Moving From Colorado to Florida? Trade Altitude for Water on Your Terms.
Sea level and warm water. A house that fits the gear and the budget. A move planned from the Front Range, step by step.
Trade the mountains for the coast with the numbers in front of you. See which towns fit, what each home really costs to own and every finalist on live video through an agent already here.
Find Your Florida Lifestyle
Tell us where in Colorado you are moving from, your budget, what matters most (beach access, walkability, a larger home, luxury living or retirement) and when you plan to move. The page recommends the communities and the homes for sale that fit, and the same answers start your plan.
Homes Matching Your Criteria
Live listings from the MLS for each community, by the kind of home: waterfront, condominiums, houses and new construction.
Your first step: BreakThru Florida Home Buying Plan
Before You Book a Flight, Know Where to Buy, What Your Money Buys and What to Look Out For
You are not simply buying a home in Florida. You are making a decision about the life you want next, from a place where you cannot drive past the house. The plan starts with a conversation about what the move has to do for you, and ends with a short list of communities and homes worth your time, what each would cost to own, and a tour schedule built around you.
What you receive
- A buying consultation about what you want the move to do, what worries you and what must be true for it to make sense
- A side-by-side comparison of the South Florida communities that fit, with the trade-offs of each
- A first shortlist of homes for sale that match, chosen by an agent rather than a filter
- An ownership-cost review for the homes you like: property tax, insurance, flood and association fees
- A tour plan: live video tours now, and an in-person trip scheduled so one visit covers what matters
- How buyer representation and compensation work in Florida, in writing, before any tour
What happens next
- Tell us where you live now, where you are looking, your budget and your timing.
- A local agent replies within one business day to schedule your buying consultation.
- After the consultation, your agent prepares the community comparison, the shortlist and the cost review.
- You tour by video or in person when you are ready, and decide what happens next.
Free and without obligation. Nothing you tell us is shared with a seller, and you sign a buyer agreement only when you are ready to tour.
Is a Florida CDD similar to a Colorado metro district? Yes, in concept. Both are special districts that finance roads, utilities and other infrastructure in newer communities and collect through the property tax bill. In Florida the CDD charge appears as a separate assessment that the homestead exemption does not reduce, and many established neighborhoods have none. Check the tax bill of any home you consider and budget for the charge from the start.
The ski rack is coming off the car, a boat trailer may replace it, and you want the house right the first time rather than after a season of second guessing. Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins and Colorado Springs send very different buyers: a remote worker who needs an office, a household following a job to Miami, an owner finished with shoveling. Florida houses are built for wind and water and priced by roof age and flood zone, and the metro district on your tax bill has a Florida relative. Having a brokerage on your side here, reading all of it before you fly in, is what keeps the move on schedule.
What Does a Move From Colorado to Florida Cost Once You Own the House?
More than the moving quote and less than the worst case, provided the monthly side is built before you sign. The one time side is a truck east on Interstate 70 and then south to the coast, a car shipped or driven, flights and deposits, and any mover will quote all of it. The monthly side decides the move: the mortgage, a county tax bill calculated on your price, wind coverage with a hurricane deductible, a flood policy, association dues or a CDD charge, and pool and lawn care that replace snow removal and sprinkler winterizing. We leave the total unprinted because a newer house in Port St. Lucie and an older one by the river in Tequesta are different budgets. Enter one listing’s real quotes and your Front Range costs into the Florida Home Cost Calculator to see your own difference.
Will Florida Cost Less Than Colorado Month to Month?
Usually less on the income line and sometimes more on the housing line, so read both before you plan around either. Colorado charges one flat rate on personal income, a tax Florida does not levy at all, and that gap matters most to a household still drawing a salary and least to a retiree living on savings. Colorado’s residential property tax is modest; Florida’s assessment resets to your purchase price, and the two protections that hold it down afterward, homestead and the Save Our Homes cap, apply only once the home becomes your permanent residence. Insurance is the line that jumps: a windstorm deductible separate from the regular one, flood coverage a Highlands Ranch house never needed, and premiums that follow roof age. Club and condominium dues can push the monthly figure past your Colorado number. Price one Florida home against your current one, and ask a CPA to check the income tax result for your situation.
Where Can a Front Range Household Keep Its Gear and Reach the Water?
