MOCKUP for review. Sample numbers only. Not live.

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The rules, in six steps

Short and plain. Every rule comes from the Board of Equalization.

1. The home you sell is where you live

No minimum number of years.

2. The new home becomes where you live

It can be anywhere in California.

3. Buy or build within 2 years

Before or after the sale.

4. Up to 3 times in your life

Even if you used an older transfer before.

5. There is a price limit

Buy before the sale: up to the old sale price. Within a year after: up to the price times 1.05. Second year: times 1.10. Above the limit, you pay tax on the difference only.

6. You file the claim yourself

Send it to the assessor of the county where the new home is, after both sales close and you live there. Within 3 years. Escrow does not do it.

Source: California Board of Equalization, Proposition 19

What does not qualify

  • Rental properties and second homes
  • A home you inherited but never lived in
  • Selling at 54 with no disability and no disaster
  • A new home you will not live in
  • A fourth transfer
  • Other taxes: Prop 19 does not change capital gains tax, Mello-Roos or special assessments.
Three friends laughing on a porch step
Not tax or legal advice. These are estimates. Please check with your county assessor and a CPA or attorney before you sell or buy. Read more
Zarko Maletin

Selling and buying your next home? Talk to Zarko.

Zarko can walk through the sale and the purchase together. He can also point you to a CPA for the tax questions.

Zarko Maletin, Insider Realty · DRE #02440138 (CA) · hello@insider.realty

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