RealEstate680

In November 1988, voters in the State of California approved Proposition 90, which is designed to allow people over the age of 55 to move from one county to another and retain their property tax base. Through the years many Counties have opted out of this option. The list tends to change from year to year.

Here is a list of Counties that accpet the tax value transfers: Alameda, Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Ventura.

Counties that have rejected Prop 90 in recent years include: Butte, Calaveras, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Lake, Madera, Marin, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Mono, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Riverside, Sacramento, San Benito, San Bernadino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Siskiyou, Stanislaus, Solano, Sonoma, Ttinity, Tularea and Yolo.

The Federal Reserve lowered the rate that Banks trade money by .50%. This reduction is intended to limit any damage done to our economy by the financial problems felt in past weeks/months. I must applaud the Fed for the .5% cut to Bank rates, as most real estate people expected a .25% redution.

What does this mean to consumers? Rates on consumer debt like car loans and home equity lines will benefit. Home loans will not feel relief as much because the cut was factored in a few weeks ago. This cut will hurt return on investments, like CDs. It also continues to weeken the dollar, making foreign goods more expensive. Inflation may nudge higher.