What It Costs to Sell a Home in Marin
The commission, transfer taxes, town reports and inspections Marin sellers pay, who pays what by local custom, and the math on a $1.5 million sale.
By Jamie Lockett, Realtor®Coldwell BankerCA DRE #020166447 min read
Most of what it costs to sell a home in Marin comes from three places: the commission you agree to, a county transfer tax of $1.10 for every $1,000 of the price (Marin County Recorder), and the reports and inspections your town requires. By local custom, the buyer pays the escrow fee and the owner’s title insurance.
In short
- Commission is negotiable. Each 1% of a $1.5 million price is $15,000.
- Transfer tax is $1.10 per $1,000 of the price everywhere in Marin, plus $2.00 per $1,000 in San Rafael. Sellers pay it by custom.
- Escrow and the owner’s title policy are usually the buyer’s costs in Marin.
- Town requirements vary: a building records report in many towns, a wildfire inspection in high fire hazard zones and a sewer line inspection in some districts.
Fees on this page were checked in November 2026.
Who pays what when you sell a home in Marin?
Who pays the taxes, escrow and title follows Marin custom, per Fidelity National Title’s California chart (January 2026), and can be negotiated in your contract. The reports and inspections are set by your town, fire agency or sewer district.
| Cost | Who usually pays in Marin | How it’s figured |
|---|---|---|
| Listing agent’s commission | Seller | The rate in your listing agreement |
| Buyer’s agent’s commission | Negotiated with each offer | Paid by the buyer, or by you if you agree to it |
| County transfer tax | Seller | $1.10 per $1,000 of the price |
| San Rafael transfer tax | Seller | $2.00 per $1,000 of the price |
| Escrow fee | Buyer | The escrow company’s rate |
| Owner’s title insurance | Buyer | The title company’s rate |
| Building records report | Seller | Your town’s fee |
| Wildfire inspection, in high fire hazard zones | Seller | Your fire agency’s fee |
| Sewer line inspection, in some districts | Seller | A plumber’s camera inspection, plus any repairs |
How much is the real estate commission?
There’s no set rate. Commissions are fully negotiable and not set by law, as the National Association of Realtors puts it. Your listing agreement says what you’ll pay your listing agent.
What changed in 2024 is how sellers can offer to pay the buyer’s agent. Since August 17, 2024, those offers can’t be posted on the MLS. You can still offer to pay some or all of it outside the MLS, or agree to it as part of an offer, and a buyer can ask you to help with their closing costs (National Association of Realtors).
To turn any rate into dollars: each 1% of a $1.5 million sale price is $15,000.
What is the transfer tax in Marin?
Marin County’s documentary transfer tax is $0.55 for each $500 of the price, which works out to $1.10 per $1,000 (Marin County Recorder). It’s figured on the full price, less any existing loan the buyer takes over. On a $1.5 million sale, it comes to $1,650.
Of Marin’s cities, only San Rafael adds its own transfer tax: $2.00 per $1,000 of the full price (Fidelity National Title). On the same $1.5 million sale in San Rafael, that’s another $3,000, or $4,650 in all. By Marin custom, the seller pays both.
Do sellers pay escrow and title fees in Marin?
Usually not. In Marin, the buyer customarily pays the escrow fee and the owner’s title insurance policy, and the seller pays the transfer tax (Fidelity National Title). It’s a custom, not a rule, so a buyer can ask you to pay part of their costs in an offer.
Before closing, your escrow officer sends an estimated settlement statement that lists every charge on your side, line by line.
What do Marin towns require before a sale?
Many Marin towns require a report on a home’s building permits before it changes hands, and some fire departments and sewer districts add their own inspections. Start them as soon as you decide to sell: San Rafael warns that a late application can delay escrow (City of San Rafael).
Building records report
This report checks the city’s permit records for the home and includes a short inspection. In San Rafael and Mill Valley, the city won’t stop a sale over what it finds, but anything left unresolved becomes the buyer’s to fix.
- San Rafael: $383 for a single-family home or condo, good for six months, with a three-month extension on request (City of San Rafael).
- Mill Valley: $399 for a single-family home, required whenever a home changes ownership (City of Mill Valley).
