[UncleWede]

And the assessor will see a 2% increase in your assessment as a matter of automatic course.

I remember worrying about the assessor when we last refinanced. The appraisal came in at 750K. I laughed out loud and told them there is no way *I* would pay that much for my house. I needed 300K to not pay PMI. My assessment has gone up 2% every year since then, even when everyone was challenging it during the crash.

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by W Cole

Prop 13 caps the tax increases for the entire time you own the home. If you are over 65(?) you can even transfer your basis to a new home. The idea is to prevent older people with fixed income from losing their homes due to a large increase in taxes.

The assessor does not care whether or not the property is encumbered with a loan.

It's actually 55, I'm beyond that age and holding fast to taxation level. My home assess at 925K but my tax base is 475K and rises every tax year by 2%. Hopefully I retire before it reaches the full tax potential which is 1% of value. Otherwise we'll live in one of the rentals we own outright and die there.