It Pays to be an Older Homeowner

At last, a reason to be glad you’re older: California Proposition 60/90! If you or your spouse are 55+ and you’ve owned your home awhile, you might find this interesting.

Basically, you can take your property tax with you one time if you purchase a primary home that costs the same or less as your current home! This can be a huge savings, since in California, property tax is calculated on the original purchase price of your home. So, if you paid $325,000 for your home in 2000, sell it in 2019 for $1,250,000, then buy a replacement home within 2 years of its closing date for 1,250,000, you will pay about $5,333.00 per year instead of $15,625.50 per year!

You can do this anywhere in Los Angeles County (if that is where you owned your primary residence), and in a few other counties that change periodically, but currently they are Alameda, El Dorado, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Tuolumne, and Ventura. Be sure to check first before buying your replacement property in another county.

These laws were established in the 1980s, and I am often surprised how few people know about them. They were established to help seniors downsize, but there are no rules about house size, just price. These laws really help people of all ages, since it enables some seniors to move to a house with a more suitable floor plan when they otherwise wouldn’t, thus freeing up some houses better suited to families.

For more information, here is the Proposition 60/90 guide from the county assessor. Be sure to go to the County site, not companies that try to make you pay them to do the paperwork for you as it only consists of one page. You can get a copy of the one page form here, along with details and FAQs. Questions? Shoot me an email or text! You can reach me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 626-827-9795.