Selling Church Property With Expert Guidance:
Selling church property is one of the most significant decisions your organization will make. Whether you’re relocating, consolidating ministries, or transitioning your mission, you need more than a typical real estate broker—you need specialized expertise that understands both complex real estate transactions and the unique legal needs of faith-based organizations.
When you sell church property, you’re navigating tax-exempt status protections, nonprofit liability concerns, contract negotiations, and spiritual considerations that most brokers miss entirely. Bushore Church Real Estate, led by Ryan C. Bushore (recognized as a Lawyer of Distinction for Real Estate in 2024 and 2025, and in Los Angeles Magazine’s 2024 Super Lawyers and Super Lawyers Rising Stars for Real Estate), is a real estate broker specializing in churches and nonprofits.
Why Churches Choose Bushore for Selling:
Not your typical real estate brokers. I’m an attorney and real estate broker who specializes exclusively in serving churches and nonprofits. I provide market evaluations, property management, comprehensive consulting, and nonprofit closings, and handle nonprofit closings and dissolutions with the California Attorney General.
We represent churches throughout California, including Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County, the Inland Empire, Sacramento, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Whether you’re selling a small neighborhood church or a large campus, we handle church property sales across the entire state.
Experience Selling Church Property
I’ve successfully closed transactions ranging from $1 to tens of millions of dollars, including churches, nonprofits, schools, and faith-based organizations throughout California and beyond. I represent clients with properties across the entire state and many headquartered outside California. When you work with me to sell your church property, you’re working with someone who has seen virtually every scenario and knows how to navigate the complexities.
From small neighborhood churches to major regional nonprofits, I understand the distinct challenges each organization faces when selling church property. I know how to value church buildings that may have been in your organization for generations, and I understand the emotional and spiritual weight of that decision alongside the financial considerations.
Your Priorities Matter When You Sell Church Property
One church leader told me: “Your assistance and guidance in contract negotiations and selling of our northern parcel of land have been invaluable. The sensitivity you showed to the priorities of a church made you easy to work with.”
I understand that selling your church property isn’t just a transaction. It’s a decision that affects your ministry, your congregation, and your organization’s future. I treat it with the spiritual sensitivity and professional expertise it deserves. Your priorities—whether that’s maintaining your mission, protecting your tax-exempt status, or finding the right buyer who shares your values—are at the center of every decision we make together.
Handle the Complexity So You Don’t
When you sell church property, you face unique legal, tax, and liability issues that most real estate professionals don’t understand. My expertise protects your organization from:
– Tax-exempt status protection during and after the church property sale, see the IRS nonprofit resources
– Liability concerns (Asbestos, Hazardous Materials, ADA compliance, lead-based paint)
– Contract protections specific to nonprofit organizations
– Negotiating agreements that meet your organization’s spiritual and financial goals
– Title issues unique to religious properties
– Exemption considerations and compliance requirements
Learn more about our comprehensive church real estate services, or read articles about church property topics.
Our Process:
Legal & Tax Guidance
Protect your organization’s tax-exempt status and navigate complex nonprofit law when you sell church property. We handle title issues, exemption considerations, and ensure your sale complies with all regulatory requirements. Our legal expertise safeguards your church throughout the entire transaction.
If your congregation is closing rather than continuing, see our guide on what happens when a church closes, or learn how to close a church in California.
Contract Negotiation & Marketing
Our attorneys and consultants negotiate on your behalf to get the best terms for your organization when selling your church property. We draft and review all agreements to protect your interests, handle complex negotiations, and ensure the sale aligns with your ministry goals.
Our guide on how to sell church property walks through each stage of that process in more detail.
Complete Legal & Real Estate Representation
We provide comprehensive guidance through every step of selling your church property—from initial strategy to final closing. Our combined expertise in real estate law and nonprofit operations means your organization gets complete representation, not just brokerage services.
If you’re still weighing whether selling is the right move, see when a church should sell its property, along with our guides on special use appraisals and appraisals vs. market evaluations.
Can I just list my church property for sale myself, or have a member of the congregation handle it?
A listing is only the marketing step — even when a specialist broker markets a property on a site like LoopNet, the church still needs conflict-free representation to secure congregational approval, confirm clear title, and handle the Attorney General notice. Using a member who happens to hold a real estate license carries its own risk: are they working for the church, or for their own commission? That conflict of interest can complicate or even derail a sale. A specialist broker who understands both the zoning issues specific to church property (conditional use permits, nonconforming use) and the nonprofit corporate requirements (congregational approval, Attorney General notice, tax-exempt status protections) protects the transaction in ways a general agent — member of the church or not — typically isn’t positioned to.
Do I need Attorney General approval to sell church property?
Often, yes. California Corporations Code §9633 generally requires a religious corporation to give the Attorney General written notice at least 20 days before selling, leasing, or otherwise disposing of substantially all of its assets (75% or more), unless a waiver has been granted.
Are congregational approval and Attorney General approval the same requirement?
No — they are two separate and independent requirements, and satisfying one does not satisfy the other. Congregational approval is an internal governance matter: your bylaws and governing documents determine who must authorize the sale on behalf of the organization — the board, the membership, or both — and that approval has nothing to do with any outside agency. Attorney General notice, by contrast, is an external, statutory requirement under California Corporations Code §9633: it runs to the state, not your congregation, and generally must be given at least 20 days before the sale, lease, or other disposition of substantially all of a religious corporation’s assets, regardless of what your bylaws require internally. A sale can be properly approved internally and still be delayed if the Attorney General notice is skipped, mishandled, or given late, so both steps need to be tracked on their own timeline.
How long does it take to sell a church in California?
Timelines vary based on your congregation’s approval process, the property’s zoning and buyer pool, and whether the sale requires Attorney General notice under California Corporations Code §9633. Congregational approval alone can take a few weeks depending on your bylaws, and once Attorney General notice is triggered, California law requires at least 20 days before the sale can close. Because so much depends on your specific situation, we can give you a realistic timeline once we understand the details of your sale.
Do church properties have environmental or accessibility issues that come up in a sale?
Environmental issues are worth flagging early: older church buildings can involve asbestos-containing materials, lead-based paint, and other hazardous materials common in properties built or renovated before the 1980s, which can affect disclosure obligations and how a transaction is structured. Accessibility is different from what many sellers expect — Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act specifically exempts religious organizations and entities they control, including places of worship, so a church’s own religious use of the property isn’t subject to ADA accessibility requirements the way a typical commercial building would be. That exemption travels with the church’s use, though, not necessarily with a buyer’s: if the property is being sold for a non-religious use, or has been leased or operated for secular purposes, ADA and California accessibility requirements can apply independent of the church’s own exemption. None of this prevents a sale, but it’s worth surfacing through the right inspections and disclosures so it’s addressed in the purchase agreement rather than becoming a dispute after closing.