San Diego · Sell as-is
Sell a house as‑is in San Diego County.
This is our home county. A call in the morning is usually a walkthrough the same week: often the same day.
Most of the as-is houses we buy in San Diego County are East County houses: 1950s–70s ranches in El Cajon, Santee, La Mesa and Lemon Grove whose owners are staring down a roof, a repipe and a panel upgrade all at once. On a seventy-year-old house those aren’t three surprises. They’re the same surprise, and it arrives at inspection whoever the buyer is.
We price that work as builders rather than negotiators. You see the finished value, the renovation budget and the margin, and if a contractor you trust says our repair number is inflated, we’d genuinely rather hear it before closing than have you wonder after.
Where we buy in San Diego
San Diego, Chula Vista, Escondido, El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee, Lemon Grove, National City and Ramona, plus the smaller communities around them.
Not listed? Send the address anyway: the line on a map matters less than the drive.
The ground rules
- No repairs, no cleaning out, no showings
- One walkthrough, not an inspector parade
- One number, with the math shown
- We don’t assign contracts. If it doesn’t close, we buy it ourselves.
The local details
What’s specific to San Diego.
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.
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.
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.
Sources: SD Recorder; county news, Jan 2026. Figures checked August 2026; we re-verify quarterly.
On the ground
What as‑is actually means here
San Diego’s market punishes half-fixed houses. A partly permitted addition or a DIY kitchen doesn’t add value on the open market. It adds questions, and financed buyers’ lenders ask them in writing. So when we say as-is, we mean it structurally: unpermitted garage conversion, original galvanised plumbing, a Federal Pacific panel an insurer just refused. All priced in, none of it yours to fix.
The other thing being local buys you is speed without shortcuts. Because the drive is short, the walkthrough happens fast; because we renovate here constantly, the repair estimate doesn’t need a week of sub quotes. Fourteen days from first call to close is typical when the title is clean, and this county’s title records are the one place we’ve had to slow down lately, since parcel-history searches moved back to in-person kiosks.
One more local honesty: this county’s prices mean even a tired house is a serious asset, and you should treat offers accordingly. Get ours in writing with the math attached, then show it to an agent you trust and ask what they’d net you after repairs, commissions and time. If their answer beats ours, take it. We mean that, and the fact that almost nobody else in this category will say it is most of why people end up calling us anyway.
What to have handy for the first call, none of it mandatory: roughly what you owe on the house, any insurance or inspection paperwork from recent years, and a sense of your ideal date to be done. That’s it. The walkthrough needs no preparation at all. We have seen every version of “I didn’t have time to clean,” and we are not grading.
How it goes
The same three steps, San Diego timing.
01 · The conversation
Ten minutes on the phone. What the property is and what’s happening around it. You talk to us, not a call centre.
02 · One walkthrough
Usually within a day or two. This county is home. Half an hour, no cleaning or repairs first.
03 · One number
With the math shown: finished value, work budget, margin, and a closing date you choose.
San Diego questions
Straight answers.
With clean title, about two weeks from first call, and the walkthrough usually happens within a day or two because this is home. Liens or probate add time, but that’s the paperwork, not us.
Common here, especially in East County. It changes the number. We price the cost of legalising or removing it, but it doesn’t stop the sale. Bring whatever paperwork exists and we’ll sort out the rest.
The county documentary transfer tax is $0.55 per $500 of price, and no San Diego County city we buy in adds its own on top. Who pays it is negotiable in the offer, and unlike commissions, it’s the only percentage in the deal.
Yes, and in this county that question matters, because HOA health is part of the price. We read the HOA documents, reserves and any pending special assessments or litigation before the offer, so the number already reflects them. A troubled HOA narrows your buyer pool badly; it doesn’t remove us from it.
Nearby
The same situation, county by county.
Riverside
Same situation, RiversideSan Bernardino
Same situation, San BernardinoKern
Same situation, KernOther situations in San Diego
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