Florida's Save Our Homes Portability: What Fort Lauderdale Sellers Need to Know Before You Move

What Is Florida's Save Our Homes Portability — and Why Does It Matter to Fort Lauderdale Sellers?

Florida's Save Our Homes law caps annual property tax assessment increases at 3% for homesteaded properties. Over time, this creates a significant gap between your home's market value and the assessed value you're actually taxed on. When you sell and buy another home in Florida, portability lets you carry up to $500,000 of that accumulated tax benefit to your new homestead — protecting savings you've spent years building.

You must apply for portability by March 1 of the year following your new home purchase. The transfer window is three tax years from January 1 of the year you abandoned your previous homestead. Miss the deadline and you lose the benefit entirely.

By Scott Morreau | May 14, 2026

If you've owned your Fort Lauderdale home for 10, 15, or 20 years, you're sitting on more than equity. You're sitting on a property tax advantage that many sellers don't realize they can take with them.

Florida's Save Our Homes provision has been quietly shaving thousands of dollars a year off your tax bill — possibly for decades. The gap between what your home is worth on the open market and what you're taxed on can be enormous. In Fort Lauderdale, where values have climbed sharply since the early 2000s, some long-time homeowners are paying taxes on an assessed value $100,000 to $400,000 below their actual market value.

When you sell, that benefit doesn't have to disappear. That's what portability is for.

Here's what you need to understand before you list.

What Save Our Homes Is Actually Doing For You

Florida law limits annual increases in the assessed value of your homestead property to 3% or the rate of inflation — whichever is lower. In years when the market runs hot, and Fort Lauderdale has had plenty of those, that cap creates a growing gap between market value and assessed value.

Think of it as your "SOH cushion." That cushion directly reduces your property tax bill every year.

In Broward County, the combined millage rate (county, city, and school district) typically runs between 20 and 24 mills depending on your municipality. Every $100,000 of assessment gap translates to roughly $2,000–$2,400 in annual tax savings.

So if your home is worth $1.2M today but your assessed value is $800,000 — a $400,000 gap — you're saving somewhere in the range of $8,000 to $9,600 every year compared to a neighbor who just bought the same house. That's real money. And portability lets you take it with you.

How Portability Works — The Mechanics Matter

When you sell your Fort Lauderdale home and buy another Florida property as your primary residence, you can transfer your accumulated SOH benefit — up to a maximum of $500,000 — to the new homestead. Here's how the math works depending on whether you're upsizing or downsizing.

If you're upsizing (buying a higher-priced home):
You can transfer 100% of your accumulated benefit, up to the $500,000 cap. If you had $300,000 in accumulated savings on your old home, you transfer all $300,000 to the new one.

If you're downsizing (buying a less expensive home):
Your transferable benefit gets prorated based on the ratio of your new home's value to your old home's value.

Example: Your previous home had a market value of $1,000,000 and an assessed value of $650,000. Your SOH benefit is $350,000. You sell and buy a $650,000 home.

• Ratio: $650,000 (new) ÷ $1,000,000 (old) = 65%
• Transferable benefit: 65% × $350,000 = $227,500
• Your new home's assessed value starts at $650,000 − $227,500 = $422,500

The cap: The maximum you can ever transfer is $500,000 in benefit, regardless of how much you've accumulated. If you've been homesteaded in Coral Ridge or Victoria Park since 1998 and your benefit has grown beyond that threshold, you can only port the first $500,000.

The Rules That Can Trip You Up

Portability sounds simple, but the mechanics include hard deadlines that sellers sometimes miss.

The three-year window. From January 1 of the year you abandoned your old homestead — the year you sold — you have three tax years to establish a new homestead and apply for portability. Miss that window, and the benefit is gone.

Here's the catch: sell late in the year and that window compresses. If you close your sale in October 2026, your clock starts from January 1, 2026 — which means you only have until December 31, 2028 to establish and apply for the new homestead. That's just over two years in practice, not three, if you're not paying attention.

The March 1 deadline. Once you buy your new home, you must file for both homestead exemption and portability by March 1 of the following year. Miss it and you wait another full tax year — or lose the benefit entirely if your three-year window has expired.

Joint ownership. If both spouses are on the deed of the old home, both must legally abandon that homestead before the benefit becomes available to either of you on the new property. This happens as part of the closing process, but it's worth confirming with your title company that it's handled correctly.

The application itself. Portability doesn't transfer automatically. You must actively apply using Florida Form DR-501T when you file for your new homestead exemption. For Broward County homeowners, this goes to the Broward County Property Appraiser's office.

One More Thing to Watch: HJR 211

Coming in November 2026, Florida voters may be asked to approve a constitutional amendment that removes the $500,000 cap on SOH portability entirely. House Joint Resolution 211 would allow homeowners to transfer their full accumulated benefit — regardless of size — a significant change for long-time owners with very large appreciation gaps.

If you're on the fence about when to sell, this is worth factoring into the timing conversation. If the amendment passes, sellers who move in 2027 or later could port savings well above $500,000. If it fails, the current cap stays in place.

This is exactly the kind of timing factor that rarely shows up in a Zestimate but matters significantly to your real net position after a move.