“I was in escrow buying a home in January and had the home inspected. The inspector found several items that he told me the seller should fix. But the seller refused to fix them all, including a broken pool heater and replacing the roof, which was old but didn’t leak. I wasn’t too happy when

“Hi Gary. My wife and I want to buy a home here in San Diego. We’ve been sitting on the sidelines, watching the market, watching what prices do. We’re really seeing much cheaper prices on homes lately. Do you think the timing is right to buy a home now?” ***ANSWER: Excellent question, and probably the

“With the prices down, I’m seeing a lot of good deals. I’m a first time investor and don’t really know what I’m doing. I have $55,000 available. What do you suggest?” ***ANSWER: An ideal investment for you is a small 2BR condo in an established complex. Condo prices have been hit the hardest, so you

“Can I find out my home value online?” ***ANSWER: Not exactly. Two types of websites purport to tell you your home value online: 1) automated; 2) agent/referral. Automated sites use complex but flawed software to calculate values, typically less accurate than most owners’ estimate of value. This is due to incomplete/inaccurate info about the home

“We’ve been driving around pulling property flyers from for sale signs. Why don’t the realtor flyers show the taxes on the property?” ***ANSWER: Because the taxes the current owner is paying is irrelevant. In California, properties are reassessed when they’re sold. The approximate rate is 1.1% of the price per year. And that goes up

“Gary, can you answer a question about loans and points? On the home we’re buying, we’re trying to decide if it’s worth paying points on our loan. We’re kind of lost. How do you figure that out?” ***ANSWER: Whether you pay points primarily depends on how long you plan to keep the loan. (Other factors:

“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