Sell Your Commercial Property In Richmond, CA

Who Rents in Richmond, CA

Renters hold 45.3% of Richmond's occupied homes, well above Contra Costa County's 32.0% renter share, per the Census Bureau's ACS 2020-2024 estimates (table B25003). Buildings of five or more units make up 19.1% of Richmond's 42,509 housing units (B25024). The city's housing stock is old: the median year built is 1966, and 58.7% of homes were built before 1980 (B25034), so an owner who plans to sell commercial property in Richmond, CA should expect capital-expenditure diligence to weigh as heavily as the rent roll.

Rents and Affordability

Median gross rent in Richmond is $1,960 a month, 3.7% below the $2,036 California median (ACS 2020-2024, B25064). More than half of renters are cost-burdened: 53.1% pay 30% or more of income toward rent, and 28.4% pay 50% or more (B25070). Under HUD's FY2027 fair market rents, effective October 1, 2026, the Oakland-Fremont, CA HUD Metro FMR Area, which covers Richmond, sets a two-bedroom FMR of $2,805.

Property Taxes in Contra Costa County

Property tax in Richmond starts at the 1% ad valorem rate under Proposition 13 (California Constitution Article XIIIA), applied to assessed value, which typically resets to sale price on a transfer. On a $2,000,000 apartment sale, that base tax equals $20,000 a year; county bills also add voter-approved bond overrides that commonly push the total secured rate toward 1.15%-1.30% locally, though the exact override was not independently confirmed here. Richmond also levies its own transfer tax under Municipal Code Section 13.40.020: a $2,000,000 sale falls in the $1,000,000-to-$3,000,000 tier, taxed at $12.50 per $1,000, for $25,000 due at closing, with the county crediting its own $1.10-per-$1,000 tax against Richmond's rather than stacking both. Owners should sell commercial real estate in Richmond, CA with that transfer tax budgeted separately from annual property tax.

Landlord Rules in Richmond

Richmond's own Fair Rent, Just Cause for Eviction, and Homeowner Protection Ordinance (Municipal Code Chapter 11.100) has governed covered rentals since January 2017. The Rent Program caps the 2026 annual general adjustment for fully covered units at 1.5%, per Rent Board Regulation 615, and charges a fee of $261 per fully covered unit for FY2026-27. Statewide, Civil Code Section 1950.5 caps most security deposits at one month's rent, and Section 1946.1 generally requires 60 days' notice to end a tenancy of a year or more. Owners selling commercial property in Richmond should confirm a building's covered-or-exempt status before marketing it, since exemptions generally apply to single-unit parcels, condominiums, and new construction.

What This Means for an Owner

Owners who sell commercial property in Richmond, CA are selling into a market where 45.3% of households already rent and inventory is mostly pre-1980 construction. A $2,000,000 sale carries roughly $20,000 a year in base property tax for the buyer and a one-time $25,000 municipal transfer tax at closing, so buyers underwrite both before they bid. Skyline Capital Investments buys 5+ unit apartment buildings directly; owners who want to sell your apartment building in Richmond or run the numbers first can use the cap rate calculator to model current rents against HUD's FY2027 benchmarks.