What Happens to Your Save Our Homes Cap When You Sell Your Miami Home?
When you sell your Florida home, save our homes portability Florida law gives you the ability to take your accumulated SOH benefit with you — rather than losing it at the closing table. You can transfer up to $500,000 of your Save Our Homes benefit to a new Florida homestead, provided you apply by March 1 of the following year and establish the new homestead within three years of your sale. For long-term homeowners in Schenley Park, Coral Terrace, and Coral Villas (ZIP 33155) who have built up decades of protection, understanding portability is one of the most financially significant steps you will take when you decide to sell.
By Berenice Elguezabal | June 25, 2026
You have watched your neighborhood transform around you. Homes that sold for $300,000 a decade ago are now going for well over a million. New construction is going up on lots where old ranch homes used to stand. Builders are making offers on homes that have not been on the market in 20 years.
And through all of it, your tax bill has barely moved.
That is Save Our Homes at work. For long-term homeowners in Schenley Park and the Coral Terrace area of Miami, the SOH cap has been quietly one of the most valuable financial protections you have accumulated — and if you are thinking about selling, understanding save our homes portability Florida rules is one of the most important conversations to have before you list.
Here is the good news: your benefit does not disappear. But there are rules to follow and deadlines you cannot miss.
The Gap Between Your Tax Bill and What Your Home Is Actually Worth
Florida’s Save Our Homes law caps how much your property’s assessed value can increase each year — either 3% or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. For a homeowner who has been in their home for 15, 20, or 30+ years, that cap compounds into a significant gap between what the county thinks your home is worth (your assessed value) and what it would actually sell for on the open market (your just/market value).
In Miami-Dade County, where single-family home prices have risen nearly 145% since 2015 alone, that gap can be very large. A home purchased in the early 2000s for $300,000 might carry an assessed value of $380,000 today — while the same home has a market value of $1.2 million or more. You have been paying property taxes on $380,000. The person who buys your home will pay taxes on the full market value.
That $820,000 difference is your Save Our Homes benefit. And understanding save our homes portability Florida rules is what determines whether you keep that advantage on your next home — or start over from zero.
What Actually Happens When You Sell
The SOH cap is tied to you as the homeowner — not to the property itself. When you sell, the cap is removed at the end of the calendar year in which your home closes. Starting January 1 of the following year, your buyer pays property taxes based on the full just/market value of the home.
Florida actually requires you to disclose this in the sales contract — there is a mandatory written statement informing buyers that their property taxes may increase substantially after purchase. Buyers in Miami-Dade are generally aware of this, and it is already factored into how they think about the total cost of ownership. But knowing it going in helps you prepare: your low-tax era ends at the closing table.
What happens to your benefit, though? That is where the picture changes.
Save Our Homes Portability Florida: How to Take Your Benefit With You
Save our homes portability Florida law allows you to transfer your accumulated SOH benefit — up to $500,000 — to a new Florida homestead. For long-term owners in Schenley Park and Coral Terrace, this can be worth thousands of dollars per year in reduced property taxes on your next home.
Here is how the math works in plain terms:
If you are buying a home at equal or greater market value (upsizing): You can transfer 100% of your SOH benefit, up to $500,000. Say your current home has a market value of $900,000 and an assessed value of $400,000. Your SOH benefit is $500,000. Apply that to your new home and your new assessed value starts $500,000 below its market value from day one.
If you are buying a less expensive home (downsizing): You transfer the same percentage of protection rather than a flat dollar amount. If your SOH benefit represents 55% of your home’s current value, your new home’s assessed value can start 55% below its market value — up to the $500,000 maximum.
Either way, the annual savings compound over time. Depending on your benefit and your new home’s value, save our homes portability Florida can meaningfully reduce your property taxes for as long as you own the next home.
The Four Steps — and the Deadlines You Cannot Miss
Save our homes portability Florida is not automatic. You have to apply for it.
- Apply for the homestead exemption on your new Florida property using Form DR-501
- File the portability application using Form DR-501T with your new county’s property appraiser
- Submit both by March 1 of the year after you establish the new homestead
- Complete the move within three years from January 1 of the year you sold your previous home
That last point deserves extra attention. The three-year clock starts January 1 of the year you sold — not your actual closing date. If you close your sale in late December, your window can shrink to as little as two years and a few months. If you are planning to take time between moves, build that carefully into your timeline.
The Miami-Dade Property Appraiser has an interactive portability calculator on their website where you can estimate your benefit before making any decisions. It is worth running those numbers before you list — because for some homeowners in Schenley Park and Coral Terrace, the portability benefit equals or exceeds what they would save with a discounted sale.
I walk through this exact conversation with every long-term owner I work with before we ever discuss list price. It changes the math in ways that genuinely surprise people.
What About Capital Gains?
Save our homes portability Florida gets most of the attention in this conversation, but there is a second financial layer worth addressing clearly: capital gains.
