Why this move is its own thing
Buying a Florida home while you still own a Maine home is not the same as a normal purchase. You are juggling two markets, two sets of insurance rules, two property tax systems, and timing that almost never lines up perfectly. Most lenders treat it like a regular file. It is not. The wrong structure costs you money. The right one saves you sleep.
I have built a process for this exact transition because I see it constantly. Maine retirees heading south. Maine families chasing warmer winters. Maine professionals taking remote roles in Florida. Every story is a little different. The lending puzzle has the same handful of pieces.
This guide walks you through every one of those pieces. Read it once before you call me. You will save us both an hour on the discovery call.
Free tools — Maine Florida Collective
Three free tools before you call me
My partner site, the Maine Florida Collective, runs the research side of this move. Use these before we get on the phone — you'll save us both an hour:
Maine vs Florida: the real cost comparison
Most people moving from Maine to Florida expect lower costs. The honest answer in 2026 is more complicated. Florida wins on income tax and heating. Maine wins on insurance and HOA fees. The net usually still favors Florida, but only after you account for what nobody puts on a Zillow listing.
| Cost | Maine | Florida |
|---|---|---|
| Property tax (effective rate) | About 1.24 percent of value | About 0.91 percent of value (with homestead) |
| Homeowners insurance (annual) | 1,200 to 2,400 typical | 2,500 to 12,000 plus depending on roof, county, coast |
| Flood insurance | Rare except coastal | Common, often required |
| HOA fees | Rare outside condos | Standard in most communities, 100 to 1,500 plus monthly |
| State income tax | Up to 7.15 percent | Zero |
| Hurricane risk premium | None | Built into insurance and roof age math |
| Heating cost | 2,500 to 5,000 annual oil or propane | Effectively zero |
| Cooling cost | Almost nothing | 150 to 400 a month summer |
Numbers are 2026 typicals from real client files. Your situation will vary by county, property, and program.
The three timing scenarios
Almost every Maine to Florida buyer falls into one of three buckets. Pick the one that fits your reality before you start shopping.
1. Sell first, then buy
Cleanest financially. You sell the Maine house, sit on the cash, then buy in Florida with a clear picture and no contingencies. Downside: you might be renting for a stretch, or moving twice. Best fit if you have flexibility on where you live during the gap, or if you can stay with family.
2. Buy first, then sell
Best for people who can carry both for a short period or who do not want to risk losing the Florida home they fell in love with. Often paired with a bridge loan that pays off when the Maine home closes, or by tapping equity in the Maine home through a HELOC before you list.
3. Keep the Maine home as a rental
You buy in Florida, hold Maine as a long term or seasonal rental. Tax planning matters here, and we have to underwrite the Maine rental income correctly so it actually helps your Florida qualification. A Maine summer rental can pull surprising income, and a year round rental in Portland or Brunswick is steady.
Moving the whole household and not just refinancing? My joint brand, the Maine Florida Collective, runs your Maine sale, your Florida purchase, and your loan as one plan.
Get fully approved before you list
My biggest piece of advice: get fully approved before you list the Maine home. I mean a real underwritten preapproval, not a quick desktop estimate. That way the second you have an accepted offer in Florida, we are not scrambling to figure out what you can afford. We already know.
It also lets you write strong offers in a Florida market where competing buyers are local and pre approved. Out of state offers without a tight letter get passed over fast. A real underwritten approval letter can be the difference between a yes and a backup position.
An underwritten preapproval also tells me exactly how the Maine debt has to be handled. We pre clear the path so the Florida purchase moves at the speed of the seller's expectations.
Florida quirks Mainers do not expect
- Insurance can swing 5,000 a year on roof age alone. A 2018 roof and a 2008 roof are different worlds. Always pull a four point inspection and a wind mitigation report before you go firm.
- Flood zones are not just on the beach. Inland Polk, Volusia, and Hillsborough properties land in flood zones too. Pull the FEMA map for any property you like.
- Condos have project level approvals. A condo can be perfect for you and still be ineligible for conventional financing because the building's reserves or insurance fail underwriting. Always check before you write.
