Oops, My Clients Almost Missed Out on Saving Thousands of Dollars Per Year On Their New Home! - Haven Group SF San Francisco's Premier Real Estate Advisors

It started with a text message from my client:

“Hey John, I’m curious what you know about California Prop 19. A friend was explaining it to me and wondering why we didn’t transfer our tax basis from [our San Francisco home] to our new home in San Rafael. Is this something you could give me thoughts on and I wonder if it’s too late to make the request.”

K and J sold their San Francisco home and bought a much more expensive home in Marin County in 2021. The difference in assessed value was almost $1,000,000 between the two homes, resulting in an increase in property taxes of over $10K per year. Prop 19 allows homeowners who are over 55 years of age as well as the disabled and victims of a wildfire or natural disaster to transfer their assessed value of their primary home to a newly purchased replacement residence up to three times in their lives. Proposition 19 was passed in the 2020 election and took effect on April 1, 2021.

”Yes,” I responded, “If either of you are 55 years or older, you can transfer your property tax basis to the new home.” It was an honest mistake on my part. With their boyish good looks and children aged 2 and 5, I just could not have imagined that my clients would be old enough to qualify.

I sent J a link to the Marin County Tax Assessor’s office. The site includes detailed instructions including the forms to apply and claim a transfer of a former home’s base valuation to a replacement home.

A couple weeks later I received another message from J saying that the property tax transfer was accepted and approved.

Happy result: My clients got a $1,000,000 reduction in their property tax valuation, which results in savings of thousands of dollars in property taxes, each year, every year, for as long as they own.

If you are 55 or older and recently sold your primary residence in California and bought a new one in California, Prop 19 could benefit you! It also allows the disabled and victims of a wildfire or natural disaster to transfer the assessed value of their former primary home to a newly purchased replacement residence. Go to your local property tax assessor’s website to read more and to access the forms that you need to transfer your property tax basis from your former home to the new home.

Follow these links to learn more in these Bay Area counties:

And remember: don’t be offended if I tell you about Prop 19. It’s not that I think you’re old, I just don’t want you to miss out on this fantastic opportunity to save money when you buy your next new home in California!

Warmly,

John