BreakThru Realty

Moving From Minnesota to Florida? Make the Move Count on Paper and at Home.

A Florida address Minnesota accepts as your home. A house that works in August. A cabin you can still keep.

Make Florida your real home, on paper and in practice. A South Florida brokerage tours, prices and checks each address for you while your CPA settles the Minnesota side.

A terrace above a marina with the city skyline at sunset

BreakThru Realty · Founder and Broker of Record: Tyson E. Sam, Florida License 3565210

Published October 25, 2026 · Reviewed by Tyson E. Sam, Founder and Broker of Record

Plan My Move

Find My Florida Home

Find Your Florida Lifestyle

Tell us where in Minnesota 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

  1. Tell us where you live now, where you are looking, your budget and your timing.
  2. A local agent replies within one business day to schedule your buying consultation.
  3. After the consultation, your agent prepares the community comparison, the shortlist and the cost review.
  4. 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.

Plan My Move · Find My Florida Home

Does buying a home in Florida end my Minnesota residency? Not by itself. Minnesota looks at where your life is actually centered, and it can still treat you as a resident if you keep a home there and spend more than half the year in the state. Moving your license, your voting and your daily life to Florida and claiming homestead here are part of the change. A CPA or attorney who knows Minnesota rules should guide the timing.

Leaving Minnesota well means two things: a South Florida home you would choose again, and a move Minnesota itself accepts. You want a Florida address that works as your real home, financially and legally, and that takes preparation rather than a change of mailing address. A brokerage already working for you here handles the property side, touring homes, timing drives and pricing insurance and dues for each address, while your CPA and attorney handle the Minnesota side, so the two halves of the move line up.

What Does It Cost to Move From Minnesota to Florida?

Some Minnesota costs disappear and others take their place, which is why the first year of ownership deserves more budgeting than the move. Snow removal, a furnace that runs for months and the winter heating bill go. The truck from Woodbury or Edina, the flights and the deposits are paid once. What arrives repeats every month: property tax on an assessment reset to your purchase price, windstorm cover and its hurricane deductible, flood insurance in the zones that require it, condo or association dues, and pool and lawn service for a house. This page prints no single figure, because the honest number changes with the building and the county. Give the Florida Home Cost Calculator your real quotes and your Minnesota bills and read the result for a specific address rather than for an average.

Is Florida Cheaper to Live In Than Minnesota?

Often on income and estate taxes, and on the whole ledger only when the home is chosen with every line in view. Minnesota taxes income on a graduated scale, taxes part of some retirees’ Social Security and has its own estate tax, while Florida has no personal income tax and no estate tax, so a household that truly changes domicile can see a real difference, which a CPA should measure against your own income types. Against it stand costs Minnesota never sent you: wind and flood premiums, condominium dues that pay for staff, insurance, inspections and reserves, and property tax that begins at what you paid rather than at the seller’s capped assessment. Relocate for the tax line and buy an older oceanfront building with thin reserves, and the monthly total can pass what you paid in Edina. Compare the house you own against one Florida address, line by line, before the tax story decides the purchase.

Water Out Front or Room Out Back: Where Does a Minnesotan Fit?

On the barrier islands if the water is the point, and inland if the room is. A Minnesotan used to lake living often wants the water in view more than a dock behind the house, and the Atlantic coast offers that in several forms: Highland Beach is a narrow strip of oceanfront condo buildings between Boca Raton and Delray Beach, Ocean Ridge east of Boynton Beach is lower and quieter with houses and small buildings under strict local rules, and Hollywood pairs a long beachfront promenade with older neighborhoods inland, close to an airport. If you would rather have a yard and a golf course, Palm Beach Gardens has gated communities whose dues vary widely by club. Wellington, inland, offers larger lots and equestrian properties for a buyer who wants room. Each comes with tradeoffs in cost, insurance and distance from the coast, and your agent lays out current listings in each so the choice rests on evidence rather than impressions.

What Concerns a Minnesota Buyer, and Which Deliverable Covers Each One?

Five concerns come up most: that Minnesota will still treat them as residents, that a Florida home will not survive an empty summer, that the condo building hides an assessment, that an agent here will treat a buyer in St. Paul as an afterthought, and that no one back home can vouch for a Florida brokerage. The Florida Home Buying Plan pairs each with a deliverable you receive in writing.

  • The residency question: the choice of permanent home made before the search, so the shortlist fits a homestead or a second home
  • An empty summer: staffed buildings and houses with a home watch arrangement identified for owners who leave for months
  • The hidden assessment: structural inspection reports, the reserve study, the budget and the minutes examined with you before an offer
  • Attention from a distance: a named agent, dated next steps and a second video visit whenever the first leaves doubts
  • The brokerage question: a broker of record licensed here and representation terms you sign before anyone shows you a home

Sell the Minnesota House First or Buy in Florida First?

