California real estate: buy or sell with a local AXEN agent
California piles disclosures on a seller, closes through escrow instead of a lawyer, and resets your property tax the day you buy. Then it sends a surprise bill a few months later. Here is what is the same everywhere in California, and where to search homes.
California cities we cover
Each guide covers the local neighborhoods, costs and rules for that city.
What every California buyer and seller should know
The seller fills out a Transfer Disclosure Statement
Civil Code 1102 makes the seller of a single-family home give you a written disclosure about the home's condition. Court-ordered sales, foreclosures, transfers between co-owners, transfers to a spouse or close relative and most estate sales are exempt. Your agent owes a separate duty under Civil Code 2079 to walk the accessible parts of a 1 to 4 unit home and tell you what that shows.
The Natural Hazard Disclosure
Civil Code 1103.2 requires a form telling you if the home sits in a FEMA flood area, a dam flood area, a high or very high fire hazard severity zone, a state wildland fire area, an earthquake fault zone or a seismic hazard zone. Most sellers order a hazard report to fill it in. The law does not say who pays for that report. The contract does.
Mello-Roos and special assessments
Civil Code 1102.6b makes the seller try in good faith to get the special tax notice from the district and hand it to you. That covers Mello-Roos districts and 1915 Act bond districts. These taxes ride on your property tax bill on top of the 1% base rate and any voter-approved bond payments. Section 1102.6b is a disclosure duty. But if the notice reaches you after you have signed, Civil Code 1102.3 gives you 3 days to cancel after hand delivery, or 5 days if it came by mail or electronically.
Alarms and water-saving fixtures
Every single-family home that sells must have working smoke alarms, and the seller has to give you a written compliance statement before title transfers. A carbon monoxide device is required in homes with a fossil-fuel appliance, a fireplace or an attached garage. Civil Code 1101.4 also required old high-flow plumbing fixtures to be replaced by January 1, 2017, and the seller has to disclose in writing if any are left.
Prop 13, reassessment and the surprise bill
The state constitution sets the base property tax at 1% of full cash value, plus whatever is needed to pay off voter-approved bonds, so most bills run a little over 1%. It also limits yearly increases in assessed value to 2%. That 2% is a ceiling, not a set raise. In low inflation years it is less. When the home changes owners, the assessor sets a new value as of your sale date. That triggers a supplemental assessment, so most buyers get one or two extra bills after closing that escrow never collected. Budget for them.
Prop 19 moves a tax base, with limits
Since April 1, 2021 a homeowner who is 55 or older, severely disabled or a disaster victim can move their old tax base to a replacement home anywhere in California, up to three times. Since February 16, 2021 a parent-to-child transfer only escapes reassessment if it is the family home or farm, the child makes it their main home, and they file for the homeowners' exemption within a year. There is a value cap that adjusts every two years.
Transfer tax is county plus city
Revenue and Taxation Code 11911 sets the county documentary transfer tax at $0.55 for each $500 of value, not counting liens that stay on the property. Charter cities can add their own on top. Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland all do, and Los Angeles adds Measure ULA on high-value sales with thresholds that change every year. Check the city, not just the county.
Escrow closes it, and the deed gets recorded
California does not use closing attorneys. A neutral escrow holder handles the money and the documents, and escrow agents are licensed by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation. Your sale is done when the grant deed records at the county recorder. Recording puts the deed in the public record, tells the world you own it, and protects your ownership against anyone who claims the property later.
Closing costs in California: who pays what
Who pays what in California. The county transfer tax is set by law. Almost everything else is custom, and custom changes from north to south.
| Buyer pays | How it works |
|---|---|
| Share of the escrow fee | The escrow company's fee schedule. Often split with the seller. The contract decides. |
| Lender's title policy | A filed rate based on your loan amount. |
| Owner's title policy in parts of Northern California | Based on the sale price. Who pays is county custom, not law, and it is a checkbox in the contract. |
| Recording fees | Your county recorder's per-page schedule for the deed and deed of trust. |
| Home inspection | A flat fee. No California law requires one. |
| Pest report | A flat fee, when your contract or lender asks for one. |
| Property tax proration | Split from the close date through the end of the tax period. |
| Supplemental tax bills | The county bills you after reassessment. Escrow does not collect this. |
| HOA transfer or move-in fee | Set by the association's schedule. |
| Seller pays | How it works |
|---|---|
| County documentary transfer tax | $0.55 per $500 of value, not counting liens that stay on the property. |
| City transfer tax | A charter city rate on top of the county tax. Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland all have one. |
| Measure ULA in Los Angeles | An extra tax on sales above a published threshold. The thresholds adjust every year, so check the city before you price. |
| Owner's title policy in most of Southern California | Based on the sale price. County custom, not law, and negotiable in every deal. |
| Share of the escrow fee | The escrow company's fee schedule. |
| Natural hazard disclosure report | A flat fee to the report vendor. The statute does not say who pays. |
| HOA documents | Civil Code 4530 puts the association's actual cost on the seller. |
| Property taxes through closing | Split to the close date. |
Who pays the owner's title policy is county custom, not law. The seller usually pays across most of Southern California, and the buyer usually pays or splits it across much of the Bay Area, but there are real exceptions inside both regions. Transfer tax totals change city by city. Ask your AXEN agent what applies in your city before you sign.
