It was International Cat Day last week! Did you know there are more households with pets than children? These beloved pets are a driver of a major facet of economic activity: home buying. About one-fifth of recent home buyers considered their pet in their neighborhood...
Tips, Advice & Links
Hacks to Help Sell Your Home
These are great tips - curb appeal and staging make the best visual impression AND they send the message that the sellers care. While the process of trying to sell your home can feel daunting, there are some simple yet highly effective hacks that can reel in buyers...
Evaluating The Kitchen
If you are spending $2,000,000+ for a home, you deserve a built-in refrigerator! Check its age though, because they are expensive to replace. Sub-Zero and Thermador refrigerators will last for 20 years and are made in America. GE fridges are American-made too, but...
Seller Disclosures
There used to be a belief that any defects that had been fixed, or things that happened to previous owners weren't required disclosure items for today's home sellers. But it's gotten very specific now - and beginning July 1st, AB-968 takes effect. If the home is...
Reducing Capital-Gains Tax
My blog post on avoiding the capital-gains tax by minimizing your annual income was wrong - the IRS includes your gains as income too (thanks WC!). It leaves home improvements as the best way to reduce the taxable gain - hang onto your receipts:...
Fire Insurance in California
This is getting to be a real problem, and there doesn't appear to be a Plan B. Hat tip to Richard! As home insurers flee California, the state’s last-resort insurance plan is warning that it’s being pushed toward insolvency, forced to cover a rapidly growing number of...
Best Week to Sell Your Home
Instead of a glut forming, the number of houses for sale between La Jolla and Carlsbad has been decreasing lately. April will be fantastic for sellers! So will May and June, and probably July! 😆 I can help you with that!...
Retractable Screens Repair
New Design Trends
Last week was the International Builder Show | Kitchen & Bath Industry Show 2024 in Las Vegas. John Burns was there and in his newsletter today he featured the following gizmos:
List-Price Accuracy Gauge
Once a home is for sale but not selling, how do you know what to do? Both buyers and sellers can apply my List-Price Accuracy Gauge: Once the home is on the open market, if it is…… Getting visitors and offers, you are within 5% of being right on price. Getting...