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310. 991. 3946
Prop 19 - Tax Savings When
Buying & Selling
Prop 19 Builds on Prop 13, 60, and 90 which helped seniors buy new homes while transferring their much lower tax rates.
What is Prop 19?
Proposition 19 is a law that was voted in during the COVID lockdown to make buying a new home easier for seniors, those with severe handicaps, and victims of wildfires.
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It allows someone to sell their current home and purchase another one, ANYWHERE IN CALIFORNIA, while keeping their tax base the same.
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That means if your home is currently assessed at $500K but you know homes are selling for $1M, you can take that
Call 310-991-3946 to speak with an agent about your home plans
Who Qualifies for Prop 19?
Currently, anyone over the age of 55+ can use Prop 19. If you've used prop 60 or 90 in the past, then you still get another chance to use Prop 19.
In Addition, Proposition 19 also expanded this privilege to victims of wildfires. So if your home was severely damaged during a wildfire, you can use the opportunity to find another instead of having to rebuild in the same location.
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Those with "Severe" disabilities can also use Prop 19, whether or not they are seniors (55+). The wording on this law is vague on what kind of disabilities qualify, so you'd have to submit a request to see if you qualify.
Prop 13, 60, 90 and 19
Decades ago, families who bought homes were being hammered by massive tax hikes as homes around them doubled or tripled in value over the years. To keep families from being outpriced by sudden market trends, Prop 13 was passed.
Prop 13 limited property tax hikes to 2% or less per year as long as the home isn't triggered for tax reassessment (by sale or transfer of the property, or major improvements).
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This was a good-faith effort but it led to another problem: seniors were refusing to purchase a new home. New homes were selling (and being tax assessed) exponentially higher than these seniors originally purchased their homes for. On a fixed income, buying a new home would mean paying far more of their very limited income on a similar home. It just wasn't worth it.
Prop 60 was passed, which allowed seniors (55+ years of age) to sell their current home, and transfer their tax base to a home of similar value. This means if a senior was to sell a $500K home, they could purchase another $500K home in any county that participated with this program.
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Prop 90 added on extra features for Prop 60, allowing seniors to move up to 3 times in their lives.
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Finally, Prop 19 took wildfire victims and those with disabilities into account. It also refreshed one of the uses of Prop 60/90 giving families one more chance if they already moved 3 times.
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Prop 19 also recognized the differences in price between one area and another. Now families looking to move to a more expensive neighborhood could still transfer SOME of their tax base rather than paying the FULL massive new tax rate.