Selling your Tampa Bay house when you move away: job, family or military orders

Can you sell your Florida house after you move out of state?

Yes. You can sign online with a Florida online notary, sign in front of a notary where you live now, or have someone sign for you under a power of attorney. Ask the title company early which way it will handle your closing.

1. Online notarization. A Florida online notary, who must be in Florida, can notarize "regardless of whether the principal or any witnesses are physically located in this state" (Fla. Stat. 117.209). The notary checks your ID and identity online and records the video session. If you are outside Florida, the notary confirms you want a Florida notary and Florida law to apply (Fla. Stat. 117.265).
2. Sign where you live (a mail-away closing). The title company sends you the papers, you sign before a notary, and you send the originals back. Florida accepts acknowledgments taken by a notary public of another state, by a notary of a foreign country or a U.S. consular officer abroad, and by military officers authorized to act as notaries under 10 U.S.C. 1044a (Fla. Stat. 695.03).
3. Power of attorney. Someone you trust signs for you. A Florida power of attorney must be signed by you and two witnesses and acknowledged before a notary (Fla. Stat. 709.2105). Send it to the title company well before closing so it can review it.

The deed needs two witnesses. A Florida deed must be signed in front of two subscribing witnesses. With electronic signing, the witnesses can be present by audio-video (Fla. Stat. 689.01), and a remote witness must confirm he or she lives in and is physically in the United States (Fla. Stat. 117.285). Each witness's name and post-office address must be printed on the deed for it to be recorded (Fla. Stat. 695.26).

How do you take care of the house while it sits empty?

Keep it insured for how it is really used, keep the power on, and have someone local check it, especially in hurricane season. Read your policy's vacancy terms and tell your insurer you moved.

• Insurance. The national group of state insurance regulators warns that vacant or unoccupied homes "can leave the homeowner exposed to loss and liability" that "may not be covered by a homeowners insurance policy" (NAIC). Read the vacancy and occupancy terms in your own policy, and ask your insurer what coverage fits an empty house. Florida's Department of Financial Services notes that the type of policy depends on how the home is occupied, and runs a toll-free insurance consumer helpline at 1-877-693-5236 (Florida DFS).
• Power and air conditioning. Keeping the AC running helps control humidity, which matters in Florida.
• A local key holder. A friend, neighbor or property manager who checks inside the house on a schedule and after every storm.
• Hurricane season. It runs from June 1 to November 30 (National Hurricane Center). Before you leave, bring in outdoor furniture, plan who will put up shutters, and clear the gutters.
• Yard and mail. Keep the lawn cut so the house does not draw code complaints, and forward your mail so you do not miss a tax bill or a notice.

What happens to your homestead exemption when you move?

Florida grants the homestead exemption to owners whose permanent home is the house on January 1. Once it is no longer your permanent home, tell the property appraiser. If you buy another Florida home, you may be able to carry part of your Save Our Homes savings with you.

• The January 1 rule. The exemption goes to a person who, on January 1, holds title and "in good faith makes the property his or her permanent residence" (Fla. Stat. 196.031).
• Renting it out. Renting all or substantially all of a homestead counts as giving it up. Renting after January 1 does not affect that year's exemption, unless the house is rented more than 30 days per calendar year for 2 years in a row. Members of the U.S. Armed Forces and certain federal diplomatic and intelligence officers stationed outside Florida are exceptions (Fla. Stat. 196.061).
• Tell the appraiser. In counties where the exemption renews on its own, the owner must promptly tell the property appraiser when the use of the property or the owner's status changes. If you do not, and you were not entitled to the exemption in any of the past 10 years, you can owe those taxes plus a 50% penalty and 15% interest a year, secured by a lien (Fla. Stat. 196.011).
• The tax bill after. The Florida Department of Revenue says that losing the homestead exemption triggers a reassessment and removes the Save Our Homes cap, so a house you keep can see a higher tax bill (PT-112).

Portability, if you stay in Florida. You cannot move the exemption itself, but you may move your Save Our Homes benefit, up to $500,000, to a new Florida homestead (Fla. Stat. 193.155(8)). The Department of Revenue says you must set up the new homestead within three years of January 1 of the year you gave up the old one, "not three years after the sale," and file Form DR-501T with your homestead application by March 1 (PT-112). A 2026 law (ch. 2026-239) reworded part of this rule starting with the 2027 tax roll and kept the $500,000 limit. Portability applies only to a new homestead in Florida.

