Veterans Day · November 11 · Homestead

Veterans Day: your VA benefits

Thank you for your service. Veterans Day is Wednesday, November 11, and if you served, you have benefits that make owning a home out here cost less. Most veterans I meet know about one of them.

Your VA home loan benefit

The VA home loan is a benefit you earned. Many veterans, service members and surviving spouses can use it to buy a home. I am licensed as both a Realtor and a Mortgage Loan Originator, so I can look at your eligibility and your situation and tell you where you stand, in one conversation. This is general information, not a commitment to lend.

Florida property tax benefits for veterans

These are the ones to know. Most of them require homestead on the property, an honorable discharge and Florida residency.

$5,000 disability exemption. If you have a VA service-connected disability rating of 10 percent or more, $5,000 comes off your assessed value.

Total and permanent disability exemption. If your service-connected disability is rated total and permanent, your homestead is exempt from all property taxes. Non ad valorem charges, like trash and fire fees, can still apply. Miami-Dade confirms it renews automatically once you are approved.

Combat-related discount at 65. At age 65 or older, a combat-related disability can reduce your property taxes by that disability percentage.

Surviving spouses. Many of these continue for a surviving spouse who has not remarried and keeps the homestead.

The deadline is March 1 for the year you apply. Bring your VA letter, your DD-214, a Florida ID and proof of ownership. Confirm your own case with the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser, because the rules turn on the details.

What Amendment 3 adds

Amendment 3 passed. The homestead exemption on non school taxes goes to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028. How it combines with a veteran exemption depends on your case, so ask me or the Property Appraiser before you count on a number. Run your address and I will show you the base figures.

The Air Base and Homestead

Homestead Air Reserve Base is home to the 482nd Fighter Wing. In May, the Air Force named Homestead its top candidate to replace its 24 F-16s with 24 F-35A jets. That decision is not final, an environmental review is still ahead, and the plan puts the first operational jets in the fall of 2034. Miami-Dade is also returning 32 acres next to the base to the Air Force to help secure the runway.

My read: the base is a long term anchor for this part of the county. Service members, civilians who work there and the businesses around the base all need somewhere to live. That is a reason to look at South Dade now, not a promise about prices.

Questions about your benefits

Call or text me at 305-496-7204. I answer these myself, and I will tell you if something is outside what I can advise.

Where this comes fromMiami-Dade Property Appraiser, totally and permanently disabled veteran exemption · Florida veteran property tax exemptions guide · Air & Space Forces Magazine, F-35s at Homestead · Congressman Gimenez, F-35 announcement · Miami Today, 32 acres returned to the Air Force