Pinellas Park REALTOR® — Barrett Henry

This is the single biggest surprise for out-of-state buyers. Florida's Save Our Homes cap limits how much a homesteaded property's assessed value can rise each year, so a neighbor who has owned since 2012 may pay a fraction of what you will on an identical house. You are not inheriting their number — you reset to market value at purchase.

And portability does not help you on a move into Florida. It transfers an accumulated Save Our Homes benefit from one Florida homestead to another. Coming from out of state, you start fresh: apply for homestead exemption with the county property appraiser, and the cap begins protecting you going forward. If the property will be a second home or a rental rather than your primary residence, you get the 10% non-homestead cap instead of the homestead cap, and no exemption. Budget from the actual parcel record, never from the seller's current tax bill.

In Florida, deals die at underwriting more often than at inspection. The deciding factors are usually roof age, flood zone, and whether anyone has filed a current wind mitigation inspection.

Useful protection to know: under Florida Statute 627.7011(5), an insurer may not refuse to issue or renew a policy on a home with a roof less than 15 years old solely because of the roof's age. If the roof is 15 or older, an inspection showing five or more years of remaining useful life gives you the same protection. Separately, a four-point inspection is not required by Florida law at all — it is a carrier underwriting requirement, and Citizens triggers one on properties more than 20 years old.

Do this before your inspection period closes: pull the flood zone, ask the roof's age and documented remaining life, get a current wind mitigation inspection on the state form, and have the policy quoted in your own name. A quote in the seller's name tells you very little.