Should You Sell Your San Diego Home “As Is”?

“My husband and I are planning to sell our large 2-story home in University City. We’re in our 70s and don’t want to do a lot of fixing to it. Our daughter’s friend who is an agent told us to just sell our home ‘As Is’ and then we won’t have to fix anything. Will
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Listing Your San Diego Home with the “Neighborhood Specialist”

“Hello… My wife and I will be selling our La Jolla home this spring and don’t know any agents. There is one who seems to work the neighborhood. She calls herself the neighborhood specialist. Do you think we should list with her?” Answer: Excellent question. Let me share a story with you… Years ago at
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Making Your Highest and Best Offer

“Hi Gary. We and a couple of other people made offers on a home at the same time. Now the seller is asking for our highest/best, which I guess means for us to offer our highest price. I don’t want to get in a bidding war and am thinking of dropping out. What do you
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Using a Friend to Sell Your San Diego Home

“Hello Gary. I have a dilemma. I want to sell my home and move to Riverside. Because my friend is an agent and having money problems, I feel obligated to list with her. But I’d much rather use another agent I know who’d do a much better job. Any ideas?” Answer: First of all, you’re
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Buying a San Diego Home From an Auction Site

“I keep seeing these ads for an auction company. I went on their sites and the opening bids are very low compared to what the homes previously sold for. What do you think of buying a San Diego home from an auction site?” Answer: I’m not going to call it a scam. Let’s just say
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Short Sales: To Buy or Not to Buy?

“I hear a lot about short sales. Do you recommend buying them or avoiding them entirely?” Answer: Great question. And like many questions, the answer is “it depends.” In this case it depends on the short sale particulars: – How many loans is the seller going short on? – Does the listing agent seem to
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Is It Hard to Get a Loan on a Fixer-Upper?

“Question. I want to buy a fixer upper house so I can fix and sell it for a profit (hopefully!). Is there any difficulty getting a loan on a fixer?” Answer: Great question. If a home is in poor condition, you may have trouble getting a conventional loan. (An FHA or VA loan would be
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Beware of Agents Illegally Inventing Offers

“I just made an offer on a Pacific Beach home that had been on the market for 8 months. Now suddenly there’s a second offer. Why is it that when I decide to make an offer, suddenly and mysteriously another offer appears? I’m a little suspicious.” Answer: While RARE, agents have been known to unethically
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7 Easy Fixes for Selling Your San Diego Home

“We’re planning to sell our home. We’ve done a beautiful remodel inside our home, but our front porch is shabby. From reading your newsletter we know how important a good first impression is. Can you give us ideas to improve it that won’t cost too much?” Answer: Of course, I haven’t seen your home, but
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A Quick Rundown of Credit Score Ranges

“Do you know anything about credit scores? My credit score is 872 but I heard the highest possible score is 850…” Answer: Congrats for having such a high score. But you’re right in that the maximum score for home loans is 850. There are 3 types of FICO scores with their own ranges of possible
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