Property taxes are what homeowners are required to pay to the county in which the property is located. In 2018, the median property tax in California was $2,839 per year for a home worth the median value of $384,200. In Los Angeles County, the average property tax was $2,989, and in Orange County, the average property tax was $3,404. However, because of Proposition 13, many homeowners are not paying property taxes on the full value of their property, which serves to keep these averages artificially low. And, in most cases, when you purchase a new property, your property taxes will be “reassessed,” meaning that they will be based upon the current value of the property as determined by the county tax assessor.
In certain cases, there are ways to lower your property taxes, or even prevent a reassessment of the property, however, a real estate agent is not legally authorized to advise you on such issues. As a licensed attorney, Mr. McKenzie has much more experience with issues related to Proposition 13 and reassessment, and in some cases, his advice can save his clients substantial sums of money. Of course, this depends upon the particular circumstances of the property transfer.