We Buy Houses in San Francisco, CA

Selling a House in San Francisco? Here’s the Quick Answer

If you need to sell a house fast in San Francisco, we can evaluate it in its current condition without requiring repairs, staging, repeated showings, or buyer financing. After reviewing the property, occupancy, condition, title, and any local complications, we can typically provide a written cash offer within 24 to 48 hours. Requesting an offer does not obligate you to sell.

San Francisco owners often reach out about inherited properties, tenant-occupied buildings, deferred maintenance, older housing stock, code issues, relocation, or homes where a traditional sale could involve a long preparation period. A retail listing may still be the better route for a market-ready property when maximizing sale price is the main goal; a direct sale is designed for owners who prioritize certainty, speed, and an as-is closing.

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

Selling a house in San Francisco means ordering a 3R report from the Department of Building Inspection, passing a water and energy conservation inspection, paying a transfer tax that steps up at $250,000, $1 million, and $5 million, and, if there is a tenant, working inside a rent ordinance that allows a 1.6 percent increase this year. No other California city stacks that many requirements on a single sale. A cash buyer who has done it before takes most of that off your plate.

We buy houses, condos, TICs, and small multi-unit buildings across San Francisco for cash, as-is, from the Outer Sunset to Bayview to the Excelsior. This page covers where the city’s two-speed market stands in 2026, exactly what the city requires before a deed can record, the building types we buy, and how a cash close works through the Assessor-Recorder at City Hall.

San Francisco’s 2026 rebound: houses fast, condos catching up

After three flat years, San Francisco turned sharply in 2026. For August 2026, the single-family median sale price was about $1.86 million, up roughly 24 percent from a year earlier, with a median of 21 days on market and 85 percent of house sales closing above list. Condos, the segment that lagged since 2020, posted a median around $1.23 million, up about 22 percent, with days on market falling from 60 to 44 and 54 percent of sales closing over asking. Months of supply was 1.0 for houses and 1.9 for condos; a separate July report counted just 154 houses for sale citywide, down 42 percent from a year earlier.

For a seller, this is a market where a prepared, staged house in Noe Valley, Bernal Heights, or the Inner Sunset should be listed, because the overbidding is real. The cash-sale case is narrower and specific: a tenant-occupied building, a house with an unpermitted in-law unit that the 3R report will expose, a probate with out-of-state heirs, a condo in a building with pending litigation, or a seller who needs to close in two weeks rather than eight. In those situations the listed price is theoretical, and the certain number matters more.

What San Francisco requires before your deed can record

• Transfer tax. San Francisco is a consolidated city and county, so there is a single transfer tax: $2.50 per $500 (0.5 percent) on sales up to $250,000, $3.40 per $500 (0.68 percent) from $250,000 to $1 million, $3.75 per $500 (0.75 percent) from $1 million to $5 million, $11.25 per $500 (2.25 percent) from $5 million to $10 million, and higher above that. On a $1.5 million house that is $11,250. By local custom the seller pays it on residential deals.
• 3R report. The Report of Residential Building Record is required by the Housing Code when selling any residential dwelling. It lists the authorized use and building permit history, costs $286 per building, and takes seven to ten business days. It is also the document that reveals an unpermitted unit or a bedroom count that does not match the record.
• Water and energy conservation certificates. Under Housing Code Chapter 12A and the Residential Energy Conservation Ordinance, a seller must pass an inspection confirming 1.8 gallon-per-minute showerheads and faucets, 1.28 gallon-per-flush toilets, no leaks, plus attic insulation, weatherstripping, and water heater insulation, and obtain a certificate of compliance before title transfers.
• Rent Ordinance. Units in buildings with a certificate of occupancy before June 13, 1979 are under the rent cap, which is 1.6 percent for March 1, 2026 through February 28, 2027. Single-family homes and condos are exempt from the cap but tenants still have just-cause protection. Owner move-in relocation was about $7,614 per tenant in 2025, doubled for elderly, disabled, or households with children, plus a rent-differential payment.
• Fire, coastal, Mello-Roos. San Francisco has no mapped Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones in its residential neighborhoods, no Mello-Roos districts on ordinary housing, and the Coastal Commission’s jurisdiction is limited to the ocean edge; a typical Sunset or Richmond District house is not affected.

