We Buy Houses in Richmond, CA

Selling in Richmond? Here is the quick answer

We buy houses Richmond owners can’t easily list, and we buy them as they are, sewer lateral and all. Nobody has to replace a clay pipe, patch a slab, or clean out forty years of a parent’s belongings before we make an offer.

After we walk the property, you get a written cash price, usually within 24 to 48 hours. There is no commission on a direct sale to us, and we build the closing date around your move, your probate timeline, or your tenant’s lease. Getting an offer costs nothing and commits you to nothing.

Who calls us most: heirs holding a shipyard-era house, owners of pre-1995 rentals under the city’s rent cap, people whose house won’t survive an FHA appraisal, and owners racing a notice of default. If you have a renovated place in Point Richmond or Marina Bay, you will likely do better on the open market, and we will tell you that.

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

Richmond went from 23,000 people in 1940 to almost 115,000 two years later when the Kaiser shipyards opened, and a large share of the city’s houses were built in a hurry to hold those workers.

Eighty years on, that is what a Richmond seller is usually dealing with: a small 1940s stucco house in the Iron Triangle or North and East with a clay sewer lateral, an old panel, and a rear addition someone built without a permit.

The city knows this, which is why Richmond requires a Certificate of Lateral Compliance before title can transfer.

We buy houses in Richmond for cash and as-is, from Point Richmond to Hilltop to the Richmond Annex. Richmond also carries the lowest big-city transfer tax in the East Bay on ordinary homes, a rent ordinance with an unusually low increase cap, and a 2025 fire map that roughly doubled the number of parcels in the Very High zone. Here is how each of those affects a sale right now.

Richmond prices in 2026: the affordable end of the inner East Bay

Richmond is one of the last cities on the bay side of Contra Costa County where a single-family house still trades in the $600,000s. MLS-based reporting through mid-2026 puts the median sale price at around $650,000, flat year over year, with about 34 days on market and roughly 37 percent of homes selling above asking. That is the figure the worked examples further down this page are built on.

The spread inside the city is wide. Point Richmond and Marina Bay draw buyers from Berkeley and Albany and sell quickly when updated.

The Iron Triangle, Santa Fe, and parts of North Richmond move slowly, attract mostly investors and first-time buyers using FHA loans, and those loans come with appraisal conditions that older Richmond houses often fail.

That is where a cash buyer changes the outcome: no appraiser, no repair conditions, and no financing to collapse in week five.

Richmond’s transfer tax, lateral certificate, and rent ordinance

• City transfer tax. Richmond’s Measure H, passed in November 2018, kept the city rate at 0.7 percent for sales under $1 million and raised it to 1.25 percent from $1 million to $3 million, 2.5 percent from $3 million to $10 million, and 3 percent above that. On a $650,000 house the city tax is $4,550, plus Contra Costa County’s $1.10 per $1,000, about $715. By local custom the county tax falls on the seller while Richmond’s city tax is commonly split between buyer and seller. It is negotiable, and our written offer states which side we take.
• Certificate of Lateral Compliance. Under Richmond’s Private Sewer Lateral Ordinance (Chapter 12.17), a sale or title transfer requires a city-issued certificate confirming the sewer lateral passes inspection. The certificate fee is $162, it stays valid for up to 15 years, and a lateral fully replaced in the last five years can be waived. Homes in the Richmond Annex are in the Stege Sanitary District and go through the EBMUD regional program instead.
• Rent control. The Richmond Fair Rent, Just Cause for Eviction and Homeowner Protection Ordinance caps rents on multi-unit properties permitted before February 1, 1995. The annual general adjustment is 1.5 percent for September 2026 through August 2027, one of the lowest in the region. Single-family homes and condos are exempt from the cap but still under just cause. Owner move-in relocation payments in 2025 ran from about $4,400 for a studio to about $10,500 for a two-bedroom, and every rental must be enrolled with the Rent Program and the Residential Rental Inspection Program.
• Fire hazard zones. Richmond’s 2025 map expanded the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone from about 861 parcels in 2009 to about 1,800 parcels, adding May Valley and East Richmond Heights, while Point Richmond was removed. If your house is in the hills above Wildcat Canyon, that zone must be disclosed and it affects insurance.
• Coastal zone: no. Richmond’s shoreline is under the Bay Conservation and Development Commission, not the Coastal Commission, and it does not affect a typical house sale.
• Mello-Roos: uncommon. Older neighborhoods have none. Check the tax bill on newer Marina Bay and Hilltop developments, which also carry HOA dues.

