Los Angeles seller guide
What Happens After You Accept an Offer on Your Los Angeles Home?
After you accept an offer on a Los Angeles home, escrow opens and the buyer typically has 3 business days to deliver the earnest money deposit, while you typically have 7 days to provide the required disclosures (California Department of Real Estate, DRE Reference Book Chapter 20, checked October 28, 2026). Inspections, appraisal, loan approval, title review and contingency removals follow before closing.
Acceptance is the start of the work, not the finish. Under the C.A.R. Residential Purchase Agreement, a series of dated steps runs through escrow in Los Angeles County, and each one has a task or a decision for you. This guide walks the whole timeline in order, then points to the deeper articles on the five moments that most often change the deal.
The short answer
After acceptance, escrow opens and the buyer's deposit, your disclosures, the buyer's inspections, the appraisal and loan approval, the title review and contingency removals move on dated deadlines. The close-of-escrow date is written into your purchase agreement, and the deed records at the County Recorder. Check the version of the C.A.R. contract you signed, because the day counts can differ.
Talk through your timeline
Call to talk through your accepted offer and its deadlines, or get a current value range for your Los Angeles home.
What happens in the first days after you accept an offer on a Los Angeles home?
Escrow usually opens when a fully executed purchase agreement is delivered to an escrow holder, a neutral third party that keeps documents and funds in trust until the contract conditions are met (California Department of Real Estate, Surviving the Real Estate Escrow Process in California, checked October 28, 2026). The signed C.A.R. Residential Purchase Agreement goes to the escrow company named in the contract, and an escrow officer opens a file and sends you opening paperwork to sign.
The buyer's earnest money deposit follows. Under the standard C.A.R. contract, the buyer typically delivers the deposit to escrow within 3 business days after acceptance, either directly or through the buyer's broker. If the deposit is increased later, the increase is covered by liquidated damages only if you both sign a separate liquidated damages agreement for it (California DRE, DRE Reference Book Chapter 20). Ask your agent to confirm in writing that escrow received the deposit. If it did not arrive, you can serve a Notice to Buyer to Perform (NBP) and cancel if the buyer still does not deliver it (C.A.R., California Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA-CA, revised 12/18), checked October 28, 2026).
The deposit also sets the stakes if a buyer defaults. If both of you initial the liquidated damages clause, your remedy is limited to the deposit actually paid, and on a one to four unit home the buyer intends to live in the amount you keep is capped at 3% of the price, with any excess returned to the buyer (C.A.R., California Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA-CA, revised 12/18), checked October 28, 2026). Civil Code section 1675 treats an amount up to 3% as presumptively valid unless the buyer shows it is unreasonable, and an amount above 3% as invalid unless the seller shows it is reasonable (CA Civil Code, section 1675).
A buyer's breach does not hand you the deposit. The DRE states that the disposition of funds on deposit must be bilateral, so escrow holds the money until both sides sign release instructions, such as the C.A.R. Cancellation of Contract, Release of Deposit and Joint Escrow Instructions (CC), or an arbitration award or a court decision resolves the dispute. The contract text also asks the parties to try mediation before arbitration or court action (C.A.R., California Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA-CA, revised 12/18), checked October 28, 2026).
The rule cuts both ways. If you refuse to sign release instructions for 30 days after the buyer's written demand, without a good faith dispute, you can owe the buyer the deposit, treble damages of $100 to $1,000 and attorney's fees on a one to four unit home the buyer will occupy (CA Civil Code, section 1057.3). Talk to an attorney first.
Your first-week list is short. Sign the escrow instructions, give the escrow officer your lender information so a payoff demand can be ordered, and order HOA documents if your home sits in an association. The seller typically orders those documents within 3 days.
Can you back out after you accept?
Usually not without risk. The standard contract gives the seller few or no contingencies, and California law presumes that money damages cannot adequately remedy a breach of an agreement to transfer real property, which is why a buyer can ask a court for specific performance (CA Civil Code, section 3387). The FAQ below covers the exits the contract does give you.
Which dates should you put on your calendar after acceptance?
