Weston Save Our Homes Portability When You Downsize

How does Save Our Homes portability work when you downsize in Weston?

If you have owned your Weston (33326, 33327, 33331, 33332) home for a long time, the number that matters when you sell is not just your sale price. It is the gap between what your home is worth and what the county taxes it at. That gap is your Save Our Homes benefit, and it can be worth hundreds of dollars a month. When you downsize, many owners assume the whole benefit follows them. It does not, and the way it shrinks catches people off guard.

I pulled six years of closed single family sales for Weston and Davie from the MLS, and the gap between the two markets is what makes this question real for owners looking to move down. The median single family home in Weston, Florida sold for $915,000 in the first half of 2026, per my MLS pull. Davie ran lower over the same window, which is why so many Weston owners look west toward Davie when they want a smaller home or more land. Sell high in Weston, buy for less in Davie, and the tax math becomes the part nobody explains before the closing.

What Save Our Homes portability actually is

Save Our Homes is the reason your tax bill did not explode while your home value climbed. Once your home has a homestead exemption, Save Our Homes caps how much your assessed value can rise each year at 3 percent or the change in the consumer price index, whichever is lower, per the Broward County Property Appraiser. Over a long ownership, market value pulls far ahead of the capped assessed value. The difference between the two is your benefit.

Portability lets you move that built up benefit to your next Florida homestead, up to $500,000, according to the Broward County Property Appraiser. Without it, you would reset to full market value on the new home and lose years of protection in one move. This is the same benefit our Davie Save Our Homes portability guide walks through for buyers moving inside the county, and the Save Our Homes cap explainer covers how the cap builds in the first place.

The standard homestead exemption is separate. It knocks $50,000 off your assessed value, and you apply for it on the new home, per the Broward County Property Appraiser. Portability sits on top of that.

Why downsizing changes the math

Here is what I tell every Weston owner who asks me about moving to a smaller home. If your next home costs more than your current one, portability is generous. You carry the full assessment differential, up to the $500,000 cap, and it lands dollar for dollar on the new place.

Downsize and the rule flips. You do not carry the same dollar amount. You carry the same percentage discount off market value, which is a smaller dollar figure on a smaller home. The county calculates your new assessed value as your old assessed value divided by your old market value, multiplied by your new market value, per the Broward County Property Appraiser.

Run it with round numbers so the shape is clear. Say your Weston home has a just value of roughly $900,000 and a Save Our Homes assessed value of about $500,000. That benefit is about $400,000, which is roughly 44 percent off market value. Sell and buy a smaller single family home at about $600,000, and you do not carry the full $400,000. You keep the same 44 percent discount, which is about $267,000, so your new assessed value lands near $333,000 before exemptions. Had you bought a larger home instead, you would have carried the full $400,000, up to the $500,000 cap.

These are round numbers for illustration. Pull your own just value and assessed value from the Broward County Property Appraiser before you count on anything, because the discount percentage that transfers depends on your specific parcel.

The trap is real. Owners downsize to spend less, then find their new tax bill is higher per dollar of home than they expected, because the benefit came over proportionally smaller. It is still a benefit worth claiming. It is just not the full one, and knowing that before you list changes how you price the move.

Weston and Davie single family prices, 2021 to 2026

The reason this comes up so often in Weston is the size of the gains long tenure owners are sitting on. Here is the closed single family data behind the downsizing question, from my MLS pull.

| Year | Weston median (single family) | Davie median (single family) | Source |

|—|—|—|—|

| 2021 | $675,000 | $610,000 | MLS |

| 2022 | $865,000 | $695,000 | MLS |

| 2023 | $850,000 | $745,000 | MLS |

| 2024 | $950,000 | $825,000 | MLS |

| 2025 | $948,000 | $780,000 | MLS |

| 2026 H1 | $915,000 | $800,000 | MLS |

Weston’s single family median is up about 35.6 percent since 2021, per my MLS pull, and Davie’s single family median is up about 31.1 percent over the same period, per my MLS pull. The median single family home in Davie, Florida sold for $800,000 in the first half of 2026, per my MLS pull, and the current Davie figure updates weekly at davie_stat segment=”sfh” field=”median_sales_price” label=”1″]. A long tenure Weston owner selling near the top and buying a smaller single family home in Davie, including its acreage pockets around Long Lake Ranches (33330), is the exact downsizing case where the proportional rule bites. The [Davie versus Weston price history breaks down why the two markets diverged, and the sell or rent your Weston home tax math covers the decision on the other side of the same coin.

How to transfer your Save Our Homes benefit in Broward

Portability is not automatic. You have to file for it, and there is a clock. Here is the order that keeps the benefit intact, per the Broward County Property Appraiser and Broward County.

1. Apply for the standard homestead exemption on your new Florida home. File by March 1 of the year after you move in. Portability rides on top of a homestead, so this comes first.

2. File form DR-501T, the portability application, with the same property appraiser office that handles your new home. In Broward that is the Broward County Property Appraiser.

3. Establish the new homestead within three tax years of the January 1 you last had the old one. Wait too long and the benefit expires.

If your move takes you out of Florida entirely rather than to a smaller Florida home, the rules are different and the benefit does not follow you. Our moving out of Florida homestead guide covers that case, and the Davie property taxes guide is the full picture on how homestead, Save Our Homes, and millage fit together once you land. Owners moving down into a single family home for lower upkeep, rather than out of state, will also want the Weston 55 and older relocation walkthrough for the sale side.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I lose my Save Our Homes benefit if I downsize in Weston?

No, you do not lose it, but you do not carry the full dollar amount either. When you buy a less expensive home, the benefit transfers proportionally. You keep the same percentage discount off market value, which is a smaller dollar figure on a smaller home. Confirm your own numbers with the Broward County Property Appraiser before you sell.

How much Save Our Homes benefit can I transfer?

Portability transfers your built up assessment differential up to $500,000, per the Broward County Property Appraiser. If you move up in value you port the full differential. If you downsize you port a proportional share of it. That $500,000 ceiling, per the Broward County Property Appraiser, applies to the amount, not to your home price.

How long do I have to move my homestead benefit?

You have to establish your new Florida homestead within three tax years of the last January 1 you held the old homestead, per the Broward County Property Appraiser and Florida Statute 193.155. You file the standard homestead exemption on the new home and form DR-501T with your county property appraiser by March 1 of the year after you move in. Miss the window and the benefit expires.

Is downsizing to Davie from Weston worth it for the taxes?

It depends on your specific parcel, because the discount percentage that transfers is set by your current assessed value and market value. The median single family home in Weston sold for $915,000 in the first half of 2026 and Davie ran lower, per my MLS pull, so the equity side often favors the move. The tax side is where you want the exact numbers run before you list.

Talk to a Davie Real Estate Expert

Anthony Spitaleri, Broker Associate, REALTOR® with Coldwell Banker Realty and a Davie native, builds the full portability and net sheet math for every Weston owner before they list, not after the tax bill surprises them. If you are weighing a downsize from Weston to a smaller single family home in Davie and want your exact transferred benefit run against your parcel, the next step is a direct conversation. Schedule a free 15-minute strategy call and walk into the move with every number known.

Anthony Spitaleri

Broker Associate, REALTOR® | Coldwell Banker Realty

Creator of Living in Davie, Florida

Davie, Florida | Serving Davie, Weston and surrounding Broward markets

954-235-5783

Florida License BK3281907

@livingindavieflorida

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