Should You Credit Buyers Money Instead of Doing Repairs?

Question: “When I sold my house a few years ago, the buyer requested some repairs. I took care of them, but it was a big hassle. What do you think of crediting the buyer money instead?” Answer: That’s a great idea. While your homebuyer may not like the quality of work done on a repair,
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Must Sellers Bring the Home Up to Code?

Question: “When you buy a home, does the seller have to bring the home up to current building code?” Answer: No*, thank goodness! Can you imagine the burden if the owner of a home built in 1950 were forced to bring their home to current code? So many people would hang onto their homes rather
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This Week’s Crazy Building: Light Cathedral

Light Cathedral by Zeisterre licensed under the terms of CC BY-SA 3.0
This week’s crazy building is the Light Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium. The Light Cathedral was an installation featured at the 2012 Ghent Light Festival. But although this was only a temporary feature of the city’s landscape, it left a lasting memory among those who experienced it. Luminarie de Cagna, an Italian family lighting business dating
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Can You Fix and Flip with a 1031 Exchange?

Question: “Hi Gary. I have a question about real estate investing. Can you buy and flip fixer uppers doing a 1031 exchange?” Answer: No. If you buy a property and sell it a short time later without “holding it for investment” a sufficient time (probably 1-2 years), the IRS will likely consider it “dealer property”
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How Much Are Costs When Sell a San Diego Home?

Question: “How much are the costs when you sell a home?” Answer: In addition to the real estate fee, you will have: Just under 1% for title insurance, half the escrow fee, county transfer tax, HOA (homeowner association) documents (if any) and other smaller fees. An unknown amount for repairs the buyer requests that you
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San Diego’s Changing Housing Market

Question: “My wife and I were looking for a home a few months ago and gave up. We were tired of making offers and losing out to higher bidders and cash buyers. But I’m seeing a lot more for-sale signs. Do you think the market changed?” Answer: Yes! While most of the media is months
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New California Purchase Contract Coming in November

The California Association of Realtors is launching a new version of our standard real estate contract in November of 2014. Among these changes are: It will go from eight pages to ten pages. There will be several new forms that are automatically associated with the contract. There have been some improvements to safeguard home sellers
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How to Screen Potential Tenants

Question: “We’re in escrow buying a couple of condos as investments. We want to make sure we get good tenants. Can you suggest any tips for screening potential tenants?” Answer: I used to put on a seminar called, “Purchasing Duplex, Triplexes, & Fourplexes as a Home or Investment.” Here are some of the tenant-screening strategies
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Must I Fumigate My San Diego Home Before Selling?

Question: “Do I have to fumigate my house for termites in order to sell it?” Answer: Almost never. I’ll explain when you do have to fumigate, but first let me correct three myths about termite fumigations: Myth #1: “You’re legally required to fumigate when you sell.” Over the years, many of my clients have thought
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This Week’s Crazy Building: Jagged Apartments

Etoiles d'Ivry by Guilhem Vellut is licensed under CC BY 2.0
This week’s crazy building is the Jagged Apartments in Paris, France. This bizarre set of apartment buildings was constructed by famous French architect Jean Renaudie, known for his unusual form of brutalist architecture. A true concrete jungle, it has greenery covering much of its tiered patios and even stretches across the street as if trying to
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