“How do you find out the property lines. Ask the seller or the agent?”

Answer:
They may be happy to offer you their opinion, but who knows if they’ll be right or wrong.

Unless they’ve seen a survey, they heard from someone else…who may or may not be correct.

To know for sure, you can get a survey. That’s rarely done in urban areas, but if you’re buying more rural, it makes more sense.

Find a Home That Isn’t Officially “On The Market” or in MLS

“I don’t agree with this whole value range pricing idea. It just doesn’t make any sense. No one’s ever going to pay any more than the bottom. I’d never sell my home with it.”

Answer:
I’m with you. And while we’re at it, I don’t agree with this whole electricity thing either. It doesn’t make sense that you flip a switch and a light turns on. I’m not buying it, thank you. And don’t even get me started on bees or hummingbirds–they shouldn’t be able to fly and…

My point: You need not understand something for it to work. And this quirky little “only-in-San Diego” concept DOES work. Studies have shown it does and I’ve used it successfully for 15 years.

Why does it work?

The wider price range opens up a wider range of buyers. Or you could say the low number gets more people in the door and the high number gives you a number to negotiate from.

BTW, some clients worry it’s misleading to have a low-end price they’d never accept. And I respect that. So it’s important to understand what “Value Range” is and is NOT saying.

It says, “Seller will ENTERTAIN offers between $X and $Y.”

It does NOT say, “Seller will ACCEPT offers between $X and $Y.” If it said “accept”, then everyone would indeed just offer the bottom price.

Hope that clears things up…

Discover the truth about how to price your San Diego home right

“I’m selling my home and will also be receiving money from a settlement and would love to roll it over into a house. I’m not sure if I can though, so if I were to hold the money for awhile, am I charged with capital gains taxes or penalized for not rolling it over into another property within a certain amount of time?”

Answer:
The short answer is no, unless you are selling an investment property and doing a 1031 exchange.

If you are selling your principal residence, tax law changed in 1997 and there is no longer any rollover requirement. If you lived in the home for at least 2 of the past 5 years, you can exclude $250,000 ($500,000 for couples) of gain. No need to buy another home.

Please verify the above with your tax specialist.

Selling Your San Diego Home & Buying Another

“It seems that interest rates and ability to get a home loan are more credit-driven than ever. Everyone talks about credit and I know it’s about paying your bills. But what exactly makes up a credit score?”

Answer:
There are 5 “Components of Credit”. Here they are, along with their %’s as they make up your credit score:

10% — Mix of credit
10% — Credit inquiries
15% — Length of your account histories
30% — Debt ratio: revolving account balances divided by the limits
35% — Past delinquencies

Source: Credit repair/improvement expert Derrick Evens of Perfect Credentials,
858-571-0271.

The Truth About Negotiating San Diego Real Estate Fees

“I own a condo and am thinking of selling it versus holding it for awhile. It’s worth about $300,000 and I owe $314,000. Do you see a turn around in the market anytime in the future?”

Answer:
My crystal ball is cloudy today.

With all the government involvement, the market is not following normal cycles and is thus unpredictable.

But if the market does follow its current trend, your value should exceed your loan balance some time next year.

On the other hand, I’ve heard there may be more foreclosures hitting the market in a couple of months.

But on the OTHER other hand, I’ve been hearing THAT for a year.

So it’s basically a crap shoot.

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