Moving From Michigan to Florida? Keep the Cottage, Lose the Winter.
Summers up north if you want them. Winters on the water. A Florida home that fits whichever state you call home.
Decide which state is home, then buy the Florida home that fits that answer. A South Florida brokerage tours, prices and checks every address for you while you are still in Michigan.
Find Your Florida Lifestyle
Tell us where in Michigan 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.
Can I keep my Michigan cottage and still make Florida my legal home? Often yes, but it takes planning. Florida homestead goes only to a permanent residence you own and live in on January 1, the Michigan principal residence exemption should be rescinded once Michigan is no longer home, and Michigan may look closely at where you spend your time. A CPA or tax adviser should review the split before you buy, while your agent shops for a Florida home that fits it.
Will the cottage up north stay in the family, or will you sell everything and move south for good? Either plan works. Both fail the same way: a Florida home chosen from photos that costs more to insure, sits lower in a flood zone or handles an empty summer worse than expected. The question is not whether to keep the cottage. It is how to buy in South Florida on the right terms around that choice, which is why a brokerage already working for you here matters before the first tour.
What Does Moving From Michigan to Florida Cost?
Less than the first year of ownership, which is the number Michigan buyers should budget for instead. The truck from Troy or Grand Rapids, the airfare and the deposits are paid once and can be quoted by any mover. What decides whether the move works is the monthly column: property tax at an assessment that uncaps when you buy, wind insurance with a hurricane deductible, flood coverage where the zone calls for it, dues in a condo or a gated community, and pool service if the house has one. We give no single figure on this page, because the answer changes with the county, the building and the age of the roof. The Florida Home Cost Calculator takes those quotes and your current Michigan bills and lays them side by side, so the comparison belongs to you rather than to an average.
Does Michigan or Florida Cost More to Live In?
Michigan usually costs more on the tax return, and Florida can cost more across the rest of the bills unless the home is chosen with the whole ledger in view. Michigan taxes income at the state level, Detroit and a number of other Michigan cities add an income tax of their own, and Florida has no personal income tax. Michigan has also been changing how it treats pension income, so two retirees who left a few years apart can see different gains, and a CPA should compare your own sources. On the other side of the page sit lines a Michigan budget never had: wind and flood premiums, condominium reserves and milestone repairs, and property tax that starts over at your purchase price. A household that relocates for the tax return and chooses an older oceanfront tower can pay more each month than in Birmingham or Ann Arbor. The comparison worth making is your Michigan house against one specific Florida home, with a CPA checking the tax column.
Which South Florida Water Suits the Boat and the Suburb You Are Leaving?
The boat decides the water, and the suburb decides the street. A deep draft cruiser used on Lake St. Clair or Lake Michigan needs ocean access through an inlet and enough water at the dock, which points to North Palm Beach and Tequesta near the Lake Worth and Jupiter inlets. A pontoon or a flats boat used for evening rides suits the Indian River Lagoon and the St. Lucie River at Jensen Beach and Palm City, where slow speed zones protect manatees and much of the water is shallow. A household leaving an Oakland County subdivision for a house with a yard and an association will recognize Coral Springs, laid out in the same era on the same plan, with newer construction than the coast. Salt water adds work a freshwater boater rarely faces, from flushing engines to replacing hardware. For every waterfront home, your agent checks bridge clearances on the route out, depth at low tide, the seawall and any limit the association puts on boats.
Which Five Doubts Do Michigan Buyers Bring, and What Do They Get Back?
The doubts we hear from Michigan come down to which state should count as home, whether a Florida place can sit empty through a summer, what the building’s finances hide, whether an agent will work as hard for someone in Petoskey as for a buyer in the next office, and who on this coast to trust. The Florida Home Buying Plan meets each one with something you can hold, not a promise.
- Which home is home: the residency question settled first, so the search is built for a second home or a permanent one
- An empty summer: buildings with staff on site, or houses with a home watch service, marked for seasonal owners
- The building’s finances: the inspection reports, reserve study, budget and minutes gone through with you before an offer
- Distance from the office: a named agent, a written plan with dated next steps and tours you direct from your phone
- The brokerage question: the broker of record licensed in Florida and a signed representation agreement before any showing, with your information kept from sellers
Buy in Florida First, or Sell the Michigan House First?
