Mo Mufti, REALTOR® LPT Realty, LLC FL Lic. SL3600299
FLORIDA · SAVE OUR HOMES · PORTABILITY
Moving from one Florida homestead to another, whether into The Villages or out of it, you can carry up to $500,000 of Save Our Homes savings to the new home. It isn’t automatic, and the three-year clock runs from January 1 of the year you leave, not from the sale date.
The short version: Section 193.155(8), Florida Statutes, lets an owner who had a Florida homestead exemption on January 1 of any of the three preceding years move the old home’s Save Our Homes benefit (just value minus assessed value) to a new Florida homestead, up to $500,000. Moving to a home with an equal or higher just value, the whole benefit comes off, up to $500,000; moving to a lower-value home, it shrinks in proportion. File Form DR-501T with homestead application DR-501 at the property appraiser in the new home’s county, by March 1.
Starting the year after a home first receives the homestead exemption, Save Our Homes limits each year’s increase in its assessed value to 3% or the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is less. The gap that builds between just (market) value and assessed value is your benefit. The Department of Revenue says the exemption itself is not transferable, but all or part of that assessment difference may be “ported” to a new Florida homestead.
The benefit follows the owner, not the house: after a sale, the home is assessed at just value as of the next January 1. Lake County’s property appraiser illustrates the portable amount with a $250,000 just value and a $150,000 assessed value, which leaves $100,000 to port. Estimate taxes at a purchase price →
The formulas use the property appraisers’ just values, their market-value estimates as of January 1: the old home’s for the year you left it, and the new home’s for its first homestead year.
| Your move | Rule in s. 193.155(8) | Illustration: old home $520,000 just value, $310,000 assessed, so a $210,000 benefit |
|---|---|---|
| New home’s just value is equal or higher | New assessed value = new just value minus the old benefit, capped at $500,000 | New home at $575,000: $575,000 − $210,000 = $365,000 assessed |
| New home’s just value is lower | New assessed value = new just value ÷ old just value × old assessed value, with the gap capped at $500,000 | New home at $390,000: $390,000 ÷ $520,000 × $310,000 = $232,500 assessed, so $157,500 carries over |
| Benefit above the cap | Only $500,000 can transfer | Old home $1,300,000 just, $650,000 assessed, moving to a $1,400,000 home: $900,000 assessed |
Illustration only. The county property appraiser calculates the real figure, and exemptions then come off the assessed value to reach taxable value. Downsizing scales the benefit rather than forfeiting it: in the example, a home with 75% of the old just value keeps 75% of the old benefit. Planning a downsize →
The Department of Revenue says the new homestead must be established within three years of January 1 of the year you abandoned the old one, “not three years after the sale.” Lake County’s FAQ puts it more simply: you may go only two tax years without a homestead exemption.
| Old home last had the exemption | January 1, 2026 (say it sold that spring) |
|---|---|
| Tax years you can skip | 2027 and 2028 |
| Latest new homestead | Own and live in the new home by January 1, 2029, then file by March 1, 2029 |
A faster timeline: close in late 2026, make the home your permanent residence by January 1, 2027, and file both forms by March 1, 2027. The window used to be two years. The 2020 statutes said “either of the 2 immediately preceding years”; chapter 2020-175, tied to a November 2020 constitutional amendment, changed it, and the 2021 statutes read “any of the 3.”
File in the county where the new home is. The Villages’ community development districts sit in Sumter, Lake and Marion counties, so confirm the county on the parcel record. Homestead filing basics →
| County | How portability is filed | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Sumter | The online homestead application can include the Transfer of Assessment Difference, or file at the Bushnell (218 E. McCollum Ave.) or Wildwood (7375 Powell Rd.) office. | Online filing works only once the appraiser’s records show the property in your name. Allow the office 60 days from closing to process the deed, and file in person if March 1 is close. 352-569-6800. |
| Lake | Include DR-501T with your homestead application, filed online, by mail or in person. | Homestead doesn’t transfer automatically, even within Lake. Owners who move in after January 1 are encouraged to pre-file for the next year. 352-253-2150. |
| Marion | The exemption e-file asks for portability details automatically if you qualify. | Its tax estimator has a portability column. The 2026 deadline was posted as Monday, March 2. 352-368-8300. |
File with the Sumter, Lake or Marion appraiser that covers the Villages parcel; that office requests the certificate from your old county. Moving within The Villages needs a new homestead application too; Lake County’s appraiser says the exemption does not transfer automatically, even within the county.
To port, the old home must stop receiving its exemption, even if you still own it. Losing homestead triggers a reassessment of the old home and removes its Save Our Homes benefit, which can raise that home’s tax bill.
The same process in reverse: file in the new Florida county, and that appraiser asks the Sumter, Lake or Marion office for your numbers.
When two people who each had a separate Florida homestead set up one new home, the reduction is limited to the higher of their two benefits, still capped at $500,000 (s. 193.155(8)(c)). Co-owners moving together from the same homestead use the normal formula.
You can still file and petition the value adjustment board up to the 25th day after the August notices are mailed, with a $15 nonrefundable fee, and the transfer may be granted for extenuating circumstances. If you skip your first eligible year entirely, you can file later, but the reduction starts only in the year it is approved, with no refunds.
Separately, chapter 2026-239 changed the formulas to compare against the “prior homestead” instead of the “immediate prior homestead,” starting with the 2027 tax roll. If you have had more than one Florida homestead in three years, ask the appraiser how that applies.
COMMON QUESTIONS
No. File Form DR-501T with your homestead application, Form DR-501, at the new home’s county property appraiser by March 1. The homestead exemption itself never transfers.
You can go two tax years without a homestead. If the old home last had the exemption on January 1, 2026, the new home must qualify by January 1, 2029.
The benefit shrinks in proportion to the two just values, so a home worth 75% as much keeps 75% of the benefit.
No. You give up its homestead exemption, not the property, but losing homestead triggers a reassessment of the old home.
No. Portability applies only to a Florida homestead exemption held within the past three years. Coming from another state, the Save Our Homes cap starts after your first Florida homestead year.
Mo will pull the just and assessed values for both parcels, sketch the portability math with you, and plan the two closings around the January 1 and March 1 dates. The county property appraiser makes the final determination.
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Mo Mufti, REALTOR® · LPT Realty, LLC · 352-298-8602
Checked October 12, 2026. Forms, deadlines and county procedures change, so confirm the current version with the county property appraiser before relying on a number.
Important: General real estate information only—not legal, tax, insurance, title, engineering, or financial advice. Mo Mufti is a Florida REALTOR® (license SL3600299) with LPT Realty, LLC, not an attorney, CPA, insurance agent, or inspector. The county property appraiser decides every portability application. Use qualified Florida professionals for your situation.
More Florida costs & rules: Homestead exemption · Property-tax estimator · Florida residency checklist · Downsizing in The Villages · Moving to The Villages · Capital gains when selling · Answers hub