We Buy Land In California For Cash

Behind on taxes, or holding farmland under a Williamson Act contract? The two California rules that most often complicate a land sale are explained below, with the code sections they come from. Want to sell land in California for cash? We buy California land with no agent and no months-long listing. California land ranges across coast ranges, the Central Valley, the Sierra Nevada, and the Mojave and Great Basin deserts. Below: how selling works here and the California-specific points to know, then a form to request a cash offer for your land. New to this? Start with our guide to selling vacant land yourself.

California at a glance for landowners

Deeds are recorded with the county recorder.
California has 58 counties.
Recorded sale prices are generally searchable at the county level.
Water law mixes riparian and appropriation rules depending on the source.

How water rights work What an APN is and how to look one up

Can I sell California land if I am behind on property taxes?

Yes, and the clock matters. In California, land that stays tax-defaulted for five years becomes subject to the tax collector's power to sell (Revenue and Taxation Code 3691). The period is three years for nonresidential commercial property in counties that have not chosen the five-year schedule, and for property damaged in a declared disaster and not repaired the five years are counted from the date of the damage. Counties publish a notice of impending power to sell, so a parcel does not move to auction without warning.

Until the sale actually starts, the owner can still redeem. The right to redeem ends at the close of business on the last business day before the tax collector's sale, and it is not lost on the day the power to sell begins. Starting an installment plan within the first five years of default, and keeping it current, also keeps the parcel out of the power-to-sell category. Counties set their own deadlines for these plans, so ask your tax collector which date applies to you.

For a seller who cannot or would rather not carry the debt, a sale before the auction is an option. The title company at closing pays the county the redemption amount from your proceeds and you receive the rest. If the parcel has been defaulted for several years the penalties and interest are large, but selling before the sale date usually beats waiting for the auction: you choose the buyer and the price, and the county is paid from the proceeds.

Selling land under a Williamson Act contract in California

The Williamson Act is how many California farm and ranch parcels keep a low property tax: the landowner agrees to keep the land in agricultural or open-space use for at least ten years in exchange for a lower assessed value. A buyer who plans to subdivide or build will care about that contract, and so should you.

Getting out of a contract early is expensive. The state Department of Conservation says the preferred route is nonrenewal, which lets the contract wind down. Cancellation is limited to cases where the county board can make specific findings under Government Code 51280 to 51287, and the owner pays a cancellation fee equal to 12.5 percent of the cancellation valuation, which is the unrestricted fair market value set by the county assessor. For a Farmland Security Zone contract the fee is 25 percent. A city or county may add fees of its own.

Before you set a price, ask the county planning department what contract covers the parcel, when it renews, and whether the buyer would take it on or whether you are expected to cancel it. A cash buyer who intends to hold the land as is may value a low-tax contract differently from one who wants to build, so say what the land is under when you send it to us.

Selling a vacant lot or acreage in the California desert and foothills

A lot of the California land we are asked about is not coastal and not farmland: it is high-desert acreage in San Bernardino, Kern, Riverside and Los Angeles counties, old subdivision lots with no road built, and foothill parcels with power a mile away. Those are exactly the parcels agents tend to decline, and exactly where a direct offer is simplest.

The details that decide an offer are practical. Does the parcel front a road the county maintains, a private road with a recorded easement, or no road at all? Is the lot in a recorded tract with an association? Is there a well, a septic site or a connection to power and water nearby? What is the parcel number (APN), and what does the county say it is zoned? Send those with your address and the offer is based on the county record and similar land, not guesswork.

If the parcel has been in your family for years, check who is on the title before you send it: heirs who never recorded a transfer are the most common reason a California lot cannot close quickly.

Where California land sells

Fastest in and around Los Angeles, the Bay Area, Sacramento, the Inland Empire, and the High Desert. Counties owners ask about most: Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Kern, Fresno, Lassen, and Modoc. Remote parcels, far from a paved road, power or water, get a different review than lots on the edge of town.

Regional markets across California

High Desert: San Bernardino County’s Phelan, Piñon Hills, Apple Valley and Lucerne Valley offer 1- to 40-acre parcels at far lower prices than the coast.
Central Valley: Productive farmland from Bakersfield to Sacramento, priced by water access and crop, with development pressure at the edges of growing cities.
North State and Sierra foothills: Rural parcels in Shasta, Tehama, Butte and the foothill counties, with timber, ranch and cabin land and wildfire risk to weigh.

