What is the cost to sell a home?

Question: “Hi Gary, besides the Realtor fee, what is the cost to sell a home?” Answer: There are several categories of items that you should be aware of: Standard Seller Closing CostsThese include your portion of the title and escrow fees, the county transfer tax, and other fees. These tend to total .5% to 1%
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How often should my agent hold an open house?

Question: “How many open houses should my agent do?” Answer: Somewhere between zero and who knows. Yes, that’s pretty broad. The truth is that while open houses never hurt, they’re only one small tool in the toolbox of an agent to sell your home. Contrary to popular belief, only about 2% of homes sell from
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What are “iBuyers”?

Question: “Hi, I’ve heard Zillow is going to start buying homes. What’s that about?” Answer: Have you seen those scribbled signs by the side of the road that say, “I’ll buy your home for cash”? Or received one of those letters where they pretend they’re specifically interested in buying your house for cash, but it’s
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Are HOA’s allowed to charge for documents?

Question: “My HOA management company wants to charge me $700 for the condo documents. That’s highway robbery. Is that even legal?” Answer: I’m no attorney, but in my opinion, that is NOT legal (and is, in fact, highway robbery!). Too many HOA management companies are raking it in and breaking the law in the process.
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Is there a downside to value range pricing?

Question: “If I sell my home, is there any downside to value range pricing?” Answer: Only one that I know of… Because value range pricing is rarely seen outside of San Diego, none of the national websites support it. They only have a field for one price, not a range. Their work-around is to use
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Do real estate networks sell homes?

Question: “Are you a member of a big network? We went to a seminar at a retirement community and an agent spoke and said a reason to use them is that they’re with a big firm that has a network that will sell our house.” Answer: Yes, I’m a member of several large networks, including
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What is the proper etiquette for gift giving during a home sale?

Question: “We really love the young couple who are buying our home and want to leave them a gift. What’s the normal etiquette for this? Do you think it’s a good idea?” Answer: First of all, how nice you are to be so thoughtful. This is relatively uncommon, so there’s no accepted etiquette. You can
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How do I choose the right real estate agent to sell my home?

Question: “I interviewed agents to sell my home and chose an energetic young guy who was very successful. The only problem, I found out later, was that his success was a mirage. He had sold very few homes and didn’t know what he was doing. What should I have done?” Answer: “All that glitters isn’t
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Are probate appraisals accurate?

Question: “Hi Gary, my father died without a living trust, so his home is going through probate. The probate appraiser said it’s worth $850,000. That seems a little high. Are probate appraisals accurate?” Answer: Rarely. In my experience, probate appraisals are about the most inaccurate appraisal you could possibly get and tend to be high.
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How often should an agent hold open houses?

Question: “I have my home for sale in University City and my agent is hardly holding any open houses, maybe every other week. How often do you think an agent should be holding open houses?” Answer: Great question! There’s a big myth about open houses: so many people believe open houses are THE way homes
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