Closing costs & net proceeds in California.
Enter your home's price and see the agent commission, seller closing costs, transfer tax, and your estimated take-home — every rate drawn from the source cited on this page.
- Median sale price: $887,000
- Typical agent commission: 5.47%
- Seller closing costs: 1%
- Est. seller transfer tax: 0.11%
What will you net?
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Prefilled with the California median sale price ($887,000). Change it to your home's price.
Every rate, with its source.
These are the California rates behind the calculator above — every figure traces to the source cited under it.
A worked example at the California median.
Take the $887,000 median and run every sourced rate against it — the table below is exactly that, and the calculator above does the same for any price you enter.
| Line | Rate | At the median |
|---|---|---|
| Sale price (median) | — | $887,000 |
| Agent commission | 5.47% | −$48,519 |
| Seller closing costs | 1% | −$8,870 |
| Transfer tax (seller) | 0.11% | −$976 |
| Total selling costs | ≈6.58% | −$58,365 |
| Estimated net proceeds | $828,635 |
Mortgage payoff, repairs, and any buyer concessions still come out of net proceeds — those depend on the house. Sources: Redfin state market tracker, May 2026; Clever Feb 2026 survey (state avg); Redfin national 1-3% excl. commission, low end (transfer tax shown separately), May 2026; HomeLight, Jan 2025 (county documentary tax 0.11%; some cities add more).
How California's rates turn into dollars.
California agents averaged 5.47% commission in the Clever survey, which comes in under the 5.68% average across the 50 state figures in the same Clever survey — about $1,863 less on a $887,000 sale than at the cross-state average rate. On the median sale that one line runs about $48,519, typically split between the listing agent and the buyer's agent (Clever Feb 2026 survey (state avg)).
No two states treat transfer tax alike. In California, the seller's estimated share is 0.11% of the price — about $976 due when the deed records on a median-priced sale (HomeLight, Jan 2025 (county documentary tax 0.11%; some cities add more)). County transfer tax of $1.10 per $1,000. Cities like LA and SF add local surcharges.
Seller closing costs — title work, settlement, recording, and prorations — are estimated at 1% here, about $8,870 on the median sale (Redfin national 1-3% excl. commission, low end (transfer tax shown separately), May 2026). California doesn't mandate an attorney at the closing table, so legal fees only land on this line if a seller chooses to hire one.
The anchor for all of this math is California's median sale price — $887,000 (Redfin state market tracker, May 2026). A typical listing went under contract in 33 days (Redfin state market tracker, May 2026), which works out to about 5 weeks of mortgage interest, property taxes, insurance, and utilities the seller keeps carrying in the meantime — a cost no closing statement itemizes.
For scale: that $887,000 median sits above the midpoint of the 50 state medians in the same Redfin tracker ($413,000), and the 33-day pace is quicker than the cross-state median of 42 days — a tailwind for sellers who need the money sooner rather than later. The wait runs on property taxes too: California's 0.74% average effective rate ranks 34th of 50 — in the lower half of states.
Quick answers on California selling costs.
How much is transfer tax when selling a house in California?
Sellers in California pay an estimated 0.11% in transfer tax — roughly $976 at the $887,000 median sale price (source: HomeLight, Jan 2025 (county documentary tax 0.11%; some cities add more)). County transfer tax of $1.10 per $1,000. Cities like LA and SF add local surcharges.
What does selling a home in California actually cost?
Applied to California's $887,000 median sale: the 5.47% agent commission is about $48,519, and seller closing costs at 1% come to roughly $8,870, plus about $976 in seller transfer tax. All in, that is about $58,365 — near 6.58% of the price — before mortgage payoff, repairs, or concessions. Sources: Clever Feb 2026 survey (state avg); Redfin national 1-3% excl. commission, low end (transfer tax shown separately), May 2026.
How much would I walk away with selling a median-priced California home?
An estimated $828,635: the $887,000 median (Redfin state market tracker, May 2026) minus every sourced selling cost on this page — and before the mortgage payoff and any repairs or concessions, which vary house by house. Keep the clock in mind too: California listings took a median of 33 days to go under contract (Redfin state market tracker, May 2026), and each extra week on the market adds another round of carrying costs.
What the math doesn't show.
Everything above prices the traditional route in California: before the mortgage payoff, roughly 6.58% of the price leaves as commission, closing costs, and transfer tax. Repairs, concessions, and the weeks a financed buyer needs to close pile on after that. Treat every figure as an estimate from the sourced rates — real costs shift with the county, the property, the agent, and the buyer.
A cash sale runs different math: selling as-is to an independent cash buyer trades the agent commission, the repairs, and the wait for a lower headline price. Subtract everything above from the traditional side and the two nets can land closer than the sticker prices suggest.
Your cash option: Get cash offers on a California house in any condition — no repairs, no commissions, no fees to you. Comparing is free, and you decide what happens next.
See what the California numbers mean for your house.
Compare the traditional math above with a fast as-is sale — free tools, sourced data, and a timeline you control.
Selling fast in California →