Should You Get a Stager for Your San Diego Home?

Question: “I’ll be selling my 1-bedroom condo that’s worth about 200K. At what point is it worth hiring a professional stager?” Answer: In my opinion, a good stager will return at least 3 and up to 10 times the fee, depending on the cost and the home price. Because your condo is small, it should
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How Do Homesellers View Contingent Offers?

Question: “My wife and I want to buy a house. We don’t want to list our condo unless we have a house to buy. So we’ll have to buy contingent on selling our condo. How do homesellers look at contingent offers?” Answer: A bit cross-eyed. Homesellers do not love contingent offers because they must wait
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Should You Handle Evictions Yourself or Hire a Lawyer?

Question: “I have a tenant who’s not paying the rent. Do you think I should handle the eviction myself or hire a lawyer?” Answer: Hire an attorney. Landlord/tenant law in California is very much skewed in the tenant’s favor. If you try to handle the eviction and make the tiniest mistake, your entire eviction could
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Can You Sell Without Paying Taxes on the Gain?

Question: “I’ve heard about avoiding taxes when you sell your home. There’s some rule about owning and living in the house two years. My wife and I rented a house nine years and finally bought it in 2012. Then in 2013 we moved to Seattle. So we didn’t own and live in it at the
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Make Sure Your Home Offers Are Realistic

Question: “I found a fixer-upper house in Del Mar listed at a good price. It needed a lot of repairs, which I took off the price and made an offer. But the seller rejected it. Any advice on how to convince them to take my offer?” Answer: Yes, raise your offer. I could be wrong,
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What to Do With Your San Diego Home After Improving It

Question: “I just finished renovating my condo. It has never looked this good in the 20 years I’ve owned it, so I’ve decided to keep it and rent it out…” Answer: Since you did so much to your condo, be sure to get a big security deposit from a potential tenant. You may even want
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A Real Estate License Isn’t a “Golden Ticket”

Question: “A friend of the family just got a real estate license, so we’re going to have him sell our home.” Answer: This reminds me of what I call the “Golden Ticket Syndrome.” Remember Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory? If you had a Golden Ticket you got the grand tour of Willy’s candy factory
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How Much to Deposit When Making a San Diego Home Offer

Question: “How much is a normal deposit when you make an offer on a house?” Answer: A typical deposit is 1-2% of the purchase price. But just because it’s typical doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the approach you should take. Offering a bigger deposit, say over 2%, is a way of making your offer appear stronger
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Can You Buy Real Estate in Your IRA?

Question: “Hi Gary. Do you know if you’re allowed to buy real estate in your IRA?” Answer: Yes, we’ve helped clients do it and I’ve even done it myself a few times. You must have a self-directed retirement account with a company (aka “custodian”) that allows real estate IRAs. And you must follow the rules,
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The Crystal Ball Question & The Definition of Value

Question: “I know the market has recovered most of what it lost, but I still don’t think I can get what my home is worth. When do you think we’ll fully recover to 2006 prices?” Answer: First, a non-answer, then a comment… Non-Answer Your question of when will we retake the peak of the 2006
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