Buy first when you can carry two homes until the Michigan sale closes; sell first when the budget depends on the Michigan proceeds. If you are keeping the cottage, the only question is which house to sell and when. Selling first fixes your number exactly and usually means a season’s rental here while you shop. Buying first secures the Florida home and leaves you paying for two properties for a while. Ask your Michigan buyer for an occupancy period after closing if you need a few extra weeks, or make the Florida offer depend on your sale, knowing some Florida sellers will choose the buyer with no strings. Michigan listings show their best with green lawns and clear driveways, while buyer traffic in South Florida peaks while Michigan is under snow, so the calendars rarely line up on their own. A Michigan licensed agent can be introduced by referral between brokerages, and for a bridge loan or two mortgages at once, consult a mortgage lender early.
Should You Rent a Season First or Buy Now?
Rent a season if you have only seen South Florida on vacation or cannot decide between northern Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast; buy now if the area, the kind of home and the residency plan are already settled. A winter lease shows you August from a distance, the roads at the hours you drive and how a building you liked from the street behaves when its board meets. The cost of waiting is a season of rent, which books early and runs high in winter, and a later start on the homestead exemption, which begins with the first January 1 that finds you owning and occupying the home. Cottage owners already know the rhythm of a two home year, and for many of them buying and using the place seasonally at first serves better than renting. Our rental search gets the same attention as a purchase, and the purchase is planned around the lease end.
Can a Michigan Buyer Purchase a Florida Home Without Moving First?
Yes, and you can direct most of it from Troy or Traverse City. Florida practice since August 2024 calls for a written buyer agreement before any showing, and a tour your agent streams to you live counts as a showing, so you read that agreement together first, compensation and cancellation included. Then the legwork starts. Your agent walks each candidate home on camera and lets you steer it, from the closets to the dock, and drives to the hospital, the grocery store and the airport at the hours you would make those trips. The inspector works through the house while you listen by phone. Insurance agents quote the exact address before your inspection period runs out. The association’s budget, rules and recent minutes are read with you. At closing, many title companies can courier the documents to Michigan or arrange an online notary, so you may never fly down only to sign. Wire nothing until you have phoned the title company at a number of your own finding.
Will Michigan Still Count You as a Resident After You Buy in Florida?
It may, if your domicile has not actually moved or if you keep Michigan income such as rent from a house you hold. Michigan looks at where you spend your days, where your family and belongings are and what you keep in the state, and a cottage you visit every summer keeps those facts alive, so keep records of where you are and ask a tax adviser how Michigan will view the split. Michigan does not currently collect an estate tax, but a Florida estate attorney should confirm that your will, trust and powers of attorney hold up under Florida law. Becoming a Florida resident is a set of actions rather than a mailing address: a Florida driver license within your first 30 days here, vehicle and voter registration moved, a declaration of domicile you can record with the county clerk, and the homestead filing with the property appraiser by March 1 for a home you owned and occupied on the preceding January 1. The Michigan principal residence exemption belongs to the Michigan house only while it is your principal residence, so once Florida becomes home, ask your local assessor or a CPA how and when to rescind it.
What Changes Between a Michigan House and a Florida Home?
Proposal A already taught you half of it: taxable value is capped while you own and uncaps when a home sells, and Florida works the same way, with the seller’s tax line resetting to market value after your purchase. Once the home is your permanent residence, the assessment can climb no more than 3% a year, or less when CPI grew less, under Save Our Homes, and the homestead exemption for 2026 reaches $51,411: a base $25,000 that applies to the whole bill and a second layer of $26,411, indexed to inflation, that counts against every tax except the school portion. The house itself changes more than the tax bill. A brick ranch in Livonia or a frame cottage on a northern lake has a basement, a furnace and a roof built for snow; a South Florida house is usually concrete block on a slab, built for wind, with impact glass or shutters on every opening and an air conditioner that runs most of the year. A condo buyer trades the yard for an association, and under the 2022 condominium law any building three stories or taller must complete milestone structural inspections and maintain reserves set by a structural integrity reserve study, with a special assessment possible where an association fell behind. A new NFIP flood policy usually takes effect after a 30 day wait, and some newer subdivisions bill a community development district assessment with the property taxes to retire the bonds behind their roads and drainage. A CPA can estimate your first tax bill for a specific address before you offer.
