We Buy Houses in Los Angeles, CA

Understand your Los Angeles cash offer

Your seller contact: Cash Home Buyers CA coordinates the initial property conversation. The buyer named in your written agreement approves the purchase terms. We may purchase directly or work with investment partners; the agreement identifies the purchaser and any assignment rights.

We evaluate repair-heavy, inherited, vacant and tenant-occupied homes individually. Title, occupancy, condition and required approvals affect whether a purchase is possible and when it can close.

Los Angeles: inherited bungalow — hypothetical example

Fictional illustration, not a completed purchase. The property, dates, figures and outcome below are sample data.

Seller challenge: An out-of-state heir wants to sell without managing repairs or an estate cleanout. Property: 1,450 square feet of assumed actual living area. Medium rehab: dated finishes and systems requiring review. Sample dates: April 6–May 1, 2026; these are not transaction records.

Illustrative calculation: $850,000 estimated after-repair value − $130,500 rehab (1,450 sq ft × $90/sq ft) − $127,500 target profit (15% of estimated ARV) − $20,000 estimated closing costs = $572,000 illustrative purchase price.

Proposed role and hypothetical outcome: Our team would coordinate the condition review and explain the written terms; the named purchaser would fund the purchase or proceed under the disclosed partner arrangement. Assuming clear title, required approvals and satisfied contingencies, the seller could complete an as-is sale without managing the renovation. This is a process illustration, not a claim of an actual seller result.

Inspection and timing: A typical proposed offer uses a 7-day physical inspection period and a 14-day closing target, subject to title clearance and required approvals. The signed agreement controls the actual dates and contingencies.

Costs and proceeds: When the seller agrees to use our preferred escrow and title company, we can include payment of both sides’ escrow and title fees in the written offer. Mortgage payoffs, liens, taxes and other agreed adjustments are accounted for in escrow. The purchase price is not a promise of net proceeds.

Review the purchase process or ask for your written property-specific terms.

We buy houses in Los Angeles: the quick answer

Yes, we buy houses Los Angeles-wide, in every neighborhood of the city, and we can buy your Los Angeles property as-is, with no repairs or showings. After reviewing the property, we can typically provide a written cash offer within 24 to 48 hours. On a direct purchase from us, there is no agent commission charged by us, and we cover the standard closing costs we agree to in the contract. You choose the closing date, and requesting an offer does not obligate you to sell.

Best fit: inherited homes, tenant-occupied rentals, properties needing major repairs, vacant homes, code issues, foreclosure timelines, or sellers who value certainty over maximizing a retail list price. A traditional listing may still produce a higher price for a retail-ready home, so compare net proceeds and timing before deciding.

Want a number first? Call or text (424) 435-2326 or use the cash-offer form above.

Selling a house inside the City of Los Angeles costs more and takes more paperwork than selling the same house in Burbank, Torrance or any of the 87 other cities in the county. The city levies its own transfer tax of $4.50 per $1,000 on every sale, plus the Measure ULA surcharge of 4 percent on sales above $5.4 million and 5.5 percent above $10.9 million as of July 2026. It requires a Residential Property Report from the Department of Building and Safety before a house can change hands, along with a seismic gas shutoff valve, low-flow plumbing fixtures and other retrofit items. And roughly two-thirds of its households rent, most of them in buildings covered by the Rent Stabilization Ordinance or the citywide Just Cause Ordinance.

Cash Home Buyers CA is based in Woodland Hills, which is itself part of the City of Los Angeles, and we buy houses, condos and small apartment buildings across the city, from the San Fernando Valley to San Pedro. We deliver a written cash offer within 24 to 48 hours, buy the property in its current condition with no repairs, commissions or showings, can order the city’s required reports and carry the certifications through escrow, and close on the date you choose.

The Los Angeles market in 2026: a $1.1 million median with 13,000 homes for sale

Movoto’s August 2026 data put the citywide median sold price at about $1.075 million, with 5,001 sales that month, essentially flat against 4,970 a year earlier, a median of 70 days on market versus 68, and nearly 13,000 active listings. Homes.com shows a median of $1.165 million as of September 2026, down about 3 percent year over year, with six months of supply, single-family houses at a $1.425 million median, townhouses around $1.1 million and condos around $786,000.

