“Awhile back you talked about how bad those Find-An-Agent websites are. I agree completely. I recently used one because I had to sell my mom’s home in Los Angeles. The agents they put me in touch with were awful. But those sites say they’re top agents. Do you know how they screen them, if at

“You’ve been talking about questions to ask when you’re deciding on an agent to sell your home. What about just asking how long they’ve been in real estate?” ***ANSWER: Thursday, one agent who was also a mortgage broker (bad news already!) told me it was illegal for the bank/seller to ask his client to prequalify

“Our family is growing and we’re running out of space. We’re expecting our third child and we’re trying to decide if should stay and add-on or sell and move up. What advice can you give us?” ***ANSWER: My best advice is to ask yourself these questions: 1. Do you love where you live? Does your

“A bank foreclosure just came up that we think is about 10% under-priced. My wife and I want to buy it to live in and would like to get a good deal. The main thing is to get the home, but of course we don’t want to overpay. Do you recommend we offer below, at,

“Hey Gary. I’ll be selling my rental house and the place is a mess so I plan to evict the tenants and fix the place up. Do you know any good contractors? Also, I heard there’s some law that you have to give the tenant 60-days notice to move out. Is that true?” ***ANSWER: Yes,

“Hi Gary. You sure are the king of foreclosures. My wife and I want to buy one, but need to sell our home first. Will a bank take a contingent offer on a foreclosure?” ***ANSWER: Absolutely no chance. Even if your home is in escrow, no bank will accept the closing as a contingency. Sorry.

“Hi Gary. I’m not ready to sell yet, but I’ve been going to open houses so I’ve got a good idea of what my home is worth…” ***ANSWER: I know that’s not a question, but I’ve got an answer. Going to open houses will NOT tell you what your home is worth! For example, in

“I’ve searched your site and a lot of houses don’t show the square feet, especially in La Jolla. It makes it a lot harder to find homes. Why do some agents leave the square feet off?” ***ANSWER: Two main reasons: 1. The house is so small that the agent doesn’t want to “advertise” how small

“I’ve heard about CalFHA financing. Is that the same as FHA?” ***ANSWER: It’s Cal-HFA, not Cal-FHA. Cal-HFA stands for “California Housing Finance Agency.” To make things more confusing, you can actually combine Cal-HFA and FHA, giving you a Cal-HFA FHA loan. Got it? Cal-HFA has special loan programs for first-time homebuyers, many with low-downpayment options.

“Once I receive an offer on my home, how long do I have to respond?” ***ANSWER: Great question. Believe it or not, there is no specific time frame that I’m aware of. Unless you have another offer coming in, my advice is typically to respond in 24 hours or less. Buying a home is very