Understanding Closing Costs When Selling a Home in San Diego

Every seller I work with eventually asks the same question, usually somewhere around when we're setting a list price: "Okay, but what do I actually walk away with?" It's the right question to ask, because the number on your listing price and the number that lands in your bank account are two very different things. Let me walk through exactly what comes out of your sale price in San Diego, so there are no surprises at the closing table.

The Big Picture First

In San Diego, total seller closing costs — including agent commissions — typically land somewhere between 6% and 8% of your final sale price, sometimes stretching toward 10% depending on concessions and your specific transaction. Most sellers here end up netting roughly 90-92% of their sale price after everything is accounted for. On a $1,000,000 sale, that's the difference between the headline number and something closer to $900,000-$920,000 actually landing in your account.

Let's break down exactly where that gap comes from.

Real Estate Commission: The Biggest Piece

This is typically the largest single cost in the whole transaction. Commission rates are negotiable and vary by agent and situation, but current California averages tend to run in the neighborhood of 5%, generally split between the listing agent and the buyer's agent. On a $1,000,000 home, that's roughly $50,000 — a substantial number, which is exactly why it's worth having a real conversation with your agent about what that commission actually buys you: marketing, negotiation, pricing strategy, and everything else involved in getting you the strongest possible net, not just a number to minimize in isolation.

San Diego County Transfer Tax

California's documentary transfer tax is $1.10 per $1,000 of your sale price. On a $1,000,000 home, that's $1,100 — a relatively small line item compared to commission, but a required one. Unlike some California cities (Los Angeles and San Francisco, for example, which layer on additional city-level transfer taxes), San Diego doesn't add an extra city transfer tax on top of the county rate, which keeps this piece simpler than it is in some other parts of the state.

Escrow Fees: Split, Not Fully Yours

Local custom in San Diego County is to split escrow fees 50/50 between buyer and seller — this is worth knowing because the practice actually differs in other parts of California. Your share typically runs somewhere in the range of $1.00-$2.25 per $1,000 of sale price, so on a $1,000,000 home, expect something in the neighborhood of $1,000-$2,250 as your portion.

Title Insurance: A Southern California Seller Custom

Here's a regional quirk worth knowing: in Southern California, including San Diego, it's customary for the seller to pay for the buyer's owner's title insurance policy — this differs from Northern California, where the buyer more commonly covers it. Title insurance typically runs somewhere between 0.5% and 1% of the home's value, so this is a meaningful line item, not a minor one. On a $1,000,000 sale, that could mean $5,000-$10,000, depending on your specific policy and title company.

Prorated Property Taxes

You'll owe your share of property taxes up through your actual closing date, prorated and settled at closing. This isn't really an "extra" cost so much as making sure you're not paying (or being credited) for time you didn't actually own the home — but it's still a real number that shows up on your closing statement, so it's worth understanding rather than being surprised by.

Smaller Costs That Still Add Up

A handful of smaller items round out the picture: recording fees (typically a few hundred dollars), any payoff costs tied to your existing mortgage, HOA document and transfer fees if your home is in an HOA community (these can range widely — some HOA management companies charge over $1,000 for these documents), and any required natural hazard disclosure reports, which are mandatory in California and can carry additional cost depending on your property's location relative to flood or wildfire zones.

Concessions: The Number You Actually Control

Beyond the "required" costs above, many San Diego sales also involve seller concessions — credits toward the buyer's closing costs or a rate buydown, often used as a negotiating tool to strengthen your offer's appeal or bridge a gap in negotiations. These aren't mandatory, but they're increasingly common, and current concessions in San Diego often run somewhere in the $5,000-$15,000 range when they're part of a deal. This is one of the more flexible pieces of your closing costs, and it's worth discussing as part of your overall pricing and negotiation strategy rather than treating it as a fixed cost.

Building Your Real Net Sheet

Here's what I actually do for every seller before we list: put together a real, itemized net sheet specific to your home, your mortgage payoff, and your likely sale price range — not a generic percentage, but actual dollar figures based on your specific situation. That's the number that matters, and it's very different from just taking your list price at face value.

If you're a veteran seller, there are additional considerations worth knowing about — VA-preferred escrow and title pricing can sometimes reduce fees, and if you're selling a home with an existing assumable VA loan, that can actually be a selling point that increases buyer interest.

Let's Build Your Real Numbers

Before you list, I want you to know exactly what you're actually walking away with — not a rough estimate, a real projection based on your specific home and situation. That's the conversation that should happen before you commit to a price, not after you're already in escrow wondering where the money went.

Ready to see what you'd actually net on a sale? Let's build your numbers together.

Lucas Monari
REALTOR® | DRE# 02163562
(858)405-5018
sd.soldbylucas@gmail.com
Coldwell Banker West