Selling a House When Relocating From Los Angeles

A relocation sale is really a timing problem. The start date at the new job, the lease or purchase on the other end, and the escrow on your Los Angeles house rarely line up, and every week they do not costs you a mortgage payment on a house you no longer live in. A cash sale lets you fix the closing date first and build the rest of the move around it. Cash Home Buyers CA buys houses across Los Angeles as-is, and you can close from anywhere.

You Do Not Have to Be in California to Close

This is the question we get most from people who have already moved. California does not currently allow remote online notarization. The Secretary of State’s Notary Public Handbook is explicit that California law requires physical appearance before the notary and that a video image is not personal appearance. SB 696 created an Online Notarization Act, but the operative RON provisions are still waiting on the Secretary of State’s Notary Automation Project 2.0 and take effect then, or by January 1, 2030, whichever comes first.

That does not stop your sale, because of Civil Code 1189(b): a certificate of acknowledgment taken in another place is sufficient in California if it was taken in accordance with the laws of the place where it was made. So you sign the grant deed in front of a notary in your new state under that state’s law, and if that state permits remote online notarization, a RON-notarized deed is acceptable for recording here. Non-notarized escrow documents can be e-signed. In practice escrow either overnights the package to you or sends a mobile notary to your new address.

California Withholding, and the Exemption You Probably Qualify For

California withholds 3 1/3% of the total sales price on real estate sales, reported on FTB Form 593. On a $900,000 Los Angeles house that is roughly $30,000 held back at closing, which is enough to matter when you are funding a move.

Two points worth getting right, because both are commonly misunderstood. First, there is no residency-based exemption. The rate and the exemption list are identical for a California resident and an out-of-state seller; FTB Publication 1016 notes that even foreign sellers follow the same rules. Second, the exemption that usually applies is the principal residence exemption: if you owned and lived in the property as your main home for at least two of the five years ending on the date of sale, you certify that on Form 593 and no withholding occurs. Sales of $100,000 or less are also exempt, as are sales where the amount realized is at or below your adjusted basis. Qualifying for an exemption does not relieve you of filing a California return.

The timing implication for a relocating owner is straightforward: if you move out and let the house sit, the two-of-five-year clock keeps running against you. Selling sooner protects the exemption.

The Job-Move Capital Gains Rule

Under IRC Section 121 you can exclude up to $250,000 of gain if single and $500,000 if married filing jointly, provided you owned and used the home as your residence for at least 24 months of the previous five years and have not excluded gain on another sale in the prior two years. If you fall short of the full two years, a work-related move can still get you a partial exclusion. IRS Publication 523 gives a safe harbor: you qualify if you took or were transferred to a new job at a work location at least 50 miles farther from the home than your old work location, or you had no previous work location and began a new job at least 50 miles from the home. The same test applies if it is true of your spouse or a co-owner. The partial exclusion is a fraction of the full cap, based on the shortest of time owned, time used, or time since your last exclusion, over 24 months, computed on the Publication 523 worksheet.

Transfer Taxes Depend on Which LA City You Are In

Los Angeles County charges $0.55 per $500 of value, equivalently $1.10 per $1,000. On top of that, only five cities in the county levy their own additional transfer tax, and the county rate is not reduced in them, so the two stack.

• City of Los Angeles. A base rate of $2.25 per $500, which is 0.45%. Measure ULA adds 4% for transactions above $5,400,000 and below $10,900,000, and 5.5% at $10,900,000 and above, for transactions closing after June 30, 2026. ULA is a threshold, not a bracket: cross it and the rate applies to the entire consideration. Thresholds adjust by CPI each July 1. ULA applies only within City of Los Angeles boundaries, not countywide.
• Santa Monica. $3.00 per $1,000 up to $4,999,999, $6.00 per $1,000 from $5,000,000 to $7,999,999, and $56.00 per $1,000 at $8,000,000 and above under Measure GS.
• Culver City. 0.45% up to $1,499,999, 1.5% from $1.5M, 3% from $3M, and 4% at $10,000,000 and above.
• Pomona and Redondo Beach. $2.20 per $1,000.

For the large majority of Los Angeles homeowners the transfer tax is the base rate only, and ULA never comes into it. It is worth checking anyway if your house is in the City and you are near the threshold.

If You Are 55 or Older, Where You Move Matters

Proposition 19, operative April 1, 2021, lets homeowners 55 or older, severely and permanently disabled, or victims of wildfire or a Governor-declared disaster transfer their Proposition 13 base year value to a replacement primary residence up to three times. The replacement can be anywhere in California, in any county. It cannot be out of state. If the replacement costs more, the excess of its market value over the original’s market value is added to the transferred base year value, and the purchase or new construction must happen within two years of the sale.

For a longtime Los Angeles owner with a low assessed value, that is a genuine fork in the road. Moving within California preserves decades of Proposition 13 basis; leaving the state gives it up permanently.

Why Relocating LA Owners Sell for Cash

• You choose the closing date, so it can land after your last day at work or after the movers come, not whenever a buyer’s lender is ready.
• No repairs and no staging, which are difficult to manage from another state.
• No showings after you have gone, and no empty-house risk, insurance vacancy clauses, or deferred maintenance piling up.
• No financing contingency, so a buyer’s underwriting problem cannot push your move.
• Nothing owed out of pocket. Commissions and closing costs come out of proceeds.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I sell after I have already moved?
Yes. We handle a walkthrough locally and escrow gets documents to you wherever you are, under Civil Code 1189(b).

How fast can you close?
Usually within a few weeks, and we can go faster or slower. There is no lender, so the date is genuinely yours. Note that escrow length in California is contractual rather than fixed by law, so any timeline you see quoted is industry practice, not a rule.

Should I rent it out instead?
Some people should. Be aware that once it is a rental you are subject to Civil Code 1946.2 just cause after 12 months, the state rent cap, and possibly the LA RSO depending on the parcel, and that moving out starts the clock against your IRC 121 two-of-five-year exclusion.

What if I still have belongings in the house?
Leave what you do not want. We buy as-is and handle cleanout.

Will the 3 1/3% be withheld from my proceeds?
Not if you certify the principal residence exemption on Form 593 and you meet the two-of-five-year test. Your escrow officer prepares the form.

This page is general information about California and federal rules affecting home sales, not tax or legal advice. Talk to a CPA or tax attorney about your own situation before relying on any exclusion or exemption described here.

Get a free, no-obligation cash offer from Cash Home Buyers CA today.