- HOA fees and special assessments are real. Post Surfside, lenders scrutinize HOA budgets harder than ever. A pending special assessment can kill a deal.
- CDD bonds are normal in master planned communities. Wellen Park, Lakewood Ranch, and most newer Florida developments carry community development district bond debt. It shows up on the tax bill, not the closing disclosure.
- Citizens is the insurer of last resort. Many properties cannot get private insurance and end up on Citizens. That is workable but the depopulation rules can move you to a private carrier mid year.
Maine quirks Florida agents do not always know
- Well and septic add inspection steps. A septic inspection in Maine takes weeks to schedule in spring and fall. Build it into your closing timeline.
- Older oil tanks may need to be addressed. Buried oil tanks especially. Insurance and mortgage underwriting both care.
- Detached structures complicate appraisals. Barns, sheds, and hunting camps either add value or do not show up on the appraisal at all, depending on the appraiser.
- Lead paint disclosures. Anything built before 1978 in Maine carries lead disclosure obligations. FHA buyers run into lead paint repair requirements that conventional buyers do not.
- Town tax bills are split differently. Maine bills tax in two installments. Florida bills annually. Prorations at closing need to match what your Florida title company is used to.
Where my Maine clients usually land in Florida
After 20 plus years of running this transition, patterns show up. Mainers tend to land in three corridors:
Southwest Florida
Naples, Bonita Springs, Estero, Fort Myers, Cape Coral. The classic snowbird corridor with boating and golf.
Tampa Bay area
Tampa, Sarasota, Bradenton, Venice. More city access, easier flights to Maine, slightly cheaper than the southwest coast.
Atlantic side and Treasure Coast
Less common for Mainers but growing. Better hurricane track odds in some years, easier drives back to New England.
Browse my Florida home loans hub for city specific pages.
Maine cities I see selling the most
If you are still on the Maine side and trying to figure out what your house will sell for, these are the markets I see in heaviest motion right now:
Realtor partners on both ends
Maine Florida Collective is my joint brand with Top Homes Group at Keller Williams. Dewey Kopenga is on the ground in Tampa Bay. Deja Lett is on the ground in Southern Maine. Both are Mainers. You get one team handling the sale up north, the purchase down south, and the mortgage in the middle. One inbox. One closing. Visit mainefloridacollective.com to meet the team.
How I run a Maine to Florida deal, step by step
- Discovery call. 20 minutes. We talk through where you are now, where you want to be, and the realistic timeline. No pitch, just a map.
- Full preapproval. Underwritten in advance so when you find the place, the lender does not slow you down. We pull credit, verify income and assets, and have an underwriter sign off before you write your first offer.
- Maine side strategy. If we are using the Maine home (sale, rental, or equity), we plan how each option affects your Florida approval. If you want to keep Maine as a rental, we get the lease or the market rent appraisal in writing now.
- Insurance pre quote. Before you go under contract on any Florida property, we pull a real insurance quote based on roof age, county, and elevation. This catches the deal killers before you waste two weeks in escrow.
- Florida house hunt. Run properties past me before you write. I will flag anything that creates a financing risk. Condos in particular need a 60 second project check before the offer.
- Locked rate, clean closing. I quarterback the close, including remote signing where allowed. Title company in Florida coordinates with Maine on prorations and any payoff timing.
- Refi the bridge if applicable. Once the Maine home sells, we tidy up the Florida loan to its long term form. Usually a no cost rate and term refinance to swap the bridge for a 30 year fixed.
- Homestead the Florida home. The year after closing, you file for the Florida homestead exemption with your county property appraiser. I send the reminder.
Common Maine to Florida loan structures
Most of my Maine to Florida deals use one of these four structures. We pick based on your equity, liquidity, and timing.
Conventional purchase, sell Maine first
The simplest path. You close the Maine sale, the proceeds wire to escrow on the Florida purchase, and you fund a 20 to 30 percent down payment with leftover cash for reserves and moving costs.
