Property tax savings for senior homeowners
new home - keep your current taxes
Is your house too big, expensive to heat or cool, yard expensive to maintain? Sell your house, move to a more convenient one without incurring a property tax increase. We will help you with the sale, the purchase of a new home and all the paperwork. Proposition 19 was signed in April 2021 and its protecting millions of senior homeowners already
Helping seniors to live better
Thanks to Prop 19, seniors, retirees, and all homeowners aged 55+ can move closer to family, medical care, or to a home that better meets their needs anywhere in California, without a tax penalty. Prop 19 removed unfair location and price restrictions, allowing older homeowners to transfer the tax base of their home to a new home. Prop 19 lets them move without a tax penalty
No location or price restrictions
- Transfer the low property tax base of their original home to a new home up to three times
- Move closer to family or medical care, purchase a home that better meets their needs or relocate anywhere in the state
- Save substantially in annual property taxes when moving to a new home, even if the replacement home is more expensive than the original one
Prop 19 benefits 55+ homeowners
- Removes location and price restrictions on property tax transfers for homeowners 55+, regardless of price (with an adjustment upward if the new home is more expensive)
- Generates home buying opportunities for renters, young families, and first-time homeowners
- Provides new revenues for emergency response units, local government, and school districts
- The State Board of Equalization (BOE) has created new forms that will enable homeowner to claim the tax savings
example - same price home buy/sale
If the purchase price of the new home is equal or less than the sale price of the existing home, the new taxes are the new taxes are the same as the original residence
- Scenario: A senior couple lives in a home valued at $600,000. They paid $2,200 in property taxes in 2020 (based on the $200,000 original purchase price). They want to downsize and move closer to family, but would pay $6,600 in property taxes when buying a $600,000 home
- Under Prop 19: The senior couple can sell their $600,000 home and purchase another home for $600,000* anywhere in California without a property tax increase. When transferring the low property tax base of their original home to one, they can move and save $4,400 per year in property taxes
example - more expensive home
If the purchase price of the new home is more than the price of the existing one, homeowners can blend the tax base of both homes for savings
- Scenario: A senior couple with a home valued at $600,000 (also paying $2,200 in property taxes) wants to downsize and buy in a retirement community for $700,000, but they can’t afford the $7,700 spike in property taxes that comes with moving
- Under Prop 19: This couple will save $4,400 in annual property taxes*. Prop 19 allows homeowners to keep their existing taxes and transfer them to a more expensive home. The property tax base of the new home is determined by adding the difference between the sales price of the new home ($700,000) and the original home ($600,000) to the tax base of the original home ($200,000). The couple would pay $3,300 in property taxes, saving them $4,400 a year. (*The tax savings could be greater depending on the definition of “equal or lesser” value)
Move to a new home - save in taxes
Let's find you a better home, have fun and see family often