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.

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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Top 5 Most (& Least) Costly Homeowning Cities

HSH.com checked data for a study on home prices and mortgage rates in 25 cities to see which require the largest (and smallest) salaries to buy an average home. The top three costliest cities were in California, while Ohio claimed the two lowest. San Francisco’s monthly mortgage payment is $2,695 – nearly 6 times Tampa’s
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This Week’s Crazy Building: Tanah Lot

Tanah Lot, Bali by Juan Antonio Segal licensed under the terms of CC by 2.0
This week’s crazy building is Tanah Lot in Bali, Indonesia. Carved from a combination of natural and artificial rock, this tiny island just off the coast of Bali is both a pilgrimage temple and a major tourist attraction. Though it has existed for centuries, it was restored in 1980 after the rock face began to
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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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This Week’s Crazy Building: Wunderland Climbing Wall

The climbing wall, up the side of the former cooling tower at Wunderland Kalkar by Koetjuh is licensed under the terms of Public Domain
This week’s crazy building is the Wunderland climbing wall near Dusseldorf, Germany. The structure was originally meant to be the cooling tower for a nuclear reactor that was never completed. Instead, this strange building became part of the Wunderland Kalkar amusement park. It has a climbing wall along its outer perimeter, and a giant swing
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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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