Home Equity Line vs. Equity Loan vs. HELOC

San Diego Realtor Gary Kent describes the differences between Home Equity Line vs. Equity Loan vs. HELOC.
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The Trouble with Home-Swapping

“Is there such a thing as a home/property swap, where I trade my home for another person’s home?” Answer: You’re the second person to ask me that this week. Yes, this is theoretically possible, but the challenge is having all these things happen at once: 1. You like someone’s home enough to buy it, you
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Can a Seller “Knock Out” Your Short Sale Offer?

“If I make an offer on a short sale and get it accepted, can the seller keep trying to get higher offers and submit them to the bank, effectively knocking out my offer?” Answer: Great question, complex answer… First of all, once your offer is accepted, the property must be placed in “Contingent” status in
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How Much Are Closing Costs When Selling?

“How much should I expect to pay in closing costs when selling my home?” Answer Depending on how much your San Diego home sells for, a rough rule of thumb for seller’s closing costs is .5% to 1%. The .5% is more for multi-million dollar homes. For simplicity, use 1%. Note that this does not
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What Does “Owner Will Carry” Mean?

“I’ve seen the phrase “owner will carry” in a couple of real estate ads. What does that mean?” Answer: It means that if you buy a property, the seller acts like a bank and loans you part of their proceeds for a first or second loan on the property. For example, your banker tells you
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What to Disclose When Selling Your San Diego Home

“Hi Gary, my husband and I will be calling you next month to sell our La Jolla home. I’m doing my homework now and have a question: What are we supposed to disclose? We want to do the right thing and also avoid any problems after we sell…” Answer: You’re legally required to disclose anything
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Use Caution When Buying a San Diego Home w/ a View

“If I buy a home with a view, would my neighbor be allowed to build up or grow their trees and block the view?” Answer: To my knowledge, there’s NO universal law or statute preventing someone from blocking someone else’s view. All I know of that may protect a view are neighborhood CC&Rs (covenants, conditions,
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Selling Your Home vs. Continuing to Rent it Out

My mom, who is 60, lives in OC and owns a townhome. She has a situation with the renters. She doesn’t know whether to just sell or continue renting it out. My mom has several health issues and feels this “rental” is causing her extra stress. I told her to make a pro’s and con’s
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3 Types of Credit Scores Explained

“Hi Gary. Question about credit scores. I thought the max was 850, but I just bought a car and they said my score was 870. How is that possible? I asked the guy at the dealership and he didn’t know.” Answer: Congratulations for having great credit. But don’t worry, your 870 score hasn’t broken the
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Why Do Sellers Pay Title Insurance?

“There are so many costs to sell a home. Why am I supposed to pay for title insurance? I know there are no liens against my home. I’m sure a simple title search would show this.” Answer: Great question. Several clients have asked me this over the years… Title insurance covers more than just recorded
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