Florida Portability & Homesteading Tax Benefits

If you are thinking about moving to Florida or you’re already here and thinking about moving within Florida you need to know about Portability. Sometimes people who have been here all their life forget about it. You need to know about it because the tax savings are critical.  I was interviewed by the Palm Beach Post on the matter.  Here is that article. There are additional exemptions and savings like if you own a Granny Flat!  Also, you need to be aware of things that could cancel out your homestead along with portability by accident.  Here is how to find out your portability savings….

1. Go to property search.
2. Look up your home.
3. See Exemption Banner about halfway down
4. On the far right, see Portablitly Calculator
5. Fill in the sales value of the home you are purchasing
6. Hit calculate and Voilà – Out comes your portability value with taxable benefit.

However keep the following in mind if you are renting your home out as you could lose your homestead and portability according to the appraisers office.

You may rent your homesteaded property for 30 days or less per calendar year and maintain a homestead exemption. Rental for more than 30 days for two consecutive years or for more than six months constitutes abandonment of a homestead exemption.

Exempt property rented after January 1 of any year does not affect the homestead exemption for that particular year. If the property is rented on January 1 of the following year or the terms of the lease are six months or more the exemption will be denied.

You can read more about Homestead, Closing, and Tax Costs Here.

Jeff Lichtenstein, originally from Chicago, got his start in the home furnishings textile business where he traveled over 35 weeks a year selling fabrics. After the family business was sold, Jeff moved to Florida and became a real estate agent. Today he is the owner and broker of Echo Fine Properties, a luxury residential brokerage voted best brokerage of the year. Jeff manages a non-traditional model of real estate that mimics a traditional business model. Echo has 80 agents, an average of one million dollars per transaction and over 500 million in annual sales. Between traveling for work and annual family trips to national parks with his wife and 2 now adult children, Jeff has visited 49 states. He is also one of the few Chicago White Sox fans you’ll ever meet.  Some publications he has been quoted in.

Author of business & leadership book How Making a Sandwich Can Change Your World –  The Amazing Success of the PB&J Strategy – Available to Buy Now!

Feel free to ask him a question directly at jeff@EchoFineProperties.com including a complementary  valuation of your home.