Most day counts in the C.A.R. contract run from acceptance; the walkthrough counts back from closing, and the Closing Disclosure counts back from the day the buyer signs the loan documents. The table lists the typical defaults the California Department of Real Estate describes (California Department of Real Estate, DRE Reference Book Chapter 20, checked October 28, 2026). Treat the table as a map, not as your deadlines, and check how your own contract counts days.
RPA paragraph numbers and day counts in this guide come from the C.A.R. education copy of the 12/18 revision, called the 12/18 text from here on. That text defines "Days" as calendar days and moves a last day that falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday to the next day, with the deposit's 3 business days as the exception (C.A.R., California Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA-CA, revised 12/18), checked October 28, 2026).
| Step | Typical timing | Who acts |
|---|---|---|
| Earnest money deposit | Typically 3 business days after acceptance | Buyer, delivered to escrow |
| Loan application and proof of funds | A short period set in your contract; the DRE reference book describes 7 days, and the 12/18 text uses 3 days or the number written in | Buyer, with the lender |
| Seller disclosures | Typically 7 days after acceptance | You, with your agent |
| Inspections and investigations | Typically 17 days | Buyer |
| Appraisal contingency | Typically 17 days | Buyer and lender |
| Loan contingency | The DRE reference book describes 17 days; the 12/18 text uses 21 days or the number written in | Buyer and lender |
| Final walkthrough | Within 5 days before closing | Buyer |
| Closing Disclosure | 3 business days before the buyer signs the loan documents (consummation) | Buyer's lender |
| Close of escrow | The date written in the purchase agreement | Buyer and seller, through escrow |
Typical defaults as described by the California Department of Real Estate in a chapter last modified in 2019; the signed contract controls. The 12/18 text is an education copy, and your contract is likely a later revision: C.A.R. revised the Purchase Agreement again in its June 2025 forms release (C.A.R., C.A.R. releases new June 2025 standard forms, checked October 28, 2026). The loan contingency row shows two numbers because the two sources differ, so read the number in your own contract before you serve any Notice to Buyer to Perform.
The close-of-escrow date is not a fixed number of days. The DRE advises writing a specific date into the offer, and your close date is the one written in your contract. Competitive Los Angeles offers often shorten the inspection and appraisal periods, so your accepted contract may show different numbers. Your agent should post each date on a shared calendar so no request or removal slips past you.
If the buyer cannot close on the scheduled date, neither side can cancel right away. In the 12/18 text, the party who wants out first delivers a signed Demand to Close Escrow (C.A.R. Form DCE) that gives the other side at least 3 days, or the number written in, to close, and a DCE cannot go out earlier than 3 days before the scheduled closing. A later closing date needs a written amendment signed by both sides (C.A.R., California Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA-CA, revised 12/18), checked October 28, 2026).
Questions about these dates?
Text Justin a question about your timeline, or ask to talk through your sale with him.
What disclosures do you owe a buyer in Los Angeles, and by when?
The standard C.A.R. contract typically gives the seller 7 days after acceptance to provide the buyer all required disclosures. Ask your agent to start the package today, because the clock began at acceptance, not when your agent finishes the paperwork.
The anchor document is the Real Estate Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS), the form set out in Civil Code section 1102.6. Sellers of one to four residential units must give it to the buyer, with a few exceptions, and it must cover environmental hazards you know about. The table lists the main items for a Los Angeles sale. Ask your agent whether your contract also calls for a Seller Property Questionnaire or other supplemental forms.
Forms do not set the limit of your duty. The C.A.R. contract makes you disclose known material facts and defects affecting the property, including known insurance claims within the past five years, whether or not a form asks (C.A.R., California Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA-CA, revised 12/18), checked October 28, 2026; California Department of Real Estate, DRE Reference Book Chapter 20, checked October 28, 2026). The contract also notes that waiving the statutory disclosures is prohibited by law, so a repair credit does not end the duty, and a willful or negligent failure to perform a statutory disclosure duty can leave you liable to the buyer for actual damages (CA Civil Code, section 1102.13).
