Quick Answer
Under Proposition 19, California homeowners who are 55 or older (or severely disabled, or displaced by wildfire or disaster) can sell their primary residence, buy a replacement primary residence anywhere in the state, and transfer their old home's low taxable value to the new home — up to three times. If the new home costs more than the old one sold for, the difference is added on top of the transferred value. The claim is filed with the county assessor, and the purchase generally must happen within two years of the sale.
Why Your Taxable Value Is Probably Far Below Market Value
Since 1978, Prop 13 has limited how fast a home's assessed value can grow — no more than 2% per year, no matter what the market does. So a home bought in Downey or Whittier in the 1990s for $180,000 might carry a taxable value around $300,000 today, even if it would sell for $850,000. Property tax runs roughly 1% of assessed value plus local add-ons (about 1.1% is a common average), so that gap is worth thousands of dollars every year. Losing it used to be the price of moving. Prop 19 lets homeowners 55 and older keep it.
Exact tax rates vary by county and by the local bonds and assessments on your bill.
What Prop 19 Lets You Do
Proposition 19, in effect since April 1, 2021, lets you transfer your home's taxable value when you sell your primary residence and buy another primary residence in California. The basics:
- You qualify if you're 55 or older when you sell (also available if you're severely disabled, or lost your home in a wildfire or governor-declared disaster)
- The new home can be anywhere in California — any county, no reciprocity lists like the old rules
- The new home can cost more than the old one; you no longer have to buy 'equal or lesser value' to qualify
- Homeowners 55+ can use the transfer up to three times in a lifetime
- You generally must buy (or finish building) the replacement home within two years of selling
Both homes must be your primary residence — the transfer doesn't apply to rentals or vacation homes.
The Math: What Your New Taxable Value Would Be
The rule is simpler than it sounds. If the new home costs the same or less than what your old home sold for, your old taxable value simply moves with you. If the new home costs more, the extra amount gets added on top. Say your taxable value is $300,000, you sell for $850,000, and you buy for $700,000 — your new taxable value stays $300,000. Buy for $950,000 instead, and the $100,000 premium is added: your new taxable value is $400,000 — still far below the $950,000 a new buyer would be assessed at. Try your own numbers below.
Quick Prop 19 estimate
Enter three numbers from your situation — all fields are rough estimates.
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The assessed value on your property-tax bill (often far below market value)
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Rough estimate only, using an illustrative 1.1% average rate. Your county assessor calculates the actual values, and rates and rules vary by county. This is education, not tax advice — confirm your numbers with your county assessor or a tax professional.
How to Claim It
The transfer is not automatic — you file a claim with the assessor in the county where the new home is. The usual steps:
- 1Close on the sale of your current home and the purchase of the replacement (in either order, within the two-year window)
- 2Get the claim form — most counties use form BOE-19-B, available from the county assessor's office or website
- 3File the claim with the assessor in the county of your NEW home
- 4The assessor verifies eligibility and recalculates the new home's taxable value; any refund or corrected bill follows
File promptly — claiming within three years of the purchase generally preserves full retroactive benefit. Your county assessor's office can confirm deadlines for your situation.
What Prop 19 Changed for Inherited Homes
The same measure also narrowed the old parent-child exclusion, which matters for estate planning. Since February 2021, a child who inherits a home generally keeps the parent's low taxable value only if the home was the parent's primary residence and the child moves in and makes it their own primary residence — and even then, only up to a value limit (the exclusion covers the old taxable value plus a cap adjusted over time; the excess is reassessed). Inherited rentals and second homes are now reassessed at market value. Families counting on passing a low tax base to their children should talk this through with an estate-planning professional.
This is general education, not legal or tax advice — the inherited-property rules have important details that depend on your family's facts.
Staying vs. Moving: Where a Reverse Mortgage Fits
Prop 19 takes one big obstacle off the table, but the stay-or-move decision is still personal. In our conversations with homeowners 62 and older, it usually comes down to two workable paths:
- Stay and adapt: a reverse mortgage (HECM) can pay off an existing mortgage, fund in-home care or safety updates, and let you age in place in the neighborhood you know — with no required monthly mortgage payment while you keep up taxes, insurance, and upkeep
- Move with both tools: sell, transfer your tax base under Prop 19, and use a HECM for Purchase to buy the replacement home — often putting roughly half down and financing the rest with no required monthly mortgage payment, keeping more cash from the sale in reserve
Neither path is right for everyone, and a reverse mortgage is a significant decision. A free, no-pressure conversation with real numbers — in English or Spanish — is the best way to compare them.
Talk It Through Before You Decide
If the property-tax question has been keeping you in a home that no longer fits — too many stairs, too far from family, too much yard — it's worth seeing the actual numbers. Miguel A. Vazquez (NMLS #401212) can walk you through what a move under Prop 19 could look like next to staying put with a reverse mortgage, and your county assessor or tax professional can confirm the tax side. No pressure, no obligation — just a clear picture.
