Homestead Exemption has changed significantly this year.
You no longer have to wait to apply for your homestead exemption. In the previous years, you would need to wait to apply for homestead exemptions. You can only apply from January to April. Now you can apply right after you close on your home. All you need to do is update your driver's license to show this is your new home.
The application is FREE!
Yes, you can get the application for free. Your Title Insurance will try to get you paid for it but it is 100 percent, Free 99. You will only need to answer a few questions on there and then you can mail that in with a copy of your driver's license to the county or you can take it down to the county you're in.
Homestead Exemption can actually have a lot of benefits for your new home.
Once you're a qualified homeowner, it will help perform your taxes increasing more than
10 a year. It also protects you against certain creditors who are trying to take your homestead away from you. Aside from that, you will benefit from not having that huge tax increase like there's a cap on that tax increase. People look at the exemption amount and they freak out by how big that is. Homestead Exemption allows you to get that number down lower.
You don't have to hire and pay somebody else to file for Homestead Exemptions on your behalf.
Once you purchase a home, you're going to get so much junk in the mail and people are
trying to say, “Hey I'll do your homestead exemption for you for $40 and don't even know what they're trying to get people for. I know it's simple to let somebody else do it, but all they're doing is taking your money. They are not applying for your homestead exemption for you, they're just scamming you out of money.
I hope this information is useful in helping you apply for your homestead exemption. If you haven’t done so already, go ahead and reach out to my partner, Bridget Denison and she will happily help you get homestead exemption.