It’s always puzzling to me when a landlord goes through the trouble of collecting information from a potential tenant, and then doesn’t bother to verify it before handing over the keys. About a third of residential rental applications include some form of fraud. Sometimes it’s fairly harmless, like pretending a senior in high school is … Read more
I’ve written a few columns on rent control lately because the State of California is paving roads with good intentions, and we all know where those lead. No one disputes that California has a housing shortage. In late 2019, we were about 3.5 million homes short of meeting the need of California residents. No one … Read more
As we all adjusted to life in the face of a shelter-in-place order from the coronavirus outbreak, it got me thinking about other disruptions. Usually, we cannot know the exact nature of upcoming disasters, but typically, we know enough to plan for the kinds of interruptions they can pose. The last time my life was … Read more
Although the shelter-in-place order continues to lighten and allow more economic activity, it’ll be a long time before things return to normal—if they ever do. For some lucky people, the shut-down simply meant working from home, but for others, it meant being fired, furloughed, or forced to stop work because of a coronavirus illness and … Read more
When the shelter-in-place orders came down in Mendocino County and around the country, a certain unscrupulous portion of the population started wringing their hands in anticipation. When people are encouraged to do business online, especially high-dollar electronic fund transfers, the opportunity for fraud increases. If you are in escrow purchasing a property right now (or … Read more
Although it may feel like the Covid-19 pandemic will last forever, it won’t. If you want to be ready to buy a house as soon as things open up, here are some steps you should take today. Pick Your People Real estate is a team sport. If you think of it like baseball, we can … Read more
In my last column, I reviewed three California laws that interfere with negotiations between landlords and tenants. State Assembly Bill 1482 or the “Tenant Protection Act of 2019” went into effect January 1. It prevents residential landlords from raising rent more than 5 percent, plus the local rate of inflation, in a single year. State Senate Bill … Read more
California remains in the midst of a serious housing shortage. So, either lots of people need to move out of the State, or we need more housing—maybe both. Last year marked the seventh year in a row that more people moved out of the state than moved in. However, even with this exodus, we still … Read more
What’s the difference between a local real estate franchise and an unaffiliated real estate company? In most ways they are the same. They have the same licensing requirements and Realtors perform the same functions to help people buy and sell property. The differences between a franchise and an unaffiliated office are primarily in two categories: … Read more