“Hi Gary. We just bought a new construction home in San Marcos. We’re moving soon and can’t decide if we should sell or rent our home in North Park. It’s worth $575,000 and we owe $319,000 with a monthly payment of $1900. It’ll rent for $2,000 per month, so we’ll have a small positive cash

“I’ve seen some properties say ‘corporate owned’. Does that mean it’s a foreclosure?” Answer: Usually. It typically means it’s a foreclosure, or occasionally if a relocation company has bought someone’s home to facilitate their job transfer or new job. Some banks don’t like us to use “foreclosure” when marketing their properties, but most of those

“I can’t make my house payment and am trying to decide if I want to do a short sale or just let it be foreclosed on. Can you tell me about short sales?” Answer: I’m very experienced in short sales, having done about 200 of them. Qualifying: It’s the opposite of applying for a loan.

“Hi Gary. We’re looking to buy our first home, but we’re hesitant to start working with an agent because we don’t know how their fees work. Do I pay the agent that helps me find a home?” Answer: Great question! I hear that a lot from our clients like you who’ve never bought a home

“I’m afraid of losing my deposit if I don’t get my loan. Will the 3-day right of rescission protect me?” Answer: Bad news, good news. Bad News: You have no right of rescission when you buy a home. Such laws do not apply to real estate contracts. Good News: The standard California CAR contract gives

“How can you tell a good foreclosure from a bad one?” Answer: I’m guessing your question is about the either condition or value. Let me deal with condition first… “How can you tell a foreclosure is in good vs. bad condition?” My answer is that you do the same things you would do for any

“Hi Gary. I read your newsletter every week. My girlfriend and I want to get our ducks in a row before we buy a home. Is there anything we should or shouldn’t be doing?” Answer: Great question. Until you actually get the call that your escrow has CLOSED on your new home, here’s a few

“I’m interested in selling my condo in La Jolla. I’ve already spoken with an agent who promised she’d accompany other agents for all the showings. Are you willing to do that?” Answer: No. I’d never do you such a disservice. Your home should be shown via “call first/lockbox”. Meaning agents call you and arrange a

“I just made an offer on a condo. There were several offers and the bank accepted one without even sending me a counter-offer. I offered almost full price but would have paid more. Why didn’t they even send me a counter-offer?” Answer: Different bank asset managers (who handle the sale of foreclosures) handle multiple offers

“I saw on the news that to raise revenue they’re raising property taxes 2%. With our economy, this is the wrong time to do that. I thought Proposition 13 prevented that…” Answer: Sometimes the way media sells newspapers and gets eyeballs to websites and TV is by making things interesting, even controversial. What you’ve heard