Chris Spade's world in San Diego

Sweat Equity I'm the first one to admit I'm not the most handy person. When I was in junior high school, I got a "D" in wood shop class, A few years later my dad made me help him build a two story garage from foundation to roof.  For years, I scratched my head trying to figure out why he would w...

Hillcrest Condos for Sale Avant Guarde, that's one way to describe the Five by Five lofts in Hillcrest.  Situated on Third Avenue and Arbor in Hillcrest, this archeturical design not only offers a sleek modern style but it gives you a good leg workout as well.  Hillcrest, is located just north o...

Expired Listings OK, from time to time we see expired listings on our MLS.  Actually, I'm not going to lie it happens quite often and sometimes people wonder why.  Well, In my opinion, there are three reasons houses don't sell the first time around.  The first?  PRICE.  Price has a lot to do wit...

Grant Hills Home for Sale Wow!  Talk about some major upgrades to this Grant Hills Home for Sale. The seller of 3094 J Street has done some major upgrades.   The Seller purchased the home in 2008 as a bank owned property and it was a MESS!  It's taken a few years but now this once run down prope...

Over the last few weeks I've become a tourist in my own backyard. I've been taking mini-vacations right in my own city.  Yesterday, a good friend of mine had this crazy idea of going hiking in Mission Trails Park at 7:00 in the morning.  My first thought was, who gets up that early on a Sunday to...

Pre-approval letters aren't worth the paper it's printed on... unless you know the lender.  Ok, now I'm annoyed.  I've been in escrow on one of my listings for two weeks.  Everything seemed to be going smooth; buyer's offer was great, appraisal was done and came in above list price, inspections t...

Interest rates are going up!  Buy now or pay later.  So, this morning an agent walks into my office with a frustrated look on his face.  I said, "what is it?"  He said my buyer on that short sale we're doing doesn't think the property is worth what he's paying and wants to lower the price.   I s...

Rolando Condo just sold   I have some investor buyers that just closed on the deal of the century.  This cozy Rolando Condo just sold for $85,000. That's right $85,000.  Get with it people, SAN DIEGO IS ON SALE!  The condos at Tuscany Place located at 4860 Rolando Court are in a charming cul-de-s...

Bank of America found me on twitter   Last week I spent the better part of my time trying to get in touch with my negotiator at Bank of America.  Needless to say, I've still not heard back from her.  I've done everything right, called, emailed through equator and nada. Zip, zilch, nothing.   So, ...

Your buying power goes down when interest rates go up.  This past weekend, I had to have the "reality check" conversation with one of my buyers.  When we initially met, I had him go through the pre-approval process.  We also sat down for a consultation so we could talk about his needs and wants ...