Enter your price, loan payoff, location, tenant situation and fees, and the calculator returns two numbers: what the sale nets you after costs and the loan, and the smaller check escrow actually sends you. With the defaults (Sacramento's typical value of about $471,000 inside city limits, a $150,000 payoff, a tenant in place, and 2.5% listing and 2.5% buyer's agent commission as placeholder assumptions, since commission is negotiable), the sale nets about $286,000 and the check comes to about $267,000. Most of the gap is the 3⅓% California withholding, which comes back as a credit on your return.
You own a rental house in or around Sacramento, you're thinking about selling, and you want to know what you'll actually walk away with before you talk to an agent or answer an offer.
How the home sale calculator figures your Sacramento net
The calculator starts from the sale price and subtracts every line that leaves escrow: commission, transfer taxes, escrow and title, your share of the property tax, repairs or credits, anything else you add, and the loan payoff. Then it shows the result two ways, because a rental sale has money moving through escrow that was never yours to keep.
Net proceeds: the home sale calculator's main number
The big figure is what the sale nets you after costs and the loan, before income tax. On a vacant sale it also subtracts the rent you lost and any cash for keys, even though you paid those before escrow opened. Use this number to decide whether to sell and which offer to take.
Your check at closing from the Sacramento escrow
The last line is the wire you'll see. It's lower again: escrow holds back the Form 593 withholding and, with a tenant in place, hands the buyer the security deposit and the rent for the days after closing. Use this number to plan the next purchase or the payoff of another loan, because it's the cash you'll actually have in the bank.
With the defaults the gap between the two is roughly $18,000 to $20,000. The net itself moves a little with the default closing date, because your share of the property tax grows every day of the July-to-June tax year. Fees are placeholders until you have real quotes; the line-by-line reasoning behind each one is in the guide to what it costs to sell a rental in Sacramento.
Sacramento transfer taxes by city in the home sale calculator
Most online calculators use one flat closing-cost percentage. In the Sacramento area the transfer tax depends on which side of a city line the house sits, so the calculator asks where the rental is.
City of Sacramento: the second transfer tax
Inside city limits you pay two taxes. Sacramento County's documentary transfer tax is $0.55 for each $500 of value or fraction of $500, which works out to $1.10 per $1,000: about $518 on the default price. The City of Sacramento adds its own tax under City Code chapter 3.16 at $2.75 per $1,000 of the full price, about $1,295. The 2026 Fidelity National Title customary practices guide lists that city tax as split between buyer and seller, so the calculator charges you half by default. The city says the parties can agree otherwise, and if escrow doesn't collect it, the city looks to the buyer. Change the share if your contract says something different.
Elk Grove, Folsom and the rest of Sacramento County
The county recorder says the City of Sacramento is the only city in the county with its own transfer tax. A rental in Elk Grove, Folsom, Rancho Cordova, Citrus Heights or an unincorporated area such as Carmichael pays the county tax alone, which on the default price keeps about $648 more in your pocket. Pick "Elsewhere in Sacramento County" and the city line drops to zero.
Roseville sale in Placer County
Placer County charges the same $1.10 per $1,000, and we found no Roseville city transfer tax. The bigger difference is custom: the Fidelity guide lists escrow charges and the owner's title policy as split between buyer and seller in Placer County, where Sacramento County's custom has the seller paying both. If your rental is in Roseville, enter only your share of the escrow and title quote.
West Sacramento sale in Yolo County
Yolo County's documentary transfer tax is also $1.10 per $1,000, paid by the seller by custom, and the guide shows no separate West Sacramento city tax (Woodland is the Yolo city with one). The calculator treats a West Sacramento house like Elk Grove: one county tax, no city line.
Rental lines a generic home sale calculator skips
Calculators built for homeowners assume an empty house you lived in. A rental changes four lines, and two of them shrink your check without costing you anything.