If this sale falls through, the buyer must still give you copies of the investigation reports, an obligation that survives termination of the agreement. What those reports show is then known to you, and you disclose it to the next buyer.
| Disclosure | What it covers | Timing or trigger |
|---|---|---|
| Real Estate Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS) | Your statement of the property's condition, including known environmental hazards | Typically within 7 days of acceptance |
| Natural Hazard Disclosure (NHD) | Flood, dam inundation, fire hazard, earthquake fault, seismic and state responsibility area zones | Within the 7-day disclosure period; usually a third-party report ordered by your agent |
| Fire hazard severity zone items | Defensible-space compliance documentation, or a signed agreement if you have none, where a local program provides for it (Civil Code 1102.19); fire-hardening disclosure for homes built before 2010 (Civil Code 1102.6f) | Homes in a high or very high fire hazard severity zone |
| Lead-based paint disclosure | Known lead-based paint and hazards | Federal rule for homes built before 1978; the pamphlet goes to the buyer before the contract is formed, and the buyer gets a 10-day opportunity to inspect unless changed or waived in writing |
| Smoke alarm, carbon monoxide device and water heater statements | Before closing you give written statements of compliance for smoke alarms, carbon monoxide devices and water heater bracing; your contract's checkbox says who pays for any installation (C.A.R., California Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA-CA, revised 12/18), checked October 28, 2026) | Before close of escrow, unless exempt |
| Homeowners Guide to Earthquake Safety | Booklet for one to four unit light-frame homes built before 1960, plus known weaknesses such as missing foundation anchor bolts or unbraced cripple walls | Part of the transfer; ask your agent if your house qualifies |
| City of Los Angeles Residential Property Report (Form 9, RPR), LAMC Section 96.300 | Residential property records and pending special assessment liens the City reports for the parcel | You order it from the City's building department and deliver it to the buyer before the sale agreement or before close of escrow; inside City limits only |
| Other statewide notices | Water-conserving plumbing fixtures on single-family homes (CA Civil Code, section 1101.4); the Megan's Law database notice in the sale contract (CA Civil Code, section 2079.10a); the supplemental property tax notice (CA Civil Code, section 1102.6c); and a Mello-Roos or special assessment notice where such a lien applies (CA Civil Code, section 1102.6b) | Part of the transfer package; your agent confirms which apply to your home |
| HOA documents | Governing documents of your association | Seller typically orders within 3 days |
Items as described in the DRE Reference Book, Chapter 20, the statutes named in the table and the City's property report page; your agent confirms the full list for your home.
Inside the City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Municipal Code section 96.300 adds a local duty: you apply to the City for the Report of Residential Property Records and Pending Special Assessment Liens and deliver it to the buyer before you enter into the sale agreement or before close of escrow (City of Los Angeles, LADBS Residential Property Report, checked October 28, 2026). The C.A.R. contract text also calls for the buyer to receive a copy of any required point-of-sale report within the disclosure period (C.A.R., California Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA-CA, revised 12/18), checked October 28, 2026), so order the report early.
The same LADBS page lists these other City of Los Angeles items under "Other Requirements When Selling"; check the full list there (City of Los Angeles, LADBS Residential Property Report, checked October 28, 2026):
- Water conservation devices: Los Angeles Municipal Code section 122.03 requires buildings with plumbing fixtures to comply with the City's Water Conservation Ordinance; the page points to the Department of Water and Power.
- Security lighting and locks: section 91.8607 requires security lighting and locks in buildings with three or more dwelling units, which includes a triplex or fourplex. Lighting covers parking areas, walkways, recreation areas and each unit entrance outside, and recreation or service rooms and garages inside; locks cover every door and window leading into a unit (City of Los Angeles, LADBS Residential Property Report, checked October 28, 2026).
- Seismic gas shut-off valve: section 94.1217 requires a seismic gas shut-off valve or an excess flow shut-off valve on buildings with fuel gas piping.
