ask a realtor

Southern California Luxury real estate today

June 14, 2010

Southern California Luxury real estate market – the good, the bad and the ugly. The good: Lending is alive and well for Southern California real estate. Banks have money to lend and are anxious to approve well-qualified buyers purchasing homes priced at fair market value. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are still the primary investors for [...]

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Can Seller’s Bankruptcy Affect Short Sale Offer?

June 11, 2010

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy and real estate Q After much searching I found my dream condo, so I made an offer on this short sale and the seller accepted. I opened escrow with $1,000, but then found out that the seller filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. My REALTOR® advised that this property cannot be sold until [...]

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The master suite and the contemporary family lifestyle

May 31, 2010

QI currently have a 5 bedroom home with 4 full baths and 2 half baths. The home doesn’t have a designated master suite. Would taking 1 bedroom and 1 full bath away to make a nice master suite make sense? ~ Margaret AMargaret, this is a common question, especially in neighborhoods of older homes, where [...]

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Which Home Improvements Should I Make?

March 9, 2010

Question: I would like to sell my home in the next 5 to 7 years as I know my current home is not my ideal  for the long term, but will suit me just fine in the short term. Since I would like to sell at some point, does it make sense to do any [...]

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Buying New Construction

December 31, 2009

There is much negotiation to be done by your Realtor on your behalf regarding price of the home, upgrades to be included in that price, etc. Certainly you can be sure that the hired home builder’s representatives will not be going to bat for you! Your Realtor is not there with you to just introduce you to the property.

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Improvements Prior to Close: Ask a REALTOR®

December 31, 2009

One way to get the improvements completed prior to the close of the transaction is for the seller to pay the vendor(s) for the improvements. If the transaction does not close, the seller will absorb the out of pocket costs. If the transaction does close, the costs of the improvements can be paid for by the buyer to the seller in the course of the closing (with an escrow or no escrow depending on the location of the property and custom and practice in that location).

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Resale Next to a Cemetery: Ask a REALTOR®

December 31, 2009

Question We are looking at a new grouping of patio type homes that are built directly next to a cemetery. The homes are built facing a center grassy courtyard and are very close together with an HOA that takes care of landscaping. Will either of these factors (patio home, next to cemetery) adversely affect resale [...]

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Buying a Home While Getting Married: Ask a REALTOR®

December 31, 2009

// Question I just recently got married, and we’re starting our house hunting very soon. My question is, should I go ahead and complete the paperwork with the social security office, etc. to get my name changed, or should I wait until after we’ve made the home purchase? I am worried that there will be [...]

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Is it Better to Pay Off a Debt or Buy a House? Ask a REALTOR®

December 13, 2009

// Question My wife and I are looking forward to buying our first home this year. However, we go back and forth on one issue: our credit card debt is at about $15,000. Is it better to pay our debt off first and miss out on the $8,000 tax credit? Or, should we get approved [...]

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