How Do You Get Back to Michigan for the Summer?
On a short flight, in the same time zone, which is why so many cottage owners split the year. South Florida and nearly all of Michigan share Eastern time, so a call to the Detroit office or the family up north lands in the same hour. Detroit Metropolitan has nonstop flights to Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach and Miami on most days, and Grand Rapids and Flint add seasonal nonstops, so a summer at the lake and a winter here fit around a few hours in the air rather than two days on Interstate 75. The days you spend in Michigan still count in any residency review, so if the year will be split, settle the plan with your tax adviser before you size the purchase. Start by requesting your Florida Home Buying Plan. Within one business day a local agent calls or writes to schedule the consultation, and what you say there about the cottage, the winters and the budget shapes the comparison and the cost review that follow. Your decisions deserve a strategy.
Where in Florida Should a Michigander Live?
- North Palm Beach: A village of canal front houses, a marina and a country club with boating access toward the Lake Worth Inlet; many homes date from the middle of the last century and need roof review.
- Tequesta: A small village at the north edge of Palm Beach County on the Loxahatchee River near the Jupiter Inlet, with low rise condos and single family streets; few stores and quiet evenings.
- Jensen Beach: A Martin County community on the Indian River Lagoon with a small downtown, riverfront condos and older houses; the lagoon is shallow in places, and the big airports are a long drive.
- Palm City: Larger lots, golf communities and riverfront homes on the St. Lucie River across from Stuart; there is no beach of its own, and reaching the ocean means a drive through town.
- Coral Springs: A planned western Broward city of subdivisions, townhomes and parks laid out much like an Oakland County suburb; newer construction than the coast, and farther from the sand.
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?
- It is free and asks nothing of you in return. You receive a buying consultation about which state will be home and what the move must do for you, a written comparison of the communities that suit that answer, a first shortlist of homes picked by an agent, a review of what each home you like costs to own, a plan for the tours, and your representation terms on paper. A local agent answers your form within one business day so the consultation can go on the calendar.
- Can I keep my Michigan principal residence exemption after buying in Florida?
- Only while the Michigan house remains your principal residence. Once Florida becomes home and you claim homestead here, the Michigan exemption should be rescinded, because residency based exemptions are not meant to be held in two states at once. The timing and the form belong with your local assessor or a CPA, who can confirm what Michigan requires for your situation.
- What happens to a Florida condo while we spend summers in Michigan?
- It sits through heat, humidity and storm season without you, so choose a building with on site management or arrange a home watch service, set the air conditioning to control humidity and learn the association’s hurricane procedures. Before buying, read the leasing rules if you hope to rent it out while you are north, since many associations limit how often and how long a unit may be leased.
- Where can I keep a boat in South Florida if I am used to the Great Lakes?
- Behind a house on a canal or river, in a condo slip or at a marina. Which one works depends on the boat: deep draft boats need inlet access and depth at the dock, while smaller boats suit the rivers and the lagoon. Fixed bridges, slow speed zones and association rules all matter, and your agent checks each one for the address before you tour it on video.
- Does Florida have anything like Michigan’s taxable value cap?
- Yes. Save Our Homes caps how much a homestead’s assessment can rise each year after you own it, and a sale resets the assessment to market value, much like uncapping in Michigan. That is why the seller’s tax bill is not a preview of yours. A CPA can estimate your first bill for a specific address before you make an offer, and we build that estimate into the cost review.
- How do I time selling in Michigan with buying in Florida?
- Decide which closing comes first. Selling first fixes your budget and may mean a short rental here; buying first means carrying two homes for a while. An occupancy agreement after closing or a sale contingency can close a gap. We coordinate with your Michigan agent or introduce one by referral between brokerages, and you should consult a mortgage lender about funds that must stretch across both closings.
Sources
Buying a Florida Home From Another State
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Moving From Another State
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Related on BreakThru Realty
- Keeping a northern home and wintering here
- Buying a Florida home from out of state
- Relocating in retirement
- Florida Home Cost Calculator
- 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