California land we review

High Desert lots around the Antelope Valley, Phelan, and Joshua Tree, Central Valley ag ground, foothill and mountain parcels, and rural northeastern parcels in Lassen and Modoc.

What affects the value of California land

Desert and far-northern parcels can be very cheap per acre; anything near the coast, in a growth path, or with utilities runs into the six figures fast.

Selling land in California: transfer taxes and land-tax rules

California counties may impose a documentary transfer tax on deeds under Revenue and Taxation Code 11911, set at $0.55 for each $500, or fractional part of $500, of value above $100, measured without counting any lien or encumbrance that stays on the property. That is $1.10 per $1,000, and some cities add their own transfer tax, so the total depends on where the parcel is. The county recorder collects it when the deed is recorded, and a deed claiming an exemption has to cite the exemption section.

California also has real estate withholding at closing. On a sale for more than $100,000, the escrow or title company has to withhold 3 1/3 percent of the sales price for the Franchise Tax Board (Form 593) unless an exemption applies. The Franchise Tax Board lists the exceptions as a sales price of $100,000 or less, a property in foreclosure, a bank acting as trustee, and a seller who certifies an exemption on Form 593, Part III. Ask your escrow officer which one applies to you before closing.

California land values: what USDA data shows

USDA measured average farm real estate (all land and buildings on farms) in California at $14,100 per acre in 2026, up 12% from $12,600 in 2022. That ranks California 5 of the 48 states USDA reports, and it is 3.1 times the U.S. average of $4,500.

Pasture (grazing land), the closest USDA series to undeveloped rural land, averaged $4,250 per acre in 2026, up 14% since 2022 and above the U.S. pasture average of $2,000.

These are averages across working farms and ranches, not asking prices for any one parcel. A homesite near a town, a lot with road and power, or a parcel with water can sell well above these figures, and remote land with no access can sell well below them. Use them to see which way the market is moving and how it compares with the next state over, then check recent sales and current listings for the area you are looking at.

For comparison, USDA farm real estate averages per acre in the bordering states:

Oregon: $3,880 per acre in 2026 (72% lower)
Nevada: $1,230 per acre in 2026 (91% lower)
Arizona: $4,300 per acre in 2026 (70% lower)

Frequently asked questions

How do I get a cash offer for my California land?

Fill out the form on this page with the parcel's address or APN and acreage. We review it and reply with an offer, or a clear reason we cannot make one.

What land do you review in California?

Mostly High Desert lots around the Antelope Valley, Phelan, and Joshua Tree, Central Valley ag ground, and foothill and mountain parcels, with a focus on Los Angeles and San Bernardino and the surrounding area. Unusual parcels are welcome; the form has room for details.

Are land sale prices public in California?

Generally yes: recorded transfers are searchable at the county level, so comparable sales can be checked.

Who records the deed when I sell land in California?

The county recorder. A title or escrow company normally handles it at closing.

Do I pay a commission to sell my California land to you?

No agent commission when you sell directly to us. Normal closing costs still apply.

What taxes come out of a California land sale at closing?

A county documentary transfer tax of $0.55 per $500 of value (some cities add their own) and, on sales over $100,000, real estate withholding of 3 1/3 percent of the sales price unless the seller certifies an exemption on Form 593.

What happens to California land with unpaid property taxes?

After five years of default (three for some nonresidential commercial property) the tax collector can sell it, but the owner can redeem until the close of business on the last business day before the sale (Revenue and Taxation Code 3691). Selling to a cash buyer before the sale date pays the county from the proceeds.

What does it cost to cancel a Williamson Act contract?

The fee is 12.5 percent of the cancellation valuation set by the county assessor, or 25 percent for a Farmland Security Zone contract, and the board must make the statutory findings first. Nonrenewal is the route the state prefers.

Can I sell California land without a realtor?

Yes. You can sell directly to a buyer, and a title or escrow company handles the deed and recording. Selling to us has no agent commission, though normal closing costs still apply.

How much does land cost in California?

USDA reports farm real estate in California averaging $14,100 per acre in 2026, against $4,500 for the United States. That is an agricultural average; vacant lots, land near towns and land with water or utilities price differently, so compare current listings for the area you want.