How Our Bay Area Cash-Offer Process Works
From First Call to Recorded Deed
A closer look at how we price, sign, and close a Bay Area sale — and what actually happens to your proceeds along the way.
Our Bay Area overview page walks through the basic four steps of selling to us. This page goes deeper into the region-specific mechanics behind each one — how we actually price a property, who handles the closing, and what it means for what you walk away with, given that the Bay Area spans six separate counties, each with its own recorder’s office, superior court, and local rules.
Step 1: A Property Evaluation Built on Your Actual Micro-Market
The Bay Area doesn’t have one housing market — it has dozens of them, from San Francisco’s Noe Valley to Oakland’s flatlands to San Jose’s Willow Glen, and values can shift meaningfully within a few blocks. Rather than applying a single regional formula, we pull recent comparable sales specific to your neighborhood, adjust for the property’s condition, size, lot, seismic considerations, and any repair needs, and build the offer from those real, local numbers.
Step 2: A Written Offer and a Licensed Escrow Company
Once we agree on a price, the purchase agreement goes into escrow with a licensed title and escrow company serving the county where your property sits — San Francisco, Alameda, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Contra Costa, or Marin. The title company runs a full title search, clears any liens, judgments, or unpaid taxes against the property, and holds the funds until every condition of the sale is met.
Step 3: Signing — Remote or In-Person
California allows remote online notarization (RON) for real estate closings, so if you’ve relocated out of state or simply prefer not to drive to a title office, you can sign the closing documents remotely with a live online notary. If you’d rather sign in person, that’s available too, either at the title company’s office or with a mobile notary who comes to you.
Step 4: Recording With the County Where Your Property Sits
Once signing is complete and funds are ready, the deed is recorded with the county recorder’s office covering the property’s location. This is different depending on your city: San Francisco properties record with the San Francisco Assessor-Recorder, Oakland and Berkeley properties with the Alameda County Clerk-Recorder, San Jose properties with the Santa Clara County Recorder, and so on for San Mateo, Contra Costa, and Marin counties. Recording usually happens the same day funds are confirmed, which is the moment the sale is actually complete.
What You Net: Transfer Tax Varies by City, Commission Doesn’t Apply
Every California sale pays a documentary transfer tax, with a statewide county-level base rate of $1.10 per $1,000 of sale price (0.11%). On top of that, several Bay Area cities add their own city transfer tax, and the details genuinely differ by location: San Francisco applies its own tiered transfer tax structure, with rates that step up as the sale price increases, reaching roughly 6% on very high-value sales, while most typical sales fall in lower tiers. Alameda County cities including Oakland and Berkeley commonly layer on their own city-level tax at rates that differ from each other. Santa Clara County cities, including San Jose, generally follow the state base rate unless a specific city has adopted its own additional tax. Because these figures are set locally and adjusted periodically, confirm the exact rate that applies to your specific city and sale price with your title company rather than assuming one number applies region-wide. What doesn’t change with any of this is that selling to us means no 5-6% agent commission and no repair credits, which is where most of the actual savings comes from.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is my offer actually calculated?
From recent comparable sales in your specific neighborhood, adjusted for the property’s condition and any repairs it needs.
Do I have to sign in person?
No. California permits remote online notarization for real estate closings, so signing remotely is an option.
Will my transfer tax be the same as a friend’s in a different Bay Area city?
Not necessarily. San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, and other cities each set their own additional transfer tax rates on top of the state base rate, so your specific city and sale price determine the exact figure.
Do I pay any commission if I sell to you?
No. There’s no agent commission on a direct sale, though standard transfer taxes still apply as they would on any sale.
This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. Transfer tax rates and thresholds are set locally and adjusted periodically; confirm current figures with your title company or a tax professional before closing.
Get a free, no-obligation cash offer from Cash Home Buyers CA today.