Guide
Homestead portability: keeping your savings when you move
Published
4 states in this guide let you carry some homestead savings to a new home: California, Florida, Ohio, Texas. Florida lets you move up to $500,000 of Save Our Homes benefit to a new Florida homestead.
How portability works in each state
| State | What moves with you |
|---|---|
| California | Owners 55 or older, severely disabled owners, and disaster victims can transfer their base year value to a replacement home anywhere in California under Proposition 19. Claims must be filed within three years of buying or finishing the replacement home. |
| Florida | You can transfer all or part of your Save Our Homes benefit, up to $500,000, to a new Florida homestead. Establish the new homestead within three years of January 1 of the year you left the old one, and file Form DR-501T with DR-501 by March 1. |
| Ohio | If you got the homestead exemption before tax year 2014 and move, you keep the older rules and do not face the income test at the new home. |
| Texas | Homeowners 65+ or disabled can carry the percentage of school tax paid under their tax ceiling to a new home they buy and live in. |
Florida: file two forms
In Florida, you file Form DR-501T along with the DR-501 homestead application by March 1. The new homestead must be set up within three years of January 1 of the year you left the old one.
Texas: the tax ceiling, not the exemption
Texas portability applies to homeowners 65 or older or disabled. What moves is the share of school tax paid under the tax ceiling, not the exemption itself.
State and county guides in this article
Figures come from the official sources linked on each state and county page. Rules change, so confirm with the official source before you file.