Sell My House Fast in Long Beach, CA — We Buy Houses for Cash

Long Beach has a Just Cause ordinance, Chapter 8.99 of its municipal code. The city says it covers most rentals and tenants of 12 months or more. The city names some exemptions, such as owner-occupied single-family homes. For a demolition or major remodel, relocation pay is $4,500 or two months of rent. The greater amount applies. Other no-fault endings owe one month of rent. The city says it is due within 15 days of the notice. Tell us if tenants live there.

The city runs a Proactive Rental Housing Inspection Program. Municipal Code 18.30.120 lets it inspect residential rentals from time to time. It checks building, housing, and sanitation codes. The Code Enforcement Bureau is at 411 W. Ocean Blvd., 4th Floor. The phone is 562.570.2633. Hours are 8 AM to 4 PM, Monday to Friday. The city also posts a public page of current open cases. If an inspection left you with repairs you cannot afford, we buy as-is.

Long Beach names illegal garage conversions as a code violation. The fine can reach $1,000. The city's FAQ says unpermitted work is not grandfathered. Making it legal takes a building permit. The city says the permit is approved only if the work meets current codes. Inspectors may ask to open walls to see it. We buy as-is, so you do not have to legalize the space first. Tell us what was built and when.

The city's fine page says it may start with a written warning. If the problem stays, the first fine can be up to $100 per violation. A repeat within one year can be up to $200. More violations in that year can be up to $500 each. These are limits, not set bills. Open cases can be hard to carry while you sort out a move. We buy as-is, so an open violation does not stop us from making an offer.

Long Beach says its Building Seismic Resiliency Program is voluntary. The city page says there is no timeline for required compliance now. It may re-evaluate if voluntary work falls short. About 3100 buildings were flagged as possible soft, weak, or open-front buildings. A city map lets you search an address. If a building was flagged by mistake, Form-062 asks for reassessment. Form-063 asks for removal. The program phone is 562.570.7641.

The city names 18 historic districts. They include Belmont Heights, Bluff Park, California Heights, Rose Park, and the Wrigley Area. The city's page links to Certificates of Appropriateness and Historic Design Guidelines. Check your address with Long Beach Planning if you are unsure. We buy houses in any of these areas. You do not need to repair, repaint, or get approvals first. Tell us your address and we will take a look.

Not always. LA County's ZIP table shows 90802 to 90807 as City of Long Beach. So are 90813 to 90815 and 90831. ZIP 90808 also covers unincorporated Long Beach. ZIP 90810 also covers the City of Carson. ZIP 90846 also covers the City of Lakewood. The county notes that ZIP lines follow mail delivery, not city limits. Send us your street address, and we will check.

Many Long Beach houses need work. Some need a new roof. Some have a kitchen nobody has touched in decades. Some have an addition that never got a permit.

The usual sale means fixing all of that first. You hire an agent, pay for repairs, and wait on a buyer's loan. With us, you skip every one of those steps. You pay no agent, no listing fee, and no repair bill.

Curious what the city has on file?

Long Beach lets anyone search old permit records by street address. The city says that search covers items like certificates of occupancy and plot plans, when they are on file. You do not have to look anything up. We buy the house either way, and you never need to fix a records gap before you sell.

Fixing up a house before a sale gets slow in this city. Two city rules show why.

Coastal zone projects need an extra permit

Long Beach has a state coastal zone. The city says any ADU or junior ADU project inside it needs an Administrative Local Coastal Development Permit. You file it at the same time as the building permit. Planning a backyard unit before you sell? That is one more form to finish first.

Stalled remodels lose their permits

The city says a building permit becomes void if work does not start within 90 days. It also becomes void if work stops for 90 days after it starts. A remodel that ran out of money can leave you with a half-done house and a dead permit. We buy half-finished houses.

Step one: call or fill out the form

Tell us the street address and a little about the house. Give us the address, not just the ZIP. Some Long Beach ZIP codes cross city lines, and the address settles it.

Step two: read your cash offer

We send a fair, no-obligation cash offer within 24 hours. You can say no. It costs you nothing to hear the number.

Step three: pick your closing date

Close in as little as 7 days. Or choose a later date if you need time to move. A title or escrow company runs the closing. We coordinate the title and escrow work and pay the usual closing costs.

