Don’t Fall Prey to the “Above Average” Fallacy

Question: “We’re planning to sell our home in Carlsbad this June. Homes in our neighborhood are going in the 700s, but ours is much better than average, so we expect to at least get in the 800s. Do you think the low 900s would be pushing it?” Answer: Before I answer your question, please answer
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Can Your Bank Get Your Money After a Short Sale?

Question: “I’m planning to do a short sale. But if I come into some money later, can my bank go after me and try and get that money?” Answer: Not if you’re selling a property in California! Because of California Senate Bill 931 and Assembly Bill 458, when lenders agree to a short sale, they’re
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Get New Free Furniture for Your San Diego Home

Question: “We have a question. We’re going to sell our home. When we get our new place, we plan to buy brand new furniture because our current furniture is ugly and old and out of style. Do you recommend we sell our home vacant?” Answer: Here’s a novel way to effectively get your new furniture
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Should You Sell Your San Diego Home ‘FSBO’?

Question: “We need to net the most money from selling our current home to buy our next home. So we want to sell our home FSBO [for sale by owner] to save on the broker fee. What do you think?” Answer: I understand your concern about netting the most money from a sale. Given that
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Beware of Home Valuation Sites

Question: “I saw a house listed for 1.2 million, but Zillow shows it’s only worth 781K. Do you think they’d accept an offer in that range?” Answer: You must be new to my Q&A! Otherwise you’d have heard my rants about how grossly inaccurate ALL the home pricing websites are. It’s not uncommon for them
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Should You Sell Your San Diego Home Furnished?

Question: “We’re moving to the east coast. We’re not taking most of our furniture due to shipping costs and because we’re moving into a much smaller home. Do you advise people to sell their homes furnished or empty all the furniture?” Answer: Like many things, it depends. The main factor is how nice your furniture
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Value Range Pricing Tip for Your San Diego Home

Question: “Hi Gary. We’d like to list our home with you for $679,500 to $724,900 using the value range approach. How does that sound?” Answer: Value range can be a very effective pricing strategy, so that’s fine. However, when I do value range, I try to use round numbers to make the price easier to
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When Doing a Short Sale, Hire an Expert

Question: “…I’ve known [agent’s name deleted] for years. But I don’t think she’s a short sale expert so I’ll probably look to you to help me sell…” Answer: Thanks for that. But don’t be surprised if she (who I don’t know, so this isn’t about her specifically) says that she can handle the short sale
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Frequent Short Sale Mistakes

Question: “Hi Gary. We’re in default on our home and need to do a short sale. There’s a lot of investors calling to buy our home, so we’re not worried about getting it sold. We don’t really need an agent because the buyer’s agent can handle the short sale. We all have a common goal,
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That Nearby Low-Priced Home Could Be a Short Sale

Question: “We just saw online that the house at [address deleted] a few doors from our rental is for sale and we’re concerned about the low price. It’s listed for only $250,000 and hasn’t sold. Is that correct?” Answer: Yes and no. Yes, the price is correct. No, it’s not for sale now. It’s a
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