Sunset rowhouses, Victorians, TICs: the property types we buy

• Sunset and Richmond District rowhouses: 1920s to 1940s attached houses with tunnel entrances, ground-floor rooms built without permits, and original electrical.
• Bayview, Excelsior, Visitacion Valley, and the Portola: 1920s to 1950s houses and the city’s most common probate and inheritance sales, often with in-law units and deferred maintenance.
• Mission, Bernal Heights, and the Haight: Victorians and Edwardians divided into flats, many under the rent ordinance, on foundations that predate modern codes.
• SoMa, Mission Bay, and downtown condos: high-rise units where HOA litigation, special assessments, or a building’s financing eligibility can shut out conventional buyers.
• TICs and two-to-four-unit buildings: tenancy-in-common interests and small multifamily where partner disputes, tenant issues, or condo-conversion limits complicate a listing.

Unpermitted units, tenants, litigation, and structural work are the four things we price into a San Francisco offer. We do not ask you to resolve any of them first.

Why San Francisco owners sell to a cash buyer

• Landlords exiting rent-controlled buildings. Owners of pre-1979 two-to-four-unit buildings who do not want to pursue an owner move-in or Ellis Act process. We buy with the tenants in place and take over the leases and the Rent Board obligations.
• Inherited houses in the southern neighborhoods. A Bayview or Excelsior house held since the 1960s, in probate, with heirs who cannot manage a 3R report, inspections, and contents from out of state.
• Houses with unpermitted in-law units. When the 3R report shows two units and the city record shows one, financed buyers and their lenders walk. We buy the building as it is and handle legalization or removal afterward.
• Condos that cannot be financed. Units in buildings with pending litigation, low owner-occupancy, or special assessments that fail lender review. Cash is often the only exit.

Recording at City Hall: how a cash close works in San Francisco

Because San Francisco is its own county, the deed is recorded with the Office of the Assessor-Recorder at City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, and probate matters are heard by the Superior Court for San Francisco County’s probate department. Our San Francisco cash-offer process page lays out the steps. In short: we see the property, deliver a written offer within 24 to 48 hours, open escrow with a title company when you accept, and order the 3R report and conservation inspection the same day, since those are the items that gate recording. A clean-title house closes in about two to three weeks; a probate or tenant-occupied building takes longer, and we work to the court’s or the lease’s timeline.

Local custom puts the transfer tax and the owner’s title policy on the seller and splits escrow fees, but all of it is negotiable, and our written offers state exactly which costs we absorb.

When to list in San Francisco, and when to take cash

On a $1.5 million sale, a 5 percent total commission is about $75,000, the transfer tax is $11,250, and San Francisco listing agents routinely recommend staging plus pre-sale pest, contractor, roof, and sewer inspections, because local buyers expect a complete disclosure package before they overbid. When the house is in good condition, that package is exactly what produced 85 percent of houses closing above list in August 2026, and listing is the right decision.

Our offer will be below a staged, overbid result. What it removes is the commission, the prep, the inspections, the exposure of an unpermitted unit to a financed buyer’s lender, and the risk of an appraisal or HOA review collapsing the deal. For tenant-occupied, probate, litigated, or unpermitted properties, the net is often close and the certainty is much higher. Sellers’ accounts of the process are on our reviews page.

Frequently asked questions

How fast can I sell my house in San Francisco for cash?

Our written offer comes within 24 to 48 hours of seeing the property. Closing typically takes two to three weeks because the 3R report takes seven to ten business days and the water and energy conservation inspection must be scheduled. We order both immediately so they do not hold up your funds.

What is the transfer tax on a San Francisco home sale?

For homes between $1 million and $5 million the rate is $3.75 per $500, or 0.75 percent, which is $11,250 on a $1.5 million sale. Homes between $250,000 and $1 million pay 0.68 percent. By local custom the seller pays, and our offers state whether we are covering it.

Can I sell a San Francisco building with rent-controlled tenants?

Yes. We buy two-to-four-unit buildings and single-family rentals with tenants in place and assume the leases and Rent Board obligations. You do not need to file an owner move-in, invoke the Ellis Act, or pay relocation to sell to us.

Will you buy a house with an unpermitted in-law unit in San Francisco?

Yes. Unpermitted ground-floor units are common in the Sunset, Richmond, Excelsior, and Bayview, and they are the most frequent reason a financed sale falls apart after the 3R report arrives. We price the property as it stands and deal with the permit history after closing.

Do you buy San Francisco condos and TICs?

Yes, including units in buildings with litigation or special assessments and TIC interests where the partners disagree. We review the HOA or TIC documents ourselves rather than relying on a lender's approval.

For a written cash offer on your San Francisco property, call 424-435-2326 or send us the address; we respond within two days. The process is explained at how it works, and our Bay Area page covers Daly City, South San Francisco, and the rest of the region.

2026 local market research: See our San Francisco 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 the City and County of San Francisco. Market figures are from local MLS reporting and SF.gov as of August–September 2026 and are updated periodically.