Welcome to the Florida Homestead Check™ and Illustrated Properties Property Tax Analysis order page
A Homestead Check™ Protects You From Property Tax Related Losses
Property taxes are complex in Florida and Illustrated Properties recommends that you conduct a property tax analysis as soon as possible after the decision to sell your home has been made. This analysis will alert you to any property tax related issues that must be addressed before closing. It will also allow you to have a one on one consultation with a property tax specialist to answer any questions that you may have and to help you with completing and filing the forms that must be handled. The process will take about 5 minutes. The cost to the public is $250 but through our relationship Keyes’ clients receive a discounted price of $125.
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Note
It is not legally required that you obtain a property tax analysis but if you do not then your Illustrated Realtor® will require an executed copy of the Homestead Disclosure which will also hold our company harmless from any property tax related losses that you may suffer. We are a Real Estate Brokerage and we do not give tax advice. Our arrangement with Florida Homestead Check is intended to provide you with an easy to use and affordable means of evaluating and addressing these important issues.
Heads Up
If you do not wish to complete a property tax analysis then please click the button below to complete the Property Tax Notification and Hold Harmless Form. Your Illustrated Realtor® will require an executed copy of the Homestead Disclosure which will also hold our company harmless from any property tax related losses that you may suffer.
The Homestead Check™ Process
Step 1
Complete Your Property Tax Analysis
Answer a few basic questions about your property and within minutes a Homestead Check™ will analyze your property tax situation and provide everything you need to minimize your property tax bill and maximize your Homestead Savings.
Step 2
Receive Your Report Via Email
Your property tax analysis report will arrive as an attached pdf document. It will walk you through the process of correcting any property tax related issues found. Please read over your report and follow the directions carefully.
Step 3
Get Your Property Tax Consultation
Call in to the Counseling Center for an included one-on-one property tax consultation. You can ask any questions you have, receive help with filing forms, and even hire our Homestead Doctors™ division if needed to fix issues for you.
"These laws are here to help us... The problem is they are too complicated, stressful and honestly boring. Florida Homestead Check™ is an easy and affordable way to realize savings and learn how to transfer savings to a new property"
Why Portability Is So Important
Florida’s Save Our Homes Act locks down your property tax bill after you purchase your home and file homestead on it. In subsequent years your Assessed Value (the value you are taxed on) can’t go up more than 3% or the Consumer Price Index (whichever is less). So after a few years of living in your property you’ll hopefully notice that you are paying taxes on a value (your locked down "Assessed Value") much lower than what your Home is actually worth on the market (called your "Just" or "Market" Value). This is great, but before “Portability” went into effect in 2008 (Florida Statute 193.155(8)), you lost those "Homestead Savings" when you sold your house and moved to another house. Since 2008 Portability allows you to take up to $500,000 of those Homestead Savings with you to your next Florida home, thus lowering your property tax bill on that next home. When you go to sell it’s important that you check on several Portability related things because if there is an issue (which we find in about 40% of properties being sold) then if you sell your home without taking corrective steps then you will lose the associated Portability and your tax bill on your next home will be higher that it otherwise would have been! A Homestead Check™ will make sure that your Portability Savings are maximized. The way it works is complicated and not intuitively obvious but don’t worry - we have you covered if you get a Homestead Check™! Below is a simplified example of portability being transferred from home to home over the years.
First Homestead
(2001 - 2009)
Purchased In 2001 For
$128,000
Applied Portability
$0
Assessed (Taxable) Value
$128,000
Sold In 2009 For
$296,000
Portability Accrued
$168,000
Tax Savings For Next Home
$3,660/yr
Second Homestead
(2010 - 2016)
Purchased In 2010 For
$350,000
Applied Portability
$168,000
Assessed (Taxable) Value
$182,000
Sold In 2016 For
$526,000
Portability Accrued
$344,000
Tax Savings For Next Home
$6,880/yr
Third Homestead
(2016 - 2020)
Purchased In 2016 For
$660,000
Applied Portability
$344,000
Assessed (Taxable) Value
$316,000
Sold In 2020 For
$860,000
Portability Accrued
$500,000
Tax Savings For Next Home
$10,000/yr
Exemptions Are Often Overlooked
Many homeowners know that there is a "standard" Florida property tax exemption if you file Homestead that is $50,000 and saves you about $1,000 a year on your property tax bill. But not many Homeowners know that there are over 20 other exemptions! Many of them are somewhat "buried" in the regulations and hard to find. Go visit your property appraisers home page and you’ll usually find a mish mash of disorganized information that can often be more confusing than helpful. Only by answering the series of questions that you are asked when you get a Homestead Check™ will you make sure that you get every penny of savings you are entitled to when you file for Homestead on your next Florida home. Not only will we identify the exemptions for you, we’ll provide you with the forms that you need to file, and through our counseling center and your included one on one consultation with a property tax specialist, we’ll make sure that all your questions are answered. We’ll even help you with filing the forms and assist you if the property appraiser doesn’t want to give you the exemption! We help people every day who have been paying more property taxes than they had to because they didn’t file for an exemption that they were eligible for.
Heads Up
If you do not wish to complete a property tax analysis then please click the button below to complete the Property Tax Notification and Hold Harmless Form. Your Illustrated Realtor® will require an executed copy of the Homestead Disclosure which will also hold our company harmless from any property tax related losses that you may suffer.
Get A Homestead Check™ Gift Card
Give a gift that keeps on giving for years to come with a Florida Homestead Check™ gift card. Their report will help them lower their yearly property taxes by identifying issues like low market value, high assessed value, missed portability, missed exemptions, and more. Every Homestead Check™ also comes with a personal counseling session with one of our property tax specialists.
$250.00 $125.00Florida Homestead Check™ partners with Illustrated Properties to provide home buyers and sellers with a property tax analysis at a discounted cost. Illustrated Properties receives compensation for each Homestead Check as part of our partnership.