- Security-bar release mechanisms: section 91.1029.4 allows security devices over an emergency escape window or door in a sleeping room only with an approved release mechanism that opens from inside without a key or special effort.
- Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors: section 91.8603 sets the City's smoke detector rules, and section 91.420.6.2.3 requires a carbon monoxide device in a unit with a fossil-fuel heater or appliance, a fireplace or an attached garage.
- Sliding glass doors: sections 91.6101 and 96.302 call for the glass in sliding glass door panels, other than wardrobe doors, bathroom shower doors and French-type wooden doors, to be impact hazard glazing, or an approved film may be installed on the glass.
- Protected trees: section 46.01 defines a protected tree as a Southern California native oak (not scrub oak), Southern California black walnut, western sycamore or California bay measuring four inches or more in cumulative diameter at four and one half feet above the ground. The page gives only the definition, so ask your agent whether a tree on your lot matters.
Confirm with your agent which of these items apply to your property before the inspection period ends.
Parcels outside the City limits follow their own city's rules, so ask your agent which local reports apply to yours.
Delivery timing matters. If a required disclosure or a material amendment reaches the buyer after the offer is signed, California Civil Code section 1102.3 lets the buyer terminate the offer in writing within 3 days after in-person delivery, or 5 days after delivery by mail or by electronic delivery where the parties agreed to electronic transactions (CA Civil Code, section 1102.3, checked October 28, 2026). The 12/18 text also gives the buyer 5 days after delivery of a late item, or the investigation period, whichever is later, to remove the related contingency or cancel. A missed 7-day deadline therefore costs you time as well as leverage.
Civil Code section 1103 requires the seller or the seller's agent to disclose a location in any of six zones: a special flood hazard area, a dam failure inundation area, a very high fire hazard severity zone, an earthquake fault zone, a seismic hazard zone, or a state responsibility area. The duty applies when you or your agent know the property is in the zone, or when the local jurisdiction or state has provided a map or parcel list and posted the required notice. Any waiver is void (CA Civil Code, section 1103).
If your home is in a high or very high fire hazard severity zone, as some hillside and foothill parcels in Los Angeles are, and a local ordinance or inspection program provides for it, you give the buyer defensible-space compliance documentation or, if you have none, sign an agreement that the buyer will obtain it (CA Civil Code, section 1102.19). For such a home built before 2010, Civil Code section 1102.6f adds a fire-hardening disclosure, including, since July 1, 2025, a list of low-cost retrofits and which of them you completed (CA Civil Code, section 1102.6f). The zone maps change, so check the current CAL FIRE map for your parcel.
Your agent can confirm, and an attorney can advise, what else your particular home requires.
How do inspections and repair requests work under the C.A.R. contract?
The buyer typically has 17 days to inspect and investigate the property, including its insurability, and on an FHA or VA loan the buyer also has 17 days to give you written notice of any lender-required repairs (California Department of Real Estate, DRE Reference Book Chapter 20, checked October 28, 2026). In Los Angeles that often means a general home inspection plus specialists for foundations, sewer lines and roofs, particularly on pre-war houses. Ask your agent to pull the City's building permit history for your address early, so unpermitted additions do not surface during the buyer's investigation.
Repair requests arrive on the C.A.R. Request for Repair (RR) form, one of the standard forms the DRE lists for a purchase transaction. Treat a request as the opening of a negotiation. Your agent helps you answer in writing, and the Verification of Property Condition (VP) form documents completed work. The smoke alarm, carbon monoxide device and water heater compliance statements in the disclosure table are due before closing whatever the repair negotiation decides.
The buyer's investigations also include an inspection for wood destroying pests (termites), and the report separates evident infestation (Section 1) from conditions likely to lead to infestation (Section 2) (C.A.R., California Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA-CA, revised 12/18), checked October 28, 2026). The contract says whether the inspection is performed and who pays for any work, and the C.A.R. Wood Destroying Pest Inspections and Allocation of Cost Addendum (WPA) can assign responsibility for repairs (California Department of Real Estate, DRE Reference Book Chapter 20, checked October 28, 2026). Agree in writing who pays for each Section 1 and Section 2 item.