Living out of town?

Tell us when you call. Title and escrow companies often work by mail and electronic signature, so you may not need to be in Long Beach to sell. We will talk through what your closing needs.

Every seller has a different story. These are common among Long Beach owners.

• Inherited house. A parent's older home, packed with belongings. You may live far away and have no time to manage it.
• Tenants. Renters still live there, or the rent no longer covers the costs of owning it.
• Divorce. Two owners need one answer, and soon.
• Liens. Back taxes, a contractor's lien, or a judgment. These are usually paid from the sale money at closing.
• Fire or water damage. A burst pipe or a kitchen fire left a mess you cannot afford to fix.
• Code violations. An open notice, an unpermitted room, or a fine you can't carry.
• Vacant house. Nobody lives there, and the bills keep coming.

Call even if your situation is a mix. Some Long Beach sellers have two or three of these at once, such as an inherited house with tenants and a code notice. We can work with that.

Rented by the night

The city's short-term rental page says Long Beach is reviewing its ordinance. It defines a primary residence as where you live at least 275 days a year. It caps un-hosted stays in a primary residence at 90 days per registration period. If those limits broke your plan, we can still buy the house.

Long Beach runs a Foreclosure Registry Program. The city's page puts the work on the lender or trustee, not on you. They must register the house with Code Enforcement soon after the Notice of Default. They must also inspect it weekly and keep it secure.

What that tells you

The city keeps track of houses in foreclosure. It also runs a Vacant Building Monitoring Program. A house that sits empty can draw attention fast. Selling before the sale date can let you leave on your own terms.

Tell us your sale date

Give us the date on your first call. It sets how fast we need to move. We cannot promise that a sale will stop a foreclosure. We can send a fair cash offer within 24 hours, and you pick the closing date from there.

Behind, but not yet in default?

Call us anyway. You may have more time than you think. A short talk costs nothing, and you will know your options before any notice arrives.

As-is means we buy the house the way it stands. You fix nothing. You do not repaint, patch, or replace anything first.

How old are the houses here?

A 2016 city planning study reported that about 58 percent of Long Beach housing was 50 years or older. That is an older figure, but it shows the pattern. It drew on the city's 2013-2021 housing plan. The same study says housing over 30 years old likely needs rehabilitation. So an older house here can have aging wiring, aging pipes, or a worn roof.

Patched and added-on houses

Over the decades, owners add rooms, convert garages, and swap parts. Not every change got a permit. You do not need to sort that out before you call. Tell us what you know, and we will take it from there.

You do not need to clean. You do not need to rent a dumpster. Furniture, boxes, tools, and a full garage can all stay. We buy the house with belongings and all.

A house that sat for years can hold a lot. Old paint cans, tools, and boxes in the garage are common. We do not mind. You do not haul any of it away.

Keep what matters to you

Take the photos, papers, and keepsakes first. Leave the rest. Heirs sorting a parent's Long Beach home often have a lot to go through. You can take your time and choose a closing date that fits.

Before you hand over the keys

Gather your documents, medications, and anything with value to you. Tell us the day you picked, and we will plan around it.

• No agent commission. No agent is involved, so there is no commission to pay.
• Closing costs. We pay the usual closing costs. We handle the title and escrow coordination.
• No repairs. Our offer is for the house in its current shape.

Add it up. You skip the agent, the repair bills, and the months of fixing up. What is left is our offer and the closing date you pick.

What still comes out of your money

If you owe a mortgage, a tax bill, or a lien, that balance is paid from the sale at closing. The title or escrow company usually shows you the numbers before you sign. We tell you what we see up front, so nothing surprises you at the table.

The city's neighborhood group list names more than 100 groups. Many are tied to a neighborhood. We buy houses in all of them. Here are some of the names on it.

• Belmont Shore, Naples, Alamitos Beach, and Alamitos Heights
• Bixby Knolls, Zaferia, and Cambodia Town
• Lakewood Village, El Dorado Park Estates, and Los Altos
• Los Cerritos, Park Estates, and The Ranchos
• Midtown, Sunny Central, and the Peninsula
• West Long Beach and the Westside

Not on the list?

Send us the address. We will tell you whether we can make an offer.

