Don’t Leave the Loan in Your Name After a Sale

Question: (This is actually from an agent interested in buying one of my listings for himself.) “I’m interested in buying your fourplex. What if we took over the payments without telling the lender – never had the experience of lender calling the loan due – they just want to get paid. And we could put
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How a Busy Street Affects San Diego Home Values

Question: “My wife and I want to buy a little house as an investment. We found one we both like, but it’s on a busy street. What do you think about buying a home on a busy street?” Answer: Two questions come to mind: 1) how does it impact rent, and 2) how does it
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Showings with Tenants in Multi-Unit Properties

Question: “Hi Gary. I want to sell my triplex and was wondering how you handle showings with the tenants?” Answer: Typically, once you move from single family to multiple units, the showings are handled as “show with offer.” This is done for two reasons: Out of fear that if the tenant knew the property was
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How Much Do Property Managers Charge?

Question: “I just inherited a couple of rental properties from my dad and don’t want to manage them myself. Can you give me an idea of what property managers charge?” Answer: Happy to. Depending on the property, managers usually charge 5-10% of the rent. Of course, that’s for their services only and doesn’t cover expenses
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Funding Your Residential Rental Purchase

Question: “I have several rentals and want to buy another property, perhaps a little house. I’d like to come up with as little cash as possible. What do I need to put down?” Answer: To buy a residential rental, you’ll need at least 20-25% down, plus closing costs of around 3%. But here’s a good
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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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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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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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Can You Identify More than One Property to Buy in a 1031 Exchange?

Question: “We’ll be selling a rental house in Alabama and want to buy something here doing a 1031 exchange. I know we have to designate what property we’re going to buy within 45 days of closing the Alabama house. Can we identify more than one?” Answer: Yes. Here are the 3 options you have for
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Some Finer Points of 1031 Exchanges

Question: “I sold a rental house for $400,000 and am doing a 1031 tax deferred exchange. There was no loan, so I have $375,000 in my exchange account. I’m buying in Texas and my agent there says I must buy for $400,000. Is he correct? I thought only had to use my cash from the
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