We Buy Houses in Richmond: Neighborhoods and ZIP Codes We Cover

• Iron Triangle, Santa Fe, and Coronado: 1900s to 1940s cottages and wartime housing on small lots, the most common probate and investor-exit properties in the city.
• North and East and Pullman: 1920s to 1950s bungalows, many with converted garages and second units built without permits.
• Richmond Annex and East Richmond Heights: the city’s closest thing to El Cerrito, with 1930s and 1940s stucco houses on hillside streets, now partly inside the new fire zone.
• Point Richmond: Victorian and Craftsman cottages on steep streets near the tunnel, where foundation and retaining-wall work is the usual issue.
• Marina Bay and Hilltop: 1980s to 2000s townhomes, condos, and single-family homes with HOAs, where special assessments or litigation can block conventional financing.
• May Valley and the El Sobrante border: 1950s and 1960s ranches on larger lots in the hills, now mapped Very High for fire.

Failed laterals, foundations, knob-and-tube, unpermitted units, and fire-zone insurance are what we build into a Richmond offer. We do not ask for any of it to be fixed. Those neighborhoods sit across ZIP codes 94801, 94804 and 94805, along with the Richmond side of 94806, and we look at addresses in all of them, including the pockets of unincorporated county that share a Richmond mailing address.

What we check on a Richmond walk-through

Richmond houses fail in predictable places, and our visit is built around them. We start outside, at the cleanout, because the lateral is the one item the city makes you deal with at transfer.

If the house is in the city’s lateral program, we ask whether anyone has a certificate from a prior sale or a receipt for a replacement. If not, we price a replacement into the offer and let you leave it to us.

Then the structure. Wartime houses in the Iron Triangle and Santa Fe were often set on shallow footings, and the ones near the old marshland edges can show settling: doors that stick, sloped floors, cracked stucco at the corners of windows.

In Point Richmond and the Annex the question is usually the hillside, meaning retaining walls, drainage, and whether the back of the lot is moving. We note it, estimate it, and move on. It doesn’t end the conversation.

Inside, we look at the electrical panel, any remaining knob-and-tube, the water heater strapping, and whether the bedrooms count as bedrooms on the permit record. Back units and garage conversions are common in North and East and Pullman. We ask what you know about them, and we pull the city’s permit history ourselves so you don’t have to.

For a rental, we ask for the Rent Program enrollment, the leases, and the rent ledger. Under a 1.5 percent cap, the length of each tenancy shapes the price more than the paint does. For a house in May Valley or the hills above Wildcat Canyon, we ask about your insurance, because whether a financed buyer could even get coverage is part of why a cash sale might make sense there.

You get the offer in writing, with the repair items we priced listed out. If you think we got one wrong, show us and we’ll look again.

The situations that bring Richmond owners to us

• Inherited shipyard-era houses. A house bought in the 1950s, held in a parent’s name, now in probate with a failed lateral and decades of contents. See selling an inherited house in Richmond.
• Landlords under the 1.5 percent cap. Owners of pre-1995 duplexes and fourplexes who are done with enrollment, inspections, and relocation payments. We buy occupied: selling a tenant-occupied house in Richmond.
• Foreclosure and divorce deadlines. A recorded notice of default or a court-ordered sale rarely allows time for a two-month listing. See selling a house in foreclosure in Richmond and selling a house during divorce in Richmond.
• Houses that will not pass an FHA appraisal. Peeling paint, a bad roof, or an unpermitted unit that the appraiser flags, on a house the owner cannot afford to fix. Read selling a Richmond house as-is, or selling a house due to relocation in Richmond when the move date is fixed.

Closing a Richmond sale through Contra Costa County

Richmond deeds are recorded at the Contra Costa County Clerk-Recorder, 555 Escobar Street in Martinez, and probate cases are heard in the Contra Costa Superior Court’s probate department at the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse, 725 Court Street in Martinez.

