Florida homestead portability when you downsize in Hillsborough County

What the Save Our Homes benefit is

Florida's Save Our Homes amendment limits how much the assessed value of a homestead can rise each year: 3 percent or the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower. Market value, which the Property Appraiser calls just value, can rise much faster. The gap between just value and assessed value is your Save Our Homes benefit, sometimes called the homestead assessment difference.

Two facts shape every downsizing decision:

• The cap resets when a home sells. The buyer's home is reassessed at just value on the January 1 after the sale. The seller's tax bill on a listing tells you little about what yours will be.
• Portability lets you bring some of your gap with you. Instead of starting from full just value, your new home can start at a reduced assessed value.

Many long-time owners in South Tampa, Seminole Heights, Carrollwood and Brandon have built up a large gap simply by staying put. That gap is worth real money every year, so it deserves a line in your plan alongside sale price and moving costs.

How to find your Save Our Homes benefit on the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser site

You do not need a calculator to find your starting number. The Hillsborough County Property Appraiser (Bob Henriquez) publishes both values.

1. Your TRIM notice. Every August the Property Appraiser mails a Notice of Proposed Property Taxes, known as the Truth in Millage (TRIM) notice. It lists market (just) value and assessed value for the current year.
2. Your online property record. Search your address on hcpafl.org. The value summary generally shows just value, assessed value, exemptions and taxable value; exact labels can change as the Property Appraiser updates the site.
3. Subtract. Just value minus assessed value equals your current Save Our Homes benefit.

The value that counts for portability is the one on January 1 of the year you give up the homestead. If you sell in 2027, the 2027 values (shown on the August 2027 TRIM notice) are the ones that transfer, not the 2026 values.

Sources: Hillsborough County Property Appraiser, Homestead and other exemptions; HCPA, Truth in Millage.

How portability works when you downsize in Hillsborough County

Section 193.155(8), Florida Statutes, sets two formulas, depending on whether the new home is worth more or less than the old one.

In plain terms, when you downsize you keep the same ratio of assessed value to market value that you had in your old home. The dollar amount of the benefit shrinks in proportion to the new home's price. Our portability calculator runs this math for you.

Worked examples of Florida portability math

All three examples below are hypothetical. They use round numbers to show how the statute's formulas work. Your figures will come from your TRIM notice and the new home's just value as the Property Appraiser determines it, which is not necessarily your purchase price.

Hypothetical 1: South Tampa house to a condo

A couple has lived in their house for 20 years. On January 1 of the year they sell, the just value is $600,000 and the assessed value is $300,000, so their benefit is $300,000. They buy a condo with a just value of $360,000.

• Ratio: $360,000 ÷ $600,000 = 0.60
• New assessed value: 0.60 × $300,000 = $180,000
• Benefit carried to the condo: $360,000 − $180,000 = $180,000

Without portability, the condo would start at an assessed value of $360,000. With it, the starting point is half that, before exemptions.

Hypothetical 2: Brandon house to a 55+ community home of higher value

An owner's house has a just value of $450,000 and an assessed value of $250,000, a $200,000 benefit. They buy a newer home in a 55+ community with a just value of $500,000. Because the new home is worth more, the full benefit transfers.

• New assessed value: $500,000 − $200,000 = $300,000

Hypothetical 3: When the $500,000 cap applies

An owner on Davis Islands has a just value of $1,500,000 and an assessed value of $700,000, an $800,000 benefit. They buy a smaller home with a just value of $1,200,000.

• Ratio: $1,200,000 ÷ $1,500,000 = 0.80
• Prorated assessed value: 0.80 × $700,000 = $560,000, which would leave a $640,000 gap
• The gap is capped at $500,000, so the new assessed value is $1,200,000 − $500,000 = $700,000

After the first year, the new home's assessed value grows under the normal Save Our Homes cap of 3 percent or CPI, whichever is lower.

Source: Section 193.155, Florida Statutes.

The 3-year portability window, measured from January 1

The statute allows the transfer when the person establishing the new homestead received a homestead exemption on January 1 of any of the three immediately preceding years. The Florida Department of Revenue's PT-112 brochure describes it as establishing the new homestead within three years of January 1 of the year you abandoned the old one.

Most downsizers use portability right away, but the window gives room to rent for a year or two while you decide between a condo, a villa or a 55+ community. The benefit waits, but it does not grow while you rent.

