Own a rental, vacation home, or investment property in Florida? Non-homestead properties have no assessment cap and no homestead exemption — making VAB appeals even more critical. File for $89 flat.
Florida's Save Our Homes amendment limits annual assessment increases to 3% for homestead properties — properties where the owner lives as their primary residence. For non-homestead properties (rentals, vacation homes, investment properties, second homes), there is no such cap. The county property appraiser can increase your assessed value by any amount in a single year, as long as they can support the new value with market evidence. In practice, this means non-homestead property owners in appreciating markets like Miami-Dade, Broward, Collier, and Sarasota have seen assessments spike dramatically — and the Save Our Homes protections that neighbors enjoy offer no protection to investment and rental property owners.
Florida voters approved Amendment 1 in 2008, which limits annual non-homestead assessment increases to 10% per year. This is far less protective than the 3% Save Our Homes cap for homestead properties, but it does provide some floor. Note that this cap applies only to non-homestead properties that are not new construction and have been on the tax rolls for at least one year. New construction assessments can still be set at full market value in the first year with no cap protection. The 10% cap resets if the property changes ownership.
For homestead property owners, the Save Our Homes cap provides a cushion — even if the county overestimates just value, the assessed value can only increase 3% per year. For non-homestead owners, there's no such cushion. Whatever the county says your property is worth — that's your assessed value (subject to the 10% cap), and that's what your taxes are calculated on. If the county's just value is inflated by 15%, you're paying taxes on 15% more value than your property is actually worth, with no automatic correction mechanism. A VAB petition is your only tool to correct this.
Short-term rental properties in high-demand markets like Miami Beach, Destin, 30A, and the Florida Keys frequently see inflated assessments because county appraisers sometimes use income approach methodologies that overvalue rental income streams. Vacation condos in resort markets are assessed using comparable sales from the peak market period, not current conditions. Single-family rental homes in suburban markets like Brandon, Riverview, and Wesley Chapel face assessment spikes driven by institutional investor activity that pushes comparable sales above what individual investors pay.
The VAB petition process for non-homestead properties is identical to the homestead process. You file Florida form DR-486 with your county VAB within 25 days of your TRIM notice mailing date, attach comparable sales evidence (or income approach evidence for income-producing properties), and await your hearing. TaxAppeal USA handles non-homestead property appeals the same way as homestead appeals — flat $89 fee, tracked mailing, full comparable sales analysis included. For properties where income approach is relevant, we note the applicable rental market conditions in the petition.
$89 flat fee. You sign it, we file it. You keep 100% of your savings.
TaxAppeal USA is a self-service document-preparation and mail filing service. In every state we serve, including Florida, we are not property tax consultants, agents, or representatives, we do not provide tax or legal advice, and we do not represent customers before any appraisal district, board of equalization, value adjustment board, or review board. Every protest and petition is prepared for the property owner, signed by the owner, and filed in the owner’s name. In Florida we also pay your county’s Value Adjustment Board filing fee on your behalf and mail your petition to the Clerk of the Value Adjustment Board. Your petition is signed by you as the property owner under section 194.011(3), Florida Statutes. TaxAppeal USA does not sign as your representative, does not appear before the Board, and does not present evidence or argument at a hearing.