Your first 90 days in Miami: the settling checklist that finishes the move

Last reviewed: November 8, 2026. Sources for this page are listed in its fact sheet.

Short answer first. The move is not finished when the truck leaves. Florida runs a set of clocks that start the day you arrive, the county runs a set of accounts that only you can open, and the tax calendar hands early movers real money for paying attention. This checklist works the first 90 days in three blocks: days 1 to 30 for the legal deadlines and the utility accounts, days 31 to 60 for the homestead file, the insurance positions, and voter registration, and days 61 to 90 for the first-year calendar, the dates that will govern every year you live here. Each item names its source and its fee where the county publishes one. Work it in order and the move is actually done by day 90.

Packed boxes in a new home. Stock photo. Photo: Ketut Subiyanto, Pexels.

Days 1 to 30: the clocks and the accounts

The state clocks come first. Florida gives a new resident 10 days to title and register a vehicle and 30 days to hold a Florida driver license, with Florida insurance required before registration. The full sequence, every fee, and the document set live in our license and plates step-by-step; do not re-derive it here, just do it in week one, because the same tax collector visit can carry your voter registration, which is listed below in its own block.

Schools cannot wait for the boxes. If children arrived with you, enrollment at the assigned school belongs in the first two weeks, health form transfer included. Our school enrollment guide works the document set, and it carries the date that matters most this season: magnet applications for the next school year close January 15.

Water and sewer is a county account, opened by you. Miami-Dade Water and Sewer starts service through its online self-service application, by phone, or at a service center. The county asks for a government photo ID, the service address, and proof of ownership or a signed lease. The charges are published: a $50 deposit per service plus a $45 non-refundable service charge on the first bill, with applications typically processed in 3 to 5 business days. Customer Service answers at 305-665-7477. Open it before the first weekend, not after the first dry tap.

Alerts and 311. Activate Miami-Dade Alerts for emergency texts and emails through a free county account, and save the county's two numbers: 311 inside Miami-Dade, and 305-468-5900 from outside it, with 711 for Florida Relay. Residents who would need specialized help to evacuate should also file the Emergency and Evacuation Assistance Program registration described in our hurricane season setup guide. It is a once-ever filing, and it closes ahead of any evacuation order.

Days 31 to 60: the file, the coverage, the registration

Assemble the homestead file now, file it in its season. If you own the home and it was your permanent residence on January 1, the homestead exemption application, form DR-501, is due to the Property Appraiser by March 1. The document set takes weeks to gather when a deed or a license address lags, which is why the assembly belongs in this block even when the filing date sits later. Our homestead filing guide lists every document, and the Amendment 3 page explains what the new exemption tiers mean for an arrival in your year.

Close the insurance positions. By day 60 the home, flood, and auto policies should be final, priced on the real address, with the wind mitigation inspection filed and the hurricane deductible reserve sitting in cash. Our insurance cost guide works the numbers, and the flood and surge check confirms the map position those policies were priced on. Renters finish this block too: contents cover, including flood contents cover with its 30 day wait, is a day 60 item, not a storm week item.

Register to vote where you got the license. Florida's registration deadline is 29 days before an election, with the same 29 day line for a party change before a primary. Registration runs through any tax collector office that issues driver licenses or state ID cards, and it can ride along with the license transaction itself, which is the efficient version: one visit in the first month closes both files. Online registration runs through the state's own portal for those who prefer it.

One optional paper: the declaration of domicile. Floridians documenting a permanent domicile change can file a sworn declaration of domicile with the Clerk of Court under state law (section 222.17). The county form, CLK/CT 578, files at the County Recorder, 20 NW 1st Avenue, Suite 5.243, Miami, for a $10 fee, with a self-addressed stamped envelope if you file by mail. It is not required for the homestead exemption or the license. People arriving from states that contest domicile changes file it as one more dated, public piece of evidence. Your tax adviser can tell you whether your move is that kind of move.

Days 61 to 90: learn the calendar that runs every year

The property tax year has four dates. The Property Appraiser mails the TRIM notice, the proposed tax figure that is not a bill, in August; the 2026 TRIM mailed August 24. Tax bills open November 1 (the 2026 roll opened two days early, on October 30). Early payment is discounted on a published ladder: 4 percent in November, 3 percent in December, 2 percent in January, 1 percent in February, no discount in March, and taxes go delinquent on April 1. On the current bill those discount deadlines are November 30, December 31, January 31, and February 28. A homeowner who pays in November keeps 4 percent of a Miami tax bill, which on most bills is the largest single saving in this entire checklist. The homestead guide shows how the exemption changes the figure the ladder applies to.

Hurricane season starts June 1, whether the kit exists or not. A winter arrival has the full spring to build the seven day kit while the permanent sales tax exemption does its quiet work; a spring arrival has weeks. Either way the deadline is the season, not the storm. The shopping and setup version of this block is our first hurricane season guide, which also carries the home setup block: a basic home tool kit, document storage that survives water and fire, and the batteries, detectors, and tarps the new house did not come with.

Set the recurring dates in one sitting. March 1 for homestead, the magnet window each October 1 to January 15 if school choice is in play, August for the TRIM read, November for the discounted tax payment, and June 1 for the season. Five dates, entered once, govern the administrative year of a Miami household. That is the real finish line of the move: not the last box unpacked, but the calendar understood.

Frequently asked questions

What is the single most missed deadline?
The homestead March 1 filing, by owners who assumed it was automatic. It is not automatic in the first year. The file assembly in days 31 to 60 exists to protect that date.

We rent. Which blocks apply to us?
All of days 1 to 30, the insurance and voter items in days 31 to 60, and the hurricane and calendar items in days 61 to 90. Renters skip the homestead and tax ladder blocks, which belong to owners, and pick up the lease and flood disclosure steps in our sight-unseen renting guide instead.

Is the declaration of domicile required?
No. It is an optional sworn filing that some movers use as dated evidence of a domicile change. The required papers are the license, the registration, and, for owners, the homestead application.

Keep planning

Next steps: the moving to Miami hub, the move checklist that covers the weeks before arrival, the school enrollment guide, and the first hurricane season guide.