For buyers
The seller's tax bill is not your tax bill
This is the most common unpleasant surprise in Florida real estate, and it is entirely predictable. The taxes shown on a listing are what the current owner pays. After you buy, the assessment resets — and on a long-held home the difference can be thousands of dollars a year.
Updated 2026-09-26
Why the seller pays so little
Florida's Save Our Homes provision caps how fast the assessed value of a homesteaded property can rise: 3% a year or the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower.
Over a long ownership, market value climbs while assessed value crawls. An owner who bought twenty years ago may be assessed at a fraction of what the house is actually worth — and their tax bill reflects that fraction, not the price you are paying.
What happens when you buy
The cap belongs to the owner, not to the house. When the property changes hands, the accumulated benefit is removed and the property is reassessed at just value as of the following January 1.
Your first full tax year is therefore based on something much closer to what you paid, not on what the previous owner was assessed at. Budget from that number, not from the listing.
The Miami-Dade Property Appraiser publishes an estimator for exactly this purpose, and it is worth running before you write an offer rather than after.
If it is not your primary residence
Non-homestead property — rentals, second homes, investment property — is capped too, but at 10% a year on non-school taxable value, and it does not receive the homestead exemption.
That is a meaningfully weaker protection than Save Our Homes, and it is one of the reasons a naive rental cap-rate calculation based on the seller's tax bill overstates the return. Underwrite on the reset number.
Homestead exemption and portability
If the home will be your permanent residence, file for homestead exemption with the Property Appraiser. It reduces taxable value and, more importantly, starts the Save Our Homes cap running for you.
If you are selling one Florida homestead and buying another, portability lets you carry accumulated Save Our Homes savings to the new property, up to $500,000 of benefit. It is not automatic — it has to be applied for, and there are deadlines.
Miami-Dade homeowners move within the county constantly and a surprising number leave portability on the table. If you have owned your current home a long time, it is worth asking about before you list.
The practical version
Before you make an offer: look up the property on the Property Appraiser site, note the just value against the assessed value, and assume your assessment lands near your purchase price.
Then add insurance — which in Florida is often the larger surprise of the two — and you have a realistic monthly payment rather than an optimistic one.
Common questions
Will my property taxes go up after I buy a house in Florida?
Usually, yes. The previous owner's Save Our Homes cap does not transfer with the property. It is reassessed at just value the January 1 after the sale, so your bill is based on something close to what you paid rather than on the seller's assessment.
What is the Save Our Homes cap?
A Florida provision limiting annual increases in the assessed value of homesteaded property to 3% or the change in CPI, whichever is lower. It applies only while the homestead exemption is in place for that owner.
Is there a cap on investment property in Florida?
Yes, non-homestead property is capped at 10% a year on non-school taxable value. It is a weaker protection than Save Our Homes and carries no homestead exemption.
What is portability and how much can I transfer?
Portability lets a Florida homeowner transfer accumulated Save Our Homes savings from one homestead to the next, up to $500,000 of benefit. It must be applied for with the Property Appraiser and is subject to deadlines.
Want the real monthly number before you offer?
Tell me the property you are considering and I will work out the likely reset assessment, the insurance range for its roof and construction, and what the payment actually looks like.
Related
General information, not tax or legal advice. Exemptions, caps and deadlines are administered by the Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser — verify your specific situation with them or with a Florida tax professional.