Learning More About Home Refinancing

“Dear Mr. Kent, do you have some kind of reading material about home refinancing? We would appreciate it if you can send us some materials on this matter because we are seriously thinking of refinancing our San Diego home before our adjustable loan gets mature.” Answer: Thanks for your email. Since I don’t handle mortgages
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Understanding Buyer Cancellation Penalties

“On what date can the buyer no longer back out without penalty?” Answer: It depends on the contract. It’s often the 17th day after acceptance, but your case could be different. Let me address a related issue… Many agents tell their clients, “if the buyer cancels, you get the deposit.” This is not necessarily correct.
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The Downsides of Low Offers

“Want to get your opinion. We want to buy a home. What’s the downside to making a low offer to see what the seller will take?” Answer: Great question. But what do you call a “low offer”? I’d call an offer within 5% of the market value an “okay offer.” The only downside is you
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Buying a Duplex as a First Home

“What do you think of buying a duplex as a first home?” Answer: Way back in 1986, the first home my wife and I bought was a Clairemont duplex. We stretched to buy it for $122,000, but we did get $425 per month for the other 2-bedroom unit. It worked out great. So you can
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Should You Sell & Buy Something Smaller?

“We love our house and our neighborhood. But our son just moved out and it’s getting too big. So we’d like to move and get a smaller house…” Answer: A client of mine recently reminded me that she’d asked me this same question several years ago. Here’s what I told her then: It costs a
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Deal with the Agent, Not the Seller

“There’s a house for sale I’m interested in buying. Is it illegal or unethical for me to approach the seller and find out what price they’ll take?” Answer: It’s not illegal. And it’s not literally unethical because you don’t have a formal code of ethics to adhere to like Realtors do. Better words to use
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Lowest Down Payment to Buy a Rental Property

“What’s the lowest down payment you can make to buy a rental property?” Answer: Theoretically, you could buy a property that the owner finances and put zero down. But the odds of that happening are not much higher than that down payment. Fannie Mae sells some of their foreclosures for just 10% down to investors
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Why Foreclosures Are Valid “Comps”

“I’d like to find out what my home is worth. The house next door was a bank-owned foreclosure and sold way under market value. It doesn’t have any bearing on my home’s value, but will it hurt my chances of selling?” Answer: Let’s address what I call the “It-Was-Just-A-Foreclosure” Syndrome. Many homeowners automatically dismiss foreclosure
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The “Price Per Square Foot” Myth

“Hi Gary. We’ve found a beautiful La Jolla home on a canyon, but it’s way overpriced. The sellers won’t go below $397 per square foot, but homes in the area are selling for around $350 per square foot…” Answer: Stop. You’re falling for a fallacy that traps many homebuyers, homesellers, and a whole lot of
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What Is Fannie Mae, Anyway?

“What is Fannie Mae? I hear about it on the news all the time, but they never explain what it is.” Answer: Fannie Mae is the nickname for the Federal National Mortgage Association, a government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) chartered by Congress to provide liquidity, stability, and affordability to U.S. housing and mortgage markets. Rather than making
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