Usually a short drive inland from the ocean, where a garage and a bigger lot still fit the budget. A Boulder household that spent weekends on Interstate 70 often discovers the replacement is a boat, a paddleboard and an inlet, which points to Tequesta or Palm Beach Gardens, where river, inlet and ocean sit close together. A household moving for a job in Miami or Fort Lauderdale needs a predictable commute, a garage and a yard, and finds them in Davie and western Broward. A Colorado Springs owner who wants acreage, horses or simply distance from the next house looks at Wellington or the larger lots of Port St. Lucie. Mountain views and switchback trails stay behind; flat bike paths, paddling routes through the mangroves and the Atlantic take their place. Start with what you will miss about Colorado, and your agent works backward to a county.
What Makes a Colorado Buyer Hesitate, and How Does the Plan Respond?
Five specific doubts, each met with a written deliverable inside the Florida Home Buying Plan instead of a pep talk on the phone. Colorado buyers hesitate over choosing a town from a laptop in Denver, over hurricane insurance quietly breaking a sound budget, over the right house going under contract during a weekend in the mountains, over an agent who treats a distant buyer as a maybe, and over sending earnest money to a company found through a search. This is what the plan gives you for each.
- The laptop decision: an area comparison written around your commute, water access, the gear you need to store and your price range before any listing arrives
- The insurance blind spot: wind and flood quotes, dues and any CDD assessment gathered for every finalist while the contract still lets you cancel
- The weekend you missed: fresh matches sent as they list and toured on camera in the days that count
- The maybe treatment: your own agent by name, a calendar of next steps, an inspector met on site for you and every document read before you offer
- The unfamiliar company: the name and Florida license of our broker of record up front, the representation agreement in writing before you tour, and confidentiality for everything you tell us
Buy in Florida First or Sell the Colorado House First?
Buy first if your finances can carry both homes for a few months and you want a single move; sell first if the equity funds the purchase or two payments would cost you sleep. Most households pick one of four routes: sell and rent here for a season, buy and carry both, stay briefly in the sold house as your buyer’s tenant, or write the Florida offer contingent on the Colorado sale, which only a patient seller accepts. Colorado closings run through a title company, so the date tends to hold once your buyer’s loan is approved. Need a Front Range listing agent? Our broker can line one up by referral. Talk to a mortgage lender early about carrying two homes or a bridge loan, and let your agent link the Florida contract dates to your Colorado closing.
Is Renting a Year in Florida Worth It Before You Give Up Colorado?
Yes when you have not spent an August here, are torn between Palm Beach and Broward, or your job could still change; no when all three are settled. Altitude and dry air are what Coloradans know, and a lease is the low cost way to learn sea level humidity, the summer storm schedule, the drive at rush hour and whether a slab house holds your bikes, the skis you may keep and the holiday boxes. A Florida job can also begin while the Colorado house is still on the market. What renting costs is a year of payments that build no equity, a second move and a homestead start pushed back, because the exemption begins only for a tax year in which you owned and occupied the home on January 1. Your agent vets the rental with the same care as a purchase and uses the lease to watch the neighborhoods you liked.
Can You Complete the Purchase Without Leaving Colorado?
Yes, and Mountain time makes the scheduling easier than it is for West Coast buyers. Florida runs two hours ahead, so a midmorning tour here reaches you at breakfast and a late afternoon tour lands at your lunch. Florida practice since August 2024 puts a written buyer agreement ahead of the first showing, and a video tour run by your agent qualifies; we explain the compensation and how to end the agreement before you sign. Your agent films each home inside and out, keeps the lot, the street and the drainage in frame, drives the commute and the airport run at the real hour, and keeps you on the phone through the inspection. Colorado buyers already close with a title company, and a Florida title company, or sometimes an attorney, does the same job here, sending documents by courier or arranging an online notary. Confirm every wiring instruction with the title company by phone first.
Does Colorado Keep Taxing You After You Become a Floridian?
Only on income with a Colorado source, and on what you earned there in the year you move. Colorado taxes personal income at a flat rate; Florida has no personal income tax. After a genuine change of domicile, Colorado reaches only income earned in the state, such as rent from a Colorado property, profit from a business there or pay for work done there, and you will probably file a part year Colorado return for the move year. A bonus, an option exercise or the sale of a business timed on the wrong side of the move date can cost you. Domicile is built from evidence rather than intent: a Florida driver license within 30 days of residency, voter registration, a declaration of domicile recorded with the county clerk, and most of your year spent here. A CPA or tax adviser should map the timing first, and the Colorado Department of Revenue site under Sources is the official reference.
Is a Florida CDD Like a Colorado Metro District?
