Save Our Homes Explained (2025 Guide)

Florida’s Save Our Homes (SOH) program is one of the state’s most valuable property tax benefits for homeowners. While many people know about the Florida Homestead Exemption, fewer understand how Save Our Homes can significantly reduce property taxes over many years.

If you own a Florida home as your permanent residence, understanding Save Our Homes can help you better estimate future property taxes and make more informed home-buying decisions.

What Is Save Our Homes?

Save Our Homes is a constitutional benefit available to qualifying Florida homeowners who have established a Homestead Exemption on their primary residence.

Rather than allowing a home’s assessed value to increase at the same pace as rapidly rising market values, Save Our Homes limits how much the assessed value may increase each year, subject to Florida law. Over time, this assessment limitation can create substantial property tax savings for homeowners who remain in their homes for many years.

How Does Save Our Homes Work?

Each year, your home’s market value may increase or decrease based on local real estate conditions.

However, if your property qualifies for Save Our Homes, the increase in your assessed value is generally limited each year under Florida law, even if the market value rises much faster. Because property taxes are based primarily on assessed value rather than market value, many long-term homeowners pay significantly less in property taxes than new buyers purchasing similar homes nearby.

Market Value vs. Assessed Value

• Market Value is what your home could reasonably sell for in today’s real estate market.
• Assessed Value is the value used by your county Property Appraiser to calculate property taxes.

Thanks to Save Our Homes, the assessed value may remain well below the market value after several years of ownership.

Who Qualifies?

Generally, homeowners qualify for Save Our Homes if they:

• Own the property.
• Use it as their permanent Florida residence.
• Have received the Florida Homestead Exemption.

If you do not qualify for Homestead Exemption, Save Our Homes generally does not apply.

Why Save Our Homes Matters

For homeowners who remain in the same home for many years, Save Our Homes can become one of the most valuable financial benefits available under Florida law.

Instead of property taxes increasing at the same pace as rising home prices, annual increases in assessed value are generally limited. This creates long-term tax savings that may amount to thousands of dollars over the life of homeownership.

What Happens When You Sell?

When a home is sold, the buyer generally does not inherit the previous owner’s Save Our Homes benefit.

The property’s assessed value may be adjusted based on current law, which often results in a higher property tax bill for the new owner. For this reason, buyers should not rely solely on the seller’s current tax bill when estimating future housing costs.

Can You Keep Your Save Our Homes Benefit?

Possibly. Florida offers a benefit known as Property Tax Portability, which may allow qualifying homeowners to transfer some of their accumulated Save Our Homes benefit to another Florida homestead.

Portability can significantly reduce property taxes when moving from one Florida home to another, provided eligibility requirements are met. Our guide on Florida Property Tax Portability explains how this process works.