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.

How Big Your Down Payment Should Be

“Is it wise to put down a large down payment or put down the smallest amount possible? We have a lot of cash from the home we sold in Boston and can put down almost 50%. Or should we go 10% down and borrow the rest?” Answer: Simple question, not as simple to answer. Regarding
Read more
No Comments

Listing Your San Diego Home for a Short Time

“Hi Gary. My wife and I plan to sell our home in January. When we sold our last home in 2000, we chose some agent who promised us a high price but turned out to be a slacker. He didn’t do anything and never called to tell us what was going on. I don’t want
Read more
No Comments

An Unethical Agent-Abusing Tactic

“My wife and I are looking for a North Park home. Her brother is a contractor and also has a real estate license. He told us to do all the legwork and have agents show us homes, then he’d write the offer for us. So we’ve been calling agents to see homes, but we just
Read more
No Comments

Selling Your San Diego Home Vacant vs. w/ Tenant

“Hi Gary. We love your Q&A. Question: We want you to sell our rented La Jolla home in January. So my question is whether we should sell the house vacant or with the tenant in? What do you think?” Answer: Great question. The best answer is usually to sell it vacant, but the right answer
Read more
No Comments

How Banks Approve a Short Sale

“What do banks look at when they decide if they’ll approve a short sale?” Answer: Banks look at: 1. The owner’s “hardship” or reason for having to sell. 2. Whether they think the owner can keep making mortgage payments, based on their income relative to expenses, including the mortgage. 3. The owner’s cash, stocks, bonds,
Read more
No Comments

Investor Offers on Fannie Mae’s Foreclosures

“Hey Gary do you have offers from investors? Can I write an offer now, though I know it is only day 12 out of 15?” Answer: Let me explain the context: this is an agent asking if she can write an offer for an investor on a Fannie Mae-owned property that has been listed for
Read more
No Comments

Agents Who Promise Exaggerated Prices

“Gary, we talked to you in July, but listed our Pacific Beach home on XXXXX Street with another agent because she promised us a higher price. It’s not selling and we realize our agent lied to us about the price just to get our listing. I’m surprised she’s so unethical, working at such a reputable
Read more
No Comments

Does Anyone Read the Whole Contract?

“When my wife and I bought our home this year, the contract was about 15 pages long, full of small print. We had about 10 minutes to skim it before we signed. Does anyone ever read the whole contract?” Answer: Almost nobody. Of the 3,000+ clients I’ve served over 21 years, I could count on
Read more
No Comments

Learning More About Home Refinancing

“Dear Mr. Kent, do you have some kind of reading material about home refinancing? We would appreciate it if you can send us some materials on this matter because we are seriously thinking of refinancing our San Diego home before our adjustable loan gets mature.” Answer: Thanks for your email. Since I don’t handle mortgages
Read more
No Comments

Understanding Buyer Cancellation Penalties

“On what date can the buyer no longer back out without penalty?” Answer: It depends on the contract. It’s often the 17th day after acceptance, but your case could be different. Let me address a related issue… Many agents tell their clients, “if the buyer cancels, you get the deposit.” This is not necessarily correct.
Read more
No Comments