Should I Rent Out or Sell My Florida Home After Aliyah?

Keeping a Florida home after Aliyah is a business decision about a property you can no longer see, made under tax rules that change the day you leave. Some families keep and do well, usually with a good property manager, a paid-off or low-rate mortgage, and a building or neighborhood where rents have held. Many more sell, because the numbers that made the home cheap to own as a resident, homestead, the assessment cap, owner-occupied insurance, stop applying to an absentee owner. This page sets out what changes, so the choice is made with the right numbers.

Price my home correctly A hand-prepared opinion of value within one business day, or call 561-395-8418.

What changes the day Florida is no longer my permanent residence?

Three costs move at once. First, the homestead exemption and the Save Our Homes cap belong to a permanent Florida resident living in the home; once you establish residence in Israel and rent the home, the assessed value can move toward market value and the property tax bill follows. Second, insurance is repriced for a tenant-occupied or seasonally vacant home, and in coastal Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach that repricing is not small. Third, maintenance stops being a Saturday job and becomes a management fee plus contractors who bill whether or not you are there to check the work. Add condo association dues or HOA fees, and the monthly carrying cost of the home you are keeping is usually higher than the carrying cost of the home you lived in.

Can I actually run a rental from Israel?

With a licensed property manager, yes; alone, not for long. Florida landlord-tenant law has notice periods, deposit-handling rules and repair obligations that do not pause for the time difference. A property manager screens tenants, holds deposits correctly, handles the 3 a.m. water heater and the August air-conditioning failure, and sends you a statement. The fee is real and belongs in your comparison. Self-management from Israel works until the first emergency, and the first emergency in South Florida is rarely more than a summer away.

How is a non-resident landlord taxed?

In both countries, reconciled by treaty and a CPA. Rental income on U.S. property is taxable in the U.S. regardless of where the owner lives. Non-resident owners face withholding and filing rules that residents do not, and depreciation taken during the rental years changes the capital-gains picture when you eventually sell. Israel taxes its residents on worldwide income, with relief under the U.S.-Israel income tax treaty and with the benefits new immigrants receive under Israeli law for a period after arrival. We are not advising on any of it; we are telling you it has to be set up before the first tenant signs, because unwinding it later is expensive.

Is it easier to sell now or later?

Now is simpler; later is workable but slower. Selling before you leave means the home is in your condition, the primary-residence rules are at their cleanest, and you sign in person or by remote notarization on your own schedule. Selling after years of renting means a tenant's condition, a lease that survives the sale and narrows the buyer pool to investors unless it has ended, showings that need notice, and a closing handled entirely from Israel. All of that is done routinely, and we set it out in selling a Florida home from Israel. It is simply more moving parts.

What if the market is soft when I leave?

A soft market is a pricing question, not a reason to keep a property you cannot supervise. The honest comparison is the net you would receive at today's correct price against the realistic net after years of non-resident carrying costs, management, repricing of tax and insurance, and a later sale with a tenant in place. Comparing today's price with the price you hoped for is the most common way families end up owning a Florida rental they never wanted. Houses and condos behave differently in a soft market, and we keep the two separate when we show you the data.

How we help you decide

We prepare a hand-prepared opinion of value for the sale case, house and condo data kept separate, for your specific property. For the rental case we show current asking rents for comparable homes and the carrying costs an absentee owner should expect in your building or neighborhood. The tax and cash-flow decision is yours and your CPA's. If you decide to sell, selling before Aliyah sets out the timeline.

Gia Freer, Broker of Record at PBP Real Estate, LLC, licensed in Florida since 2000, and Grant Freer, Owner and Broker Associate, made Aliyah in July 2023 and kept a foot in both countries. We have watched families make this decision well and badly, and the difference was almost always whether they started from a real number.

Related guides

• Selling your South Florida home before Aliyah
• Selling a Florida home from Israel
• Buying or selling South Florida property from abroad (hub)

Start with that number. Price my home correctly and we will come back within one business day with an opinion of value and the rental comparison for your property. Or call 561-395-8418.

This page covers the real estate side of keeping or selling a Florida home after emigrating and is not legal or tax advice. Homestead status, U.S. and Israeli taxation of rental income and gains, and landlord-tenant obligations should be reviewed with the county property appraiser, a qualified attorney or a CPA.