Home Buying Tips

• House Inspectors: Choosing The Right One...
  A qualified house inspector is the surest way to discover a house's not-so-obvious problems. Most professional inspectors are from some type of construction background, such as engineering, architecture or contracting. Their responsibility is to crawl beneath the floors, squeeze through the attic and generally comb the house's structure and mechanical systems for shortcomings. They give the buyer a complete report; with this, the buyer can decide whether or not the house is a good deal, or at least put together a "punch list" of items that must be fixed (it isn't unusual for this report to contain about 50 items). The fee for this service generally runs from about $300 to $500 and up. Continue article...
• Should You Buy A Home Through A Real Estate Agent?
  One of the first things many people do when beginning their search for a new home is enlist the help of a real estate agent. It is the realtor's job, after all, to help you find the home that is perfect for you. Continue article...
• Back out legally
  When can I pull out of a purchase contract? Continue article...
• Does Home Remodeling Always Pay Off?
  Perhaps you've heard stories about homeowners who've greatly improved their net worth by remodeling homes and selling them. Continue article...
• Over-Improving May Hurt Resale
  Resale value is very important if you plan to refinance or sell soon. Many factors affect it, including economic and housing market conditions, quality of the house, and desirability of the neighborhood. One measure of a home's resale value is the length of time it spent on the market before you bought it. To improve resale value, consider improvements such as landscaping or an updated kitchen. But be careful not to over-improve for the neighborhood. You may scare off buyers and you aren't likely to recoup much of your improvement costs. Continue article...
• The Perfect Escrow - Does it Exist?
  Very simply defined, an escrow is a deposit of funds, a deed or other instrument by one party for the delivery to another party upon completion of a particular condition or event. The California Escrow Law – Section 17003 of the Financial Code – provides the legal definition. Continue article...