In concept, yes, so your Front Range experience transfers directly. Many newer Colorado subdivisions sit inside a metropolitan district that borrowed to build roads, water lines and parks and repays through a mill levy on the property tax bill. Florida’s counterpart is the community development district, or CDD, which funds infrastructure in some newer communities and shows up as a non ad valorem assessment on the county tax bill, apart from association dues. A CDD charge often has a debt service portion that ends when the bonds are retired and an operations portion that continues indefinitely. Homestead does not reduce it, so count it in the monthly cost from the start. Plenty of older neighborhoods carry no CDD at all. We pull the tax bill and the district’s details for any finalist that has one, and your CPA can confirm how it fits your figures.
What Changes About the Home: Basements, Hail Roofs, Condos and Flood Zones?
The basement goes away, the roof still matters most, and water replaces hail and wildfire as the hazard that sets the price. A Colorado house usually has a finished basement, a radon fan and soil that swells and shrinks with moisture; a South Florida house sits on a slab over sand and limestone with block walls, impact windows or shutters, and a screened patio where you would have built a deck. Compare bedrooms and storage rather than total square feet. Hail claims taught you the roof is the costliest line, and here its age, covering and attachment drive the windstorm premium and the separate hurricane deductible. Flood is its own policy. For a condominium, look at two state required reports, the milestone structural inspection and the SIRS, a reserve study of the structural components, both mandatory once a building has three or more stories; an underfunded reserve turns into a special assessment the next owner inherits. We read the file with you before you offer.
- Roof age, covering and attachment, written up in a wind mitigation report an insurer can credit
- Impact glass or shutters on each opening, and the hurricane deductible stated in the policy
- Where the lot sits on the flood map and how high the floor stands, priced early since federal flood policies usually begin after a 30 day waiting period
- Inside a condominium, the latest milestone report, the reserve study, the operating budget and assessments the board has voted
- A termite inspection and the air conditioner’s service history, which replace radon and frozen pipes on your list
Can You Still Make a Denver Weekend From South Florida?
Yes, more easily than from most western states. Denver has nonstop flights to Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Palm Beach on most days, each a few hours long, and the two hour gap keeps a Denver office reachable through most of your workday. A grandchild’s recital or a spring ski trip becomes a morning flight rather than an expedition. If you expect to go back often, Palm Beach Gardens, Tequesta and Davie keep the airport drive reasonable, while Wellington and Port St. Lucie add time. Days spent in Colorado can also matter to your residency file if you keep property or a business there, so tell your tax adviser how often you plan to return. Your agent drives the airport route at your usual departure time before you settle on a town.
Where in Florida Should a Coloradan Live?
- Wellington: Horse farms, polo fields and roomy lots next to planned subdivisions deep inland in Palm Beach County; open land is close and the ocean is a long drive east.
- Palm Beach Gardens: Newer gated neighborhoods laid out around golf courses, close to Interstate 95 and the turnpike; club and association fees swing widely and the beach is a short drive.
- Davie: Acreage lots and horse trails inside suburban Broward, minutes from Fort Lauderdale; many of the larger parcels hold older ranch houses that need updating and a new roof.
- Port St. Lucie: Large planned communities of newer houses with golf and walking paths in St. Lucie County; many carry a CDD assessment and the drive to Miami takes most of a morning.
- Tequesta: A village at the northern edge of Palm Beach County along the Loxahatchee River, with ranch houses from earlier decades, river lots and almost no tall buildings.
Each link opens that community’s page, with the homes for sale there now. Your agent adds the streets, the buildings and the trade-offs a listing does not show.
Before You Fall in Love With a Florida Home, Understand What It Costs to Own
The price is one number. The mortgage, property tax, homeowners insurance, flood insurance and association fees are the ones you pay every month. Put your own figures into the calculator, mark which ones are real quotes and which are still estimates, and compare the total with what you pay where you live now.
Why Work With BreakThru Realty Instead of Searching for Homes Yourself?
Anyone with an internet connection can search Florida homes. When you are buying from another state, the information you do not have matters as much as the listings you can see: the insurance that costs more than you expected, the special assessment the condominium has pending, the street that does not fit your daily routine. Our role is to help you understand what you are buying before you commit.
- Find Your Community. An area comparison built from your commute, budget, schools and the way you live, before any listing is sent, so you choose between real neighborhoods rather than reputations.
- Explore Homes Remotely. Your agent tours each home live on video, walks the street and the building, and attends the inspection with you on the line, so distance stops being the reason you miss the right home.
- Understand Ownership Costs. Property tax at the reset value, homeowners and flood insurance, association fees and reserves, set beside the price of every home you like, so the monthly number is real before you offer.
- Negotiate With Confidence. Local market information, an offer strategy talked through with you, and the contract deadlines worked through to closing, with the Florida specifics explained before they cost you.