Do you owe capital gains tax if you sell after you move?

Maybe not. If you owned and lived in the house for at least 2 of the 5 years before the sale, you may exclude up to $250,000 of gain, or $500,000 on a joint return. Waiting too long after you move can lose it.

• The 2-of-5 rule. You must have owned the home and used it as your main home for at least 24 months of the 5 years before the sale (IRS Publication 523). Because the 5-year window moves with your sale date, the longer you wait after moving, the fewer of your years in the house still count.
• Moved before 2 years? You may get a partial exclusion if you moved for a new job at least 50 miles farther from the home than your old work, for health reasons, or because of certain unforeseeable events (Publication 523).
• Renting it out first. Renting the house after you last lived there, within that 5-year window, does not by itself cut the exclusion, but depreciation you claim while renting is taxed and cannot be excluded (Publication 523).
• Military, Foreign Service and intelligence employees. You can suspend the 5-year period for up to 10 years while on qualified official extended duty, such as at a duty station at least 50 miles from the home (Publication 523).

What is different if you are moving on military orders?

Three things: the IRS lets you pause the 5-year clock, Florida's homestead rental rule has an exception for members of the Armed Forces, and military officers authorized as notaries can take your signature on a Florida deed.

MacDill Air Force Base is in Hillsborough County, "eight miles south of Tampa" on the southwestern tip of the Interbay Peninsula. Military OneSource's page for the base lists relocation assistance through the base's family support center (Military OneSource).

• Taxes. The suspension of up to 10 years can keep your years in the house inside the window while you are stationed away (Publication 523).
• Free tax help. Military OneSource's MilTax is a free set of tax services for the military (Military OneSource).
• Homestead. Renting out your homestead does not count as giving it up for a member of the Armed Forces (196.061), and a service member who cannot file a homestead claim in person can file through next of kin or someone authorized in writing (Fla. Stat. 196.071).
• Signing. Florida accepts acknowledgments taken by military officers authorized to act as notaries under federal law (695.03).

Should you sell, rent it out, or keep it while you are away?

It depends on whether the rent would cover your costs, how much the house needs, and how much you want to manage from far away. Here is an honest comparison, including not selling.

To compare what a cash sale would leave you with what listing might, use our cash offer vs. listing comparison.

Who handles homestead questions in Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco?

Each county's property appraiser handles the homestead exemption, removing it when you move, and portability. Here is what each one says, as of October 30, 2026.

If you are moving to another Florida county, file the portability form with the property appraiser in the county of your new home.

How does Tao Home Buyers handle a sale when you are moving away?

We buy houses as-is for cash in Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco, and you pick the closing date, so it can fit your move. The title company handles the closing, including the remote signing options above that it offers.

We are the end buyer: Tao Builders LLC buys in its own name and closes at a licensed title company, and we do not assign or wholesale contracts. Earnest money goes to the title company the same day you sign (or the next business morning if you sign after hours). Our proof of funds is a letter from our lender.

We can close in as few as 10 days when the title is clear, and Matan walks you through the numbers behind the offer. Our cash offer will usually be below what the house would sell for fully repaired on the open market, so if you have time before the move and the house shows well, listing it may leave you more. Matan, the owner, has bought houses around Tampa Bay for 4 years and has personally bought more than 50. He is a licensed Florida real estate sales associate with Jay Alan Real Estate, buying for his own company as a principal, not as anyone's agent.

Sources

Official sources we checked for this page. Rules change, so confirm anything important with the source or a Florida attorney.

1. Fla. Stat. 117.209, authority to perform online notarizations (Florida Senate)
2. Fla. Stat. 695.03, acknowledgments in other states, countries and by military officers (Florida Senate)
3. Fla. Stat. 689.01, how real estate is conveyed, including witnesses (Florida Senate)
4. Fla. Stat. 196.031, homestead exemption (Florida Senate)
5. Fla. Stat. 196.061, rental of a homestead (Florida Senate)
6. Fla. Stat. 196.011, exemption applications and the duty to notify (Florida Senate)
7. Fla. Stat. 193.155, homestead assessments and portability (Florida Senate)
8. Save Our Homes assessment limitation and portability transfer, PT-112 (Florida Department of Revenue)
9. Publication 523, Selling Your Home (IRS)
10. Tropical cyclone climatology (National Hurricane Center, NOAA)
11. MacDill AFB in-depth overview (Military OneSource, Department of Defense)
12. Homestead and other exemptions (Hillsborough County Property Appraiser)