Why You’ll Get a Bigger Loan on a House vs. a Condo

Question: “Maybe you can answer this for me. I talked with a lender who said I can buy a house for 490K, but a condo for only 450K. Why do I qualify for a higher price for a house than for a condo?” Answer: It’s because of the HOA fees. The lender adds them to
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Should You Sell or Add Onto Your San Diego Home?

Question: “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: Do you love where you live? Does your
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What Is a “Highest and Best” Offer?

Question: “We made an offer on a home. The seller responded saying there are several offers and asking for ‘highest and best’. Can you explain what that is exactly?” Answer: The seller is countering those who offered on their home. But instead of countering with a specific price, they’re asking the buyers to come back
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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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Do You Give Tenants 30- or 60-Day Notice?

Question: “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:
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Offer At, Below or Above List Price on a San Diego Home?

Question: “My husband and I have been looking for a home for four months. The perfect house just came up in University City that’s probably asking 5-10% below the market. Not sure what to offer. Do you think we should offer below the asking price, at the list price, or above?” Answer: Information flows so
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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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Are Successful Agents Too Busy for Your San Diego Home?

Question: “Hi Gary! We’re big fans of your newsletter and have been reading it for years. Silly question. We know you sell a lot of homes. We just have a small condo we want to sell. Are you too busy to handle that?” Answer: That’s a great question, not a silly one. 🙂 When I
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Will This Value Range Pricing Mistake Haunt Sellers?

Question: “I saw an ad that said the seller ‘will ACCEPT offers between $600,000 and $660,000.’ If that’s the case, why wouldn’t everyone just offer $600,000?” Answer: Unfortunately, the broker isn’t stating that correctly. It’s supposed to say: “Seller will entertain offers between $600,000 and $660,000” or perhaps just “Value range $600,000 to $660,000”. That
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Is Your Credit Info Sold to Banks?

Question: “I’ve heard that when you apply for a loan that your information is sold to banks so that they can solicit you to get a loan through them. Is that true?” Answer: Every time your credit report is run, the credit bureaus can sell the information to companies who purchase “trigger leads.” Companies who
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