When Low Owner-Occupancy Hurts Your Condo Value

Question: “I live in a four-unit condo complex. Three occupants are owners and the fourth is a vacation home for the owners. Now one of the owners plans to move and rent his unit. Does this hurt the value of my condo?” Answer: If a condo complex falls below 60% owner-occupied, financing gets more difficult
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Buying One Rental with Cash vs. More with Mortgages

Question: “Do you think it’s smarter to buy one rental property for cash, or buy 2-3 with mortgages?” Answer: Yours is a good question about risk and leverage. Let’s look at some things you can do with $250,000: Example #1 – Bad $250,000 can buy you a $250,000 CD that pays you 1%. No leverage,
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Selling Your San Diego Home With Tenant or Without

Question: “Hi Gary, We have been on your mailing list for quite some time and we have always enjoyed reading what you have to say. The time has come where we would like to sell one of our rental properties. It is currently tenant occupied and we must give the tenant notice. Once it is
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Is It Too Late for a 1031 Exchange?

Question: “I’m selling a rental property and we’re closing in two weeks.  I just talked to my tax guy and he said I should do a 1031 tax-deferred exchange.  Is it too late?” Answer: Probably not. Fortunately you’re deciding sooner than my client did.  He called me as the grant deed (transferring ownership to the
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What Makes Home Valuation Sites So Bad?

Question: “You always say that Zillow and other sites are so inaccurate.  What do you think causes them to be so far off?” Answer: There are many reasons sites like these are so inaccurate.  Here are a few: They “pull” comps from within X miles of the subject.  However those often include neighborhoods geographically close
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Pest Control Clearance Approval

Question: “I’m selling a townhouse.  My agent is a friend, but he’s new and inexperienced, so I’d like your opinion.  We accepted an offer and the buyer’s lender insists that it be tented.  The homeowner’s association pays for that, but it’s taking a long time to get their approval, let alone get it scheduled and
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Limits on 1031 Exchange

Question: “We just bought a house to fix and flip and will do a 1031 exchange so we don’t have to pay taxes.  So our question is…” Answer: Sorry, but I’ve got to interrupt.  I’m about to make you very sad right now, but you’ll avoid much greater sadness later. Per IRS rules, you cannot
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Is Your San Diego Home Improvement Worth It?

Question: “We got a contractor’s bid of $24,000 to put in new cherry finish cabinets and granite counter tops in the kitchen and both baths, plus a new range/oven.  Do you think that’s a good investment and we would get more than the $24,000 back if we do these things?” Answer: The $24,000 sounds like
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Can You Move Into Your Rental to Avoid Taxes?

Question: “I talked with my tax guy about selling my rental condo and he said I’m going to have to pay about 40K in taxes if I sell it without doing a 1031 exchange.  So I’m going to move into my rental for two years so that I don’t have to pay any taxes when
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Are There Still Fix-And-Flip Houses Left to Buy?

Question: “I’d like to start buying, fixing and flipping houses.  Lots of people making are making big bucks doing it.  Do you know any good houses I could buy?” Answer: Sorry, but that train has pretty much left the station. When values were rocketing up and foreclosures were plentiful, I’d tell you to jump right
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