, and the reason your neighbor — same street, same model — might pay $4,200 a year in taxes while you pay $9,800 on a house you bought last spring.
Three kinds of Floridians come out ahead.
Long-time Florida homeowners
The longer you've held a homesteaded property, the wider the gap grows between your assessed value and what the home would actually sell for. A home owned and homesteaded since 2010 can carry hundreds of thousands of dollars in protected, untaxed equity.
Floridians moving within the state
Selling your homesteaded house doesn't mean starting over. Through portability, you can transfer up to $500,000 of your accumulated SOH benefit to your next Florida home — preserving years of tax savings as long as you re-establish homestead within three calendar years.
Out-of-state buyers becoming primary residents
New to Florida? You don't inherit the previous owner's cap — but you start your own clock the year after you file homestead. Buy in November, file by March 1, and your cap protection begins the very next tax year. The compounding starts immediately.
The mechanics, in four steps.
You buy a Florida home and make it your primary residence.
"Primary residence" has a specific legal meaning here: you own the property as of January 1 of the tax year, and you live in it as your permanent home. Vacation homes, rentals, and second homes do not qualify for SOH protection — they fall under a separate 10% non-homestead cap, which is materially weaker.
You file for the homestead exemption by March 1.
You apply once, with your county property appraiser. The exemption itself shaves up to $50,000 off your taxable value (some applies to school taxes; some doesn't), and an additional inflation-adjusted exemption stacks on top — for the 2026 tax year, that additional amount is roughly $26,400. Both savings are immediate. The SOH cap, however, activates the year after homestead is granted.
The cap takes effect, and the divergence begins.
From the second year forward, your assessed value can rise no more than 3% — or the annual change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is smaller. Even in years when Florida real estate jumps 15% or 20% (and recently, it has), your taxable basis is insulated. The "Save Our Homes differential" is the dollar gap between your home's actual market value and its capped assessed value. It grows year over year.
When you move within Florida, you take it with you.
This is portability — and it's the most underused provision in Florida tax law. Sell your homesteaded home, buy another in Florida, and you can transfer up to $500,000 of your accumulated SOH differential to the new property. If you upsize, you carry the full benefit. If you downsize, you carry a proportional share. You have three calendar years from abandoning the old homestead to establish the new one and keep the savings alive.
See what Save Our Homes is worth to your situation.
Two scenarios. Toggle between them. Numbers update live. These are estimates for illustration — actual savings depend on your county's millage rate and the CPI that lands each year.
$0 in cumulative tax savings
Illustrative only. Not a guarantee of savings or tax outcome. Estimates assume the SOH cap hits the full 3% each year and uses the universal $25,000 homestead exemption (the additional $25,000 exemption does not apply to school taxes, so this approach is conservative). Actual cap is whichever is lower of 3% or CPI; the 2026 cap is 2.7%. Millage rates vary by county, city, and special districts. Not a substitute for a property appraiser's analysis.
Where Save Our Homes doesn't save you.
Plenty of guides oversell the cap. We'd rather tell you the catches up front, because you'll run into them anyway.
Buying a long-held home means starting fresh.
When a homesteaded property is sold, the cap resets. The new owner is reassessed at full market value the following January. If the previous owner had been homesteaded for 15 years, your first tax bill could be 2–3× theirs — even though nothing about the house changed. Plan for it.
Assessed value can rise even when market value falls.
If your assessed value sits below market value (which is the whole point of SOH), the cap still allows the assessed value to climb up to 3% the next year — even in a year when the market drops. The law lets your taxable basis "catch up" toward market value during downturns.
If it's not your primary home, the cap goes away.
Move out and rent the place? Homestead is removed, and so is the SOH cap. The 10% non-homestead cap takes over — better than nothing, but a steep step up. Same logic applies to second homes, vacation rentals, and properties held in certain non-qualifying entities.
Additions are added to your taxable value at full value.
Build a pool, add a master suite, enclose a lanai — those improvements get added to your assessed value at their full just value, on top of the capped base. Routine maintenance doesn't trigger this. Anything that requires a permit and adds square footage usually does.
Adding someone to the deed can reset the cap.
Section 193.155(3) of the Florida Statutes treats a change of ownership as a triggering event. Adding an adult child to your deed, restructuring into certain trusts, or even some marital transfers can reset the assessed value to full market value the following January. Talk to an attorney before you re-title.
Portability stops at the Florida border.
If you sell a Florida homestead and move out of state, the accumulated SOH benefit doesn't follow you. It expires when homestead is abandoned. This is one reason so many Floridians who relocate within the state stay loyal to their accumulated savings.
Want a clear picture of what you'd actually pay on the home you're considering?
A focused conversation with one of our agents covers purchase price, homestead timing, and tax exposure in a single sitting. No pressure. Bring questions.
This page is educational and is not tax, legal, or financial advice. Property tax law varies by county and changes over time. Always confirm current homestead exemption amounts, millage rates, and portability rules with your county property appraiser or a qualified Florida tax professional before making decisions. Paradise Realty FLA agents can help connect you with the right specialists.
Sources: Cap rates, CPI history, and portability rules per the Florida Department of Revenue (floridarevenue.com) and Florida Statute 193.155. Homestead exemption amounts per Florida Statute 196.031. County property appraiser sites consulted for clarification on assessment mechanics and the 10% non-homestead cap.