The Unexpected Cost of Real Estate Transfer Taxes in Alameda County
Let’s face it. Selling your home can be a massive pain in the butt! There’s so much you have to coordinate, and if you make one wrong move, you could ruin the whole deal.
Okay, maybe ruining the whole deal is a bit of an exaggeration, but you know what’s not an exaggeration?
The difference in real estate transfer taxes you have to pay based on where your property is located in Alameda County.
You might think all cities are created equally and charge the same amount of transfer tax, but they don’t!
Some cities will cost you much more! Let’s dive in and see exactly how much you’ll pay in transfer taxes should you decide to sell your house in Alameda County.
Real Estate Transfer Tax Example in Alameda County
Alameda County has a baseline transfer tax rate:
$0.55 per every $500 in value transferred. Or, to make it a bit easier, $1.10 per $1,000.
Let’s say you’re selling your home for an even $500,000. Since you love crunching numbers, you sit down one day and start figuring out how much you’ll net from the sale on the day of closing.
You subtract out realtor fees, your payoff to the bank, and what you believe to be a transfer tax of $550. There are other costs, but we will focus on these to make things simple.
$500,000 / 1,000 = 500
500 * $1.10 = $550
Depending on what city you’re in, you may only have to pay $550 worth of transfer tax, but if you’re in any of the cities we’ll discuss below, you’ll be on the hook for a lot more.
In Berkeley, for example, you will have to pay an extra $15 per $1,000 of the full value. That comes out to:
$550 + (500 * $15) = $8,050.
You’d have to pay an extra $7,500 to sell your home if it’s in Berkeley.
Now, we love Berkley, but wow, that’s steep! And you’d be in for a rude awakening if you were suddenly on the hook for an additional $7,500. This charge won’t go away, but at least you can be aware of it so you can plan accordingly.
Breaking Down Real Estate Transfer Taxes Per City In Alameda County
City Amount
Alameda $12.00 per $1,000
Albany $11.50 per $1,000
Berkeley $15.00 per thousand for sales $1,500,000 or less
$25.00 per thousand for sales $1,500,001 and above
Emeryville $12.00 per $1,000
Hayward $8.50 per $1,000
Oakland $10.00 per thousand on $300,000 or less
$15.00 per thousand on $300,001 to $2,000,000
$17.50 per thousand on $2,000,000 to $5,000,000
$25.00 per thousand on $5,000,001 and up
Piedmont $13.00 per $1,000
San Leandro $6.00 per $1,000
Don't forget to add the baseline county tax of $1.10 per thousand to the above numbers.
Wrapping Up
As you can see, a ton of cities throughout Alameda County will charge you an additional rate on top of the baseline county transfer tax. Typically, as the seller in the transaction, you will be responsible for paying the closing costs unless you negotiate a deal with the buyer to help you cover them.
Are you looking to sell your home right now? If you are, you can get a great offer directly from Contenza Properties.
We can help you pay your closing costs.
You won’t have to do any staging.
You won’t have to pay us any fees.
You won’t have to do any repairs to the property before selling.
Contact us today to get an offer on your home. It’s fast, easy, and free!
About the Author
Jordan Reid founded Contenza Properties in April of 2018 to help homeowners solve their real estate problems quickly.
Since then, Jordan has helped multiple homeowners facing difficult situations such as divorce, property liens, and unwanted property inheritance.
Jordan believes in putting people first, and numbers second, which helps him reach the best possible solutions for the homeowners he works with.
Currently, Contenza Properties is buying houses in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Knoxville Tennessee.