We buy houses across Sacramento County

Selling outside city limits works a little differently

Carmichael, Fair Oaks, Arden-Arcade, Florin, Orangevale and the county’s other unincorporated communities aren’t cities. They’re run by the county, so the rules that touch a sale come from county offices, not a city hall. That affects three things you’ll run into when you sell.

First, the transfer tax. Every sale in the county pays the county’s documentary transfer tax of $1.10 per $1,000 of the price. The county says only the City of Sacramento has added a city tax on top, $2.75 per $1,000, so a house inside city limits pays $3.85 per $1,000 in total. An unincorporated address pays the county rate alone. When you sell to us, we cover the standard closing costs.

Second, utilities. The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) supplies electricity to most of the county, but water comes from many different districts and companies: Sacramento Suburban, Carmichael, Fair Oaks, Rio Linda/Elverta, Orange Vale Water Company, Florin County Water District, Cal-Am, Golden State and the county’s own water agency among them. The county tells owners to look up their provider by address, and so do we before closing.

Third, septic. Some older lots in the county still use septic systems, which the county’s Liquid Waste Program permits and inspects. We buy houses on septic as they are.

Behind on property taxes?

County property taxes that are still unpaid on June 30 go into default. From July 1 a $15 redemption fee applies, plus a penalty of 1.5% a month. After five years or more, the house becomes “tax-defaulted land” that the Tax Collector has the power to sell. The county runs that sale online, normally on the last Monday in February, and the right to pay off the taxes ends at the close of business on the last business day before the sale.

If that clock is running on a house you own or inherited, a cash sale can pay the taxes off from the proceeds at closing. We can often close before key deadlines, in as little as two weeks. Our foreclosure guide walks through the options.

Florin

Florin is one of the county’s larger communities, with 52,388 people at the 2020 census and a long history. The railroad reached it in 1869, it was known for strawberries and Tokay grapes, and Japanese American families began leasing land there in 1898. The county’s own plan for Old Florin Town says their removal during World War II “essentially caused its demise”. In 2011 the county adopted the Old Florin Town Special Planning Area along Florin Road between Power Inn Road and Florin-Perkins Road, and cut the planned widening of Florin Road from six lanes to four to protect it.

Part of Florin gets its water from the Florin County Water District, formed in 1959, which covers about 2.5 square miles between Florin Road, Gerber Road, Power Inn Road and Gardner Avenue. A 2024 Grand Jury report described its system as about 65 years old. Whatever shape a Florin house is in, we buy it as-is.

Orangevale

Orangevale began as the Orangevale Colony in 1887 and 1888, sold in 10-acre tracts with 130 acres planted in citrus. Its water company dates to 1896 and is still owned by the people it serves: Orange Vale Water Company is a mutual company, not a public agency, covering about 3,075 acres and about 15,200 people, with its water bought from the San Juan Water District.

Orangevale had 35,569 people in 2020, and about three in four homes are owner-occupied. If you’re selling a long-held Orangevale house, or one you inherited, we’ll buy it as it stands.

Every other community in the county

We also buy in Arden-Arcade, Carmichael, Fair Oaks, North Highlands, Rio Linda, Elverta, Antelope, Foothill Farms, Rosemont, Vineyard and Fruitridge, and in the county’s cities. For Elk Grove, Rancho Cordova, Citrus Heights and Folsom, see the town pages below; each covers what’s different about selling there.