Sell your Fair Oaks house fast, for cash

From colony to community

In the early 1890s about 6,000 acres near the American River were divided up and sold in the Midwest as the “Sunset Colony”. The first train brought 150 colonists in November 1895, and by 1897 a thousand acres were planted in oranges, olives and almonds. Residents formed their own water district by a 184 to 16 vote in 1917.

Fair Oaks had 32,514 people at the 2020 census and is still unincorporated, run by Sacramento County. About 70% of homes are owner-occupied, and about a quarter of residents are 65 or older. If you’re downsizing, settling an estate or selling an inherited house, we buy it as it stands.

Fair Oaks Village has its own rules

Fair Oaks Village is a county Special Planning Area, adopted in 1979 for the “preservation and enhancement of its environmental and historical character”. Changing a building’s exterior there needs development plan review, and removing a tree needs approval. Homes in the Village’s neighborhood preservation area have their own limits too: new lots of at least 8,712 square feet, lot coverage capped at 25% to 40%, and streets kept without curbs, sidewalks or streetlights. The Village’s feral chickens even have their own festival.

Rules like these can slow down a fix-up before a sale. We buy as-is, so you don’t need a permit or a remodel to sell to us.

Homes above the river

Homes along the American River Parkway sit in the county’s Parkway Corridor zone, where changes need a review by County Regional Parks. In one 2014 Fair Oaks case that meant a 70-foot setback area, earth-tone exteriors, limits on lighting aimed at the Parkway, and approval before tree work or rooftop solar.

Water, park assessments and paperwork

Much of Fair Oaks gets its water from the Fair Oaks Water District, about 90% of it surface water bought from the San Juan Water District, while some addresses are served by Sacramento Suburban Water District. A few subdivisions also carry a park assessment on the tax bill: in 2024–25, $154.58 a year in Phoenix Field and $250.12 or $419.92 in Gum Ranch. Those stay with the house when it sells.

Because Fair Oaks is unincorporated, a sale pays only the county’s transfer tax of $1.10 per $1,000. Deeds are recorded at 3636 American River Drive, and probate cases are heard at the Ridgeway courthouse on Power Inn Road.