“Hello and thanks for your newsletter :o) I’m trying to keep track of real estate, with an eye to moving from a house to a condo. What’s all this about being able to keep your Prop 13 taxes if you’ve passed your 55th birthday? Are there any catches? Keep up the informative (and entertaining) work!”
Answer:
I’m asked this question a lot. Proposition 60 allows homesellers 55 or older a one-time opportunity to transfer their existing low property tax bill to their next home when they sell their home and buy another.
Some key rules:
1. The replacement home must be bought or newly constructed within 2 years before or after of the sale of the original home.
2. Claims must be filed within 3 years of buying or building the replacement home.
3. The new home must cost 100% or less than the old home. Or you may go up 5% if you buy within 1 year after selling the old one, or 10% if you buy between 1 and 2 years.
4. The replacement home must be in San Diego County or, per Prop 90, one of the following California counties: Alameda, Los Angeles, Orange, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Ventura. (This list is always subject to change.)
NOTE: This does NOT include Riverside County! Several clients have erroneously been told by friends or real estate agents that they can move their low property tax base to Riverside…
For more questions about Props 60 or 90 or for the exemption form, call me at (858)457-KENT or call the San Diego Tax Assessor at (619)531-5507.
Click here to send for our free DVD, “How to Sell Your Home and Buy Another.”