Repairs the buyer's lender requires, common with FHA and VA loans, are a separate negotiation. You are not obligated to make them unless you agree in writing, so confirm that in the version of the contract you signed. If no one pays for them, the loan may not fund and the buyer may be able to cancel.
A credit instead of a repair is a financing question as well as a money question. Fannie Mae caps financing concessions at 3% when LTV or CLTV is above 90%, 6% from 75.01% to 90%, and 9% at 75% or less for a principal residence (Fannie Mae, Selling Guide B3-4.1-02). Those caps are measured against the lower of the sales price or the appraised value, investment property is capped at 2%, and a credit cannot exceed the buyer's closing costs. Costs a seller customarily pays under local custom do not count against the cap. FHA loans cap interested-party contributions at 6% of the sales price (FHA, FHA Single Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1, Interested Party Contributions). The buyer's lender decides whether a credit fits within the cap for that loan.
The article Should I Give the Buyer a Repair Credit or Make the Repairs? goes deeper on how to choose.
What happens when the appraisal and loan contingencies come due?
Your contract sets a short period for the buyer to complete loan applications and deliver written verification of funds, then periods to remove the appraisal and loan contingencies. The 12/18 text uses 3, 17 and 21 days, or the numbers written in (C.A.R., California Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA-CA, revised 12/18), checked October 28, 2026), while the DRE reference book describes 7, 17 and 17 (California Department of Real Estate, DRE Reference Book Chapter 20, checked October 28, 2026). Read the numbers in your own contract before you serve any Notice to Buyer to Perform on either contingency. Competitive offers in Los Angeles often shorten the appraisal period.
The appraisal matters because Fannie Mae calculates purchase-money loan-to-value by dividing the original loan amount by the lower of the sales price or the current appraised value (Fannie Mae, Selling Guide B2-1.2-01). A value below your price shrinks the loan the lender will make against that price, and the gap lands on the buyer or on a renegotiation.
Comparable sales can still change the outcome on conventional loans sold to Fannie Mae, which requires lenders to allow one borrower-initiated reconsideration of value per appraisal, with no more than five comparables submitted (Fannie Mae, Selling Guide B4-1.3-12). FHA and other loans follow different rules.
On FHA and VA loans a low appraisal works differently. An amendatory clause lets the buyer cancel and recover the deposit if the appraised value comes in below the price, whatever the status of the contingencies. HUD's handbook sets out the FHA clause: the buyer is not obligated to complete the purchase or to incur any penalty by forfeiture of earnest money deposits unless given a written appraised value of at least the sales price, and the buyer may still choose to proceed (HUD, FHA Single Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1, Amendatory Clause, checked October 28, 2026). The C.A.R. contract text makes the FHA/VA amendatory clause (Form FVAC) part of the agreement for those loans (C.A.R., California Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA-CA, revised 12/18), checked October 28, 2026).
A low appraisal does not work the other way: it gives you no right to cancel. In the 12/18 text you can cancel only after a Notice to Buyer to Perform goes unanswered, whether the buyer missed a contingency deadline or a contract obligation such as delivering the deposit or proof of funds, and otherwise you exit if the buyer cancels or both of you sign a cancellation (C.A.R., California Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA-CA, revised 12/18), checked October 28, 2026). The article What Happens If the Appraisal Comes in Low in California? covers your options in detail.
How does the preliminary title report affect your sale?
A preliminary title report lists the liens, easements, covenants, conditions and restrictions recorded against your property. Under the purchase contract, title is delivered subject to those items unless the buyer disapproves a particular exception in writing, and the contract designates which party pays for the report and the title policy (California Department of Real Estate, DRE Reference Book Chapter 20, checked October 28, 2026).
Escrow reviews the report, orders payoff demands for your loans or tax liens, requests reconveyances and other lien releases, and addresses clouds on title. The DRE guide also warns that lenders sometimes fail to reconvey a paid-off lien and that liens may be recorded in error. A surprise can appear even when you believed a loan was paid.
