millerpm wrote:

I take it you live in CA, hence the Prop 60 reference about age 55. Did you know you are also eligible if one of you is disabled?

Yes, but neither of us are disabled.

I'd run the numbers. How long are you planning on being in your next house? Through retirement? If so, run out a 10- or 20-year scenario on the increased taxes over that time period and compare it to your area's appreciation, which will pull up the price of the property you want to buy.

I would like to be in our next home through retirement, but it also has to be a home in which we can raise our son, and possibly another child if we choose to adopt another. The increased property taxes if we move now amount to about $200K over 30 years.

Here's where the math gets sticky:

If we are buying and selling in the same market, our current home price will rise, but so will the home we purchase. We'll get more equity out of our home by selling later, assuming the market goes up which our real estate agent thinks will happen. So is this a wash?

If we're not buying and selling in the same market, it's more clear. It would make more sense to buy now because the home will probably appreciate more than the $200K and it would also give us the opportunity to buy a home and have no mortgage at all.

CCSand