Where in San Diego is the best appreciation rate?

Question: “Where’s the best place to buy a home in San Diego to get the highest appreciation rate?” Answer: People ask me this all the time. Call me a boring theorist, but my answer is always this: All other things being equal, all parts of San Diego should appreciate at about the same % rate
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How often should my agent hold an open house?

Question: “How many open houses should my agent do?” Answer: Somewhere between zero and who knows. Yes, that’s pretty broad. The truth is that while open houses never hurt, they’re only one small tool in the toolbox of an agent to sell your home. Contrary to popular belief, only about 2% of homes sell from
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Do I really have to read all of the loan documents?

Question: “Help! We’re refinancing and have heard there’s hundreds of pages to sign. We’re not speed readers, so there’s no way we’re going to read it all. Any suggestions?” Answer: I agree. When you get a mortgage and are asked to sign a 1.5-inch high stack of papers, you’re not going to read every word. 
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You’re Invited to Our Next Open House Extravaganza on July 20th

open house extravaganza with gary kent july 20, 2019
    You’re invited to another Open House Extravaganza! Join me on Saturday, July 20th from 1–4pm at 3610 Gaylord Court in Clairemont. We’ll have wine, cheese, music, and good conversation. I hope to see you there!        
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This Week’s Crazy Building: V8 Hotel

The V8 Hotel in Böblingen, Germany proves car shaped beds are not just for kids! Inside are a variety of themed rooms such as Made In Germany, British Racing, Off Road, Gas Station (featured above), Drive-In, and Carwash. Car-shaped soap comes with each room, of course. If a themed room is not your style they
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Don’t Make This Mistake When Pricing Your Home

Here is one way people tend to price their homes that is actually a bad idea. A very common mistake people make when pricing their homes is that they look at the list prices of other homes. For example, say the home down the street from the buyer is for sale. They’ll go up to
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What are “iBuyers”?

Question: “Hi, I’ve heard Zillow is going to start buying homes. What’s that about?” Answer: Have you seen those scribbled signs by the side of the road that say, “I’ll buy your home for cash”? Or received one of those letters where they pretend they’re specifically interested in buying your house for cash, but it’s
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What home repairs are the most expensive?

Question: “I’ve got a dumb question for you. We’re planning to buy a home and will definitely have a contractor inspect it for us. I know no home is perfect. My question is, how do I know the difference between normal little things that we shouldn’t worry about versus things that are a problem? Will
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Why homeowners insurance is important

Question: “You should warn your readers about this… I just bought a property for cash and found out after closing that I had NO INSURANCE! I had told my insurance company well in advance, and assumed escrow would be sure I was insured. But they all dropped the ball. Thanks goodness nothing happened.” Answer: Thank
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Important Property Tax Information for You

Property taxes work a little differently in San Diego than they do in most other places. Here’s what I mean. Here’s a boring real estate topic that you probably need to know a lot about (especially if you’re a homebuyer): property taxes. This is something I’m asked about all the time so I wanted to
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