On this page
- The county documentary transfer tax, $1.10 per $1,000 of price, applies to sales across Los Angeles County.
- Inside the City of Los Angeles, the City adds $4.50 per $1,000, and Measure ULA adds 4 percent of the entire price above $5,400,000 or 5.5 percent at $10,900,000 or more, for transfers on or after July 1, 2026.
- Culver City, Pomona, Redondo Beach and Santa Monica also levy their own transfer taxes.
- Escrow, title and recording charges are quoted by the companies you use, and the commission is a term you negotiate in the listing agreement.
Transfer taxes are set by law rather than negotiated, and in the City of Los Angeles they can run to hundreds of thousands of dollars. At $7,500,000, a building inside City limits owes $342,000 in transfer taxes, while the same building at the same price in a city without its own tax owes $8,250.
Which transfer taxes apply to your sale?
It depends on where the parcel sits, not on the mailing address. The county Registrar-Recorder figures its documentary transfer tax at $0.55 for each $500 of price or fraction of $500, once the price exceeds $100. That works out to $1.10 per $1,000. According to the Registrar-Recorder's transfer tax page, special rates apply in five cities, Culver City, Los Angeles, Pomona, Redondo Beach and Santa Monica, and the Recorder collects those city taxes when the deed records.
| Where the building is | Transfer taxes that apply |
|---|---|
| City of Los Angeles | County tax of $1.10 per $1,000, City tax of $4.50 per $1,000, and Measure ULA above the threshold |
| Culver City, Pomona, Redondo Beach or Santa Monica | County tax of $1.10 per $1,000, plus that city's own tax at its current rate |
| Any other city in the county, or unincorporated county | County tax of $1.10 per $1,000 |
This page does not quote the four other cities' rates. Each city sets its own, so ask that city's finance office or your escrow officer for the rate on the date you expect to record.
Measure ULA is a City of Los Angeles tax and applies only inside City limits. For transfers on or after July 1, 2026, the Office of Finance puts the 4 percent rate on prices above $5,400,000 and the 5.5 percent rate on prices of $10,900,000 or more. In the period before that, the thresholds were $5,300,000 and $10,600,000. They change every July 1, so check the current figures if your escrow could record on either side of a July 1.
If you are selling the company that owns the building rather than the deed, the tax question changes shape. The Registrar-Recorder runs a separate collection program for legal entity transfers. Ask your attorney how it applies before you choose that structure.
What the transfer taxes come to at two prices
Here are two sales inside the City of Los Angeles, one below the ULA threshold and one above it. Because the county and City taxes are charged per $500 or fraction of $500, the first step is to count the $500 steps in the price.
| Line | $3,000,000 sale | $7,500,000 sale |
|---|---|---|
| Steps of $500 in the price | 6,000 | 15,000 |
| County tax at $0.55 per step | $3,300 | $8,250 |
| City of LA tax at $2.25 per step | $13,500 | $33,750 |
| Measure ULA | $0, below $5,400,000 | $300,000, which is 4 percent of $7,500,000 |
| Total transfer taxes | $16,800 | $342,000 |
| Share of the price | 0.56 percent | 4.56 percent |
Outside the five special-rate cities, the same two sales would owe only the county line, $3,300 and $8,250.
These figures assume the whole price is taxable, no exemption applies, and ULA is figured as a straight percentage of the price. They also assume you pay all three taxes. The purchase agreement decides who pays each one, so the line that assigns them is worth reading twice. Near the $5,400,000 and $10,900,000 thresholds, a few dollars of price change the ULA rate on the entire amount, and the Measure ULA page shows how much that costs.
Escrow, title and recording charges
Most of these are priced by the escrow and title companies, and the rest pass through from government offices, so the only reliable number is a written estimate. The charges usually include:
- The escrow fee, which the purchase agreement may split between you and the buyer.
- Title insurance. The owner's policy insures the buyer's title, and a buyer's lender will want a policy of its own. The contract says who pays for which.
- Recording, notary, courier and wire charges, and the cost of recording the release of your loan.
- Your loan payoff, plus any prepayment charge your loan documents set. Read those terms before you list, not after you accept an offer.
- Reports the City requires. In the City of LA, LAMC section 96.300 has you order the LADBS Residential Property Report and deliver it to the buyer, and LADBS charges a fee for it.
Ask the escrow officer for an estimated closing statement as soon as escrow opens, and again before you sign the final one. Every line on it should trace back to the purchase agreement or a written quote.
The commission is a negotiated term
California law does not set commissions, and for listing forms on homes of one to four units it says so. Business and Professions Code section 10147.5 requires these words in boldface, just before the compensation clause: "The amount or rate of real estate commissions is not fixed by law. They are set by each broker individually and may be negotiable between the seller and broker." The notice requirement is written for the smaller properties. On a larger apartment building, the commission is likewise whatever you and the broker agree to in writing.
When you compare what brokers propose, look past the rate to four details. How is the fee calculated? When is it earned, at closing or at an earlier point? How is it shared with a broker who brings the buyer? What happens if a buyer signs and then walks away?
Money held back at closing that is not a closing cost
Some deductions on the closing statement are not fees. They are your money going somewhere else.
- California withholding. Unless an exemption applies or you elect the alternative calculation on Form 593, 3 1/3 percent of the total sales price is withheld for the Franchise Tax Board. A sale that is part of a 1031 exchange can be exempt at the initial transfer, but if you take out more than $1,500 in cash or other property, the qualified intermediary must withhold.
- Tenant security deposits. They belong to the tenants. Civil Code section 1950.5 has you either transfer what remains to the new owner and notify each tenant, or return it to the tenant with an accounting, and in a sale the transfer is the usual route. In escrow they usually appear as a credit to the buyer, which lowers your cash at closing.
- Prorations. Rent you already collected for the days after closing, and property taxes, are split between you and the buyer by date.
Estimating what you will net
Work the estimate in this order, and keep every figure in writing:
- Start with the contract price.
- Subtract the loan payoff and any prepayment charge.
- Subtract the transfer taxes you are paying, from the table above.
- Subtract the commission as your listing agreement calculates it.
- Subtract the escrow, title and recording charges from the written estimates.
- Add or subtract the prorations, and subtract the deposit credit to the buyer.
- Subtract state withholding, unless an exemption applies.
What remains is the cash at closing. It is not what you keep after tax. Federal and California income tax on the gain is a separate calculation, and depreciation recapture can make it larger than you expect. Shaya is not a CPA or an attorney, so take the estimate to your CPA before you set a price.