Archive for Real Estate Q&A

Kickbacks still a problem in the real estate industry?

Kickbacks are illegal. Period. In recent real estate industry news, there have been several settlements with large companies over alleged kickback deals. Both Fidelity National Financial and Prospect Mortgage have settled with The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to the tune of about $7.6 million combined. I find myself shocked and dismayed that [...]

Question: Why won’t my Realtor® answer the phone?

Pick up the phone. I hear this question a lot. “I called six Realtors® and none of them answered their phone. Don’t they want my business?” I hear real estate agents talk about it all the time, lamenting over the decline of the real estate industry’s professional standards. At times, my own mother has said [...]

Question: Should I work with a Realtor® when building a new home?

Building from the ground up. I’m often asked (or see questions) about whether one should work with a Realtor® when buying and building a new home. When you visit a new community and sit with the sales representative for a builder in San Antonio, you’re sitting with the seller. The sale rep is working for [...]

Question: What is the average price per square foot in 78259?

San Antonio 78259 San Antonio loves their housing market statistics. A lot of keyword searches related to specific zip codes and the market statistics find their way to this site and with so many people signing up for weekly San Antonio market reports via email, it’s easy to see why so many San Antonio residents [...]

Question: Does the seller have to accept an offer of full asking price?

Make them an offer they can’t refuse. Buyers often ask about the rights and remedies available to them when making an offer on a home. The most common of these questions revolves around whether or not a seller must accept an offer under specific circumstances, most often being if the buyer offers full asking price [...]

Question: Can you ask a buyer to pay more for a home than it’s worth?

More money, please. First, we need to consider what we’re talking about when we say worth. Is it the appraised value, assessed value, or fair market valueof the home? Assuming we’re talking about the fair market value of the home, the answer is: yes. You can ask a buyer to pay as much for the [...]

Question: Will the tax credit be extended to 2011?

2011 and the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit ** UPDATE July 2, 2010 – Congress separated the first time home buyer tax credit and National Flood Insurance Program extensions from their original bill and passed them as H.R. 5623 and H.R. 5569 respectively. President Obama signed them into law on July 2, 2010. ** [...]

Answers To Your Real Estate Questions On Google

Google provides a lot of insight. I’ve been noticing a lot of searches in Google that are phrased as real estate questions that lead people to the site. Some of them are very complex questions that could take several posts to answer, but many of them are very simple questions that would be best suited [...]