Form 593 withholding on a California home sale
Unless an exemption applies, escrow withholds 3⅓% of the price (the Franchise Tax Board's instructions use .0333) and sends it to the FTB. On the default price that's about $15,684. You claim it as a credit on your California return, so the calculator lists it below the costs and takes it out of the check, never out of the net. No withholding applies at a price of $100,000 or less, or if you certify an exemption on Form 593: the house qualifies as your principal residence, the sale is at a loss, or it's part of a 1031 exchange. Whether 3⅓% covers what you'll owe is a separate question for the rental property capital gains calculator.
Tenant in place: the deposit and rent go to the buyer at the sale
When the tenant stays, Civil Code 1950.5(i) has you either transfer the security deposit to the buyer (and tell the tenant) or return it to the tenant; escrow usually credits it to the buyer. The buyer also gets the rent for the days after closing. Both lower your check, and neither is a cost: the deposit was always the tenant's money, and the rent belongs to whoever owns the house that month. The calculator shows both lines so the smaller wire doesn't look like a fee. The rest of an occupied sale is on selling a rental with tenants in place.
Vacant sale: lost rent and cash for keys
Choose a vacant sale and two new inputs appear: months without rent before closing, and any cash for keys or relocation you paid. Those come off the net but not the escrow check, because you paid them (or went without them) before escrow. On the defaults, two empty months cost about $4,080 of rent. Add utilities, insurance and yard care for an empty house under "Anything else".
Sacramento County property tax proration
The tax year runs July 1 to June 30. You owe your days up to closing; the calculator works out how many from the closing date and subtracts what you've already paid. If you've paid both installments, the result turns into a credit from the buyer.
Comparing three offers in the home sale calculator
Below the result, three offer columns reuse every figure you entered and change only the price, the repairs or credit asked, the buyer's agent compensation and the closing date. Each shows its net and how far it trails the best one.
The default sale offers, side by side
| Offer | Price | Credit asked | Buyer's agent | Closes in | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Typical value | $5,000 | 2.5% | 45 days | About $2,500 less |
| 2 | $15,000 under | None | 0% | 21 days | Within about $100 |
| 3 | $10,000 over | $12,000 | 2.5% | 45 days | Nets the most |
Offer 2 is $25,000 below Offer 3 on price and lands within about $100 of it, because it asks for no credit and the buyer pays their own agent. Offer 1, at full typical value, nets less than Offer 2. The highest price lost to what came attached to it: a bigger credit and a buyer's agent fee.
Credits and buyer's agent fees in a sale offer
A credit is a price cut that arrives later in escrow. Buyer's agent compensation is optional and negotiable; on a $481,000 offer, 2.5% is about $12,000. Read both before you read the price.
Closing date in the sale calculator
The calculator moves only your property tax days with the closing date. A faster close also saves another month of mortgage interest, insurance and utilities on a vacant house; add that to "Anything else" in the slower offers if it matters. A cash buyer's quick close is the same comparison, and a cash offer against a listing runs it with stated assumptions.
Seller net sheet assumptions to replace before you trust the number
Four defaults are placeholders, and each can move the answer by thousands.
Listing commission on a Sacramento sale
No law or board sets a rate. The 2.5% default is an assumption, and on $471,000 every 1% is about $4,710. Use the figure from your listing agreement or the quote you're weighing.
Buyer's agent compensation you offer on the sale
Also optional and negotiable. Set it to 0 if you won't offer it, and use the offer columns to see what a buyer asking for it costs you.
Escrow fee and owner's title policy for the sale
The $3,500 default is a placeholder. Ask a title company for a quote on your price; in Placer County enter only your half.
Repairs or credit on a rental sale
The default is a $5,000 credit after inspection. Turnover wear on a long-held rental can push it higher, and a tenant in place can make a credit easier than doing work around them.
What you'll make selling your Sacramento rental: reading the result
Run it twice, once with the tenant in place and once vacant, using your real rent and the months you'd expect to sit empty. The vacant check often looks bigger because no deposit or rent passes to the buyer, but the net is the honest comparison, and it falls by every month of lost rent. The other half of that comparison is price: a vacant house reaches buyers who'll live in it, an occupied one mostly reaches investors. Justin prices the house both ways, occupied and vacant, so the price line in each run is a figure from recent sales instead of a guess. He managed rentals in Midtown for six years before he began selling homes in 2010.