- Close With Local Representation. A licensed Florida broker of record, a written buyer agreement before any tour, and a closing you can usually sign from where you live, with wiring instructions confirmed by phone.
You are not simply buying a home in Florida. You are making a decision about the life you want next. We will help you make an informed one.
Questions you may be asking
- I am months away from moving.
- That is the right time to start. The plan tells you which areas to watch, what homes there cost to own and what a realistic offer looks like, so the trip you eventually book is spent on the right streets.
- Can I really buy without being there?
- People do, and it takes more care, not less. Your agent tours live on video, walks the street and the building, attends the inspection with you watching, and coordinates a closing you can sign remotely where the title company and your lender allow it.
- Does a buyer's agent cost me anything?
- Buyer-agent compensation is negotiable and set out in the written buyer agreement you sign before touring. In many South Florida sales the seller or listing broker offers to pay some or all of it, but that is never certain, so we explain the position on each home before you tour it.
- I can search listings myself.
- You can, and you should keep looking. What a listing cannot tell you is what the insurance will cost, whether the building has an assessment coming, or how the street feels at eight in the morning. That is the part the plan covers.
- I have a home to sell first.
- Most out-of-state buyers do. The plan works through the order: selling first and renting, buying first, or a contingency where the market allows it. We can introduce an agent where you live now, and for anything about bridging the two, consult a lender.
Plan My Move
Tell us where you live now, where you are looking and what the move has to do for you. A local BreakThru agent replies within one business day to schedule your buying consultation, then prepares your communities, your shortlist and what each home would cost to own.
Call or email the brokerage directly: (786) 914-1017 · sales@breakthrurealty.com
Questions People Ask Before Moving
- What does the Florida Home Buying Plan include, and what does it cost?
- Nothing at all, and it binds you to nothing. Six deliverables come in writing: an opening consultation on what the move has to do for your household, a comparison of the areas that suit a Front Range routine, homes an agent shortlisted from the live market, an ownership cost breakdown for your favorites, a schedule for touring, and the buyer representation terms before the first showing. Once the form arrives, one of our local agents responds within one business day and arranges the consultation with you.
- Will Colorado still tax my income after I move to Florida?
- Only income with a Colorado source after a genuine move. Florida has no personal income tax, but Colorado can still tax money earned in Colorado, and the move year usually means one last Colorado return covering part of the year. When you take a bonus, exercise options or sell a business relative to the move date can matter. Have a CPA or tax adviser review the plan, and treat the Colorado Department of Revenue as the official source.
- Is a Florida CDD the same thing as a Colorado metro district?
- Close cousins. Both are special districts that pay for roads, utilities and other infrastructure in newer communities and collect through the property tax bill. In Florida the charge is listed as a separate assessment, the homestead exemption does not reduce it, and the debt part ends when the bonds are paid off. We check every finalist’s tax bill for one.
- Does a Florida condo make sense if I plan to spend summers back in Colorado?
- It can, since an apartment is easier to lock and leave than a house with a pool and a lawn. Read the association’s records first: Florida asks every condominium tower of three or more stories for a milestone structural report and a funded reserve study, and a shortfall can turn into a special assessment. Many associations also restrict rentals and approve buyers. We review the file with you or your attorney before an offer.
- How can I see South Florida homes without leaving Denver?
- Once the buyer agreement is signed, your agent tours homes for you on live video, usually during your late morning, since Florida is two hours ahead and daylight helps the camera. The tour covers the lot, the drainage and the street as well as the rooms; the agent also drives the commute when you would and dials you into the inspection. One visit for the finalists helps but is optional.
To request a tour, call (786) 914-1017 or email sales@breakthrurealty.com.
- What if my Colorado house has not sold when I find the right Florida home?
- You still have choices, each with a price. Make the Florida offer contingent on your sale, which some sellers accept and others refuse. Buy and carry both homes for a while if the budget allows. Stay in the sold house briefly as your buyer’s tenant. Or let that home go and keep looking. Talk to a mortgage lender about bridge financing before you need it.
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Related on BreakThru Realty
- Florida Home Cost Calculator
- Buying a Florida home remotely
- Search South Florida homes for sale
- How BreakThru represents buyers
- Miami-Dade County real estate
- Broward County real estate
- Palm Beach County real estate
- Martin County real estate
- St. Lucie County real estate
- Indian River County real estate
- South Florida rentals
- Florida homebuyer programs
- Housing market reports by city and county
- Tyson E. Sam, Founder and Broker of Record
- Agents: refer a client moving to Florida