Licensed since 1984, San Diego real estate broker Gary Kent is a recognized authority on real estate. In addition to selling over 5,500 homes for clients, he has been an expert court witness, trainer of other agents, and he does seminars on home buying, home selling, and investing. Gary has sold homes for The Salvation Army, dozens of major banks, and Fannie Mae, amongst others. You can find Gary on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Should I ever overpay a little for a home?

Question: “We found the perfect home. It’s on a culdesac near my sister and her family and just a block to the elementary school. It’s in our price range, but the seller is being stubborn on the price. Two homes like it just sold for $493,000 and $495,000, but they want $500,000. Do you think
Read more
No Comments

How to plan a move around your escrow closing

Question: “I’m really nervous about rushing to move out the day escrow closes. Escrows don’t always close on time, so how can I be expected to move with very little notice?” Answer: It can be stressful. I handle it for my clients this way: First, I explain to my clients up front that we can’t
Read more
No Comments

This Week’s Crazy Building: European Parliament Building

This unique building is located in Strasbourg, France and contains several conceptual features in its design. It features 750 seats in the hemicycle and over 1,100 offices. Architecture-Studio, the designer of the building, left the top of the dome unfinished to depict the European Union as an ongoing entity. The use of glass is to
Read more
No Comments

Do people actually read the contracts?

Question: “I recently bought a home and was amazed by all the pages we had to sign. We barely skimmed most of the pages. Do they really expect people to read them?” Answer: Ironically, in an effort to inform people of all they should know when buying or selling real estate, there’s such an information
Read more
No Comments

Can I trust the median value when pricing my home?

Question: “I live in North Clairemont and an agent told me my house is worth $575,000, but I saw online that the median in my zip is $667,400.  Do you think the agent is lowballing my home value?” Answer: I don’t have enough information to answer that. But here’s what I can tell you… First,
Read more
No Comments

Is it more difficult to get a loan these days?

Question: “I’ve heard it’s very hard to get a loan because banks just aren’t lending. Is that true?” Answer: Not at all. It’s true that after the wild and irresponsible days of “fog the mirror” and you qualify for a mortgage, the pendulum swung the other way and banks were overly strict on qualifying. So,
Read more
No Comments

This Week’s Crazy Building: Guggenheim Museum

The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain looks like it defies gravity. This is the work of renowned architect, Frank Gehry who has employed this shocking style for about 20 years. Besides a surprising exterior, the Guggenheim also created another effect, economic prosperity. The building generated 500 million in profit within 3 years of its opening
Read more
2 Comments

Is it safe to buy a house that had mold?

Question: “We kind of like a house we saw. It’s a cute 4-bedroom with a huge yard. But the agent said it previously had mold that was removed. Do you think it’s safe to buy the house?” Answer: Good question. First of all, not all mold is hazardous. So it depends on what kind of
Read more
No Comments

Why pricing your home according to market value is important

Question: “I’m thinking of selling my condo and I want to get top dollar. So I’m thinking of starting high to see what happens…” Answer: Hold on a sec. Here’s the rule when pricing your home in anything OTHER than a market experiencing rapid appreciation: “The closer you price your home to market value, the
Read more
No Comments

What is the best number of units for an investment property?

Question: “I want to start investing in real estate and I was talking with a real estate agent about buying 4 to 6 apartment units.  She told me it’s better to buy 4 units, but when I asked her why, she didn’t really know.  Do you?” Answer: I don’t know that it’s better to buy
Read more
No Comments