New Homeowner Setup Guide for Davie, FL (2026)

What do you need to set up first when you buy a home in Davie?

After you close on a Davie home, set up four things fast: water and sewer with your provider (bring your closing statement to open the account), electric service with FPL, trash and recycling through Coastal Waste, and your homestead exemption with the Broward County Property Appraiser. Two of these run on deadlines, so the order matters more than most new owners expect.

You found the home, negotiated it, and got to the closing table. The keys are yours. Now comes the part nobody walks you through: turning a house into a running household, on the specific systems the Town of Davie uses. This is the checklist I give buyers so their first two weeks are about settling in, not chasing down who provides their water.

If you want the bigger picture on how the town is organized and who actually runs each service, read the companion piece on who runs Davie town services. This guide is the action version: what to do, in what order, and which deadlines cost you money if you miss them.

Your first two weeks: water, power, and trash

Start with water, because Davie is not served by one utility. Town of Davie Utilities serves most properties inside town limits, but parts of Davie are served by the City of Sunrise or by private utility companies. Before you assume anything, confirm your provider on the Town’s Utility Service Area map by entering your address.

Once you know your provider, open the account. For Town of Davie Utilities, you open service with a photo ID and a copy of your closing statement, in person at Town Hall or by email or fax to the utility office. A deposit may apply and is often waived with a good credit check, so ask when you set it up. Do this a few business days before you take possession rather than after, and you avoid a gap in service. You can reach the Town’s utilities customer service directly to start the account.

A few things worth knowing before your first bill:

• Water and sewer are billed together on a monthly cycle, and the meter is read on a roughly 30 day schedule.
• If your home sits on acreage in western Davie, you may be on a private well and septic system rather than city water and sewer. Verify which one you have at the address, because it changes your setup entirely.
• Some Davie areas have no central sewer and rely on septic, which is a maintenance item to put on your radar, not a surprise to discover after a heavy rain.

Electric is simpler. Florida Power and Light serves all of Davie, so there is one provider and no shopping to do. Set up the account in your name effective your possession date and ask about budget billing, which averages your yearly usage into level monthly payments and smooths out the summer air conditioning spike. Natural gas is not universal here. TECO Peoples Gas serves the parts of Davie where gas lines exist, and many homes are all electric or run on propane, so confirm what your specific home uses.

Trash is the one most new owners get wrong in week one. The Town of Davie contracts residential garbage and recycling to Coastal Waste and Recycling. Collection is automated cart service, and your garbage day and your bulk pickup zone depend on where you live. Pull your service day and zone from the Town’s solid waste and recycling page and the current year service guide before you put a cart out. Residential bulk pickup runs once a month by zone, so if you are clearing out the previous owner’s leftovers, plan around that date. For household hazardous waste, electronics, and extra yard waste, Davie residents use the Broward County drop off centers rather than the curb.

Permits: what needs one before you start on the house

Almost every new owner has a project waiting: a fence for the dog, a water heater that is on its last year, impact windows before hurricane season, a pool screen, a roof. In Davie, most of these need a permit through the Building Division, and pulling one is not optional. Unpermitted work becomes your problem the day you try to sell, when it surfaces on inspection or in a municipal lien search.

Here is the honest rule of thumb. You generally need a permit for:

• Water heater changeouts, repipes, and plumbing fixture relocations.
• Roof replacement, which is filed with its own product approval documents.
• Impact windows and doors, which must carry current Florida Product Approval rated for the local wind speed.
• Fences, sheds and accessory structures, pools, spas, and screen enclosures.

The Town of Davie moved permit submissions to an Online Application Submittal portal in early 2026, so applications and most Building Department requests go through that system now. Before you sign a contractor’s proposal, confirm the project needs a permit and who pulls it, and get the fee from the Town of Davie Building Division. A licensed contractor should pull the permit in their name, not yours, so you are not left holding an open permit if the work stalls.

This is exactly the kind of due diligence I walk buyers through before they even close, because open permits and unpermitted additions are cheaper to catch as a buyer than to inherit as an owner.

File your homestead exemption before the deadline

This is the one with real money attached, and the one new owners forget. Florida’s homestead exemption reduces the taxable value of your primary residence, and it caps how fast your assessed value can climb through Save Our Homes. You file it once, and it carries forward as long as the home stays your permanent residence.

Two dates decide whether you get it:

1. You must have made the Davie home your permanent residence as of January 1 of the tax year you are claiming.

2. You file with the Broward County Property Appraiser by the March 1 timely deadline. The exact date shifts when March 1 lands on a weekend, so confirm the current year’s date on bcpa.net rather than assuming.

If you buy after the deadline, you file for the following year, and there is a limited late filing window each year for owners who miss the timely date. The exemption itself is worth up to $50,000 off assessed value, with the first $25,000 applying to all property taxes and the second $25,000 excluding school taxes, and the Save Our Homes cap then limits assessed value growth to 3 percent a year while you hold it. To file, you show proof the home is your permanent residence, such as a Florida driver license at the property address, Florida vehicle registration, and voter registration or a declaration of domicile. You can file online, by mail, or in person.

For how homestead fits into your full Davie tax picture, the Davie property taxes guide walks through the millage and the numbers. For everything else about settling in here, the Living in Davie guide is the broader map. And if you want the cost side of utilities specifically, the Davie utilities guide breaks down what you actually pay each month.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who provides water in Davie, Florida?

It depends on your address. Town of Davie Utilities serves most properties inside town limits, but some areas are served by the City of Sunrise or by private utility companies, and acreage homes in western Davie may be on a private well. Check the Town of Davie Utility Service Area map by address before you open an account.

What do I need to start water service in Davie?

For Town of Davie Utilities, you open the account with a photo ID and a copy of your closing statement. A deposit may apply and is often waived with a good credit check. Start service a few business days before you take possession so there is no gap, and confirm the current requirements with the Town’s utilities customer service.

When do I have to file for the homestead exemption in Broward County?

You file with the Broward County Property Appraiser by the March 1 timely deadline, and you must have made the home your permanent residence as of January 1 of that tax year. The exact date can shift when March 1 falls on a weekend, so confirm the current year’s deadline on bcpa.net. There is a limited late filing window each year if you miss it.

Do I need a permit to replace a water heater or put up a fence in Davie?

Yes. The Town of Davie requires permits for water heater changeouts, fences, roofs, impact windows, pools, and most structural or system work, submitted through the Building Division’s online portal. Confirm the requirement and fee with the Building Division, and have your licensed contractor pull the permit in their name.

Who picks up the trash in Davie?

Coastal Waste and Recycling handles residential garbage and recycling for the Town of Davie on automated cart service. Your collection day and your once a month bulk pickup depend on your zone, which you can look up on the Town’s solid waste page and current service guide.

Talk to a Davie Real Estate Expert

Setting up a home is the easy part once you know the local map. Buying the right one, and catching the open permits, flood zone, and well or septic surprises before they become yours, is where a Davie specialist earns their keep. If you are buying or relocating to Davie, the best next step is a direct conversation. Schedule a strategy call and we will run through your specific situation together.

Anthony Spitaleri

Living in Davie Florida

954-235-5783

Davie, Florida

livingindavieflorida.com

Written by Anthony Spitaleri, Broker Associate with Coldwell Banker and a Davie native. More about Anthony