To put these market figures in context, explore what your own house could be worth. A Brentwood house and a 1920s bungalow in Pacoima are different markets that share a mayor, but right now they share a slow, balanced pace: six months of supply, ten weeks to find a buyer, prices drifting slightly lower. For a seller with a clean, well-located house that is fine. For a seller with a rent-controlled fourplex, a hillside house that lost its insurance after the January 2025 fires, or an estate with deferred maintenance, the retail path is long and uncertain, and that is where a cash buyer earns a place in the conversation.

What the City of Los Angeles requires when you sell

• City transfer tax and Measure ULA: The city charges $2.25 per $500, or $4.50 per $1,000, on top of Los Angeles County’s $1.10 per $1,000, for a combined $5.60 per $1,000. Effective July 1, 2026, sales above $5.4 million pay an additional 4 percent of the entire price and sales at or above $10.9 million pay 5.5 percent, with the thresholds adjusted each year. On a $1.075 million house the combined city and county tax is about $6,000, customarily paid by the seller.
• Residential Property Report: Before title transfers, the seller must obtain the Report of Residential Property Records, commonly called the 9A report, from the Department of Building and Safety, and deliver it to the buyer. It lists permitted use, zoning and open orders. We can order the report and carry the certifications through escrow; the written offer sets out who pays each line.
• Retrofit items at sale: City ordinances require a seismic gas shutoff valve, water-conserving toilets, showerheads and faucets, working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, a strapped water heater, and impact-hazard glazing where applicable, with the seller certifying compliance. We buy houses with none of that work done and can carry the certifications through escrow; the written offer sets out who pays each line.
• Rent Stabilization and Just Cause: The RSO covers most rental units in buildings built on or before October 1, 1978, limiting rent increases and evictions. The citywide Just Cause Ordinance extends eviction protections to nearly all other rentals. A sale does not end a tenancy, and no-fault evictions carry substantial relocation payments, so selling with tenants in place is usually the simpler path.
• Fire hazard zones and the coast: Large parts of the Santa Monica Mountains, the Hollywood Hills, the Verdugo and San Gabriel foothills in Sunland-Tujunga, and the Palisades and Brentwood hillsides sit in hillside terrain where parcels commonly fall inside a mapped Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. The statewide zone maps were redrawn in 2025, so the Fire Department is the place to confirm a specific address; where the zone applies, state law AB 38 requires defensible-space documentation and home-hardening disclosures at sale. Venice, Pacific Palisades, Playa del Rey and San Pedro also sit in the Coastal Zone, which affects rebuilding rather than selling. Mello-Roos is rare in a city this old.

Neighborhoods across the City of Los Angeles where we buy

The city covers about 470 square miles, and we buy in all of it: the postwar ranch tracts of Reseda, Van Nuys, Panorama City and Canoga Park and the older stock of Pacoima and Sylmar in the Valley; the 1920s Spanish and Craftsman houses of Highland Park, Boyle Heights and Mid-City; the RSO fourplexes and courtyard buildings of Koreatown, Hollywood and Palms; the bungalows of South Los Angeles and Watts, where multi-generation ownership is common; and the Westside and coast from Mar Vista and Venice to Pacific Palisades, plus San Pedro and Wilmington in the harbor.

The conditions that suit a cash sale are consistent citywide: original wiring, unbolted foundations, unpermitted garage conversions and back units, hillside drainage problems, fire-damaged lots, RSO buildings with tenants paying a fraction of market rent, and estates untouched for decades.

Common reasons Los Angeles owners sell for cash

• Landlords with RSO or Just Cause tenants. Rent-stabilized units make up a large share of the city’s housing, and a vacancy is not something an owner can create cheaply. We buy tenant-occupied houses and small buildings with the tenancies intact, so there are no notices, relocation payments or vacancy waits. Our guide on how to sell house with tenants Los Angeles covers the details.
• Inherited houses and probate. An inherited house can be sold from a trust or through the probate court downtown without the heirs paying for a renovation first. Our guide on how to sell inherited house Los Angeles walks through both routes.
• Foreclosure and default. Once a notice of default is recorded the clock runs to a trustee’s sale date. Because a cash purchase carries no loan to underwrite, a sale can often be completed before that date, which is what keeps the equity with the owner rather than at auction; how much time is left on the notice decides whether it is possible. Our guide on how to sell house in foreclosure Los Angeles explains the timeline.
• Fire-zone and damaged properties. Owners in the Palisades and other hillside areas who do not want to rebuild, or who cannot get insurance a lender will accept, can sell as-is and let us handle the lot. Our guide on how to sell house as-is Los Angeles explains what still has to be disclosed.

