our home county
We buy houses in San Diego County.
San Diego County is the heart of where we work. Anything here is a short drive and usually a same-week walkthrough.
Cities we cover
San Diego, Chula Vista, Escondido, El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee, Lemon Grove, National City and Ramona.
Not listed? Send the address anyway. The line on a map matters less than the drive.
What’s different here
Coastal North County, the inland valleys and the East County foothills are three different housing markets wearing one county's name. A 1950s East County ranch and a 1990s Chula Vista tract house need completely different work, and the number reflects that.
The local details
How San Diego actually works when you sell.
The courthouse, the recorder, the tax line and the housing stock: the specifics that decide how a San Diego sale really goes.
Recording a deed
The county Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk records deeds at five offices around the county, and title companies e-record the same day in a normal escrow. One wrinkle worth knowing: since December 2024, state law (AB 1785) removed parcel-number search from the county’s online records index. Looking up a property’s recorded history by APN now means a records kiosk at a county office.
Transfer tax
Documentary transfer tax is $0.55 per $500 of price ($550 on a $500,000 house), and none of the cities we buy in add a city tax on top. A county proposal to raise the rate was dropped in January 2026, so the number above is current.
Probate here
Probate for the whole county is heard downtown at the Central Courthouse, 1100 Union Street. Attorneys have been required to e-file since April 2021; the probate examiners who review every filing take calls for one half-hour window a day (10–10:30am), which tells you most of what you need to know about the calendar. Plan in months, not weeks.
The housing stock
Three markets wearing one county’s name. East County (El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee, Lemon Grove) is dominated by 1950s–70s single-storey ranches, which is the era of galvanised supply lines, undersized panels and additions that never saw a permit. Chula Vista splits in two: older stock west of the 805, and 1990s–2000s master-planned tract to the east, where Mello-Roos special-tax districts ride on the tax bill. Near the coast, anything inside the coastal zone can need a Coastal Development Permit before it changes shape, which is one reason small old coastal cottages sell to people with patience.
What kills deals here
Unpermitted additions and garage conversions surface at inspection constantly, East County especially. Mello-Roos in eastern Chula Vista changes a buyer’s monthly cost and gets missed by out-of-area buyers. And ADU potential cuts the other way: a lot that can legally hold a second unit is worth more than the house on it suggests, and we price that in rather than hoping you don’t know.
Sources: SD Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk · Superior Court of California, County of San Diego. Figures checked August 2026; we re-verify quarterly.
Situations
What we handle in San Diego.
San Diego questions
Straight answers.
San Diego, Chula Vista, Escondido, El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee, Lemon Grove, National City and Ramona, plus the smaller communities around them. If you're not sure whether you're in range, send the address and we'll tell you in one message.
Yes. That's most of what we do. Condition changes the number, not whether we're interested.
Usually within a day or two, since this is home.
Have a house in San Diego?
Send the address and we'll come look at it in person.