Buying a home in Florida: the help you may qualify for.

Down payment and closing cost help

From the Florida Housing Finance Corporation.

• FL Assist

  Up to $10,000

  0% deferred second mortgage, no monthly payment; repaid when you sell, refinance or move out. Works with FHA, VA, USDA and conventional loans.

• FL HLP Second Mortgage

  $12,500

  3% second mortgage paid monthly over 30 years.

• HFA Preferred / Advantage PLUS

  3%, 4% or 5% of the loan

  Forgiven 20% a year over five years, with a conventional Florida Housing first mortgage.

• Hometown Heroes Military and heroes

  Down payment help for Florida's workforce

  For eligible full-time workers in many professions, including military, first responders, teachers and healthcare. Average help was about $16,000.

  The 2025-26 funds were fully reserved by April 2026. Ask a lender whether new funding has opened.

Who qualifies: First-time buyers (no home owned and lived in for three years), credit score 640+, income and price limits by county, homebuyer education, through a participating lender.

Property tax exemptions and credits

Exemptions lower your home’s taxable value or your bill. Most aren’t automatic: you apply with your county property appraiser. Florida’s official exemptions information.

For homeowners who live in the home

• Homestead exemption

  Up to about $50,000 off your home's taxable value

  If you own the home and it is your permanent residence on January 1, the first $25,000 of value is exempt from all property taxes, and another $25,000 (adjusted each year for inflation) is exempt from non-school taxes on value between $50,000 and $75,000.

  How to apply: Apply with your county property appraiser on Form DR-501, by March 1 of the tax year. (s. 196.031, F.S.)

• Bigger homestead exemption starting 2027 (Amendment 3)

  Non-school exemption rises to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028

  Florida voters approved Amendment 3 on November 3, 2026. School taxes keep the $25,000 exemption. If you were a Florida resident by December 31, 2026, the larger exemption can apply as soon as you qualify for homestead. If you were not a Florida resident by December 31, 2026, you would get the current exemption at first, and the larger one would begin in your fifth year of homestead exemption.

  How to apply: No separate application: it applies to the homestead exemption. (2026 Florida Amendment 3)

• Save Our Homes assessment cap

  Assessed value can rise no more than 3% (or inflation, if lower) per year

  Once you have homestead, your assessed value is capped each year. Good to know as a buyer: the cap resets when a home sells, so the seller's tax bill may be lower than yours will be.

  How to apply: Automatic once you have the homestead exemption. (s. 193.155, F.S.)

For homeowners 65 and older

• Additional senior exemption (65 or older)

  Up to $50,000 more, where your county or city offers it

  For homeowners 65 or older whose household income is under a yearly limit. Your county or city must have adopted it, so ask your property appraiser whether it's offered and what this year's income limit is.

  How to apply: Forms DR-501 and DR-501SC, by March 1. (s. 196.075, F.S.)

For veterans

• Disabled veteran exemption (10% or more)

  $5,000 off assessed value

  For an honorably discharged veteran who is a Florida resident with a disability of 10% or more from service during wartime or misfortune. Not limited to homestead property.

  How to apply: Apply with your county property appraiser on Form DR-501, by March 1 of the tax year. (s. 196.24, F.S.)

• Total and permanent disabled veteran exemption

  Full exemption from property taxes on your homestead

  For honorably discharged Florida-resident veterans with a service-connected total and permanent disability (a similar exemption covers disabled veterans who use a wheelchair). It may carry over to a surviving spouse.

  How to apply: Apply with your county property appraiser on Form DR-501, by March 1 of the tax year. (ss. 196.081 and 196.091, F.S.)

For homeowners with disabilities

• Total and permanent disability exemption

  $5,000 off taxable value

  For a Florida resident who is totally and permanently disabled.

  How to apply: Apply with your county property appraiser on Form DR-501, by March 1 of the tax year. (s. 196.202, F.S.)

For surviving spouses and other situations

• Portability (moving your Save Our Homes savings)

  Transfer up to $500,000 of your built-up savings

  Because you had a Florida homestead before, you may be able to move part or all of its Save Our Homes difference to this home. You must establish the new homestead within three years of January 1 of the year you left the old one.

  How to apply: File Form DR-501T with your homestead application by March 1. (s. 193.155, F.S.)

• Long-term resident senior exemption

  Up to the full assessed value, where offered

  For homeowners 65 or older who have lived in the home as their permanent residence for at least 25 years, with a just value under $250,000 and household income under the yearly limit. It's local option, so check whether your county or city offers it.

  How to apply: Forms DR-501 and DR-501SC, by March 1. (s. 196.075, F.S.)

• Widow or widower exemption

  $5,000 off taxable value

  For a widow or widower who is a Florida resident.

  How to apply: Apply with your county property appraiser on Form DR-501, by March 1 of the tax year. (s. 196.202, F.S.)

• Blind person exemption

  $5,000 off taxable value

  For a Florida resident who is blind.

  How to apply: Apply with your county property appraiser on Form DR-501, by March 1 of the tax year. (s. 196.202, F.S.)

• Quadriplegic homestead exemption

  Full exemption from property taxes on your homestead

  Real estate that a quadriplegic person owns and uses as a homestead is exempt from all property taxes.

  How to apply: Form DR-501 plus a disability certificate (Form DR-416), by March 1. (s. 196.101(1), F.S.)

• Disabled homeowner exemption (wheelchair or legally blind)

  Full exemption, if household income is under the limit

  For paraplegic, hemiplegic or other totally and permanently disabled homeowners who must use a wheelchair, or who are legally blind, when gross household income is under the current limit. A certificate of total and permanent disability is needed the first time.

  How to apply: Form DR-501 plus Form DR-416 (or DR-416B for blindness), by March 1. (s. 196.101, F.S.)

• Senior disabled veteran discount (65 or older)

  A discount equal to your VA disability percentage

  For veterans 65 or older with a permanent, service-connected disability: the discount equals the disability percentage set by the VA, and it can carry over to a surviving spouse who hasn't remarried.

  How to apply: Apply with your county property appraiser on Form DR-501, by March 1 of the tax year. (s. 196.082, F.S.)

• Deployed military exemption

  Exempt share equals the share of last year you were deployed

  For service members deployed outside the continental U.S., Alaska and Hawaii in a designated operation during the previous year.

  How to apply: Form DR-501M. (s. 196.173, F.S.)

• Surviving spouse of a first responder

  Full exemption from property taxes on your homestead

  For the surviving spouse of a first responder who died in the line of duty while employed by the state or a local government, if both were permanent Florida residents on January 1 of that year.

  How to apply: Apply with your county property appraiser on Form DR-501, by March 1 of the tax year. (s. 196.081(6), F.S.)

Want to see which ones fit you? Answer a few questions in the property tax exemptions checker.

Your next steps

1. Work out a monthly cost you’re comfortable with in the home cost calculator. It also lists Florida’s programs with the loans you may qualify for.
2. Talk with a free or low-cost HUD-approved housing counselor. Find one near you.
3. Ask each lender which of these programs they work with, and compare Loan Estimates from at least three.
4. Follow the step-by-step home buyer’s guide from budget to keys.

Common questions