How a California home purchase runs
From accepted offer to recorded deed, most California sales run 30 to 45 days. Here is the order, and which parts are law rather than contract.
Get pre-approved →-
Open escrow and put up the deposit. The agents send the signed contract to a neutral escrow holder and you wire the initial deposit. The standard purchase agreement gives you 3 business days after acceptance, by wire.
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Seller delivers the disclosures. The TDS, the hazard disclosure, the Mello-Roos notice and the alarm and water fixture statements come to you. If they arrive after you signed, you can cancel in writing within 3 days of hand delivery or 5 days if they were mailed or sent electronically. That one is state law.
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Preliminary title report. The title company issues a prelim showing liens, easements and taxes. It is an offer to insure, not proof that title is clean. Usually in the first week.
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Inspections and your investigation period. You order the home inspection and a pest inspection if you want one. The standard agreement gives 17 days to investigate and remove that contingency.
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HOA documents. If the home is in an HOA, the seller orders and pays for the documents Civil Code 4525 lists: the CC and Rs, budget, assessments, minutes and open violations. The association has 10 days from the request, and your contingency to review them runs 17 days or 5 days after they arrive, whichever is later.
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Loan, appraisal and title review. Your lender orders the appraisal and underwrites the file. The standard agreement also uses 17 days for the loan and appraisal contingencies.
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Verification of property condition. A few days before closing you walk the home again to confirm it is in the shape you agreed and the repairs are done.
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Signing and funding. You sign loan documents and wire the balance, the seller signs the grant deed, and escrow confirms good funds. Usually 1 to 3 days before close.
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Recording. Escrow sends the grant deed to the county recorder. Your sale is done when it records, and recording is what protects your ownership against anyone who claims the property later. Keys change hands that day, and the county sends your supplemental bill later.
California by region
California is really several housing markets that happen to share a state government. Tap a city for homes for sale there.
Southern California coast
Dense coastal metro counties with city transfer taxes on top of the county's, and in Los Angeles the Measure ULA tax on high-value sales.
Inland Empire
Fast-growing country east of Los Angeles with a lot of newer master-planned tracts, so Mello-Roos special tax districts are common here.
Central Valley
Farm-country metros in Fresno and Kern counties. Flood and levee zones show up often on the natural hazard report.
Sacramento Valley
The state capital region in Northern California, where title and escrow payment customs often differ from Southern California.
AXEN Realty in California
Every AXEN agent in California works under a licensed managing broker: Kristen Boano (AXEN Realty, LLC, firm license 01997200). See every state on the state brokers page.
Buying? Start with the home buying guide and get pre-approved.
Selling? Read the home selling guide and get your home value.
Moving here? Read buying in a new state.
Real estate agent? Changing brokerages in California: you start it, your new broker certifies it; state fee: none (form RE 214 carries no fee). See how to transfer a California license, the switching checklist, advice for new agents and how keeping 100% works.
California real estate questions
Do I need a lawyer to buy a home in California?
No. California closings run through a neutral escrow holder, not a closing attorney. Escrow agents are licensed by the state, and banks, title companies, attorneys and brokers acting in their own deals are exempt from that licence. You can hire a lawyer, but no law requires one.
Why did I get an extra tax bill months after I bought?
That is the supplemental bill. When you buy, the county assessor sets a new value as of your purchase date, then bills the difference between the old assessment and the new one for the rest of the tax year. Escrow does not collect it. Set money aside.
How do I lower my property tax after closing?
File a Homeowners' Exemption claim with your county assessor. It exempts $7,000 of the home's full value if you own and live in it as your main home on the lien date. It is free to file. It does not apply to rentals, empty homes or vacation homes.
Who pays the transfer tax?
Revenue and Taxation Code 11911 sets the county tax at $0.55 per $500 of value. By long custom the seller pays it in most California counties, but that is negotiable in the contract, not fixed by law. Cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland charge extra taxes on top of the county's.
What is a preliminary title report?
It is the title company's list of what it found on record: liens, easements, taxes and restrictions, plus the terms on which it will insure you. By law it is an offer to issue a policy, not a promise that title is clean. Read it during your contingency period.
Is a termite report required?
Not by state law. You need one when your lender or your contract calls for it. Only a licensed structural pest control company can inspect and write it, and the report has to be filed with the state board. Worth knowing: California licenses termite inspectors but does not license general home inspectors.
Can my parents leave me their house without a tax increase?
Only in limited cases. Since February 16, 2021, Proposition 19 requires the property to be the family home or farm, requires you to make it your main home, and requires you to file for the homeowners' exemption within one year. Value above the cap gets added to your new assessed value.
What is Mello-Roos?
It is a special tax a Community Facilities District charges to pay for roads, schools, parks and other public work, usually in newer developments. It is added to your property tax bill and the 1% Prop 13 cap does not limit it. The seller has to try to get you the district's notice.