California Just Mandated Remote Permit Inspections. Your Sale Still Runs on the Old Clock

Open permits are one of the quietest deal-killers in a California sale. The work gets done, the final inspection never happens, and the permit sits open in the building department’s file until a buyer’s agent pulls the record in escrow. California just passed a law aimed squarely at the bottleneck behind that — and then set the deadline far enough out that it will not touch a sale you close this year or next.

What AB 1738 actually does

• ·Governor Newsom signed AB 1738 (Carrillo), State Housing Law: remote inspections, on September 21, 2026. It is now Chapter 271 of the Statutes of 2026 (AB 1738 bill record, California Legislative Information)
• ·It requires a city or county to offer the homeowner — or a contractor with the homeowner’s written consent — the option to request a remote inspection for all or part of an inspection required by a building permit on a one- or two-family dwelling (same bill record)
• ·Covered work: residential reroofs, heat pump water heaters and heat pump HVAC systems, rooftop solar and energy storage systems, minor electrical and plumbing work, and smoke and carbon monoxide detectors (same bill record)
• ·The inspector keeps the last word: a remote inspection can be ended mid-stream and an in-person visit required if compliance cannot be verified through the camera

The dates are the whole story

The Assembly Committee on Local Government’s analysis named the underlying problem: contractors generally wait two to six hours for an in-person inspection (committee analysis, hearing date April 15, 2026).

The fix arrives late. Larger jurisdictions — cities above 50,000 people and counties of at least 150,000 — have until January 1, 2028; smaller qualifying cities have until July 1, 2028. Cities under 5,000 people, and counties under 150,000 along with every city inside them, are exempt (AB 1738, Chapter 271, Statutes of 2026; SolarAPP Foundation announcement, September 28, 2026).

Some jurisdictions will move sooner. The SolarAPP Foundation said on September 28, 2026 that it will offer remote virtual inspection software to every California jurisdiction, that its pilot with five California jurisdictions began in August 2026, and that general availability is planned for early 2027 (same announcement). Whether your city is one of them is a question for your building department.

Why a permit sign-off is a selling problem

California’s Transfer Disclosure Statement (Civil Code section 1102 et seq.) requires a seller to disclose known material facts about the property, and the standard Seller Property Questionnaire asks directly about improvements made without permits or without a final sign-off. Disclosing an open permit up front is survivable. A buyer discovering one in escrow is the expensive version. See the disclosures you’ll actually need.

The calendar is what makes it bite. The California Association of Realtors’ August 2026 home sales and price report, released September 16, put statewide median days on market at 28 and the statewide median price at $901,420. Escrow sits on top of that. A permit final discovered in week three is not a scheduling nuisance — it is a credit request or a cancellation.

Take the Bay Area as the concrete case: the same report put the regional median at $1,272,000, down 0.2% year over year. Add the cost of money — Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey put the 30-year fixed at 7.03% on September 24, 2026, up from 6.95% the week before — and a buyer carrying that payment has very little appetite for an open-ended delay. The mechanics are identical on a home a third of that price in Fresno, Redding or Bakersfield.

The pre-listing permit plan that works today

None of this is legal advice. For your parcel, ask the building department with jurisdiction; for contract questions, a California real estate attorney.

• ·Pull your property’s permit history from the building department before you list. Most California jurisdictions produce it on request, and some publish it online.
• ·Look for permits issued but never finaled — a reroof, a water heater, a panel upgrade, a solar install, a garage or ADU conversion.
• ·Ask the building department two questions: what it takes to final an old permit, and how far out inspections are booking. The second answer sets your listing date.
• ·Ask whether the jurisdiction already offers remote or video inspections. Several do voluntarily today; the new law sets a floor and a deadline, not a start date.
• ·If an old permit cannot be closed in time, disclose it in writing and price it, rather than letting a buyer find it.
• ·Keep permits, final sign-offs, invoices and dated photos in one file with your disclosures.

The number that is actually yours to set

You do not decide when your city stands up a remote inspection program. You do decide what selling costs you.

A traditional listing-side commission of about 3% runs roughly $30,000 on a $1,000,000 home. Guided Home Realty lists your home on the same MLS every agent uses, with a licensed California broker, for $999 at MLS launch (non-refundable) plus $5,000 from escrow when it closes — $5,999 total on that $1,000,000 home instead of a percentage. Against a traditional ~$30,000 commission, that is $24K+ you keep.

See real verified results, then start with a free, no-obligation estimate of your home’s value.