“Hi Gary. My wife and I are very interested in a home we just saw. I was told the seller wants to rent the house back for 30 days. If we make an offer, what rent should we expect them to pay?” ***ANSWER: Rentbacks are usually requested by the seller, as is your case. So

“Hi Gary. We’re trying to choose an agent to sell our home in UTC. One of them suggested a higher price, but I’ve never heard of his company. The other is with XXXX [a large firm], so he’s probably pretty good. Who do you think we should go with?? ***ANSWER (Part 2 of 3): Last

“What if I buy a home and find a problem after I move in? Does the seller have to fix the problem?” ***ANSWER: Unless you have proof that the seller knew about the problem and didn’t disclose it, it’s your home and your problem. That’s why most people get home inspections and home warranties and

“We just bought a fixer-upper house to fix and flip. The repair work is about done. We want to sell it and buy another and not loose a lot of $$ to the taxman. Can we do one of those 1031 exchanges so we don’t pay no taxes?” ***ANSWER: Two excellent real estate agents that

“Hi Gary. We’re trying to choose an agent to sell our home in UTC. One of them suggested a higher price, but I’ve never heard of his company. The other is with XXXX [a large firm], so he’s probably pretty good. Who do you think we should go with?” ***ANSWER (Part 1 of 3): First,

“With this buyer’s market, I’m dying to finally buy a home, but my work schedule is crazy and I’m constantly out of town on business. What things require me to be here?” ***ANSWER: You can do absolutely everything long distance, via phone, fax, email, and FED-X. But I strongly recommend you show up live to

“I just talked to a lender for about 10 minutes and I got pre-approved for a $550,000. That seemed a little to fast. I thought getting a loan was a little more complicated. Do you think I’m really approved?” ***ANSWER: No, I don’t. You’re right to be dubious. There’s pre-qualifying, there’s pre-approval, and there’s REAL

“We’re planning to sell our home in Carlsbad this June. Homes in our neighborhood are going in the 700s, but ours is much better than average, so we expect to at least get in the 800s. Do you think the low 900s would be pushing it?” ***ANSWER: Before I answer your question, please answer these

“Hello Gary. We have a question for you. We’re looking for a home in Pacific Beach and we want our kids to go to Kate Sessions Elementary with their cousins. How close do we have to be to the school so our kids can go there?” ***ANSWER: That’s a great school. My kids went there

“Hi Gary. I’m a new real estate investor. I see all your foreclosures. Are they also short sales?” ***ANSWER: First, a quick explanation: There are 3 stages of foreclosure during which a home may be sold: 1. BEFORE a foreclosure sale, when the homeowner is in foreclosure. 2. AT the foreclosure sale, when the home