Are Banks to Blame for the Bureaucratic Loan Process?

Question: “[Bank name] is ridiculous! I just refinanced and they asked me for the stupidest things to verify things that shouldn’t even matter and frankly isn’t really any of their business. I will never use them again…” Answer: I don’t blame you for being angry. And frankly, I get mad and frustrated with lenders too.
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Accepting Offers from People Who Haven’t Seen Your Home

Question: “My condo is listed for sale and I got an offer from someone who hasn’t even seen it yet. Should I accept it?” Answer: It depends… If you just put your condo on the market, I’d say NO. You don’t want to take it off the market during this prime early time and risk
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3 Homebuying Tips If You Can’t Find What You Want

Question: “I’m having trouble finding a home to buy. There isn’t a lot to choose from and all the nice ones seem to already have an offer. Any tips you can give me?” Answer: Here are three… Don’t automatically skip over homes with poor pictures. They could be real gems that are being overlooked due
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This Week’s Crazy Building: Heydar Aliyev Center

Heydar Aliyev Center by amanderson2 licensed under the terms of Public Domain
This week’s crazy building is Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku, Azerbaijan. This unusual site is the brainchild of world-renowned architect Zaha Hadid, famous for the curves and unusual structure of her architecture. The design was meant to convey an optimistic future, a departure from the rigid, imposing Soviet architecture that dominates much of the country’s
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[VIDEO] Homeseller Mistake #7: Not Knowing How to Make Your Agent Work Harder

How To Make Your Agent Work Harder San Diego Realtor Gary Kent reveals the costly mistakes people that make when selling a San Diego home. Mistake #7 is not knowing the magic words that will get your agent to work twice as hard for you. It sounds too good to be true… but it’s not!
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What’s the Best Way to Make Money Fast Investing in San Diego Real Estate?

Question: “What’s the best way to make money quickly investing in real estate?” Answer: Sorry, but if there were any get-rich-quick ideas that actually worked, everyone would do them…and they would no longer work. The closest thing to a useful answer I could give you is to wait until we have another downturn (2 years,
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The Downsides of Virtual Home Staging

Question: “Have you heard of virtual staging, where photos or graphics of furniture are added to photos of a vacant home to make it look staged. Do you recommend that?” Answer: I’ve heard of it. It’s a creative idea, but I recommend against it for 3 reasons: Homebuyers will be expecting a much nicer home
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Are There San Diego Condos Without HOA Fees?

Question: “Hi Gary. Could you please email me a list of condos without HOA fees in P.B., Clairemont, U.C., and nearby areas…” Answer: That would be a very short list. As in VERY short. I’d estimate that 99.9% of condos have HOA fees. The rare exception would be a 2-4 unit property converted to condos w/o
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[VIDEO] Homeseller Mistake #6: Thinking Lower Fee = Higher Net

Is A Lower Real Estate Agent Fee Better? 30+ year veteran Realtor Gary Kent reveals the costly mistakes people that make when selling a home in San Diego, CA. Mistake #6 is believing that a lower real estate agent fee means a higher net gain. It’s an idea that makes intuitive sense: If you’re paying
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1031 Exchange vs. Stepped Up Basis on Your San Diego Home

Question: “I inherited a condo from my dad last year and want to sell it and buy a rental property here. Should I do a 1031 tax deferred exchange?” Answer: [A 1031 exchange allows someone to sell an investment property, reinvest the proceeds in a new property, and defer some or all tax on the
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