Past Stories
Q: When selling a house, when does the tax for “Obamacare” go into effect? How will it be calculated?
A: Always, when considering any real estate move, from buying to selling, refinancing or even planning to rent for a number of years, get your own tax professional and get their advice.
Unfortunately, the mechanics of this tax ...
Open Houses May 18 & 19
Baldwin Hills
Sun 2-4 4215 Don Diablo Drive 3/2 Amazing panoramic vus, grt hm, wd flrs, upgrades $575,950 Willie Turner Coldwell Banker 310-642-7257
Culver City
Sat/Sun 2-5 4143 Vinton ...
Q: What is the status of buyer purchasing power now?
A: The buyer purchasing power index (BPI) increased to 6.36 in April 2013. This score is up from 5.05 in March. However, BPI is down from the high scores experienced throughout 2012.
The April 2013 BPI represents a 6.36% year...
Q: We are desperate to buy a new home. Should we lower our standards in this low-inventory market?
A: In low-inventory markets that are now common in many areas of the country, buyers might be prone to jump at a listing they wouldn’t even consider if there were a lot of homes for sale.
This desperate approach to…
Q: As a new real estate agent, what’s the best way to set up a home office?
A: When you first decided to become a real estate agent, were you attracted by the flexible hours and the fact that you wouldn’t be chained to a desk? You, like many others before you, may have decided that working…
Q: Why is a property title search so important?
A: A title search (preliminary report) is important because it reveals if there are any defects in the title to the property. The title search includes any property when a preliminary report is requested. With the preliminary r...
Q: Are prices for homes increasing this year?
Once again, Southern California saw strong home price increases in February as the percentage of absentee buyers hit a six-year record high, and cash buyers remained a dominant force. The six-county Southland saw the median...
Q: Should homebuyers worry about the variance in credit scoring by different agencies?
A: Buyers don’t need to worry about a variance in credit scoring by different agencies. Lenders typically rely on a FICO-based score for determining creditworthiness, so have them focus on that. FICO is the best bet for getti...
Q: How much effort should go into home improvements to sell your home?
A: Today’s buyers are less willing to compromise. The temptation is strong; clean up the yard, declutter the house, and put it on the market without spending time and money sprucing up the place for sale. This is especially t...
Q: Once a homeowner loses their home to foreclosure or short sale, what is the likelihood they will return to homeownership?
A: To answer this question, the Federal Reserve Bank’s (the Fed) economists tracked a sample of mortgages from the first quarter of 1999 to the fourth quarter of 2011. They then singled out the point at which a mortgage balan...
