Can I Transfer my property Taxes when I buy a new home? My last post dealt with buying a replacement property using a Reverse Purchase Mortgage. One of the considerations in buying a new home in California is whether you can keep the same level of property taxes as you had in your previous ho
...
12/26/2010
Buying a home with a Reverse Purchase Mortgage When you mention the terms "Reverse Mortgage", why do people suddenly make the sign of the cross at you? Perhaps it is because of the early days of the program. They used to have very high fees, high interest rates and left your heirs with nothing
...
12/24/2010
If the buyer backs out of the deal to buy my home, do I get to keep the earnest money deposit? (FYI - The earnest money deposit for the Mid-Peninsula is typically 3% of the purchase price - This is typically held in an account at the Title/Escrow Company and cannot be released to either party unl
...
12/23/2010
How much will my remodel add to the sales price of my Mid-Peninsula home? Right after New Years Day, I typically start getting calls from homeowners in the San Mateo area asking about the remodeling projects that they should do. Some of them are thinking about selling in the next few months and o
...
12/22/2010
I just ran the stats for the City of San Mateo, as I do for San Mateo, Burlingame, Hillsborough, Foster City, Belmont and Redwood Shores, every week. Here is what San Mateo looks like this week, along with my interpretation of the stats: Single Family Homes: Active, For Sale Homes = 110 ---- This
...
12/21/2010
I have seen different versions of this question posed and answered in the newspaper, on TV and on other blogs. Unfortunately, since I only do business on the San Francisco Mid-Peninsula, most of these questions and answers are not relevant to my area, since out average sales price is so much high
...
12/18/2010
Does the homeowner have to leave the house when a Buyer and their Agent want to see it? I have had many home sellers ask me why they needed to leave the home when a buyer and their agent were coming to see it. This is especially true with sellers who have done a lot of remodeling work to their ho
...
12/16/2010
Just about the time that we reach Thanksgiving, I begin having home seller clients tell me that they "don't want to list their home until after the first of the year", because "everyone knows that nothing sells in December". They may know that, but they know that incorrectly. I knew that Decembe
...
12/15/2010