Bridge loan against the Maine home
You buy in Florida using a short term loan secured by the Maine home's equity. When Maine sells, the bridge pays off. Costs more than a HELOC but settles fast and does not require Maine to be on the market.
HELOC against Maine, then refi later
You take a HELOC on Maine before you list, use it for the Florida down payment, then either pay it off when Maine sells or roll it into a permanent refi. Cheapest option if you can wait for the HELOC to fund.
Keep Maine as rental, qualify with rental income
You qualify for the Florida loan using the Maine rental income (75 percent of lease or market rent). Requires a signed lease or a market rent appraisal. Builds long term wealth on both ends.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to physically be in Florida to close on a Florida home?+
No. In most cases we structure a remote closing using a mobile notary or a remote online notary depending on the title company. You will need a Florida property under contract first.
What happens if my Maine home is paid off?+
Even better. Paid off equity gives you more options on the Florida side. You can do a HELOC or cash out refinance against the Maine home for the Florida down payment, or we can use a bridge loan that pays off when the Maine home sells.
Will my Maine mortgage hurt my Florida approval?+
Only if we don't structure it right. If you plan to keep Maine as a rental, we have to document expected rent with a lease or a market rent appraisal. If you are selling, lenders usually let us 'subject to sale' with the listing agreement and either a pending sale or strong comps. Either path works when documented correctly.
How much does Florida insurance actually cost?+
It depends entirely on roof age, county, distance to coast, and elevation. As a rough range in 2026: a newer construction inland home in central Florida might insure for 1,800 to 3,500 a year. A 20 year old roof in a coastal Lee or Collier County zip code can run 6,000 to 15,000 a year, sometimes more. Always quote insurance before you write the offer.
Should I sell my Maine home first or buy in Florida first?+
Three real options exist. Sell first is the cleanest financially but you may rent for a stretch. Buy first works if you can carry both for a few months or you tap Maine equity. Keep Maine as a rental works if the numbers pencil and you want long term Maine exposure. The right answer depends on your liquidity, the Florida market timing, and how much risk you can stomach.
Is now a good time to make this move?+
That is a personal question, not a market one. Florida insurance has stabilized in 2026 after the post Ian shock. Maine inventory is finally loosening. Rates are not what they were in 2021 and likely won't be again. The financing piece is workable in any market when the strategy is right.
How long does the whole transition take?+
Most of my clients run 90 to 180 days from first call to keys in Florida. Faster is possible if you already have a Florida home picked out. Slower is normal if you're still selling Maine and shopping Florida at the same time.
Can I close in an LLC in Florida?+
If it is a primary residence or second home, no. Owner occupied conventional loans require personal title. If it is a rental investment, yes, and a DSCR loan in your LLC is usually the right structure. See my DSCR investor loans page.
What about the Florida homestead exemption?+
If the Florida home becomes your primary residence, you file for homestead with the county property appraiser the year after you close. It caps your taxable value increase at 3 percent a year. Real money over time. You cannot homestead two properties, so the Maine house has to come off any homestead status if you held one there.
Will I need flood insurance in Florida?+
Lender required only if FEMA puts the property in a Special Flood Hazard Area, which is most of coastal Florida and a lot of inland Florida too. Even if it is not required, post Ian and post Helene I tell every client to quote it. Premiums vary wildly by elevation and pre or post FIRM construction.
Ready to actually make the move? Meet the Maine Florida Collective.
If you are past planning and ready to make your move from Maine to Florida this year, this is where I hand you the whole team. The Maine Florida Collective is my joint brand with Top Homes Group at Keller Williams. Deja Lett runs the Southern Maine side, Dewey Kopenga is your agent on the ground in Tampa Bay, and I broker the loan myself, anywhere in Maine and anywhere in Florida. One team, two states, and not one stranger in the deal. Take the quick fit quiz and get your Last Winter Money Map, a straight look at your Maine equity and your Florida buying power, so you know whether this is your year.
Ready to map your move?
Book a discovery call and we will lay out your path in 20 minutes. No pressure, no scripted pitch. Just a clear plan you can act on or sit on at your pace.