Transactional Funding in Oakland

The city's transfer tax hits full value on every transfer, so a same-day double close pays Oakland twice. Oakland charges $15.00 per $1,000 of full value on a transfer between $300,001 and $2,000,000, on top of the county's $1.10 per $1,000. On a $718,000 property that is roughly $10,770 to the city plus $790 to the county, about $11,560 per leg, so an A-to-B leg followed by a same-day B-to-C leg runs a combined transfer tax bill north of $23,000 before any exemption analysis. The identical price in Fremont or unincorporated Castro Valley owes only the county's $790 per leg, since neither has a city transfer tax. That gap is why the assignment math often beats the double close here, though no published source describes what Oakland wholesalers actually do at scale. Our transactional funding covers the A-to-B leg either way; which structure fits your contract is a question for your closing attorney or title company.

Fast enough that a wholesale timeline has to move at the market's pace, not the other way around. As of July 2026, Oakland homes were going pending in a median of 18 days, down from 24 days a year earlier, with a median sale-to-list ratio of 1.079, homes closing about 8% over asking. That is happening even though the city's mid-tier home value is still 25.1% below its May 2022 peak, so buyers are moving quickly on price points that already look favorable to them. For a wholesaler, that combination narrows the window to line up an end buyer on a contract before it walks: an assignment that takes weeks to market in a market pending in 18 days risks losing the deal to a direct offer. Price and market it like the fast market it is, not the discounted one the index alone suggests.

California has no wholesaling-specific statute, so the license question turns on the general broker definition. Business and Professions Code section 10131 requires a DRE license to act for another person, for compensation, in selling real estate or negotiating a loan. Industry sources describe assigning your own equitable interest in a purchase contract as acting for yourself, which stays outside that definition, while marketing the property itself, rather than the contract, is the conduct that crosses into brokerage. No DRE guidance document confirms that reading, so treat it as the industry position, not settled law. That is a statewide question rather than an Alameda County one, and it reads the same on a East Oakland duplex and a Berkeley bungalow. Have a California real estate attorney review your contract and marketing language before you rely on it. We're a lender, not counsel.

No attorney is required. In Northern California, including Oakland, the title insurance company typically runs the escrow. California is an escrow state: licensed escrow companies and title companies handle closings, with independent escrow companies licensed by the DFPI and broker- or attorney- or insurer-run "controlled" escrows operating under their own regulators. The Northern California norm is that the title insurer runs the escrow itself, where Southern California more often uses a separate independent escrow company alongside the title insurer, and custom on who pays the owner's title premium is negotiable everywhere. No county-level who-pays chart exists for Alameda County, so confirm the split with your title company before you set a closing date.

It would narrow the exemption that currently covers foreclosure and lien-enforcement transfers, and it has not been decided yet. Oakland City Council voted in July 2026 to place a measure on the November 2026 ballot that would limit the current exemption, which today covers all properties under foreclosure proceedings, in lieu of foreclosure, or lien enforcement actions, to three classes: transfers creating transitional and interim housing, small transfers to buyers who own fewer than 20 properties nationally, and transfers to community banks with balances under $10 billion. Reporting estimates $4 million to $13 million in additional revenue if it passes. If it passes as described, a trustee's deed or deed in lieu on Oakland property held by a larger institutional owner or bank would start owing Oakland transfer tax on a transfer that is exempt today. The vote result and final ordinance text are not yet available, so we are not stating an outcome here, only flagging it for anyone underwriting a foreclosure-adjacent Oakland exit into next year.

No. We fund up to 100% of the purchase on the A-to-B leg. Pricing is a flat fee rather than a rate, underwriting involves no credit check and no appraisal, and the loan is repaid out of the simultaneous B-to-C close. What you do have to budget in Oakland is the transfer tax on each leg, roughly $11,560 on a $718,000 property, because the city taxes every transfer at full value. Subject to underwriting.

Days, not weeks. Transactional funding is built for a simultaneous close, so the money is out and back inside the same closing window. It is not a hold. If the B-to-C buyer is not lined up and funded, this is the wrong product and a short-term bridge or fix and flip loan is the right one. Oakland moves fast enough that this matters: homes were going pending in a median of 18 days as of July 2026, so line up the end buyer before you take the A-to-B leg down. Subject to underwriting.