If you want to buy a home, prepare to ask a lot of questions. This is not a time to be shy or to hold back because you think someone might be offended by a question. If you’re like most people, this real estate purchase will be the largest purchase...
This is a great time to sell your house. The weather is beautiful and everything is blooming. However, no amount of sunshine and flowers can overcome crummy curb appeal. While there are a lot of things you can do to make your property more appealing, none of those things matter...
Here’s how to maximize your ability to buy the home of your dreams. Determine how much to spend. The first step for any homebuyer is to determine how much you can afford, and then how much of that you actually want to spend. Just because a bank offers you a big...
Selling your house can be both exciting and stressful. Knowing what to expect can reduce tension and allow you to have the best experience possible. Here’s what you’ll need to do and need to know. Select a REALTOR. Step one in selling your house is signing a listing agreement that grants...
As the weather starts to cool, it’s a good time to prepare your home for winter. Gutters I usually start annual maintenance and upkeep before the rains come by cleaning out the gutters. It’s a lot easier to remove dead leaves and dry debris with a leaf blower before everything gets soggy...
Many do-it-yourself homeowners enjoy upgrading their own home rather than hiring a licensed contractor to do so. As long as you do the work in accordance with current building standards and acquire all the necessary permits, this is perfectly fine—with one caveat. In California, if the work requires a building...
First-time homebuyers or people with poor credit and limited cash can ease into home ownership with a rent-to-own (or lease) option. While the idea of rent-to-own sounds simple and straightforward, legally the agreements are incredibly complex and require significant expertise to navigate. Unlike a conventional transaction, in which a sale price is...
If you look at the top ten most destructive fires in California history according to the Western Fire Chief’s Association, you’ll notice almost all of them occurred in last five years or so. August Complex in Mendocino, Humboldt, Trinity, Tehama, Glenn, Lake, and Colusa counties, August 2020: 1,032,648 acres burned, 935...
Wherever you live, that’s your home. Although you may not own the structure, you do own the possessions within it, and that’s what homeowner’s insurance protects. In this context, homeowner’s and renter’s insurance are the same thing. If you’re thinking, “My stuff isn’t worth much, so why would I spend the...
If you are renting a house because you believe you cannot afford to buy, you might be surprised to discover that owning a home is within your reach. An entry-level home in the Ukiah Valley can run as low as $350,000. Let’s assume, for the moment, that you haven’t been able...
