How to Appeal Your Miami Property Tax Assessment (2026)

Every August, Miami-Dade County mails out TRIM notices, which stands for Truth in Millage, and every year I watch clients toss them in a drawer without a second glance. That is a costly habit. Your TRIM notice is not just a piece of paper. It is the county's official estimate of what your property is worth, and that number directly determines how much you owe in property taxes. If the county overestimates your value, you overpay. It is that simple.

I have worked with buyers and owners across Brickell, Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Edgewater, and Sunny Isles Beach, and I can tell you that inflated assessments are more common than most people realize. The county uses mass appraisal models that cannot account for every nuance of your specific unit or home. A high-floor condo in Brickell with a partially obstructed view might get assessed the same way as a clear bay-view unit two floors up. A Coral Gables home with a cracked foundation or dated kitchen may carry the same assessed value as a fully renovated house on the same block. Challenging those numbers is your legal right, and in many cases it puts real money back in your pocket.

In this guide I walk you through the full appeal process for Miami-Dade County, from reading your TRIM notice to preparing your evidence to appearing before the Value Adjustment Board. I also cover the Homestead Exemption and how it interacts with your assessed value. Whether you own a condo in Edgewater, a waterfront estate in Key Biscayne, or a single-family home in Kendall, the same rules apply and the same opportunities exist. Hablamos Espanol, so if you have questions in Spanish, call me directly at (954) 833-0020.

What Your TRIM Notice Actually Means

The TRIM notice arrives each August and contains several numbers that many homeowners confuse with one another. The most important is the Assessed Value, which is what Miami-Dade County's Property Appraiser believes your property was worth as of January 1 of the tax year. That assessed value, after exemptions are applied, becomes your Taxable Value, and your tax bill is calculated by multiplying that taxable value by the combined millage rate for your municipality, school district, and county.

For most residential properties in Miami-Dade, the total millage rate in 2025 hovered between 18 and 22 mills depending on your city. A mill equals one dollar per thousand dollars of taxable value. So if your taxable value is 800,000 dollars and your millage rate is 20 mills, you owe 16,000 dollars per year in property taxes. Shave 100,000 dollars off that assessed value and you save 2,000 dollars annually. That is real money, and the appeal process is free.

The TRIM notice also shows your Prior Year Assessed Value, which matters because Florida's Save Our Homes cap limits how much the assessed value of a homestead property can increase each year. The cap is 3 percent or the CPI increase, whichever is lower. If you have lived in your home for several years under homestead protection, your assessed value is likely well below market value, which means an appeal may not be necessary. But for recently purchased properties, newly constructed buildings, or non-homestead condos and investment properties, the assessed value often tracks closely to or even above actual market value, making an appeal very worthwhile.

Who Should Consider Filing an Appeal

Not every property owner has a strong case, and I want to be honest about that. If you bought a home in Coconut Grove last year for 2.1 million dollars and the county assesses it at 1.85 million dollars, you are probably fine. But if you paid 1.4 million dollars for a two-bedroom condo in Edgewater and the county comes in at 1.55 million dollars, that assessment is above your actual purchase price and you have a clear argument.

Here are the categories of owners I most often encourage to look closely at their TRIM notice:

Non-homestead property owners, including investors and seasonal residents, get no Save Our Homes cap protection. Their assessed values reset to market each year, which creates more opportunity for overassessment. Owners of pre-construction condos that closed in a market downturn are often assessed based on the original contract price even if comparable resales are now lower. Owners of properties with deferred maintenance, dated finishes, or special conditions like flood damage or structural issues may have values that do not reflect their property's true condition. Owners in buildings that have faced special assessments or management problems, which can suppress resale values, may find the county has not accounted for those factors. Recent buyers in any neighborhood who paid under the assessed value have the strongest possible case because the sale itself is typically the best evidence of market value.

