Moving to Florida: New Resident Checklist

Update your address

The first task is the sleepiest and the one that causes the most trouble if skipped: forward your mail with the USPS, and update your address with banks, employers, and insurers. Then handle the two documents Florida actually requires: the state gives you 30 days from establishing residency to get your Florida driver's license and register your vehicle. The new license is Real ID compliant, which keeps airport travel and federal buildings simple.

Health coverage

Set up Florida health coverage before you need it, not after. Confirm that employer coverage, Medicare, or a marketplace plan works in Florida, and use the federal marketplace at HealthCare.gov if you need a new plan. Florida has no state income tax, but health insurance is the one expense you cannot outrun.

Register to vote in Florida

At least 29 days before an election, and you must be a Florida resident 30 days before voting

Voter registration does not follow you automatically, you register in your new state and precinct. In Florida you can register online at RegisterToVoteFlorida.gov (you will need your Florida driver's license or FLHSMV ID number), by mail, or in person at your county supervisor of elections office. Your application must be received at least 29 days before an election, and you must have been a Florida resident for at least 30 days before you vote. If you are moving here from New Jersey or New York, this is often the first time registering is a genuinely simple online form, so take the ten minutes and get it done early.

Understand Florida property taxes before you buy

Before you make an offer, not after

Florida property taxes are assessed at the county level and are a primary funding source for local school districts, so they vary noticeably from one community to the next even a few miles apart. When you buy, the county property appraiser sets the assessed value, and your actual bill depends on the assessed value and the millage rates for the school district, county, and city where the home sits. One benefit most owner-occupants should build into their plan is Florida's Homestead Exemption: for your primary residence it removes up to $50,000 of assessed value, plus up to $25,000 additional for school taxes for most owner-occupants, and the Save Our Homes cap holds annual assessment increases to 3 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. You apply once with your county property appraiser, and the application is typically due by March 1, varying by county, to take effect for the current tax year, and it carries forward annually until you sell or move out. If you are coming from New Jersey, where property taxes are among the highest in the nation, the contrast is usually the first thing buyers notice. Ask Wiz how the exemption applies to any specific home you are considering, because the answer depends on the county, the district, and the property.

Set up banking and utilities at your new address

Your first few weeks

Open a local bank account or update your existing accounts to your Florida address, and get your utilities scheduled: electric, water, internet, and trash pickup all need to be in your name with the new address by the time you move in. Utilities in Florida vary by provider: electric service comes through Florida Power & Light (FPL), Duke Energy Florida, TECO, or your local utility, some communities have their own water and sewer authorities, and internet providers differ street by street, so there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Ask the seller's agent what providers serve the property, or ask Wiz when you are looking at homes, and he will tell you what he knows about that specific street. There is no statewide deadline for switching these, service start dates are set by each provider, so book them early to avoid a gap on move-in day.

Connect with a local real estate agent before you buy or rent

Before you start house hunting

A local agent is worth more in Florida than almost anywhere else, because the region is really a collection of very different markets: city blocks, suburban towns, and coastal communities where school districts, tax rates, commute times, and price points all shift in a few miles. Wiz has spent a career spanning fix-and-flip investing, land development, home building, and property management matching people who are moving from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland, and other states to the right community, and the questions that matter are the ones that never show up on a listing: which school district a home actually feeds into, what the property tax bill really looks like after the Homestead Exemption, how the commute to your office plays out at 7 a.m., and whether a home's price is right for this market. That conversation is free and there is no pressure, so you can have it before you make a single appointment to see homes.

Register children for school and update emergency contacts

Your address determines the public school assignment in Florida, so register with the district as soon as you have a lease or a closing date, and give the school your emergency contacts the moment you know them. Districts handle mid-year moves routinely, so do not wait for the school year to start over.

File a change of address with the IRS and the Florida Department of Revenue if needed

Florida has no state income tax to worry about, but the IRS needs your new address through Form 8822, and the Florida Department of Revenue handles business accounts and taxes if you own or operate one. For most movers, the IRS form is the only one that applies, and it takes five minutes.

Get settled

Meet the neighbors, find your grocery stores, a great vet for Gigi and Coco, a local coffee shop you love, and your new favorite beach. The checklist ends where Florida life begins: not with the paperwork, but with the first weekend you spend on the water instead of in a moving box.