Property tax transfer for San Francisco homeowners
It may, if you qualify. California’s Proposition 19 lets eligible homeowners sell their primary home and carry its property tax base to a replacement home anywhere in California.
If you have owned your San Francisco home for many years, that can mean a much lower tax bill on your next home. Read how it works below, then request a free, confidential evaluation of your home.
Property taxes in California are based on your home’s assessed value, which can rise by no more than 2% a year. After many years, that number can sit far below today’s market value.
Normally, buying a new home resets the assessed value to the new purchase price. Prop 19 lets eligible owners keep their existing base instead, with an adjustment if the new home costs more.
You must be 55 or older, severely and permanently disabled, or a victim of a wildfire or governor-declared natural disaster when you sell. The home you sell must be your primary residence, and so must the replacement home.
The replacement home can be anywhere in California, including San Francisco. Homeowners who qualify by age or disability can use the benefit up to three times.
This is a simplified example with round numbers, using the formula published by the California State Board of Equalization. Your own figures will differ.
The replacement home costs more than your original home’s adjusted value, so the difference is added to your original taxable value: $400,000 + ($2,400,000 − $2,100,000) = $700,000.
The $2,100,000 is your $2,000,000 sale value increased by 5%, the adjustment that applies when you buy within one year after selling. The adjustment is 0% if you buy before you sell and 10% in the second year.
At a 1% base rate, that is roughly $7,000 a year in property tax instead of $24,000, before local voter-approved charges. If your replacement home were equal or lower in value, your original $400,000 would carry over unchanged.
For illustration only. Your County Assessor determines your actual taxable value.
Check your age or eligibility category on the day you sell. Both the home you sell and the replacement home must be your primary residence.
The replacement home must be bought or built within two years of selling your original home. You can buy first or sell first.
If you buy first, you pay tax on the new home’s full market value until the original home sells, with no refund for that gap.
Close on the sale and the purchase, then move into the replacement home as your primary residence.
File with the County Assessor where the replacement home is located, within three years of buying or completing it. Homeowners 55 or older use form BOE-19-B. Claims are not filed through escrow.
Yes. Prop 19 is a statewide rule, and the San Francisco Assessor-Recorder administers it for homes in the city. Their guidance is on sf.gov.
Two years from the sale of your original home. If you buy first, you must sell the original home within two years of the purchase.
You keep your transferred base and add the difference between the new home’s price and your old home’s adjusted value. The worked example above shows how.
If it is equal or lower in value, within the timing limits, your original taxable value carries over without adjustment.
Homeowners who qualify by age or disability can use it up to three times.
No. The replacement home can be anywhere in California.
File a claim with the County Assessor where the replacement home is located, within three years of buying or completing it. Homeowners 55 or older use form BOE-19-B.
We can walk through the market side: what your home could sell for and what a move could look like. Eligibility and tax calculations are for your County Assessor or tax advisor to confirm.
San Francisco homes hold memories, character, and generations of care. Our approach honors that history and the equity you’ve built.
We help San Francisco homeowners understand what their home is worth and what their options are, whether it is beautifully updated, largely original, or somewhere in between. See how we sell San Francisco homes, read our recent case studies, or meet Kevin and Nini.
Read the San Francisco Assessor-Recorder’s guidance on transferring your property tax base and the California State Board of Equalization’s Proposition 19 overview.
Kevin Gueco | CA DRE #01461677
Nini Gueco | CA DRE #01908351
Kinoko Real Estate
Proposition 19 eligibility, timing and property tax calculations depend on your individual circumstances. This is general educational information, not tax or legal advice. Confirm the applicable requirements with your County Assessor and your tax or legal professional.