Specifically, you should strongly consider filing if any of the following apply to your situation:

• Your assessed value exceeds your actual purchase price from the past 12 to 24 months
• Comparable sales in your building or neighborhood are consistently below your assessed value
• Your property has physical issues (roof damage, outdated systems, structural concerns) not reflected in the assessment
• You own a non-homestead investment property or second home in Miami-Dade
• Your condo building has faced a large special assessment that has dampened buyer demand
• You purchased a pre-construction unit at a price now above current market resale value
• Your view, floor, or unit line is materially inferior to comparable units assessed at similar values

Key Deadlines You Cannot Miss

The appeal process in Miami-Dade County runs on strict deadlines, and missing them means waiting another full year. Your TRIM notice will show the deadline to file a petition with the Value Adjustment Board, which is typically 25 days from the mailing date of the notice. In recent years that deadline has fallen in mid to late September.

You can also request an informal conference with the Property Appraiser's office before filing a formal VAB petition. I actually recommend trying this first because many disputes get resolved at this stage without any formal hearing. The Property Appraiser's office is generally willing to review new evidence, particularly if you bring a recent contract, a closing disclosure, or solid comparable sales data. If they agree to lower the assessment, you save time and avoid the hearing entirely.

If the informal conference does not produce a result you are satisfied with, you file your petition with the Value Adjustment Board and pay a small filing fee, currently around 15 dollars. After filing, you will be scheduled for a hearing before a Special Magistrate, who is typically a licensed appraiser or attorney appointed by the VAB. Hearings usually occur between October and March. The VAB then issues a Final Certificate, and if you are not satisfied with the outcome, you have the right to file suit in circuit court within 60 days, though that step is rarely necessary for residential cases.

How to Build Your Evidence Package

Winning a property tax appeal is entirely about evidence. The Standard of Proof in Florida places the initial burden on the Property Appraiser to show their assessment is correct. However, in practice, preparing strong comparable sales data and presenting it clearly is what actually moves the needle. Showing up unprepared almost never works.

The gold standard is your own closing disclosure if you purchased within the last two years. A recorded arms-length sale is the clearest possible evidence of what a willing buyer paid a willing seller, and in Florida, recent sales are heavily weighted in the assessment process. Bring your HUD-1 or closing disclosure and a copy of the deed.

If you do not have a recent purchase, or your purchase price is above assessed value, you need to build a comparable sales case. Pull sales from your building or immediate neighborhood from the prior 12 months. Focus on units or homes that are similar in size, floor, view, and condition. The Property Appraiser's database is publicly available at the Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser website and you can pull this data yourself. I often help my clients pull comps because I have access to the MLS and can identify the most directly comparable transactions.

If your property has physical deficiencies, document them with photographs, contractor estimates, or inspection reports. A written statement from a licensed contractor explaining that your HVAC system needs replacement or that your roof has three years of useful life remaining can be compelling evidence. For condo units, board meeting minutes that discuss a special assessment vote or engineering reports about structural issues can also support a lower value.

One more tip: research whether any comparable properties in your building or street filed appeals and had their values reduced in prior years. Those decisions are public record and can be used as precedent in your own hearing.

What to Expect at a VAB Hearing

Value Adjustment Board hearings in Miami-Dade are relatively informal. You will appear before a Special Magistrate, either in person or by Zoom, and you will each have time to present your case. The county appraiser may also appear to defend the assessment, though this does not always happen for smaller residential cases.

Arrive organized. Bring printed copies of everything you intend to reference, because the magistrate will not have time to review documents submitted at the last moment. State your case clearly and factually. Something like: I purchased this property on this date for this amount, which was an arms-length transaction. The comparable sales I have identified in the same building over the past 12 months range from this amount to this amount. The county's assessment of this amount is not supported by market data.

The magistrate will ask questions and may review the county's appraisal methodology. Stay focused on the market evidence. Avoid making emotional arguments about fairness or comparing yourself to a neighbor's tax bill. The only question before the magistrate is whether the assessed value reflects the property's actual market value as of January 1.

In my experience, property owners who come in with clean, documented comparable sales and a clear, factual presentation win reductions more often than not when the underlying facts support it. If your case is strong, you do not need an attorney or a tax appeal firm, though for high-value properties the fees those firms charge can be worth paying for the expertise they bring.

The Homestead Exemption and How It Interacts With Your Appeal

Before discussing the appeal further, I want to make sure every primary-residence owner understands the Florida Homestead Exemption because it is one of the most valuable tax benefits available and many people either miss it or misunderstand how it works.