Forms DR-501 and DR-501T: filing in Hillsborough County

• Form DR-501, the homestead exemption application, for the new home.
• Form DR-501T, Transfer of Homestead Assessment Difference, attached to the DR-501. This is the portability application.
• Form DR-501TS, Designation of Ownership Shares of Abandoned Homestead, only if you are married, owned the old home jointly and want to split the benefit unequally.

File with the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser online or at 601 E. Kennedy Blvd., 15th Floor, by March 1 of the first tax year you claim the new homestead. At minimum, bring proof of ownership, such as your deed or closing statement, and proof of residency, such as a Florida driver license or ID showing the new address. Check the Property Appraiser's current homestead application checklist at hcpafl.org before you go, since the full documentation list can change.

If you miss March 1, section 196.011(9), Florida Statutes, allows a late application: you must file by the 25th day after the Property Appraiser mails that year's TRIM notice, and the appraiser may grant it only on evidence of extenuating circumstances. A denial can be appealed to the value adjustment board by the same 25-day deadline, for a $15 filing fee. Do not count on this route; ask the Property Appraiser's office promptly if you miss March 1.

Sources: Florida DOR, PT-112; Rule 12D-8.0065, F.A.C.; Florida DOR, Form DR-501TS; s.196.011, F.S..

Timing your closings around January 1

Florida decides homestead status as of January 1 each year, and you can hold only one homestead at a time. That makes the calendar matter.

• Buy in the fall, move in before January 1. If you own and live in the new home on January 1, you can apply for homestead and portability that year, even if the old home has not sold yet. You must give up the old homestead first; the rule allows an owner to abandon a homestead by notifying the Property Appraiser in writing before or with the new application.
• Close on the new home in early January. You missed that year's January 1. The new home is taxed for that year without a homestead exemption, and portability starts the following year, as long as you are still inside the three-year window.
• Sell the old home any time during the year. The old home keeps the exemption it had on January 1 for that year's tax bill. The buyer's reassessment starts the next January 1.

If you are deciding which move comes first, our guide to buying first or selling first walks through bridge options and how January 1 fits in.

Couples and co-owners: how the benefit splits or merges

Two owners moving together

If the same people owned the old home and will own the new one, the basic formulas apply unchanged.

Two homesteads becoming one

When two people who each had a homestead, such as a couple who marry later in life, combine into one new home, the benefit is not added together. Under s.193.155(8) and Rule 12D-8.0065, the transfer is limited to the highest single difference from either prior homestead, and never more than $500,000. Hypothetical: if one partner's old home had a $120,000 benefit and the other's had $80,000, the new home can use up to $120,000 (subject to the downsizing proration), not $200,000.

Divorce or separate moves

When joint owners go separate ways, each person takes a share of the benefit. By default, the difference is divided equally among the owners who received the exemption. Spouses who owned the home jointly can file Form DR-501TS to designate unequal shares, and once a valid DR-501TS is filed, the designation is irrevocable. Each person's share is then prorated against the just value of the home they buy.

Sources: s.193.155(8), F.S.; Rule 12D-8.0065, F.A.C..

Moving to Pasco or Pinellas, or out of Florida

Portability is statewide. Many Tampa downsizers buy in Wesley Chapel or Land O' Lakes in Pasco County, or in Pinellas County, and the benefit follows them. You file the DR-501 and DR-501T with the new county's property appraiser, such as the Pasco County Property Appraiser or the Pinellas County Property Appraiser. That office sends the application to Hillsborough to confirm your old values. Compare areas in our where to downsize guide.

Moving to another state ends the benefit. It cannot be held in reserve, and it does not transfer back if you return to Florida after the three-year window.

How portability interacts with senior exemptions

Portability moves only the Save Our Homes assessment difference. Every exemption must be applied for again at the new home.

• Standard homestead exemption: apply again with DR-501.
• Limited-income senior exemption (65 and older, 2026 household income limit $38,686, Form DR-501SC): you can reapply if the new city or county offers it. The City of Tampa and unincorporated Hillsborough County offer up to $50,000, Temple Terrace up to $25,000. Each city and county sets its own amount, so check with the Pasco County Property Appraiser or Pinellas County Property Appraiser for their current amount before assuming it matches Hillsborough's.
• Long-term resident senior exemption: requires 25 years of permanent residence in the home, so it does not transfer. If you have it now, compare what you would give up against the savings you expect from moving.

Putting the number to work

Once you know your benefit, plug it into the portability and net proceeds calculator, then read how to estimate your net proceeds to see the full picture. The Downsizing Guide puts it in order. When you are ready to price homes with your portability in mind, you can get matched with a local downsizing specialist.