The net is before income tax. Capital gains and depreciation recapture come later, on your return. For a price built from your street, ask for a valuation of your rental; for the rest of the decision, start with selling a Sacramento rental, and the other calculators for Sacramento rental owners cover rent increases, move-out dates and rent versus sell.
Home sale calculator: questions Sacramento rental owners ask
How do I calculate net proceeds from selling a house?
Start with the sale price and subtract the commission, transfer taxes, escrow and title fees, your share of the property tax, repairs or credits to the buyer, and your mortgage payoff. That's your net proceeds. Escrow then holds back any Form 593 withholding, and on a rental with a tenant in place it passes the deposit and post-closing rent to the buyer, so your check is smaller than the net.
How much will I make selling my house in Sacramento?
On Sacramento's typical value of about $471,000 inside city limits, with a $150,000 loan, a $5,000 credit and 5% total commission as an assumption, the sale nets about $286,000 before income tax. Your own number depends on your price, payoff and negotiated commission. The calculator above runs it with your figures, and nothing you type is saved or sent.
What is a seller net sheet?
A seller net sheet is an estimate of what you'll receive from a sale, line by line: the price, each closing cost, the loan payoff and the bottom line. Agents and escrow officers prepare them before you list and again for each offer. This calculator is a net sheet built for Sacramento rentals, with city and county transfer taxes, Form 593 withholding and the tenant lines a homeowner's sheet leaves out.
Who pays transfer tax when you sell a house in Sacramento?
By custom, the seller pays Sacramento County's documentary transfer tax of $1.10 per $1,000, and buyer and seller split the City of Sacramento's $2.75 per $1,000 tax, according to Fidelity National Title's 2026 customary practices guide. Custom isn't law: the county says either party can pay by agreement, and the purchase contract decides. Outside city limits there's only the county tax.
Is the Form 593 withholding a closing cost?
No. It's a prepayment of your own California income tax. Escrow withholds 3⅓% of the price and sends it to the Franchise Tax Board, and you claim it as a credit when you file. If your gain is small, much of it can come back as a refund. It does reduce the check you receive at closing, which is why the calculator shows it separately from costs.
Does the tenant's security deposit come out of my proceeds?
When you sell with the tenant in place, the deposit usually moves to the buyer as a credit in escrow, so your check is smaller by that amount. It was never your money, though: Civil Code 1950.5(i) requires you to transfer it to the buyer or return it to the tenant when you sell. The buyer also gets the rent for the days after closing.
Sources
- Sacramento County Clerk/Recorder: Documentary transfer tax FAQ (rate, who pays, only the City of Sacramento has a city tax)
- City of Sacramento: Real property transfer tax (City Code 3.16, $2.75 per $1,000)
- Fidelity National Title: 2026 California customary practices guide (Sacramento, Placer and Yolo counties)
- FTB: 2026 Form 593 instructions, real estate withholding
- California Civil Code 1950.5: security deposits, including (i) on sale of the property
- Sacramento County Tax Collector: Secured property taxes (tax year and installments)
Reviewed by Justin Vierra
Justin reviewed this page for accuracy on October 29, 2026. Figures come from the sources listed above. Our research process.
Justin Vierra is a Sacramento Realtor® with GUIDE Real Estate and Principal of the Vierra Group who sells rental homes for their owners, with tenants in place or vacant. He spent six years in Midtown property management before he began selling homes in 2010.
- Since 2010Licensed in California, DRE #01880488
- 6 yearsManaging Midtown rental property before he sold homes
- 447Vierra Group team sales on Zillow, 26 in the past 12 months
- 440+Career sales, as reported by Justin
- Six years in property management: Midtown Sacramento: older buildings, multifamily property, maintenance and tenants
- Principal, Vierra Group: His team at GUIDE Real Estate, 3001 I Street, Sacramento
- Sacramento Real Producers: Top 250 agent for 2025, as reported by Justin
Realtor®, DRE #01880488. Vierra Group, GUIDE Real Estate, 3001 I St, Suite 200, Sacramento, CA 95816. General information, not legal, tax or financial advice.
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