Orange County Transfer Tax Calculator

Published on June 30th, 2025

Orange County Transfer Tax Calculator: What to Expect

This simple calculator can help home sellers in Orange County estimate their transfer taxes. To get a ballpark idea of the transfer fees you might pay in Orange County, enter your home’s estimated selling price above.

Need a selling price? Try HomeLight’s free Home Value Estimator to see what your house might be worth. To receive a more accurate listing price, contact a top Orange County real estate agent and request a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA), a report that will compare your home against nearby listed and recently sold properties.

A top real estate agent can provide you with a Seller’s Net Sheet that breaks down all the costs of selling your home, along with an estimate of the proceeds you can expect. Use HomeLight’s free Agent Match platform to find a trusted local agent with excellent reviews and a proven track record.

How the Orange County Transfer Tax is Calculated

Orange County’s transfer tax, known as Documentary Transfer Tax, is calculated at a rate of $0.55 for every $500 or fraction thereof of the property’s sale price.

For example, if you sold your home for $1,410,000 (Orange County’s median home price), you could expect to pay $1,551 in California transfer taxes. Sellers will also have to pay the state of California’s transfer tax rate of $0.55 per $500 of the property’s sales price.

»Learn more: Understanding the Orange County Transfer Tax

See the bigger home sale picture: To see what your entire home sale might cost, try HomeLight’s California Seller Closing Cost Calculator. You’ll also get a preliminary look at your estimated net proceeds.

Does the Seller Always Pay the Orange County Transfer Tax?

Not every real estate transaction in Orange County requires a transfer tax to be paid. In some cases, sellers are exempt from these fees. Here are just a few examples where an Orange County property owner might be exempt from transfer taxes:

Transfers of property between spouses due to divorce.
Transfers made as gifts or due to death.
Transfers into a trust benefiting the seller.
Certain transactions involving government entities and nonprofit organizations.

However, this is not a comprehensive list. Consult the Orange County Documentary Transfer Tax form to see which transactions are exempt from transfer taxes.

Make Buying and Selling Easier: Most Orange County sellers are also buyers looking to purchase a new home. With HomeLight’s Buy Before You Sell program, you can make a non-contingent offer on your new home and only move once. Watch this short video to learn more.

More Resources to Plan Your Orange County Home Sale

Here are some additional tools to help you plan your Orange County home sale:

Sell fast without paying fees or commissions: Get a cash offer today.

With HomeLight’s Simple Sale platform, you can receive a no-obligation, all-cash offer for your Orange County home in 24 hours. If you accept the offer, you can close in as few as 10 days. Answer a few questions about your Orange County home to get started. Along with your cash offer, you’ll also receive an expert estimate of what a top Orange County agent might be able to get for your home. Receive both selling options with one tool.

As you look ahead to your next home purchase, here are some helpful buyer tools:

At HomeLight, our vision is a world where every real estate transaction is simple, certain, and satisfying. Therefore, we promote strict editorial integrity in each of our posts.