What You Need to Know About Selling a House in California

Looking to sell a house in California? Fear of the unknown can cause sellers high-level anxiety, especially in a shifting housing market.

Selling a house in California can be complex, but understanding what to expect will help you create a thorough plan and move forward with confidence.

Connect With a Top Agent to Sell Your California Home

It takes just two minutes to match clients with the best real estate agents, who will contact you and guide you through the process. To connect with an agent, simply tell us a little bit about your property and how soon you’re looking to sell.

Our data shows the top 5% of agents across the U.S. help clients sell their home for as much as 10% more than the average real estate agent.

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This article will walk you through pricing your home, navigating disclosures, and preparing the necessary documents for a successful sale. We’ll also tackle frequently asked questions for selling your home in the Golden State.

For additional expertise, top real estate agent Michael Sandoval, who works with 69% more single-family homes than the average agent in Sacramento, California, shares insights.

How should I price my California home?

If you’re selling on the open market, pricing your home right is one of the most critical steps. The difference maker is an agent with expertise and relevant knowledge about your market.

If you price it too high, you’ll limit your buyer pool, which means your home will have less exposure and less chance of selling.

A seller must understand that “We are in transition in the current shifting market. We have officially shifted, and we see significant price reductions,” Sandoval says.

Several home sellers in California have slashed their asking price. The number of homes with price reductions increased from 17.7% in September 2023 to 18.6% in September 2024. San Francisco, Riverside, and San Jose recorded the highest number of price-reduced homes.

Pricing to sell for the most money

To secure top dollar for your home, thorough preparation is essential. According to HomeLight’s Top Agent Insights for End of Year 2024 report, 38% of real estate agents identified staging the home for showings as a highly effective strategy for homeowners looking to sell in the face of persistently high interest rates and cautious buyers.

If you want to price your California house to sell for the most money, stage the space and paint both the exterior and interior.

Stage the home: Making an impression on the buyer is vital to a successful sale. “Make it presentable and worthy enough. When a buyer walks in, they don’t want to think about doing a lot of upkeep or maintenance,” Sandoval says.

You can stage your home yourself, but another option is to pay to have your home staged professionally. Staging includes things like:

• Moving or removing furniture
• Renting show furniture
• Reducing clutter
• Putting personal items and family photos into storage

The goal of staging is to make the appearance livable and let the buyer use their imagination. A properly staged home results in:

• Increased sale price
• Motivated buyers
• Less time on the market

You’ll want homebuyers to imagine their family in the living space. It’s up to you to provide the blank canvas by staging your home. “We want to have the buyers walk through and envision themselves there,” Sandoval says.

Paint the home: Painting your house is an inexpensive improvement that you can make to your house. “It’s not that difficult to do that [paint]. It adds flair to a home,” Sandoval says. Also, a nice neutral color helps buyers imagine their decorations and preferences on your clean walls.

According to HomeLight’s recent report, a fresh coat of paint can add an average of $10,184 to the median-priced home’s value.

Pricing to sell quickly and still get the best possible proceeds

Aside from staging, comparing prices of homes similar to yours, also known as “comps,” is a critical step in selling your home. If you mess up the listing price, you might struggle to sell your California home.

“The number one thing to help sell your home faster is pricing,” Sandoval says. An experienced real estate agent can help you price your home through a comparative market analysis or CMA.

This is a report that agents use to calculate the value of a home by evaluating:

• Size
• Location
• Features
• Age

Making sure the listing price is in that Goldilocks zone may be the difference between selling your home or languishing with no offers. To accurately set the listing, an agent will have extensive data about:

• Pending sales
• Recent sales
• Prices of similar homes to yours in the market

The data and expertise will help you determine an accurate listing price that helps with selling a home in California.

Curious about what your home might be worth right now? HomeLight’s online Home Value Estimator tool can give you a preliminary estimate of your home’s worth.