Category: Buying A Home

Buying A Home

Things To Know Before Starting Your Own Flip Project

We have a passion for helping people build wealth through real estate. One recent way we accomplished this was by partnering with a homeowner to fully renovate their property to maximize the sales price when selling. Essentially, it was a fix-and-flip.  In this blog, we’re going to walk through what exactly is a fix-and-flip and outline a process to make them more successful. We’ll cover how to find and analyze a property, steps to take before getting started, and some common pitfalls to avoid. What Is A Flip So first, what is a fix-and-flip. Flipping a property essentially means purchasing

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Buying A Home

House Hacking Case Study

In this blog, we’re going to walk through a case study of one of our past clients who have chosen to house hack. Earlier this year, our clients – we’ll call them Jim and Gabby – were looking to make the move into a more permanent home from a rented apartment. With their two young children, their goal was to find a 2 or 3 bedroom house and they hoped to stay in a good commuting location either east of Lake Merritt or along 580 in East Oakland. Their budget of 650,000 dollars proved challenging in their target neighborhoods, so

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Buying A Home

Frequently Asked Questions About House Hacking

We have a passion for helping people build wealth through real estate and one of our favorite ways to do that is through a strategy called house hacking. We’ve helped many of our clients purchase homes and benefit from house hacking. Over the years we’ve answered a multitude of questions regarding house hacking and we’d like to share some of our top frequently asked questions with you!  So in this blog, we’ll answer some of the most common questions we get regarding house hacking, which, simply put, is purchasing a small multi-unit property, living in one unit and renting out

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Buying A Home

Is House Hacking Right For You

We have a passion for helping people build wealth through real estate and one of our favorite ways to do that is through a strategy called house hacking. While my wife and I have done numerous house hacks over the years, I’m the first to admit it’s not for everyone. So in this article, we’ll help you determine whether house hacking is right for you. We’ll look at things you should consider before house hacking, the pros and cons of house hacking, and at least one scary story from my experience as a landlord. But first, in case you don’t

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Buying A Home

What is House Hacking?

House hacking is typically the purchase of a multi-unit property with the intention of occupying one unit and renting the remainder in order to reduce the overall housing expense while simultaneously building wealth. That’s a mouthful! And it’s only one of many definitions. In my work with clients, typically we’re talking about the above definition, which said more simply, is living in a duplex, etc that you own while renting out the other units. Though more broadly the term can be used to mean producing income out of a house you live in potentially be renting rooms, garage space, gardening

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Buying A Home

What should I inspect during my inspection contingency

Your inspection contingency period is your time as the buyer to perform all the due diligence required to move forward comfortably with the sale. In our current market in Oakland and the East Bay, it’s common for this contingency to be waived, yet I don’t recommend it. The contingency period protects you and allows you to back out of a purchase should troubling information about the home be raised. Timing In fast-paced markets like ours, this period may last anywhere from zero days up to 14 or so after entering into a contract to purchase. Because timing is tight, due

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Buying A Home

5 Reasons to Get Pre-approved with Multiple Lenders (It’s Not About the Best Rate!)

Many clients ask whether they should work with multiple lenders when planning on purchasing a home. My advice is that, like most do with real estate agents, interview a handful but choose to be loyal to and work with one throughout the process. Speed The reality of the market in the East Bay is that the strength of your lender impacts the strength the offers you make on properties. A strong lender can make the difference between acceptance and not. This is because the lender is the primary factor in how long it takes to close. For most sellers, time

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Buying A Home

What are contingencies in a real estate purchase?

Contingencies in a real estate purchase contract allows the buyer (or seller in the case of seller contingencies) to cancel the contract without breaching the contract. While contractual contingencies can be built in for pretty much anything you can think of, there’s a few common and somewhat standard contingencies for buyers: investigation, appraisal, and financing contingencies. Right now in Oakland, Berkeley, and much of the East Bay, contingencies are often waived to better compete against other buyers. While this may be necessary to have your offer accepted, it’s often against the advice of your broker. Speak with your agent about

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Buying A Home

Why do I need to order my own inspections if the seller already provided some?

In Oakland, Berkeley, and surrounding areas it is very common in our current market for the seller to provide inspections to all prospective buyers. Sellers do this to provide transparency into the condition of the property and attract offers without an inspection contingency. And in many cases it works.  When sellers provide a complete disclosure packet, buyers are more likely to accept the condition of the house without performing their own further inspections. I see buyers waive further inspections even when the seller’s report specifically says to have a specialist look at something (a foundation, for example).  It is my

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Buying A Home

Why should I invest in real estate?

I love talking about investing in real estate with new or first-time investors in Oakland. What’s cool about real estate is that it nearly always fits investors’ goals and should become part of an investment strategy. It’s usually some combination of five main reasons: cash flow, appreciation, equity, leverage, tax benefits. Cashflow Real estate as an investment often produces income through rent. After subtracting expenses and mortgage payments, you’re left with cash flow. It’s a good thing. I love it and you will too.  Appreciation Appreciation is the increase in value. This is where much of the wealth in real

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