The good news is substantial. Florida has no state income tax — which means no state-level capital gains tax on your sale. At the federal level, homeowners who have used the property as their primary residence for at least two of the last five years can exclude up to $250,000 in capital gains (single filer) or $500,000 (married filing jointly) from their taxable income.
For many long-term homeowners in the 33155 area, that exclusion covers most or all of their gain. If you purchased your home for $250,000 in 2003 and you are selling for $1.1 million today, your gain is roughly $850,000. As a married couple, you would exclude the first $500,000 — meaning you would potentially owe federal capital gains tax only on the remaining $350,000. At the long-term capital gains rate of 15% for most sellers, that is $52,500 in federal tax on an $850,000 gain. Significant, but far less than many sellers fear.
A few situations where the calculation gets more specific:
- If any portion of the home was used for rental purposes, depreciation recapture rules apply and the tax picture gets more complex
- If you have significant undocumented improvements over the years, a CPA can often identify deductions that reduce your taxable gain
- If your gain exceeds the exclusion threshold, the rate depends on your income level — high earners may face 20% plus the 3.8% net investment income tax
This is a conversation to have with a CPA before you list — not after. Your specific numbers are too unique to generalize, and the right planning can make a meaningful difference.
One more number to know: documentary stamp tax. This is a closing cost — not a capital gains tax — charged at $0.60 per $100 of sale price in Miami-Dade County. On a $1.2 million sale, that is approximately $7,200 paid by the seller at closing. It comes out of your proceeds automatically — just know it is there when you are estimating your net.
What This Means for Schenley Park and Coral Terrace Homeowners
Schenley Park and Coral Terrace are among the most tenured neighborhoods in Miami-Dade. Many homeowners here have lived in the same home for 20, 25, or 30+ years — which means SOH benefits in this pocket of 33155 can be substantial, sometimes reaching the $500,000 portability ceiling.
That makes save our homes portability Florida especially worth understanding before you list here. The decision about when to sell, what to buy next, and how to time the transition is not just a real estate question — it is a tax planning question. Sellers who plan portability carefully are in a meaningfully different financial position than those who discover it after the fact.
Every seller’s situation is different — your benefit amount, your capital gains exposure, and your plans for your next home all factor into the picture. Running through those numbers together, before you list, is exactly the kind of conversation I have with homeowners in Schenley Park and Coral Terrace every week.
Frequently Asked Questions About Save Our Homes Portability in Florida
Do I lose my Save Our Homes benefit when I sell my Florida home?
Not necessarily. While the Save Our Homes cap is removed from the property at the time of sale, save our homes portability Florida law allows you to transfer up to $500,000 of your accumulated SOH benefit to a new Florida homestead. You must apply by March 1 of the following year and establish the new homestead within three years of your sale.
How does homestead portability work in Miami-Dade County?
Save our homes portability Florida works the same across the state: you transfer your SOH benefit using Form DR-501T, filed alongside your homestead application (Form DR-501) with your new county’s property appraiser. Miami-Dade’s property appraiser offers an interactive portability calculator on their website to estimate your transferred benefit before you make your move.
How long do I have to transfer my Save Our Homes benefit after selling?
You have up to three years from January 1 of the year you sold your previous home to establish a new Florida homestead. The portability application is due March 1 of the year after you establish the new homestead. If you sell late in December, your effective window may be shorter — as little as two years — so plan accordingly.
Will the buyer of my Miami home pay significantly higher property taxes?
Yes, in most cases. Once your home is sold, the Save Our Homes cap is lifted and the new owner pays taxes based on full just/market value starting the following January. Florida law requires sellers to disclose this in the sales contract. For a home in Schenley Park or Coral Terrace where assessed value may be far below market value, this can represent a substantial increase in the buyer’s annual tax bill.
Do I owe capital gains tax when I sell my Miami home?
Florida has no state capital gains tax. At the federal level, you may exclude up to $250,000 in capital gains (single filer) or $500,000 (married filing jointly) if you have lived in the home as your primary residence for at least two of the last five years. Many long-term homeowners in 33155 qualify for this exclusion — but if your gain exceeds those thresholds, or if the home was used for rental purposes at any point, consult a CPA before you list.
Ready to Talk Through What Your SOH Benefit Actually Looks Like?
There is a lot to unpack here, and your specific numbers depend on how long you have owned, how much your home has appreciated, and where you plan to go next.
If you are thinking about selling your home in Schenley Park or Coral Terrace and you want to walk through what your Save Our Homes benefit looks like and what save our homes portability Florida means for your next move, I would love to talk it through with you directly.
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About Berenice Elguezabal
Berenice Elguezabal is a top-producing REALTOR® with 22 years of experience at Coldwell Banker’s number one office in Miami by volume and sales value. Specializing in data-driven market analysis for sellers in Miami-Dade County, she turns complex market data into clear strategies that deliver results. Fluent in English and Spanish. Connect with Berenice at BereHomes.com.
