Licensed since 1984, San Diego real estate broker Gary Kent is a recognized authority on real estate. In addition to selling over 5,500 homes for clients, he has been an expert court witness, trainer of other agents, and he does seminars on home buying, home selling, and investing. Gary has sold homes for The Salvation Army, dozens of major banks, and Fannie Mae, amongst others. You can find Gary on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Finding The Right San Diego Neighborhood

“I want to buy my first home soon. I definitely don’t want a condo and I can’t afford house in a very good neighborhood. I want to find an area that’s getting better, not worse. So how I can tell if a neighborhood is improving?” ***ANSWER: Great question. Most of the tips I can think
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Finding A San Diego Real Estate Agent

“Awhile back you talked about how bad those Find-An-Agent websites are. I agree completely. I recently used one because I had to sell my mom’s home in Los Angeles. The agents they put me in touch with were awful. But those sites say they’re top agents. Do you know how they screen them, if at
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Choosing A San Diego Real Estate Agent

“You’ve been talking about questions to ask when you’re deciding on an agent to sell your home. What about just asking how long they’ve been in real estate?” ***ANSWER: Thursday, one agent who was also a mortgage broker (bad news already!) told me it was illegal for the bank/seller to ask his client to prequalify
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Should I Stay Put or Sell?

“Our family is growing and we’re running out of space. We’re expecting our third child and we’re trying to decide if should stay and add-on or sell and move up. What advice can you give us?” ***ANSWER: My best advice is to ask yourself these questions: 1. Do you love where you live? Does your
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Buying A San Diego Foreclosure

“A bank foreclosure just came up that we think is about 10% under-priced. My wife and I want to buy it to live in and would like to get a good deal. The main thing is to get the home, but of course we don’t want to overpay. Do you recommend we offer below, at,
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Selling A San Diego Home

“Hey Gary. I’ll be selling my rental house and the place is a mess so I plan to evict the tenants and fix the place up. Do you know any good contractors? Also, I heard there’s some law that you have to give the tenant 60-days notice to move out. Is that true?” ***ANSWER: Yes,
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Contingent Offer On A Foreclosure

“Hi Gary. You sure are the king of foreclosures. My wife and I want to buy one, but need to sell our home first. Will a bank take a contingent offer on a foreclosure?” ***ANSWER: Absolutely no chance. Even if your home is in escrow, no bank will accept the closing as a contingency. Sorry.
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What Is My Home Worth?

“Hi Gary. I’m not ready to sell yet, but I’ve been going to open houses so I’ve got a good idea of what my home is worth…” ***ANSWER: I know that’s not a question, but I’ve got an answer. Going to open houses will NOT tell you what your home is worth! For example, in
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The Size of the Home

“I’ve searched your site and a lot of houses don’t show the square feet, especially in La Jolla. It makes it a lot harder to find homes. Why do some agents leave the square feet off?” ***ANSWER: Two main reasons: 1. The house is so small that the agent doesn’t want to “advertise” how small
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Is CAlFHA the Same as FHA?

“I’ve heard about CalFHA financing. Is that the same as FHA?” ***ANSWER: It’s Cal-HFA, not Cal-FHA. Cal-HFA stands for “California Housing Finance Agency.” To make things more confusing, you can actually combine Cal-HFA and FHA, giving you a Cal-HFA FHA loan. Got it? Cal-HFA has special loan programs for first-time homebuyers, many with low-downpayment options.
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