Guides
Guides for Sacramento-Area Homeowners, Buyers and Families
Plain answers to the questions people ask before they buy, sell or help a parent move: costs, Mello-Roos, HOAs, probate, power of attorney, insurance, taxes and more.
Selling a home
What it costs, how long it takes, what to fix, and what you have to tell a buyer.
- Cost to sell a houseEvery cost of selling a house in the Sacramento region, line by line, so you know your net before you list.Read the answers →
- How to price your homeHow a list price is built from nearby sales, why overpricing costs you, and when a price change makes sense.Read the answers →
- How long it takes to sellThe stages from prep to handing over the keys, what speeds a sale up or slows it down, and how to plan your move around it.Read the answers →
- Seller disclosuresThe disclosures California home sellers give buyers, when they're due, and why telling more protects you.Read the answers →
- Home inspection when sellingWhat buyers' inspectors look for, whether to inspect before you list, termite reports, and how repair requests and credits work.Read the answers →
- Staging and prepWhat to fix and what to leave, your staging options, and how to decide whether prep is worth it or selling in current condition makes more sense.Read the answers →
- What happens at closingHow a California escrow closes, from signing to funding to recording, and when sellers get paid and buyers get keys.Read the answers →
- Rent-back after the saleHow a rent-back lets you stay in your sold home for a short time, what the agreement should say and what to watch for.Read the answers →
- Sell first or buy firstThe trade-offs of selling first or buying first, and the tools that bridge the gap: contingent offers, rent-backs and bridge financing.Read the answers →
- Selling with tenantsCalifornia tenant rules when you sell a rental: just cause, entry notice for showings, selling occupied or vacant, and the security deposit.Read the answers →
Buying a home
From your first offer to the keys, including the rules that changed in 2024.
- Buyer agent commissionWhat changed in 2024, what a California buyer agreement covers, and how buyers and sellers can negotiate who pays.Read the answers →
- How to make an offerWhat goes into a California offer, how multiple offers work and what makes yours strong besides price.Read the answers →
- Inspections and contingenciesHow inspection, appraisal, loan and insurance contingencies protect you, and which inspections to order in this region.Read the answers →
- First-time buyer programsThe help that exists for first-time buyers in California and the Sacramento region, and what to do first.Read the answers →
- New construction vs resaleHow buying from a builder differs from buying a resale home, from contracts and incentives to Mello-Roos and warranties.Read the answers →
Local costs and rules
The Sacramento-region costs and rules that surprise people: Mello-Roos, HOAs, insurance, flood zones and more.
- Mello-RoosWhat a Mello-Roos special tax is, how to find it on a tax bill before you buy and how it changes your payment.Read the answers →
- HOA fees and rulesHow HOA dues, special assessments, reserves and CC&Rs work in California, and what to ask before you buy.Read the answers →
- Home insurance and wildfireWhy home insurance is harder to find in parts of California, how the FAIR Plan works and how to shop early in escrow.Read the answers →
- Transfer tax by countyThe documentary transfer tax in Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado and Yolo counties, the extra City of Sacramento tax, who usually pays, and common exemptions.Read the answers →
- Flood zones and flood insuranceHow to look up a Sacramento-area address on FEMA's flood map, what the zones mean, when a lender requires flood insurance, and what living behind a levee means.Read the answers →
- Septic, wells and rural homesWhat to inspect and ask on a foothill or rural property: septic, well water, propane, shared roads, defensible space and rural loan options.Read the answers →
- ADUs and granny flatsWhat an ADU or JADU is, what California law allows, how permits work locally, and how an ADU affects rent, loans, family and property tax.Read the answers →
Seniors, parents and family moves
For older homeowners and the adult children helping them, at a pace that feels right.
- Selling with a power of attorneyHow to sell a parent's house in California with a power of attorney, or through a conservatorship when there isn't one.Read the answers →
- Selling a parent's home from out of townWho can sign, how remote signing works in California, and how the house gets cleared, repaired and sold while you live somewhere else.Read the answers →
- Estate sales and cleanoutsHow to sort a lifetime of belongings, what to keep, sell or donate, how estate sale companies work and what to finish before the house is listed.Read the answers →
- Assisted living vs. memory careThe levels of senior care in California, how each is licensed, how families pay for it and how the house fits into the plan.Read the answers →
- Home safety for aging in placeRoom-by-room safety changes, how a Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist looks at a home, where to find help paying and when moving makes more sense.Read the answers →
Probate, trusts, taxes and divorce
Plain answers on the legal and tax side of a sale. General information, so bring your attorney or CPA in too.
- Trusts and probate, made simpleWhat probate is, what a living trust does, when a trust helps, and the words you will hear, in the simplest words we could find.Read the answers →
- Probate timeline and costHow long probate takes in California, what it costs under the statutory fee schedule, and how the house gets sold along the way.Read the answers →
- Selling a home in a living trustHow a successor trustee sells a house held in a living trust in California, step by step, without a court case.Read the answers →
- Capital gains and stepped-up basisThe home sale exclusion, stepped-up basis on an inherited home and the records to keep, explained with simple math.Read the answers →
- Divorce: who keeps the houseSelling, buying out or keeping the house in a California divorce, with the buyout math and the refinance rules in plain words.Read the answers →
Rentals and investors
Running the numbers on a rental, and your options when you sell one.
- How to evaluate a rentalHow to run the numbers on a rental property in the Sacramento region, from rent and expenses to cap rate and local rules.Read the answers →
- Selling a rental: 1031 or cash outHow to choose between a 1031 exchange, a DST and simply selling your rental, with the deadlines, the tax pieces and the tenants.Read the answers →
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