Moving to Florida from Michigan

Snowbird or Florida resident: how the choice plays out

Many Michigan families keep both homes for years. The tax treatment depends on which one is your domicile, and you can only have one.

• Staying a Michigan resident: you keep your Michigan Principal Residence Exemption on the home up north and keep paying Michigan's flat income tax. The Florida home is taxed as non-homestead property, with no exemption and a 10% yearly cap on non-school levies.
• Becoming a Florida resident: you can claim Florida homestead of up to $51,411 off assessed value in 2026, with assessment increases capped at 3% or CPI. Florida has no state income tax. The Michigan house would usually lose its principal residence treatment.
• You cannot have both. Florida law bars homestead for anyone receiving a residency-based property tax exemption or credit in another state.

This isn't legal or tax advice. Ask a CPA to run both scenarios with your actual pension, Social Security and investment income before you file anything.

What changes on the Florida tax bill when you switch

A rough way to see the size of the homestead benefit: one mill of tax is $1 per $1,000 of taxable value. The first $25,000 of exemption comes off every levy, so it saves $25 per mill. The second piece, up to $26,411, comes off non-school levies only. Ask the county property appraiser's office for the current millage on your address and multiply.

The bigger effect builds over time. A non-homestead condo can see its non-school assessment rise up to 10% a year, while a homestead is held to 3% or CPI. After several years of rising values, that gap shows up clearly on the bill.

• Own and live in the home on January 1, then apply by March 1.
• Get a Florida driver's license, register your car and register to vote in the county.
• Consider filing a Declaration of Domicile with the clerk of court.

Amendment 3, a homestead and non-homestead tax proposal, goes to voters on November 3, 2026 and must reach 60%. Check the outcome before relying on these numbers.

Owning a Florida home you leave empty half the year

Michigan snowbirds usually head north before the worst of hurricane season. An empty house in a Florida summer needs a plan:

• Humidity: leave the AC running at a set temperature, or use a dehumidifier. Shutting it off invites mold.
• Storm prep: close shutters or confirm impact windows, bring in patio furniture and arrange for someone to check the house after any storm.
• Insurance terms: read the vacancy and unoccupancy language. Some policies limit coverage when a home sits empty for long stretches.
• Water: shut off the main or install a leak sensor with automatic shutoff. A slow leak over four months does real damage.
• Home watch services are common in snowbird areas, and condos often handle much of this through the association.

That is a large reason many Michigan buyers pick a condo or villa with exterior maintenance for the first Florida home.

Condo or house for a part-year owner

The statewide gap between a typical single-family home ($396,809) and a typical condo ($262,592) is about $134,000. The condo index fell 3.9% over the past year, while all homes fell 0.9%, so condos have softened more.

• Condo advantages: lock-and-leave, the building insurance and roof belong to the association, and many have pools and social activities.
• Condo costs to check: the 2022 condo law requires milestone inspections for buildings of three or more habitable stories and a Structural Integrity Reserve Study every 10 years. Older buildings catching up on reserves may raise fees or levy special assessments.
• House advantages: no board approval, more control, room for family visits. You carry the roof, the wind policy and the yard.
• Review period: a resale condo buyer can cancel within 7 days (weekends and legal holidays excluded) of receiving the association documents.

Where Michigan buyers find good value

Michigan buyers often care about golf, a quieter pace and a manageable price. A few areas from the data:

• Gulf coast: Fort Myers at $304,566, Cape Coral at $334,660 and North Port at $303,227, where 27.7% of residents are 65 or older in Census data.
• Nature Coast and Tampa Bay edges: Spring Hill at $303,307 and Hernando County at $306,116; Citrus County at $268,688.
• Central Florida: Lakeland at $309,422 and Polk County at $295,509; Marion County at $267,911.
• The Villages: $392,424 for all homes, with 85.2% of residents 65 or older, about as concentrated a retirement market as exists.
• East coast: Palm Bay at $303,347 and Melbourne at $357,832.

These are Zillow figures for all homes in each place. Prices statewide are down 0.9% year over year and up 18.6% over five years.

Insurance and inspections that are new to Michigan buyers

• Hurricane deductible: a percentage of dwelling coverage, often 2% or 5%, applied once per calendar year under Florida law.
• Roof age: many carriers will not write older roofs without a replacement. Ask the seller for the roof permit date.
• 4-point inspection: usually required on older homes, covering roof, plumbing, electrical and HVAC.
• Wind mitigation report: can earn credits for roof straps, roof shape and shutters.
• Flood: a separate policy. Check the FEMA zone of the address; lenders require flood coverage in A and V zones.

Snow load, ice dams and frozen pipes drop off your list. Wind, water and roof age replace them.

Health care, driving and getting started

If you are on Medicare, check how your plan works in Florida before you split the year, since some plans are tied to a home county. If you drive down each fall, register the car in the state you are domiciled in. When you are ready to compare a condo and a villa in the same area, a side-by-side shortlist is the quickest way to see the real fee and tax difference.

One more practical point for families who split the year. The first Florida purchase is often a test. Buyers who start as snowbirds in a condo sometimes switch residency a few years later and move into a house once they know the area. If that is your likely path, buy the first place in a town you would also want to live in full time, so the later move is a change of address inside a place you already know. It also helps to keep every closing statement, permit and improvement receipt, because they matter for federal tax when you eventually sell.