“I’m afraid of losing my deposit if I don’t get my loan. Will the 3-day right of rescission protect me?” Answer: Bad news, good news. Bad News: You have no right of rescission when you buy a home. Such laws do not apply to real estate contracts. Good News: The standard California CAR contract gives

“How can you tell a good foreclosure from a bad one?” Answer: I’m guessing your question is about the either condition or value. Let me deal with condition first… “How can you tell a foreclosure is in good vs. bad condition?” My answer is that you do the same things you would do for any

“Hi Gary. I read your newsletter every week. My girlfriend and I want to get our ducks in a row before we buy a home. Is there anything we should or shouldn’t be doing?” Answer: Great question. Until you actually get the call that your escrow has CLOSED on your new home, here’s a few

“I’m interested in selling my condo in La Jolla. I’ve already spoken with an agent who promised she’d accompany other agents for all the showings. Are you willing to do that?” Answer: No. I’d never do you such a disservice. Your home should be shown via “call first/lockbox”. Meaning agents call you and arrange a

“I just made an offer on a condo. There were several offers and the bank accepted one without even sending me a counter-offer. I offered almost full price but would have paid more. Why didn’t they even send me a counter-offer?” Answer: Different bank asset managers (who handle the sale of foreclosures) handle multiple offers

“I saw on the news that to raise revenue they’re raising property taxes 2%. With our economy, this is the wrong time to do that. I thought Proposition 13 prevented that…” Answer: Sometimes the way media sells newspapers and gets eyeballs to websites and TV is by making things interesting, even controversial. What you’ve heard

“I’m scheduled to close escrow in 3 weeks, but my mortgage is due next week. Should I pay it?” Answer: Yes. When you close, your lender may not have processed your last payment and may charge you for it. But banks have a surprisingly accurate and efficient record of refunding any overpayments. You’d think banks

“I’m considering buying a home. What’s going on with the real estate market right now?” Answer: As I mentioned above, homes under 500K in most San Diego County neighborhoods are selling like hot cakes. The market for homes 500-750K is okay, and 750K+ is soft. Does this mean if you find a home you like

“I called a mortgage broker the other day to get pre-qualified to buy a home. We talked for 10 minutes and 2 minutes later he faxed me a letter saying I was approved for a home up to $600,000. That was so fast I have my doubts that it’s for real. Can he approve me

“I just read an article in Time magazine about house swapping, where you trade your house for someone else’s. How doable is that?” Answer: Time magazine’s job is to sell magazines. And one way they do that is by writing interesting articles. In 25 years, I know of a small # of investment properties traded.