Buy first if you can carry two homes until Minnesota closes and your city’s point of sale step is already done; sell first if the Florida budget depends on the proceeds. Minneapolis and St. Paul require a Truth in Sale of Housing evaluation before a house is listed, and some other Minnesota cities have point of sale rules of their own, so start that step early. If the Minnesota sale closes first, you know your number and lease here for a while. If the Florida purchase closes first, you hold two homes and two sets of bills until Minnesota sells. Your buyer might let you stay on for a few weeks after closing under a written occupancy agreement, and you can make the Florida contract depend on the Minnesota sale, which some Florida sellers will refuse. Minnesota listings come alive after the thaw, while South Florida sees its strongest demand in the dead of a Minnesota winter, so plan which closing happens in which season. If the cabin is staying, the timing is simpler but the residency planning matters more. We can connect you with an agent licensed in Minnesota by referral between the two brokerages, and for financing that covers two homes at once, consult a mortgage lender before you list.

Should a Minnesota Buyer Lease for a Year Before Buying?

Yes if Minnesota is still deciding whether you have left; no if the residency plan is settled and the county is chosen. A lease for a year lets you move the center of your life here, start the day count that matters to Minnesota and learn the heat and the traffic before you own a roof. The cost is a year of rent and a later start on homestead, which begins the first January you own and live there, and which a renter cannot claim at all. Suppose a hypothetical couple in Woodbury owns a rambler in the suburbs and a cabin on a lake up north. If they are keeping the cabin and selling the rambler, buying now and using the Florida home as their permanent residence usually fits better than a lease. We give a rental search the care of a purchase and time the purchase to the lease end.

How Does a Twin Cities Buyer Purchase in Florida From a Distance?

Through a clear sequence that starts with paperwork and ends with a courier. A showing over live video is still a showing, so the written buyer agreement Florida practice has required since August 2024 comes before the first one, and we start by reading it with you, including how your agent is paid and how you can end it. After that, your agent works the ground. Each candidate home is toured on camera while you watch and ask for angles, and the agent goes back at a different hour if the first visit leaves questions. Drives to the airport and to medical care are timed. Association budgets, rules and minutes are requested and read with you. You hear the inspection live by phone. Insurance agents quote the specific address before your inspection period ends. At the end, the title company can usually overnight the closing package to Minnesota or book a remote session with an online notary. Treat emailed wiring instructions as unverified until the title company confirms them on a call you placed.

When Does Minnesota Stop Treating You as a Resident?

When your domicile has truly moved and you no longer keep a Minnesota home for more than half the year, and both are judged on facts rather than intentions. Minnesota can treat you as a resident if your domicile has not truly changed, and it can also treat you as one if you keep a home there and spend more than half the year in the state, so a Florida deed alone ends nothing. Keeping a cabin or a house is allowed, but it means counting days, moving the center of your life and keeping records. Minnesota also has an estate tax that may still reach real estate you keep there, which is why an estate attorney should review your will, trust and how the Minnesota property is held, and a CPA who knows Minnesota residency rules should review the plan before you set a move date. On the Florida side, the license switch runs on a 30 day clock once you become a resident, the clerk of court will record a declaration of domicile if you file one, and the homestead application reaches the county property appraiser by March 1 for a home that was yours, and occupied, as the year began. Minnesota gives a homestead classification to the home you own and occupy as your residence, and Florida does something similar, but you cannot claim both; once Florida becomes your permanent home, the Minnesota classification on a property you keep should end, and your county assessor or a CPA can tell you how.

What Changes Between a Minnesota Rambler and a Florida House?

The layout will feel familiar and the construction will not. Single story houses on concrete slabs are a common way to build here, so a Minnesotan who grew up in a rambler recognizes the floor plan. The resemblance ends at the walls. A Minnesota rambler or split entry is usually wood frame over a full basement, insulated against deep cold, with a furnace and gutters that fight ice dams. A South Florida house is typically concrete block with stucco, sits on a slab with no basement and is built to resist wind. The air conditioner is the system that runs most of the year, and the roof’s age and shape, together with impact protection on the windows and doors, drive the insurance premium. With no basement, the second family room, the workshop and the storage room disappear, so compare homes room by room rather than by total square feet and look hard at the garage. Florida’s homestead exemption tops out at $51,411 of assessed value for 2026, with Save Our Homes limiting later increases to the smaller of 3% and the CPI figure, but the tax on a listing is the seller’s bill, and your assessment starts over at market value once you buy. Wind insurance carries its own hurricane deductible, flood insurance stands apart as its own policy with a usual 30 day wait on a new NFIP policy, and a newer subdivision may add a community development district assessment that pays down the bonds behind its streets and drainage.