We also buy from owners going through a divorce who need one firm number, and from people relocating out of Los Angeles on a fixed date. Our guides on how to sell house during divorce Los Angeles and sell house when relocating Los Angeles cover both situations.

Situations we buy houses in across Los Angeles

Most of the Los Angeles houses we buy come with a complication that makes a normal listing slow, expensive or impossible. Here is how we handle the ones we see most often inside city limits.

Inherited houses, trusts and probate

Inherited LA houses are often decades into a single owner’s life: original kitchens, older electrical, deferred roof and plumbing work, and a garage full of belongings. If the house is in a living trust, the successor trustee can usually sell it without going to court. If it is in probate, the personal representative sells it, either with full authority under the Independent Administration of Estates Act or with limited authority that requires a court confirmation hearing. Heirs also need to think about Proposition 19, which since 2021 limits the parent-child property tax exclusion to a family home the child moves into as a primary residence, up to a value cap; many heirs who don’t plan to live in the house decide a sale makes more sense than inheriting a reassessed tax bill. We buy the house with the contents in it, so nobody has to fly in and spend weeks clearing it out.

Foreclosure and missed payments

In California, a lender starts a non-judicial foreclosure by recording a notice of default. About 90 days later it can record a notice of sale, which must be recorded and posted at least 20 days before the trustee sale. A cash sale that closes before that date pays off the loan through escrow and lets the owner keep whatever equity is left, instead of losing it at auction. AB 2424, which applies to properties with one to four units, added protections for owners who are trying to sell before a trustee sale, so ask your lender and escrow officer exactly where your file stands as soon as you decide to sell.

Tenant-occupied houses and RSO buildings

The Rent Stabilization Ordinance covers most units in Los Angeles buildings first built on or before October 1, 1978, including two or more houses on the same lot and many ADUs. Under the RSO formula that took effect on February 2, 2026, the allowable annual increase is tied to inflation with a floor of 1 percent and a ceiling of 4 percent, and the city’s published figure for July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 is 3 percent. If your tenants pay far below market, that gap stays with the building. We buy with tenants in place, take over the leases and deposits, and you skip relocation payments and vacancy waits entirely.

Fire-damaged houses and burned lots

After the January 2025 Palisades Fire, many owners in Pacific Palisades and nearby hillside areas are deciding whether to rebuild, wait or sell. Smaller fires, kitchen fires and electrical fires also leave houses all over the city unlivable. A financed buyer usually can’t close on a fire-damaged house because the lender won’t lend on it and insurance is hard to place. We buy damaged houses and cleared lots as they are, and your insurance claim and the sale can usually run side by side; your escrow officer and adjuster can tell you how any claim proceeds are handled at closing.

Code violations, unpermitted units and open orders

Unpermitted garage conversions, back units, additions and patio enclosures are everywhere in Los Angeles, and the 9A report is where they show up. Open orders from Building and Safety or the Housing Department can also come with fees and deadlines. Since January 1, 2025, AB 2533 has made it easier to legalize ADUs and junior ADUs built before January 1, 2020, as long as they meet health and safety standards, but legalization still takes plans, inspections and time. We buy houses with open orders, unpermitted space and failed inspections and take on the job of legalizing or removing the work after closing.

Divorce, separation and co-owners who disagree

California is a community property state, so a house bought during a marriage usually belongs to both spouses, and both normally need to sign off on a sale. When two owners can’t agree on an agent, a list price or repairs, one firm written cash offer with a fixed closing date is often the easiest thing for both sides to say yes to. Escrow can split the proceeds exactly as the agreement or court order directs, and if a case is still pending, the sale can be timed around it.

Vacant houses and long-distance owners

An empty Los Angeles house costs money every month in taxes, insurance and utilities, and vacant homes attract break-ins, squatters and code complaints. If you live out of state, you can sign everything with a mobile notary wherever you are. We handle the walkthrough, the city paperwork and the cleanout on our side.

