Continued from Part 1: Preparation I am considering buying a home, although I have not made up my mind on the subject. This is not due to indecision, but rather due to a lack of necessary information. There are many factors to be considered in my case, and in order for me to make an …
Category Archives: Buying and Selling
Should I Buy A Home? Part 1: Preparation
I am considering buying a home, although I have not made up my mind on the subject. This is not due to indecision, but rather due to a lack of necessary information. There are many factors to be considered in my case, and in order for me to make an informed decision about buying, I …
The Deposit
A search I just noticed asked the question “Who gets the deposit if escrow falls through?” The theory of the deposit is that here is an amount of cash that the buyer is putting up as evidence of their ability to consummate the transaction. This is a good question. I’ve only dealt with real estate …
Investment Property and Sophisticated Users
The majority of the protections that folks have are aimed at helping non-professionals have a chance in the complex and nearly incomprehensible maze that is real estate. The legal presumption is basically that you are a babe in the woods, and can easily be led astray by the fast-talking real estate broker and the big …
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Buying One Property While Selling Another
Most people don’t stay in their first house their whole life. At some point, they want to move to a different home. There are several ways to approach the transaction, but you have to decide which way fits you. You can approach it with an idea to maximizing profit, maximizing cash flow, maximizing speed, minimizing …
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What Type of Real Estate Listing Agent to Choose
On a regular basis, I see advertisements for real estate offices that say “discount broker – full service”. This is nonsense. A discount broker has consciously chosen a business model whose economics do not permit them to give the same service provided by a full service provider. Here’s the rundown. A discount broker’s listing agreement …
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Not Becoming a Victim of Bad Real Estate Practice
This woman made herself a victim stayed in a hotel for 7 weeks looking for my “Dream Home.” And, when I found it, even though it wasn’t in my price range, I knew I would do anything I could to get it. I was vulnerable, emotional and became a victim. Actually, that is not quite …
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Recording Errors and Title Insurance
I just got a google search where the question asked was “What if the mortgage is recorded in the wrong county?” I’ve never actually seen this (and San Diego County, once upon a time, included what is now Riverside, Imperial and San Bernardino counties), but if it’s the mortgage on your loan, no big deal. …
Production Metrics versus Consumer Metrics
When I originally wrote this, every day I was passing by another real estate office where the agent had a big banner outside “I SOLD 101 HOMES IN 2004!” This is what is called a production metric, and this one sounds fairly impressive at first glance, right? The question I want to ask is how …
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Exclusive versus Non-Exclusive Buyer’s Agent Agreement
From an email: I was in the process of buying and selling the house when we saw a FSBO house we liked was for sale. But sale fell through, which is a good thing anyway because of contigency on our house. But I also suspected it failed ecause the seller refuses to pay commission to …
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