After a deed-of-trust obligation is satisfied, the beneficiary has 30 calendar days to deliver the original note, deed of trust and request for full reconveyance to the trustee (CA Civil Code, section 2941). If an old loan on a long-held Los Angeles home never reconveyed, tell escrow early.
What happens next depends on what the title officer will clear, what the buyer's lender accepts and, for ownership disputes, advice from an attorney. The article Can I Sell My Los Angeles Home With a Title Defect? covers the fixes. Read the report the day it arrives rather than at the end.
Check your price against the market
Get a current value range for your home, or see what is selling near you in Los Angeles.
When do contingencies come off, and what if the home is damaged first?
Contingency removals must be in writing, typically on the C.A.R. Contingency Removal (CR) form. If a party does not perform, the other side may give a Notice to Perform, which is typically required before cancelling the agreement and escrow (California Department of Real Estate, DRE Reference Book Chapter 20, checked October 28, 2026).
A missed deadline does not remove the buyer's contingency automatically. In the C.A.R. contract text, the buyer keeps the right to remove a contingency or cancel in writing until you cancel, and once the buyer delivers a written removal of all contingencies you can no longer cancel for them. To cancel, you first deliver a Notice to Buyer to Perform (NBP), which in the 12/18 text gives the buyer at least 2 days after delivery, or the number written in, and may not be delivered earlier than 2 days before the buyer's deadline expires (C.A.R., California Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA-CA, revised 12/18), checked October 28, 2026).
Confirm the number in the revision attached to your contract, and decide with your agent when to serve the notice, because it starts the clock toward your right to cancel. The deposit itself is released under the signed-instructions rule described earlier in this guide.
A buyer whose offer depends on selling another home uses the C.A.R. Contingency for Sale of Buyer's Property (Form COP), an addendum that makes the agreement contingent on close of escrow of the buyer's property and can be removed only in writing (C.A.R., Contingency for Sale of Buyer's Property (Form COP, December 2017 draft), checked October 28, 2026). The COP text cited here is a December 2017 draft and a later revision exists, so this guide gives no day counts for it; read the periods printed in the COP attached to your contract. You can keep offering the home for back-up offers, and the purchase agreement also lists a Back Up Offer Addendum (BUO). The article Should I Accept an Offer Contingent on the Buyer's Home Sale? explains when to accept one.
Damage before closing is the other risk. California Civil Code section 1662 says that if neither legal title nor possession has transferred and all or a material part of the property is destroyed without the purchaser's fault, the vendor cannot enforce the contract and the purchaser may recover any portion of the price paid (CA Civil Code, section 1662). The option is the buyer's; damage does not give you a right to cancel.
The statute applies only absent an express contrary provision. Your purchase agreement may contain its own terms on maintaining the property and on damage, which can change this result, so have your agent or attorney check the version you signed. Keep your homeowners policy in force, notify your insurer and escrow at once, and let an attorney tell you how your contract applies. The article What If My Los Angeles Home Is Damaged Before Escrow Closes? covers the details.
What happens at the final walkthrough, closing and move-out in Los Angeles?
Walkthrough and possession
The buyer has the right to make a final inspection within 5 days before closing. The inspection is not a contingency of the sale. Its purpose is to confirm the property is in the same condition, agreed repairs are complete and you have met your other contract obligations (California Department of Real Estate, DRE Reference Book Chapter 20, checked October 28, 2026). Have your repair paperwork ready for that visit.
Possession transfers on the date and time your purchase agreement sets. When title and occupancy do not transfer together, the DRE advises a written agreement and a talk with your insurance and legal advisors. A rent-back, where you stay after closing, belongs in a separate written agreement.
The C.A.R. contract advises a seller-in-possession addendum (SIP) for a stay of under 30 days and the Residential Lease After Sale (RLAS) for 30 days or longer, and it advises the buyer to ask the lender how your stay affects the buyer's loan (C.A.R., California Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA-CA, revised 12/18), checked October 28, 2026). A stay of 30 days or more is a lease that makes you the buyer's tenant, and local rent control or other tenant law can affect both sides (C.A.R., Seller in Possession addendum (Form SIP, December 2017 draft), checked October 28, 2026). That form text is a draft, so have your agent pull the current version. If you need to stay after closing, ask your agent now to propose a signed SIP or RLAS addendum, so the buyer can check with the lender while the loan is still in process.
