Florida property tax answers · Updated July 2026
Is it worth appealing property taxes in Florida?
The short answer
It depends almost entirely on your Save Our Homes position. Long-time homesteaded owners are often assessed far below market and have nothing to win. Recent buyers, non-homesteaded owners, and new-construction owners frequently do: the filing fee is $15, a DIY petition costs little more, and a win lowers the baseline your future capped increases build on, so one reduction pays out for years.
The 30-second test
Compare the assessed value on your TRIM notice (or your county property appraiser's website) to what your home would actually sell for. If assessed is far below market, Save Our Homes is already protecting you and an appeal has nothing to reduce, skip it, and be wary of anyone charging a contingency to try. If assessed is at or above what similar homes are assessed at or selling for, you have the raw material of a VAB case. The groups where that happens most: buyers within the last couple of years (the cap resets at purchase), second homes and rentals (10% cap, none on school levies), and new construction.
What it costs vs what it returns
The math that makes Florida different from most states: a win is not a one-year win. A successful petition lowers your assessed value, and the Save Our Homes (or 10% non-homestead) cap then grows from that lower baseline, so the reduction compounds for as long as you hold the property. That is exactly why paying a percentage of savings every year is the expensive way to capture a benefit that a $15 fee and one afternoon, or a $49 pre-filled kit, captures whole.
| Route | Cost | You keep |
|---|---|---|
| File yourself from scratch | $15 county fee + your research time | 100% of savings |
| $49 pre-filled kit + $15 fee | $64 one time | 100% of savings |
| Contingency firm (e.g. Ownwell in FL) | 35% of first-year savings, again each year it renews | 65% |
The window is the constraint, not the difficulty
Residential VAB hearings are short, informal, and routinely handled by owners without attorneys; the special magistrate wants comparables, not oratory. The genuine constraint is the calendar: 25 days from the August TRIM mailing, receive-by. Check your position now, free, and if there is a gap you will be filing a pre-built petition in the first week of the window instead of researching in the last.
Get the honest answer for your address, free
Search your address and we compare your assessed value against similar Florida homes from the state assessment roll, all 67 counties, 8.3 million parcels. If Save Our Homes already has you covered, we say so. If there is a real gap, the $49 kit arrives with the DR-486 pre-filled and the evidence attached, and you keep 100% of the savings.
Check my Florida address · FreeFlat $49, one time, no contingency, 30-day refund. Filing yourself is always an option; the kit just does the work.