If your property is your primary residence as of January 1, you are entitled to a 25,000 dollar exemption on the first 25,000 of assessed value, and an additional 25,000 dollar exemption on assessed value between 50,000 and 75,000 dollars. In practice this reduces your taxable value by up to 50,000 dollars, saving most homeowners between 700 and 1,100 dollars per year depending on their millage rate. The deadline to file for the Homestead Exemption is March 1.

Equally important is the Save Our Homes benefit that comes with homestead status. Once your property is homesteaded, the county can only increase your assessed value by 3 percent per year or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. In a hot market like the one Miami has experienced, this can create a massive gap between assessed value and actual market value over time, which is genuinely valuable. However, this protection is lost when you sell, and the new owner's assessed value will reset to market. That reset is one of the main reasons new buyers should review their TRIM notice carefully in their first year of ownership.

If you are a foreign national or own the property through a trust, LLC, or corporation, the homestead exemption does not apply. Investment condos in Brickell or Sunny Isles Beach owned by offshore entities pay the full assessed value with no cap protection, which is exactly why those owners especially benefit from filing an appeal when the numbers do not reflect market reality.

Neighborhood-Specific Considerations Across Miami-Dade

The appeal opportunity varies considerably depending on where your property is located, and I want to give you a realistic sense of what I am seeing across the markets I work in regularly.

In Brickell and Edgewater, the condo market has seen a significant volume of resales since 2022, which gives the Property Appraiser a rich pool of comparable data. The good news is that this also means there are often clear comps to support an appeal if your assessment is high relative to recent sales. Buildings that have undergone 40-year or 50-year recertification and had large associated costs have sometimes seen softer resale values that the mass appraisal model does not fully capture.

In Coral Gables and Coconut Grove, single-family homes are harder to assess because of the wide variation in lot size, age, condition, and architecture. In my experience, properties with significant deferred maintenance or dated interiors are more frequently overassessed here because the county's model weights recent sale prices heavily without fully accounting for condition differences. If your home needs 150,000 dollars in updates and a comparable renovated home sold for 2.5 million, your value should not be 2.5 million.

In Sunny Isles Beach and Aventura, many condo units are owned by foreign nationals or investors without homestead protection. The market here moved sharply upward between 2020 and 2023, and in some buildings resale values have moderated since then. Owners who purchased at peak prices and are now seeing their assessed value track those peak prices while current comps are lower should take a close look at filing.

In Key Biscayne, waterfront and bay-view properties command significant premiums, but individual unit characteristics like floor level, view obstruction from neighboring towers, and parking situation can create meaningful value differences that the county's model does not always capture precisely. If you are on a lower floor with a partial view and the assessment matches a high-floor clear-water unit, that is worth challenging.

If you are not sure whether your specific property has a strong case, call me at (954) 833-0020 and I can pull comparable sales data and give you an honest read on whether it is worth pursuing. That conversation costs you nothing.

When to Hire a Tax Appeal Firm vs. Handling It Yourself

For most residential properties under 1 million dollars in assessed value, I believe a well-prepared homeowner can handle a VAB appeal without professional help. The process is designed to be accessible, the filing fee is minimal, and the evidence requirements are straightforward if you have a recent purchase price or a clean set of comparable sales.

For higher-value properties, particularly luxury condos in the 2 to 10 million dollar range or waterfront single-family homes in Coral Gables or Key Biscayne, hiring a property tax consultant or attorney who specializes in VAB appeals can make sense. These professionals work on contingency in most cases, meaning they take a percentage of the tax savings they achieve for you. If they save you 5,000 dollars a year and take 25 percent of first-year savings, you still net 3,750 dollars and all future years are fully yours.

Be cautious about firms that charge upfront fees regardless of outcome. The best tax appeal firms in Miami-Dade work on contingency because it aligns their incentives with yours. Ask for references, ask about their experience with properties in your specific neighborhood or building type, and make sure they will actually appear at the hearing rather than filing paperwork and disappearing.

Whatever path you choose, the most important step is simply paying attention when your TRIM notice arrives in August. Do not set it aside. Take 30 minutes to look up comparable sales on the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser website, compare them to your assessed value, and make an informed decision about whether to move forward. If you have questions or want a second opinion on what the comps actually mean, I am here to help. Hablamos Espanol, and you can reach me anytime at (954) 833-0020.