What Should a Minnesota Buyer Read Before Buying a Florida Condo?

The building’s structural file, before anything else. Since the 2022 condominium law, a building of three or more stories pays for milestone inspections of its structure at set ages and for a structural integrity reserve study that funds future repairs to the roof, structure and other major parts; either one can push dues up or bring a special assessment where an association deferred the work, and the next owner of the unit inherits an assessment already levied. Ask for the latest inspection report, the reserve study, the current budget, recent board minutes, the insurance summary and the rules on leasing and pets. Condo dues here pay for the building’s insurance, staff and reserves, so a low monthly figure can mean an underfunded building rather than a bargain. Your agent requests the file before an offer when possible and walks through it with you, and anything still unclear can be put to a Florida real estate attorney. Buying from a developer brings a statutory cancellation window under the Florida Condominium Act, running from signing or from delivery of the required documents.

How Often Can You Get Back to Minnesota, and What Does It Cost You in Days?

As often as a single nonstop allows, and every one of those days counts if you keep a home there. Minnesota is on Central time, so South Florida runs an hour ahead, which matters most for a standing call with a Minneapolis office. Minneapolis St. Paul has nonstop flights to Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach and Miami on most days, so a summer at the cabin and a winter here fit around a single flight. Every day spent back in Minnesota counts toward the half year test if you keep a home there, so decide how the year will be split with your tax adviser before the purchase is sized. Get your Florida Home Buying Plan to see these questions answered for real addresses; a local agent replies inside one business day to arrange the consultation, and the comparison of communities, the shortlist and the ownership costs are all drawn from that first talk. Your decisions deserve a strategy built for both states.

Where in Florida Should a Minnesotan Live?

  • Highland Beach: A narrow town of oceanfront condo buildings and a few estates between Boca Raton and Delray Beach; almost no shops in town, so errands mean a short drive.
  • Ocean Ridge: A small low rise town on the barrier island east of Boynton Beach, mostly houses and small condo buildings under strict local rules; few stores and quiet streets.
  • Palm Beach Gardens: Golf course communities and newer gated neighborhoods with shopping and medical offices close by; club and association fees vary widely, and the beach is a drive.
  • Wellington: Equestrian estates, larger lots and planned neighborhoods in western Palm Beach County; inland, with heavy summer rain and a longer drive to the coast.
  • Hollywood: A beachfront promenade lined with condos, older single family neighborhoods near a downtown, and the Fort Lauderdale airport close by; streets near the Intracoastal sit low.

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.

Estimate My Monthly Cost

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, with no obligation attached. The plan delivers six things: a consultation about which home will be your permanent one and what the move must do for you, a written comparison of the communities that fit that answer, a shortlist of homes picked from live listings by an agent, an ownership cost review for each home you like, a plan for the tours, and representation terms in writing. Once your form is in, a local agent writes or calls within one business day to book the consultation.
Will Minnesota still tax me if I keep my cabin?
Possibly. Minnesota can treat you as a resident if your domicile has not truly changed, or if you keep a home there and spend more than half the year in the state. Keeping a cabin is allowed, but it raises the stakes on counting days and moving the center of your life. A CPA who knows Minnesota residency rules should review your plan before you decide what to keep.
Does Minnesota’s estate tax matter after I move to Florida?
It can. Florida has no estate tax, but Minnesota may still reach real estate you keep in Minnesota, and residency questions can affect the rest. An estate attorney should review your will, your trust and how your Minnesota property is held, and a CPA can explain how a change of domicile affects the plan before you buy here.
Why do Florida condo dues vary so much between similar buildings?
Because dues pay for the building’s insurance, staff, inspections and reserves, and buildings of three or more stories must now fund repairs identified by a structural integrity reserve study. A building that is caught up charges more each month; one that is behind may charge less now and levy a special assessment later. The reserve study and the minutes tell you which kind you are looking at.
Will a Florida house feel familiar to someone used to a rambler?
The layout often will: one level, an attached garage and bedrooms on a single floor. The construction will not. Expect concrete block walls, a slab instead of a basement, impact windows or shutters and air conditioning that runs most of the year. Storage moves to the garage, so compare homes room by room, and ask your agent to film the garage and the closets on every tour.
How do I handle selling in Minneapolis while buying in Florida?
Order the city’s Truth in Sale of Housing evaluation before you list, then pick a sequence: a sale before the purchase with a short lease here, a purchase before the sale with both homes carried for a while, a few weeks of occupancy after your closing, or a Florida contract tied to your Minnesota sale. We coordinate both calendars, can connect you with a Minnesota agent by referral between brokerages, and suggest a conversation with a mortgage lender about bridging the two.

Sources

Buying a Florida Home From Another State

Moving to Florida

Moving From Another State

Moving From Your City

Relocation By Situation

Corporate Relocation & Partners

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