Start with the address, because a lot of Sacramento County isn't a city at all. Arden-Arcade, Carmichael and North Highlands are unincorporated, so the owner deals with the county, not a city hall, on permits and code issues. Those same areas have ownership rates near or below half, which means many of our calls reach a landlord who lives somewhere else. Our caller writes down whether the owner lives in the house, rents it out, or left it empty after a parent passed.

Probate here runs out of the Ridgeway Family Relations Courthouse on Power Inn Road, the same building that handles family law, not the downtown courthouses. The first hearing usually comes 30 to 45 days after filing, notice runs three weeks in a local paper, and creditors get four months. A simple estate takes 9 to 12 months, an average one 12 to 18. Full IAEA authority is routinely granted, so an administrator can often sell without a confirmation hearing. Prop 19 is what pushes heirs to sell: the child keeps the parent's tax base only if the house becomes their own principal residence.

Foreclosure is non-judicial. The Notice of Default is filed of record, the owner has 90 days, and the Notice of Trustee Sale goes out at least 20 days before the auction. Reinstatement is open until five business days before the sale. Downtown court operations consolidated into the new courthouse at 500 G Street in April 2026, so read each notice for the sale location rather than assuming. On one-to-four unit homes, the sale isn't final for up to 45 days if an eligible tenant or owner-occupant steps in.

Tax sales run through the Tax Collector's online auction, held the last Monday in February with a follow-up sale in May or June. Registration takes a $5,000 deposit and full payment is due within five business days. Occupied properties are a civil matter between the buyer and the occupant, and the county gives no access before the sale. An owner who catches the problem in time can redeem until close of business on the last business day before the auction, which is why a seller in that window is worth a fast callback.

Here's a call we'd expect from Carmichael. Our caller reaches a woman in Elk Grove whose father left her his ranch house off Fair Oaks Boulevard. Her brother filed probate at Power Inn Road and has letters. She already owns her home, so under Prop 19 the tax base resets if they keep it. The roof is old, the kitchen is original and a tenant moved out in the spring. They want it sold as is before winter. You get who signs, the condition, the occupancy and a price before you dial.

Sacramento County sellers lean retail, and we won't pretend they don't. With Folsom's median owner value near $755,200 and Elk Grove's near $630,100, plenty of owners have already talked to an agent. So our callers ask on every call whether there's a realtor or another buyer involved and write the answer into the note. A seller who has heard the retail pitch and still wants a quick, as-is sale is a real lead. One who wants full market value isn't, and we don't send that one to you.