- Novato and Belvedere have their own resale reports too (California State Auditor, 2016, City of Belvedere).
Your town’s building department can tell you its form, fee and timing.
Wildfire inspection
If your home is in a high or very high fire hazard severity zone, state law requires you to give the buyer documentation that the property meets defensible space rules (California Civil Code 1102.19). You can check your address with Marin County’s resale fire inspection lookup, and Marin County Fire explains the inspection. If you don’t have the documentation by closing, you and the buyer must sign a written agreement that the buyer will get it; where no local rule sets a deadline, the buyer has one year after closing (California Civil Code 1102.19).
- San Rafael: $271, or $295 in Marinwood, good for six months (City of San Rafael).
- Ross and Fairfax: Ross Valley Fire’s exterior resale inspection, $190. San Anselmo no longer requires it (Ross Valley Fire).
- Larkspur and Corte Madera: a Central Marin Fire inspection for homes in the wildland urban interface (Larkspur code), $190 for a single-family home in Corte Madera (Central Marin Fire).
Sewer line inspection
Some sewer districts require a camera inspection of your private sewer line before a sale, and repairs if it fails. Among them:
- Sanitary District No. 5, which serves Belvedere and part of Tiburon, unless the line was replaced in the last 20 years or inspected in the last three (Sanitary District No. 5).
- Tamalpais Community Services District (district rules).
- Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District, for every home listed for sale (district form).
What does it cost to get the house ready?
This part depends on the house and on you: cleaning, paint, small repairs, the yard and sometimes staging. You can also order a home inspection and a pest report before listing, so buyers can review them with the disclosures.
You’ll also give buyers a natural hazard disclosure that shows whether the home sits in a flood, fire or earthquake hazard zone (California Civil Code 1103.2). A disclosure report company can prepare it for you.
Two more costs are easy to miss:
- Carrying costs. If you move out before the sale closes, you keep paying the mortgage, property taxes, insurance and utilities on the house until closing day.
- HOA documents. Selling a condo or a home in a homeowners association? The buyer gets the association’s documents, such as its rules and budget, and you pay the association’s fee for preparing them, which is limited to its actual cost (California Civil Code 4530).
What comes out of your proceeds at closing?
At closing, escrow pays off your mortgage and any other loans on the home, then the transfer taxes, the commissions you agreed to, your share of the year’s property taxes up to the closing date and any credits you agreed to give the buyer. The rest goes to you.
Escrow may also withhold 3⅓% of the sale price for California income tax unless you qualify for an exemption, such as selling your main home. You claim the exemption on Form 593 before closing.
Will you owe tax on the profit?
Often not, on your main home. If you owned it and lived in it for at least two of the five years before the sale, you can exclude up to $250,000 of the gain from your income, or $500,000 if you’re married and file jointly (IRS Topic 701). A tax professional can tell you what applies to you.
An example: selling for $1.5 million
| On a $1.5 million sale | In San Rafael | Elsewhere in Marin |
|---|---|---|
| County transfer tax | $1,650 | $1,650 |
| City transfer tax | $3,000 | None |
| Building records report | $383 | Your town’s fee |
| Wildfire inspection, if required | $271 | Your fire agency’s fee |
| Taxes and town fees | $5,304 | $1,650 plus your town’s fees |
| Each 1% of commission | $15,000 | $15,000 |
In San Rafael, the taxes and city fees on a $1.5 million sale come to $5,304 if the home needs a wildfire inspection, about 0.35% of the price. The commission is the number that moves the total most.
The figures come from the rates and fees above; $1.5 million is an example price, not a market figure. The table leaves out what changes from home to home: your loan payoff, getting the house ready and any credits to the buyer.
How to keep more of what you sell for
- Order your town’s report and any required inspections early, so a slow appointment doesn’t hold up escrow.
- Ask your agent or escrow officer for an estimated net sheet before you list, with your town’s fees in it.
- Fix the small items a report or inspection turns up before you list, when you can pick the contractor and the timing.
If you’re thinking about selling, I’m happy to go through these costs for your home and your town. You can also ask what your home is worth or read about selling with me.