If you are still deciding between buyers, our guide to cash home buyers Los Angeles explains how cash offers are calculated and how to vet anyone making one. If your top concern is the calendar, our page on how to sell my house fast Los Angeles lays out a day-by-day closing timeline.

Los Angeles neighborhoods we buy houses in, region by region

We buy houses Los Angeles-wide, in every part of the city. The city has about 3.87 million residents as of the Census Bureau’s July 2025 estimate and covers about 469 square miles, and each region has its own typical housing and its own reasons owners sell.

• San Fernando Valley: Woodland Hills, Canoga Park, Winnetka, Reseda, Tarzana, Encino, Van Nuys, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, North Hollywood, Valley Village, Sun Valley, Pacoima, Arleta, Sylmar, Mission Hills, Granada Hills, Northridge, Chatsworth and Porter Ranch. Mostly postwar single-story houses on generous lots, many with converted garages or back units, plus hillside homes south of Ventura Boulevard.
• Northeast and East Los Angeles: Highland Park, Eagle Rock, Mount Washington, Glassell Park, Cypress Park, Lincoln Heights, El Sereno and Boyle Heights. Older Craftsman and Spanish houses, hillside lots and small multi-unit properties, some inside historic preservation overlay zones.
• Central Los Angeles: Hollywood, East Hollywood, Silver Lake, Echo Park, Los Feliz, Koreatown, Mid-Wilshire, Mid-City and Hancock Park. Duplexes, fourplexes and courtyard buildings, many under the RSO, alongside 1920s houses with original systems.
• South Los Angeles: West Adams, Jefferson Park, Leimert Park, Hyde Park, Vermont Square, Exposition Park, Watts and Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw. Bungalows and small multifamily properties, frequently owned by the same family for generations.
• Westside: Venice, Mar Vista, Palms, Del Rey, Westchester, Playa del Rey, Sawtelle, West Los Angeles, Brentwood and Pacific Palisades. Smaller lots at higher prices, coastal zone rules near the water and fire-affected hillside properties in the Palisades.
• Harbor area: San Pedro, Wilmington, Harbor City and Harbor Gateway. Older houses and small rental buildings close to the port, with prices well below the Westside.

If the property is in Glendale, Burbank, Pasadena, Santa Monica, Long Beach or anywhere else outside LA city limits, the city’s 9A report and transfer tax don’t apply, but the county’s rules do. Our we buy houses in Los Angeles County page covers the rest of the county.

What you can leave behind, and what we take care of

Selling to us means you don’t have to get the house ready. You can leave furniture, appliances, clothes, tools and whatever is in the garage or the backyard shed; take what matters to you and we deal with the rest after closing. You don’t need to fix the roof, patch the walls, clear out a hoarding situation, remove an unpermitted unit or get tenants to move. The written offer spells out which city items, such as the 9A report and the retrofit certifications, are handled through escrow and who pays for each line, so you see the full picture before you sign anything.

Our job on a Los Angeles purchase usually starts where a retail buyer’s would stop: an open order on the 9A report, a back house that was never permitted, a tenant paying a fraction of market rent, a roof that won’t pass an insurer’s inspection or a probate file waiting on a court date. We price those problems into a written offer up front instead of renegotiating them halfway through escrow, and the closing date stays the one you picked. Depending on the property, we buy directly or bring a vetted cash buyer, and either way you deal with one point of contact from offer to closing.

Selling a Los Angeles house you’ve owned for decades

A lot of the owners who call us bought their Los Angeles house in the 1970s, 80s or 90s, or inherited it from someone who did. That long ownership changes a few things about the sale, whichever buyer you choose.

• Property taxes stop at closing. Long-time owners often pay taxes based on an assessed value far below today’s market. That low bill is a reason some owners hold on, but it doesn’t transfer to the buyer, and it doesn’t change what the house sells for.
• Capital gains. Federal law lets many owners who lived in the house as their main home for at least two of the last five years exclude up to $250,000 of gain, or $500,000 for a married couple filing jointly. On a house bought decades ago in Los Angeles, the gain can exceed that, so it’s worth talking to a tax professional before you pick a closing date.
• California withholding. Escrow may withhold part of the proceeds for the Franchise Tax Board using Form 593 unless an exemption applies, and that can apply to California residents too, not just out-of-state sellers. Your escrow officer will walk you through the form.
• Community property and inherited basis. California is a community property state. When a spouse dies, or when heirs inherit, the tax basis of the house can change, which affects how much gain is taxed on a sale. Ask your tax adviser how it applies to your situation before you sell.

