What You Need to Know About Homestead Exemptions

By Jorge Gonzalez

Jorge has been selling, managing and investing in both residential and commercial real estate since 1986 and has worked with Buyers and Sellers to navigate them through hundreds of transactions.

If you’re a homeowner living in the state of Florida, you can file for a homestead exemption. This means you can save on your property taxes, but you have to file for this exemption to take advantage of it. 

After you buy a house, you only have to file once. After that, you have the exemption as long as the house is your primary residence. If you buy a home with me, I’ll send you a reminder to file at the beginning of the year after you bought it. You have to be timely, though, because there’s a deadline to file for the previous year’s exemption, and that deadline in Miami and Broward County is March 1. 

So if you bought a house last year, it’s your primary residence, and you’ve been living in it since January 1st, you qualify for the homestead exemption. 

How much does it save on your property taxes? The homestead exemption is always worth $50,000, so if your home’s assessed value is $300,000, you’d only be taxed for $250,000. Depending on your municipality within the county, that could be a substantial amount since you’re carrying that exemption for however long you stay in the house. 

In some situations, it’s a prerequisite for people to apply for additional exemptions. If you’re a widower with a homestead exemption, you’ll be eligible for additional benefits, as is also the case for blind people and disabled veterans.

There are all kinds of exemptions you can qualify for, so if you’d like to know more, use the following links to file for your homestead exemption:

• Miami-Dade County
• Broward County

If you don’t file by March 1, you have to wait until next year and miss out on a whole year’s worth of savings. I don’t want that happening to you, so if you have questions about this topic, don’t hesitate to call or email me.

Likewise, if you have any other real estate needs, feel free to reach out to me as well. I’d love to help you.