Florida Save Our Homes portability in 2026: the $500,000 transfer, the 3-year window, and the math

Last updated: July 2026

If you own a homesteaded home in Florida and you are thinking about selling, Save Our Homes portability is the single biggest tax lever most owners never model. Here is the short version. Save Our Homes caps the annual increase in your homestead's assessed value at 3 percent or the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower [1]. Over a decade of Miami appreciation, that cap opens a wide gap between your home's market value and its assessed value. Portability lets you transfer that gap, up to a statutory maximum of $500,000, to your next Florida homestead [1][2]. You have three tax years from the year you abandon your old homestead to establish the new one, a window voters extended from two years when Amendment 5 passed in November 2020 with 74.49 percent approval [5]. You claim the transfer by filing Form DR-501T alongside your new homestead application, with a March 1 deadline [4]. The math works differently depending on whether you buy up or buy down, and getting it wrong on a seven-figure Miami move can cost real money every year. Here is how to underwrite it.

What portability actually transfers

A common misunderstanding is that portability moves your tax bill or your exemption. It does neither. What transfers is the assessment difference, meaning the gap between your old home's just (market) value and its capped assessed value as determined by the property appraiser.

Say you bought a Coral Gables home years ago and the market has run well ahead of the 3 percent cap. Your assessed value now sits far below what the county says the home is worth. That spread is your Save Our Homes benefit. When you sell and buy again in Florida, portability lets you carry that spread to the new property, so your new assessed value starts below market from day one instead of resetting to full market value.

The mechanics live in Florida Statute 193.155(8), which allows the reduction from just value on the new homestead but caps the transferable amount at $500,000 [1]. Miami-Dade's Property Appraiser applies the same rule locally: you can port the difference between assessed and market value from the prior homestead, up to $500,000 [2].

Two framing points for anyone underwriting a move:

The benefit compounds. Whatever assessment difference you port keeps benefiting from the 3 percent cap going forward, so the earlier you protect it, the more it is worth over a long hold.
The benefit dies if you miss the window. Fail to establish the new homestead within three tax years and the accumulated difference is gone. You start over at full assessed value.

The three-year window after Amendment 5

Before 2021, owners had what was effectively a two-year window, and sellers who closed late in a calendar year could lose most of it, since the clock runs on tax years rather than months. Amendment 5, approved by Florida voters on November 3, 2020, extended the transfer period from two years to three [5]. The statute now covers anyone who received a homestead exemption as of January 1 of any of the three years immediately preceding the year they establish the new homestead [1].

Practical translation for a Miami seller: if your last year with the old homestead exemption was the 2026 tax roll, you generally need the new homestead established by January 1, 2029 to port the benefit. Renting for a year or two between homes no longer automatically forfeits it, which changes the calculus for sellers who want to exit at a strong price and buy patiently. If you are weighing that kind of sequenced move, a current read on what your home would command is the first input. You can start with a listing valuation and work the timeline backward from there.

One caution: the window is measured in tax roll years, not 36 months from closing. Selling in January versus December of the same year yields the same deadline. Confirm your specific dates with the property appraiser before you commit to a long gap between homes.

Upsizing vs downsizing: the math is not symmetric

This is where owners most often misjudge the benefit. The formula changes direction depending on whether the new home's market value is higher or lower than the old one's.

Upsizing: the full difference moves

If you buy a home with a higher market value, the entire assessment difference transfers, subject to the $500,000 cap. Miami-Dade's published example: a prior home with a $250,000 market value and a $100,000 Save Our Homes difference, moving to a $400,000 home. The full $100,000 ports, and the new home is assessed at $300,000 instead of $400,000 [3].

Downsizing: the difference shrinks proportionally

If you buy down, you do not keep the full dollar amount. The new assessed value is set by ratio: prior assessed value divided by prior market value, applied to the new home's market value. In the same Miami-Dade example, moving from the $250,000 home (assessed at $150,000) to a $150,000 home produces a new assessed value of $90,000, calculated as 150,000 divided by 250,000, times 150,000 [3]. The ported benefit falls from $100,000 to $60,000. You keep the same percentage discount, not the same dollar discount.

