Flat-fee MLS in California

What you save, and what you take on

On a $450,000 sale in California, a 2.5% listing commission is $11,250. A flat-fee Multiple Listing Service (MLS) package typically runs a few hundred dollars. That difference, $10,800, is the entire financial case for selling this way.

In exchange you inherit the listing agent’s job. Pricing it right, getting decent photographs, writing the thing, answering the phone, standing in the kitchen every Saturday, and then negotiating a contract with someone who may do this for a living.

Whether that is a good trade depends on what your time is worth and whether haggling over a six-figure number sounds tolerable or awful. Both answers are legitimate.

What California charges no matter who sells the house

The county rate is $1.10 per $1,000 of sale price. Many cities add their own on top, and a few are dramatic: Los Angeles adds a 4% to 5.5% tax on sales above roughly $5.3M, and San Francisco reaches 6% at the top end. Check your city before trusting this line.

In Southern California the seller customarily pays the owner's policy. In much of Northern California it is split or paid by the buyer. Escrow fees are usually split 50/50.

Where in California matters

Local transfer taxes can dwarf the state rate. These are the ones worth knowing about before you price the house:

• City of Los Angeles: about 0.56% for the seller. Includes the LA city transfer tax of $4.50 per $1,000 on top of the county $1.10. Measure ULA adds 4% above ~$5.3M and 5.5% above ~$10.6M, which this calculator does not model.
• City of San Francisco: about 0.68% for the seller. San Francisco uses a graduated scale that starts at $2.50 per $500 and climbs steeply above $5M. The figure here reflects the common mid-range tier, not the top brackets.