LA County's ZIP table, updated February 25, 2022, lists these codes for the area. The county notes that ZIP lines follow mail routes, not city limits.

Inside the city limits

90802, 90803, 90804, 90805, 90806, 90807, 90813, 90814, and 90815.

ZIP codes that cross a line

• 90808 also covers unincorporated Long Beach, which is county land.
• 90810 also covers part of the City of Carson.
• 90846 also covers part of the City of Lakewood.

Special-purpose ZIP codes

90822 is the VA Medical Center. 90831 is the World Trade Center. 90840 is Cal State Long Beach.

A separate city inside Long Beach

Signal Hill, ZIP 90755, is its own city. Its city documents say it is completely surrounded by Long Beach. Signal Hill has its own Community Development Department for building and planning permits. Ask us about a Signal Hill address, and we will check it for you.

The Newport-Inglewood Fault

The California Geological Survey says the 1933 Long Beach earthquake hit on March 10 at magnitude 6.4. It came from the Newport-Inglewood Fault. The agency says damage was worst to poorly designed and unreinforced brick buildings.

Tsunami zones

The city asks residents to look up their address on the state's My Hazards site. It shows whether a home or workplace sits in the tsunami hazard zone.

Near the airport

Long Beach has an airport noise ordinance, passed in 1995. The airport's page says the city's goal is no community exposed to 65 dBA CNEL or more.

Does any of this change our offer?

No. We buy as-is, inside a hazard zone or outside one. If you want to know your address, start with the city and state tools above.

City Permit Center

The Permit Center is at 411 W. Ocean Blvd., 2nd Floor. The phone is 562.570.PMIT (7648). Many records are online by address. The city says drawn plans are not online. You view those in person.

County Recorder

Your deed is recorded with the LA County Registrar-Recorder. Its main office is at 12400 Imperial Highway in Norwalk. Your title or escrow company usually handles that step for you.

County Assessor

The county lists an Assessor office at 1401 E. Willow Street in Signal Hill. The phone is (562) 256-1701. The county page describes it as serving people who own property in Los Angeles County.

Check before you go

Hours and floors change. Call first.

Long Beach has designated 18 historic districts.

• Belmont Heights, Bluff Heights, and Bluff Park
• Brenner Place, California Heights, and Carroll Park
• Drake Park / Wilmore City, Eliot Lane, and Grant Neighborhood
• Hellman Street Craftsman, Linden Avenue, and Lowena Drive
• Minerva Place, Rose Park, and Rose Park South
• Sunrise Boulevard, Wilton Street, and the Wrigley Area

The city's page links to Certificates of Appropriateness, the Mills Act, and Historic Design Guidelines. That page does not spell out the rules. Ask Long Beach Planning about your address. If your home sits in one of these districts, tell us when you call. We will still buy it as-is.

Chapter 8.99 of the Long Beach code covers most rentals. The city says it works with the state's AB 1482. That law caps rent at 5 percent plus inflation.

The city lists these exemptions.

• Homes that share facilities with the owner.
• Owner-occupied single-family homes and certain duplexes.
• Housing built in the last 15 years.
• Single-family homes or condos owned by a person.
• Deed-restricted low-income housing.
• Hotels, hospitals, senior facilities, religious facilities, and school dorms.

Relocation pay is due within 15 calendar days of the written notice. The city says a notice is void if the owner skips any part.

• Code Enforcement Bureau: 562.570.2633, 411 W. Ocean Blvd., 4th Floor.
• Seismic Program: 562.570.7641 or seismicprogram@longbeach.gov, 411 W. Ocean Blvd., 2nd Floor.
• Housing and Neighborhood Services: 562.570.6949.
• Fair Housing Foundation tenant counseling: 562.989.1206.

The city's FAQ on unpermitted work adds detail. Inspectors check old work against current codes. If walls hide the work, some drywall or insulation may need to come off. Extra testing may apply if special inspections were skipped. Problems get fixed before final sign-off.

The city's Code Enforcement section also has pages for current open cases and short-term rentals. Other pages cover a foreclosure registry, a vacant lot registry, and balcony hazard reports. The rental inspection page says enforcement may stop if tenants miss two inspection appointments.

The seismic program uses the word soft story. The city says soft stories are mostly in older buildings. These are city and partner lines, not ours.