If tenants live in the home, the 12/18 text calls for the property to be vacant at least 5 days before close of escrow, or the number written in, unless otherwise agreed in writing, and it warns the seller that failing to deliver it vacant in line with rent control and other applicable law may be a breach (C.A.R., California Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA-CA, revised 12/18), checked October 28, 2026).
In the City of Los Angeles, the Rent Stabilization Ordinance (City of Los Angeles, LAHD Relocation Assistance Information, checked October 28, 2026) and the Just Cause Ordinance (City of Los Angeles, LAHD Just Cause For Eviction Ordinance, checked October 28, 2026) limit the reasons a landlord can end a tenancy and can require relocation assistance for a no-fault termination. The state Tenant Protection Act requires just cause for many tenancies of 12 months or more, with exceptions (CA Civil Code, section 1946.2). A sale is not among the no-fault reasons on LAHD's Just Cause list. Confirm with an attorney which law covers your unit before you promise a vacant home or serve any notice.
Closing costs and taxes
Lenders must provide the buyer's Closing Disclosure three business days before the buyer signs the loan documents (consummation), and the settlement agent provides your seller's statement no later than consummation (CFPB, Regulation Z, 12 CFR 1026.19, checked October 28, 2026). Review your payoffs and prorations on it before you sign.
California real estate withholding is a separate item. Expect escrow to ask you for Form 593. A seller who qualifies for the principal residence exemption certifies it on the form before closing so that no withholding is taken. The form has other exemptions too, such as a loss or zero gain on the sale. Unless one applies, withholding of 3 1/3% of the sales price, or an alternative gain-based calculation, applies (Franchise Tax Board, 2026 Instructions for Form 593). Escrow collects the signed form, and your tax professional confirms which box fits.
If you are not a U.S. person for tax purposes, federal FIRPTA withholding may also apply, generally 15% of the amount realized with the buyer acting as the withholding agent (IRS, FIRPTA withholding). Tell escrow early.
Transfer taxes are collected at recording. The table shows the rates the Registrar-Recorder lists (County of Los Angeles, Documentary Transfer Taxes). A Los Angeles mailing address does not always mean the property sits inside the City, so ask escrow which county and city rates apply to your parcel.
| Charge | Rate | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County documentary transfer tax | $0.55 per $500 of value ($1.10 per $1,000) | Sales recorded in the county |
| City of Los Angeles base transfer tax | $2.25 per $500, collected in addition | Sales inside the city |
| Measure ULA, 4% rate | 4% of total transaction value | City sales above $5,400,000 and below $10,900,000 |
| Measure ULA, 5.5% rate | 5.5% of total transaction value | City sales at or above $10,900,000 |
Measure ULA thresholds shown are the Registrar-Recorder listing effective July 1, 2026, and are indexed annually; confirm with escrow.
A worked example shows the scale. On a $1,000,000 sale inside the City of Los Angeles, the county tax is $1,100 and the city base tax is $4,500, for $5,600 before any Measure ULA. Culver City, Santa Monica, Pomona and Redondo Beach also have their own rates. The DRE escrow guide says sellers in southern California usually pay the county transfer tax (California Department of Real Estate, Surviving the Real Estate Escrow Process in California, 2010 guide), but your purchase contract decides who pays.
When your money arrives
After escrow confirms that the deed has recorded, it prepares the final closing statement and disburses funds, as the DRE escrow guide describes. Ask escrow when your funds will disburse after recording. Give escrow your wiring instructions in person or in a call to a number you already trust, not by email alone. The CFPB tells buyers to confirm wire details that way because of closing-wire scams (CFPB, Mortgage closing scams), and the same habit protects a seller.
Questions before closing day?
Text Justin your closing questions, or ask to talk through your sale with him.
