Top 3 Tips to Increase Your Credit Score
Monday, 21 May 2012
by Gary Kent
“My wife and I want to buy a home in Clairemont or TierraSanta in the next year or two, but my credit score is below 600. Do you know how to increase it?” Answer: I’m not a credit expert, but “Mr. Credit” Derrick Evens recently stated his Top 3 Credit Tips. This is from a
- Published in Home Buying, Home Financing, Real Estate Tips
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The Trouble with Home-Swapping
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
by Gary Kent
“Is there such a thing as a home/property swap, where I trade my home for another person’s home?” Answer: You’re the second person to ask me that this week. Yes, this is theoretically possible, but the challenge is having all these things happen at once: 1. You like someone’s home enough to buy it, you
Getting a Home Warranty When Buying a San Diego Home
Sunday, 06 May 2012
by Gary Kent
“Hi Gary. I’ve never bought a home before and I’m a little nervous. Do you get some kind of warranty when you buy a home?” Answer: New homes offer some coverage by the builder against defects for the first ten years. If you buy a resale home, you can get a “Home Protection Plan” or
- Published in Home Buying, Real Estate Tips
What Does “Owner Will Carry” Mean?
Monday, 30 April 2012
by Gary Kent
“I’ve seen the phrase “owner will carry” in a couple of real estate ads. What does that mean?” Answer: It means that if you buy a property, the seller acts like a bank and loans you part of their proceeds for a first or second loan on the property. For example, your banker tells you
- Published in FAQs, Home Buying, Real Estate Tips
Use Caution When Buying a San Diego Home w/ a View
Tuesday, 24 April 2012
by Gary Kent
“If I buy a home with a view, would my neighbor be allowed to build up or grow their trees and block the view?” Answer: To my knowledge, there’s NO universal law or statute preventing someone from blocking someone else’s view. All I know of that may protect a view are neighborhood CC&Rs (covenants, conditions,
- Published in FAQs, Home Buying, San Diego
How Auction Pricing Fools Buyers
Sunday, 08 April 2012
by Gary Kent
“Gary, I saw a home in an excellent neighborhood for $225,000 and am very interested. How soon can I see it?” Answer: I’m not sure where you saw it advertised, but that San Diego home is being auctioned and $225,000 is just the opening bid. It will end up selling for dramatically more…probably over $400,000.
- Published in Home Buying, Real Estate Tips, San Diego
7 Things to Avoid to Improve Your Credit
Friday, 06 April 2012
by Gary Kent
“My wife and I plan to buy a La Jolla home this summer. Is there anything we should do now regarding getting a mortgage?” Answer: Yes, I suggest you call a reputable mortgage lender and get qualified now to find out if you need to do anything to improve your credit. And here are a
- Published in Home Buying, Real Estate Tips
If You Don’t Buy the Home, Do You Lose Your Deposit?
Sunday, 25 March 2012
by Gary Kent
“Hi Gary, I’ll be buying a San Diego home within the next few months. I’ve never bought a house before, so please excuse me if this is a dumb question. If I make an offer and it gets accepted, but I end up not buying the house, do I lose my deposit?” Answer: As you’ve
- Published in FAQs, Home Buying
Why Banks Prefer to Sell to Owner-Occupants
Friday, 23 March 2012
by Gary Kent
“I’ve been told that banks prefer to sell their foreclosures to owner occupant buyers. Is that true and why? I’m strictly an investor, so what’s the downside of just saying I’m going to live in the property?” Answer: That’s a lot of questions. I’ll answer them one at a time: 1. Do banks prefer to
- Published in FAQs, Home Buying
Making Your Highest and Best Offer
Wednesday, 07 March 2012
by Gary Kent
“Hi Gary. We and a couple of other people made offers on a home at the same time. Now the seller is asking for our highest/best, which I guess means for us to offer our highest price. I don’t want to get in a bidding war and am thinking of dropping out. What do you
- Published in FAQs, Home Buying, Real Estate Tips