What is a bedroom, that is the question. The Uniform Building Code, which is adopted by virtually all cities and counties throughout California, requires a room to have ...

Many home buyers are surprised when they receive a supplemental tax bill shortly after the close of their real estate transaction. This onetime bill allows the county tax assessor to re-calibrate ...

Understanding the tax and survivorship implications of your vesting choice is extremely important. Unless you completely understand your options and vesting choices, it’s imperative that you seek the advice of your ...

What is the difference between a direct lender and a mortgage broker? In the simplest terms, a mortgage broker is able to find you a favorable mortgage by ...

Backup Sale For a particular reason, the seller is concerned that his accepted offer may not close. Examples of why listings are set to backup status include: ...

Square footage discrepancies between the MLS, tax records and an agent’s marketing materials—what to do? If you’ve been looking into real estate for anytime, or have listed ...

Too much online research Be careful, too much online research can be overwhelming. Trust what your agents says. Working with an out-of-area lender An offer ...

The buyer can cancel under certain circumstances, but there are rules to the process. Real estate transactions are based on the legal premise of “Good Faith.”* It’s assumed ...

Many first-time home buyers enter the transaction not understanding the complexity of their purchase or the roles each participant involved plays in driving the deal forward to change of ownership and ...

As powerful as the Internet is, don’t let your own online research stop you from moving forward with a real estate purchase. Only a mortgage broker, bank, ...

What are loan points? Points are an up-front charge that the lender adds to the overall price of the mortgage. Each point equals one percent of the loan ...

PMI, or Private Mortgage Insurance makes it possible for qualifying buyers to obtain mortgages with a down payment as low as 3%. With rising home prices, many buyers ...

Comparing loans and mortgage brokers? Ever wonder how mortgage brokers can make extra money on your transaction? Economists believe that there’s more to the current mortgage crisis than ...