Frequently asked questions
Can a buyer cancel after I accept the offer?
A buyer can cancel while a contingency such as inspection, loan or appraisal is still active. Once contingencies are removed in writing, the deposit is typically at risk, but on an FHA or VA loan the buyer can still cancel and recover the deposit if the appraisal comes in below the price. If you both initialed the liquidated damages clause, your remedy for a default is the deposit paid, capped at 3% of the price on a one to four unit home the buyer intends to live in.
Can I back out after accepting an offer?
Usually not without risk. The standard contract lets you cancel for a missed buyer contingency or contract obligation, such as delivering the deposit or proof of funds, only after you serve a Notice to Buyer to Perform and the buyer still does not act, or if both of you sign a cancellation. A low appraisal, a higher offer or second thoughts are not among those exits, and cancelling anyway can bring a breach claim or a suit to force the sale. Talk to a real estate attorney before you act.
Who pays the transfer tax on a Los Angeles home sale?
The purchase contract decides, though the DRE escrow guide says southern California sellers usually pay the county tax. Los Angeles County charges $0.55 per $500 of value, and the City of Los Angeles adds a base tax of $2.25 per $500 of value. On a $1,000,000 city sale that is $1,100 plus $4,500, or $5,600, before any Measure ULA. Culver City, Santa Monica, Pomona and Redondo Beach set their own rates.
Does the buyer's deposit go straight to me when I accept?
No. The earnest money deposit goes to escrow, a neutral third party that holds funds in trust until the contract conditions are met. Under the standard C.A.R. contract the buyer typically has 3 business days to deliver it. A disputed deposit stays there until both sides sign release instructions, or mediation, an arbitration award or a court decision resolves it. You receive sale proceeds after the deed records and escrow pays out your net after payoffs, costs and prorations, not when the offer is accepted.
Do I have to make every repair the buyer requests?
No. A Request for Repair is the start of a negotiation, and you can agree, decline, counter or offer a credit. Before closing you owe written compliance statements for smoke alarms, carbon monoxide devices and water heater bracing, and your contract's checkbox says who pays for installation. Repairs the buyer's lender requires are a separate negotiation: you are not obligated to make them unless you agree in writing, but if no one pays for them the loan may not fund and the buyer may be able to cancel.
Can I keep marketing my home after I accept an offer?
Your contract decides. The standard purchase agreement lists a Back Up Offer Addendum, so a seller can accept a signed back-up offer in second position, and your agent uses the right addendum. When the buyer's offer depends on selling another property, the home-sale contingency form lets you give the buyer a copy of the signed back-up offer and demand removal of the home-sale and loan contingencies within the period printed in your form, unless its delayed-notice box was checked.
Can I stay in the house after the sale closes?
Only if your contract says so. Possession transfers on the date and time written in the purchase agreement, often at close of escrow. For a stay after closing, the C.A.R. contract advises a seller-in-possession addendum (SIP) for under 30 days and the Residential Lease After Sale (RLAS) for longer. A stay of 30 days or more is a lease, and local tenant law can apply, so ask your agent now to propose the signed addendum and confirm the current form with your agent or an attorney.
Will I owe capital gains tax when I sell my home?
You may be able to exclude up to $250,000 of gain, or $500,000 on a joint return, if you owned and used the home as your main home for at least 24 months of the last 5 years before the sale, according to the IRS. Partial exclusions and exceptions exist, so ask a tax professional about your situation.
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About the author
Justin Borges
REALTOR® | CA DRE #01940318
Justin writes LA Metro Home Finder’s guides to 30+ communities across the San Gabriel Valley, Northeast LA, and greater Los Angeles, and has closed $200M+ in career sales with a 106% average list-to-sale ratio.
Justin has held an active California DRE salesperson license since October 2013. View Justin’s author profile.
This guide is educational and is not legal, tax, title, lending, or insurance advice. Contract forms, statutes, and lender rules change. Confirm the terms that apply to your sale with your escrow officer, title officer, lender, or a California real estate attorney.
