Why on earth would you want a cheap home inspector??? Let’s say the average home price in your area is $570,000. Even if a home inspection cost $570 that’s one-tenth of one percent of the value of the home! A good home inspector makes sure the foundation is sound, the plumbing and electical works properly […]
Are lenders more comfortable making 30- or 15-year loans?
Lenders tend to be more comfortable with 15-year loans because there is less risk of interest rate fluctions over 15 years rather than 30 years. That’s why 15-year mortgages tend to have slightly lower rates of interest unless we are in an “inverted yield curve” situation.
What do you think of people who decide to rent their whole lives?
I feel sorry for them because they are so short-sighted as research shows that homeownership in America is an important factor in building wealth. If you pay an average of $2,500 a month in rent for 30 years that’s $900,000 totally wasted that you could have put towards owning a home that would have provided […]
How much does a real estate agent make if he sells 50 million dollars worth of houses per year?
According to Core Logic the average home in the San Francisco Bay Area cost $935,000 in July of 2018. To sell $50,000,000 worth of real estate an agent would have to sell 1 home a week which, I would guess, less than 1% of all agents sell this many houses. In fact, in my experience, […]
Is it necessary to have a pest control report done before buying a home?
As a real estate broker who’s been practicing in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 40 years I would say that you’re crazy if you don’t get a “pest control” inspection done before buying any house. There are not just for termites but include dry rot, boring beetles and other “wood destroying” organisms which […]
Is holding an “open house” a good idea?
Open houses used to be a great way to drive traffic to a listing before the coronavirus. At the moment they’re mostly illegal depending on the jurisdiction. However, there are ways to hold “virtual open houses” where an agent can show different clients a home during a specific timeframe using a platform like “Zoom” or […]
What is the best lesson you learned as a real estate agent?
Solve problems one step at a time and never give up! Using this lesson I’ve been able to put together some of the most challenging real estate transactions because I refuse to get overwhelmed. Many agents before me gave up or wouldn’t even try but I just focused on what needed to get done first. […]
What are the two biggest misunderstandings about the real estate business?
I believe that one of the biggest misunderstandings about the real estate industry is how much agents make on the sale of a property. Most people believe that we make around 6% of the sales price. Nothing could be further from the truth. First, a hypothetical 6% (commissions are negotiable) is generally split 50/50 between […]
What’s the risk in buying a home “As Is”?
When a property is advertised “as-is”, it means that the owner has no legal obligation to repair anything. This probably means that the seller is aware that the house has some issues and is not willing to fix anything in order to sell it. Homes being sold “as-is” are usually priced below similar properties in […]