Take yourbasis with you.
Most owners assume moving means giving up a Prop 13 assessed value they have held for decades and getting reassessed at today's price. If you are 55 or older, that is not true — Proposition 19 lets you carry your assessed value to a replacement home anywhere in California, three separate times. Put your numbers in and see what it is actually worth.
NEW ASSESSED VALUE
$240,000
WITHOUT THE TRANSFER
$1,500,000
PROPERTY TAX EACH YEAR
$2,784
SAVED EACH YEAR
$14,616
/// Your comparison threshold is 105%, which puts the line at $1,470,000. The replacement is $30,000 above that line, so only the excess is added to your old assessed value: $210,000 + $30,000 = $240,000.
Over ten years that is roughly $146,160, before the 2% annual Prop 13 inflation factor on both sides.
ESTIMATE ONLY, NOT TAX ADVICE. THE ARITHMETIC FOLLOWS THE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION'S PUBLISHED METHOD AND IS UNIT-TESTED AGAINST THEIR OWN WORKED EXAMPLE, BUT ELIGIBILITY TURNS ON FACTS THIS FORM DOES NOT ASK FOR — YOUR AGE, WHETHER THE HOME CARRIED A HOMEOWNERS' OR DISABLED VETERANS' EXEMPTION, AND HOW MANY OF YOUR THREE TRANSFERS YOU HAVE USED. THE CLAIM IS FORM BOE-19-B, DUE WITHIN THREE YEARS OF BUYING THE REPLACEMENT. CONFIRM WITH THE LA COUNTY ASSESSOR OR YOUR CPA BEFORE ACTING.
The duplex case.
Roughly one in five of the buildings on our file carries a homeowners' exemption, which means the owner lives in one of the units. If that describes you and you are 55 or older, the arithmetic above is not academic: the unit you occupy can qualify as your principal residence, the assessor apportions between the part you live in and the part you rent, and the residence share of your basis can move to a new home.
It is the single most-missed provision among small multifamily owners in Los Angeles, and it changes the maths on selling a building you have held for thirty years. Whether it is the right move depends on the split, the rent roll and what you would buy next — which is a conversation, not a calculator.
Prop 19, plainly.
>Who qualifies for the over-55 base year value transfer?
A homeowner aged 55 or older at the time the original home is sold. The original home must have been eligible for the homeowners’ or disabled veterans’ exemption either when it sold or within two years of buying the replacement, so it has to have been a principal residence. Severely disabled homeowners and victims of a wildfire or declared disaster qualify under separate provisions of the same measure.
>How many times can I use it?
Three times for the over-55 and severely disabled categories. Prior law allowed it once. Transfers because of a wildfire or declared disaster are not limited to three.
>Does the replacement home have to be in the same county?
No. Proposition 19 allows the replacement to be anywhere in California. Before April 2021 it had to be in the same county, or in one of ten counties that chose to accept incoming transfers.
>What if the new home costs more than the old one?
You still keep most of the benefit. Your old assessed value transfers, and only the amount by which the new purchase exceeds a threshold-adjusted version of the old home’s market value gets added on top. The threshold is 100% if you buy before selling, 105% in the first year after, and 110% in the second year.
>How long do I have to buy the replacement?
Two years from the sale of the original home. You may also buy the replacement first and sell the original within two years afterwards.
>Is there a deadline to file the claim?
Yes. Form BOE-19-B must be filed within three years of purchasing the replacement home or completing its construction.
>I live in one unit of my apartment building. Does that count?
The transfer applies to your principal residence, and a unit you occupy in a two-to-four unit building you own can qualify as one. The assessor apportions between the part you live in and the part you rent, so only the residence portion carries across. This is a common and often-missed situation for small multifamily owners in Los Angeles — worth confirming with the assessor for your specific parcel.
>Can transferring ever leave me worse off?
Yes, and the calculator will say so. If you are downsizing to a home worth less than your current assessed value, a fresh assessment at the purchase price would be lower than your transferred basis. The claim is optional, so in that case you simply do not file it.
SOURCE: CALIFORNIA STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION, PROPOSITION 19. THE CALCULATOR REPRODUCES THE BOE'S OWN PUBLISHED WORKED EXAMPLE EXACTLY AND IS UNIT-TESTED AGAINST IT. THIS PAGE IS INFORMATION, NOT TAX ADVICE — CONFIRM YOUR SITUATION WITH THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY ASSESSOR OR YOUR CPA.