We buy trust sales and probates where the representative holds full authority and the heirs have been noticed; where the court has to confirm the sale, we are not the right buyer.

Our Richmond cash-offer process page explains each step; briefly, we see the house, deliver a written offer within 24 to 48 hours, open escrow with a title company when you accept, and schedule the city lateral inspection immediately, since the certificate is the one item that can hold up recording. A clean-title house usually closes in two to three weeks.

Contra Costa custom puts the county transfer tax and the owner’s title policy on the seller in most sales, splits escrow fees, and commonly splits Richmond’s city transfer tax between buyer and seller. It is all negotiable, and our written offers state which costs we absorb.

Listing versus a cash offer on a $650,000 Richmond house

On a $650,000 sale, a 5 percent total commission is about $32,500, the two transfer taxes add about $5,300, and a lateral replacement, if needed, commonly runs several thousand dollars more. If the house is updated in Point Richmond, Marina Bay, or the Annex, the data says it sells in about a month near list, and listing is the better path.

Where our offer wins is the 1940s house that needs $60,000 of work before a lender will fund it, the occupied fourplex, or the probate with a deadline. Our number is lower than a remodeled listing price, but it comes without commission, repairs, appraisal risk, or the FHA repair list. Past sellers describe the experience on our reviews page.

Is a Richmond cash offer legit? What to check before you sign

Fair question, and the complaints people post about cash buyers almost always describe one of five things. A number quoted over the phone before anyone has looked at the lateral, the foundation or the title report. A contract that never names the buyer.

A deposit that is promised but never actually lands in escrow. A price that drops once an inspection comes back, which is a listing with extra steps. And pressure to sign before you have spoken to anyone else.

Ask for the opposite: proof of funds, the name of the escrow and title company, a written offer with the price and the closing date fixed, and no request for money from you at any stage.

We buy directly or bring a vetted cash buyer, and the written agreement names the buyer. Neither side needs an agent for this.

Owners in Point Richmond and across the city regularly close a direct sale with no agent involved, and it is the title company rather than an agent that protects the transfer.

One check most sellers skip: a cash buyer's past purchases are public record. The Contra Costa Clerk-Recorder index in Martinez will show whether the name on your contract has actually recorded deeds in Richmond before. Ask for two addresses they closed, look them up, then compare our number against a listing and walk away if it does not beat the alternative.

Frequently asked questions

How fast can I sell my house in Richmond, CA for cash?

We put a written offer in front of you within 24 to 48 hours of seeing the property. Closing typically takes two to three weeks because the city's lateral inspection has to be scheduled, and a house with a valid certificate from a prior sale or a lateral replaced in the last five years can close faster.

What is the transfer tax on a Richmond house sale?

For homes under $1 million the city rate is 0.7 percent, plus the county's $1.10 per $1,000. On a $650,000 sale that is about $4,550 to the city and $715 to the county. Higher tiers apply only above $1 million.

Do I need a sewer lateral certificate to sell in Richmond?

Yes, unless your house is in the Richmond Annex, which follows the EBMUD regional program instead. The city's Certificate of Lateral Compliance costs $162 and requires a passed inspection; when we buy, we schedule and manage it and price any repair into our offer.

Can I sell a Richmond rental with tenants in place?

Yes. We buy occupied pre-1995 buildings and single-family rentals and take over the leases, the Rent Program enrollment, and the inspection program. You do not have to serve an owner move-in notice or pay relocation.

Do you buy houses in Richmond's new fire hazard zone?

Yes. May Valley and East Richmond Heights were added to the Very High zone in 2025, and financed buyers there now struggle to bind insurance before closing. We pay cash, so no insurance condition applies.

For a written cash offer on your Richmond house, call 424-435-2326 or send us the address; we respond within two days. Our process is at how it works, and the Bay Area page covers El Cerrito, San Pablo, and the rest of West County.

Written and reviewed by the Cash Home Buyers CA team, a Woodland Hills-based cash home buyer serving Contra Costa County. Market figures are from MLS reporting as of mid-2026 and are updated periodically.