A Miami-scale illustration

Applying that same statutory formula to numbers closer to this market, and treating these as arithmetic illustrations rather than appraisals: an owner whose longtime homestead carries a $2,000,000 just value and a $1,200,000 assessed value holds an $800,000 difference, but can port only the $500,000 maximum [1]. Buying up to a $3,000,000 home, the new assessed value starts at $2,500,000. Buying down to a $1,000,000 condo, the proportional rule applies first: the 60 percent assessed-to-market ratio carries over, producing a $600,000 assessed value, a $400,000 benefit, under the cap. Downsizers with large accumulated benefits should run this ratio before assuming they keep everything.

For sellers, this asymmetry is a genuine strategy input. Upsizing preserves the full benefit up to the cap. Downsizing trims it. Either way, the benefit only survives if the paperwork lands on time, which is worth building into your sale plan alongside pricing and timing. That is a conversation we have early in any listing engagement.

Deadlines and the DR-501T form

Portability is not automatic. Two filings matter:

The homestead exemption application (Form DR-501) for the new property.
The Transfer of Homestead Assessment Difference (Form DR-501T), which is the portability application itself.

The state form instructs applicants to file the DR-501T with the property appraiser by March 1 of the year they are claiming the transfer [4]. Both forms go to the property appraiser in the county where the new homestead sits, even if the old home was in a different Florida county. Portability works across county lines statewide.

Miss March 1 and you generally wait a full tax year for the benefit to begin, which on a large ported difference is a meaningful carrying-cost error. If you close on a new home late in the year, calendar the filing immediately rather than leaving it for tax season.

Miami-Dade specifics

A few points particular to filing in Miami-Dade County, per the Property Appraiser [2]:

Filing channels. Applications can be submitted through the online portal, by email, or in person at the appraiser's offices, including by appointment.
Establishment window. The office applies the statewide rule: the new homestead must be established within three assessment years after abandoning the previous one.
Joint owners. Where multiple people held the prior exemption, all recipients must abandon the previous homestead for the benefit to move, and the benefit is distributed according to ownership shares.
Divorce situations. Spouses splitting a jointly titled homestead can file Form DR-501TS to designate each party's share of the abandoned homestead's benefit.
Two prior homesteads. If you are combining households from two previous homesteads, the higher of the two assessment differences is the one eligible to transfer.

If you are moving within the county, say from Coconut Grove to Key Biscayne, the same office handles both ends, which simplifies verification of your prior assessment difference. Cross-county moves take longer to process because the two appraisers exchange records, so file early.

Frequently asked questions

How much Save Our Homes benefit can I transfer in 2026?

Up to $500,000 of the difference between your prior homestead's market value and its assessed value. That cap is set by Florida Statute 193.155 and applied by the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser [1][2]. If your accumulated difference exceeds $500,000, the excess does not transfer.

How long do I have to use portability after selling?

You must establish the new homestead within three tax years of abandoning the old one, counted by tax roll years rather than months [1][2]. The window was two years until voters approved Amendment 5 in 2020 [5]. Confirm your exact deadline with the property appraiser, since a late-year sale and an early-year sale in the same calendar year share the same clock.

Do I lose part of my benefit if I downsize?

You keep the same proportional discount, not the same dollar amount. The new assessed value equals the new home's market value multiplied by your prior assessed-to-market ratio [3]. Buying down therefore shrinks the dollar benefit, while buying up preserves it in full up to the cap.

Can I port my benefit to a different Florida county?

Yes. Portability applies statewide, and you file both the DR-501 and DR-501T with the property appraiser in the new county by March 1 [4]. You cannot port a benefit into or out of Florida.

Does portability transfer my tax bill or my exemption amount?

Neither. It transfers the assessment difference only. Your new tax bill still depends on the new home's market value, the millage rates where it sits, and your exemptions. For how the underlying homestead exemption works, see the rest of the blog.

Gabriel

Sources

Gabriel A. Moyers, PA. eXp Realty. Florida License #3407280. Equal Housing Opportunity. This article is general information as of July 2026 and is not legal, tax, or financial advice. Verify current figures against authoritative sources before acting.