and the winner we have to pay high CA taxes
California being a high-tax state is somewhat of a myth. Actually, property taxes in California are relatively low due to the passage of the infamous "Proposition 13" back in the 70's that lowered assessments to just 1% of property value. The house will be reassessed at a new higher value due to the sale, but compared to many other states, CA prop taxes are lowish.
Now if the residents are moving from another state, they may get sticker shock from sales taxes at 7.25%. But that's only 1% higher than supposedly "low-tax" Texas at 6.25%. Call me a crazy liberal, but every year I pay my state income taxes, I think that it's not so much, really, considering I live in such a great place.