How Florida's homestead tax rules, the deed tax and remodel costs change the math between staying and moving. Updated October 2026.
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Remodel when you like the location and the lot can carry what you need: you keep your Save Our Homes cap on the existing house, and only the new work is assessed at full value. Move when the house or lot can't give you the space, the layout or the location you need. Moving resets your homestead assessment on the new home, softened by portability of up to $500,000, and adds the deed tax and other transaction costs.
| Remodel | Move | |
|---|---|---|
| Property tax on homestead | Save Our Homes cap stays on the existing house; the new work is assessed at just value | The new home starts at its own assessed value; portability can carry up to $500,000 of your cap difference |
| Transaction costs | None | Documentary stamp tax on the deed, plus agent, closing, lending and moving costs |
| What you get | The space you design, on the lot you already have | A different house, lot and location |
| Disruption | Construction at home: weeks for a kitchen or bath, months for an addition | Selling, buying and moving |
| Planning ranges | Room addition $40,000 – $120,000; full kitchen $30,000 – $70,000; primary bath $20,000 – $45,000 | Depends on the market and the house |
Florida's Save Our Homes rules cap the yearly increase in a homestead's assessed value at the lower of 3% or the change in the consumer price index (F.S. 193.155). After years in the same house, the assessed value can sit well below the market value, and that gap is what you keep by staying.
Remodeling keeps it. Changes, additions and improvements are assessed at just value when they are added, so the new space adds to the assessment, but the existing house keeps its capped value.
Moving resets it, with help. Portability lets you transfer the difference between the just value and the assessed value of your old homestead, up to $500,000, to a new homestead if you held the homestead exemption in any of the 3 preceding years. A 2026 law changes some of the wording from the 2027 tax roll, so ask the county property appraiser how it applies to your dates.
Selling and buying carry costs that a remodel avoids. In every Florida county except Miami-Dade, documentary stamp tax on a deed is 70 cents per $100 of the price (F.S. 201.02): on a $400,000 sale, that is $2,800. Add agent commissions, title and closing costs, any mortgage costs on the new loan, and moving itself; ask for quotes, because they vary.
Those costs buy nothing you live in. Money spent on a remodel stays in the house as space and finishes, which is why many households price the remodel first.
Planning ranges, not quotes; every project is priced after a site visit.
Sources (primary sources, checked 2026-10-16): F.S. 193.155 · F.S. 201.02. This page explains rules in general terms; it is not legal advice, and the building department for your address has the final word.
Call (407) 993-6889 or send your project details — we’ll get right back to you.