None of this changes our offer, but it can change your net and your timing, and we would rather you plan the sale around it than be surprised at the closing table.

Escrow, the 9A report and recording in Los Angeles County

Once you accept our offer we open escrow, order title, and request the 9A report from Building and Safety, the one city document that cannot be skipped and the item that usually sets the pace of the file; fire-zone houses get the defensible-space inspection booked at the same time. Probate matters are heard at the Superior Court for Los Angeles County downtown; trust sales need no court involvement.

The deed is recorded with the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk in Norwalk, at 12400 Imperial Highway, and escrow wires proceeds on confirmation. County custom puts the owner’s title policy and both the city and county transfer taxes on the seller, with escrow fees split, but when you sell to us we pay the standard closing costs, including both transfer taxes. Because there is no lender, appraisal or loan underwriting in a cash file, the schedule is driven by title clearance and the city’s report rather than by an underwriter, so a house with clear title records sooner than a tenant-occupied building or an estate with several signers. The closing date is the one you pick.

Listing in Los Angeles or selling to us: the honest comparison

At the $1.075 million citywide median, a listed sale pays roughly $55,000 in commission at the 5.08 percent statewide average from Clever’s August 2026 survey, about $6,000 in city and county transfer tax, the 9A report and retrofit work, prep and staging, and carrying costs across the ten-week median time on market before a buyer is found, followed by an inspection credit and a 30-day financed escrow that can fail. On a remodeled Highland Park bungalow or a clean Valley ranch, a listing will still usually gross more than we pay, and we say so.

Where our offer competes is on the properties the city’s rules make hard to sell retail: RSO buildings, houses with unpermitted units the 9A report will flag, hillside houses without insurance, fire-damaged lots, and estates that need everything. Subtract commission, repairs, relocation payments and months of carrying cost from a listing price on one of those, and our net is often close, with a date you can plan around.

Questions Los Angeles sellers ask

Do I have to pay the Measure ULA "mansion tax" if I sell to a cash buyer?

Only if the price is above the threshold, which is $5.4 million as of July 2026. ULA applies regardless of who buys, but most city houses sell well below it; every seller pays the base $4.50 per $1,000 city tax plus the county's $1.10.

What is the 9A report and who orders it?

It is the Report of Residential Property Records from the Department of Building and Safety, showing zoning, permitted use and any outstanding code orders. The seller is responsible for providing it before close. We can order the report and carry the certifications through escrow; the written offer sets out who pays each line, and open orders on it do not stop us from buying.

Can I sell a rent-controlled fourplex in Los Angeles without evicting anyone?

Yes, and you should. The RSO and Just Cause Ordinance make no-fault evictions expensive, and a sale does not end any tenancy. We buy with tenants in place, take over the leases and deposits, and register as the new owner with the Housing Department.

Will you buy a fire-damaged or fire-zone property in Los Angeles?

Yes. We buy houses and cleared lots in the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, including properties affected by the January 2025 fires. We can order the defensible-space inspection state law requires at sale and carry it through escrow, and we do not need insurance in place to close because we are not using a lender.

How fast can a cash buyer close on a house in Los Angeles?

There is no lender, appraisal or loan approval in a cash file, so the pace is set by title clearance and the 9A report rather than by an underwriter's calendar. A house with clear title is the quickest; estates, tenant-occupied buildings and properties with title problems take longer. You pick the date.

If you own a house, condo or small building anywhere in the City of Los Angeles, call or text 424-435-2326. We will look at the property, pull the city's requirements for it, and hand you a written cash offer within 24 to 48 hours with no obligation. The process is laid out step by step on our how it works page, and the Los Angeles details are in our guide to getting a cash offer for my house Los Angeles.

2026 local market research: See our Los Angeles Housing & Home Seller Report 2026 for current seller-focused housing context.

Written and reviewed by the Cash Home Buyers CA team, a Woodland Hills-based cash home buyer serving Los Angeles County. Market figures are from Movoto, Homes.com and the U.S. Census Bureau as of September 2026 and are updated periodically.