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They didn't counter everyone with highest and best?

$100 fine. This should be a misdemeanor.

http://www.coloradoindependent.com/165241/anti-rolling-coal-bill-passes

How are ever going to fix this problem?!

How many lefties watched Oreilly?

Housing costs can be frustrating for most people but things change. Neighborhoods go from white to black to mexican and back to white. Prices go up and down and up. SoCal is a very desirable place to live for lifestyle, weather and jobs. If you want to buy in a mature and economically growing area then you have to pay for it. That's how it works. If you want to have your home appreciate three-to-five-fold in 20 years, then buy in the next booming area...this requires sacrifices and pure luck. I have lived on the Westside for 30+ years. In the 80s and 90s, it was gang infested. After strong policing, I haven't seen a legit cholo in over a decade. Plus, tech jobs have proliferated. Good luck buying a tear-down for under a mil today.

How far back do you have to go to find a POTUS in worse shape than Trump?

Is Trump's BHO-vendetta complete yet?

When will Trump no longer be a target? Colbert will only get bigger with lefties and righties will hate-watch, and post threads about Colbert on baseball forums.

Colbert going hyper-lefty has gained him a significant ratings bump. This will only help. Trump injecting his "de-Face the Nation" jab gives an insight why he is not fit to be President. Name-calling, intimidation, making an example of dissenting voices, etc. Hopefully he does some significant good while in office to balance out the wrecking ball he has been so far.

When buying a remodeled home, during inspections period find out who the general contractor was and call him. If something goes wrong after purchase, he should be responsive to help fix shoddy work because his license could be on the line. Find out what was permitted; Ask the GC for exactly what he got permits on, AND pull the permits from the city yourself. Talk to another GC and find out if anything was missed. You will be surprised what GCs can get away with or they simply forget.

If the house if large, think about getting a HERS test to see if the HVAC is working properly. I didn't mention this earlier because it's almost a given but have a termite pro come out there as well. Even the house is new construction or a complete remodel have the house well inspected.

If you have your home in escrow and buyer has removed disclosure, inspection, and appraisal contingencies then your offer on the house will look better. But if you are making offers and you don't even have a buyer locked in then you might come off as someone who is not motivated to complete the transaction. If you have a buyer on the hook, see if they are willing to make their lender available for the sellers to confirm your buyer's ability to close on the loan. This should not be an issue because everyone wants to get the deal done and having confidence in the other parties goes a long way.

You should start your search for a good agent now. He will let you know why supply is tight and give you more info to determine if this is some uncanny market condition or if this is something you expect to continue. You don't have to commit to any agent but get someone knowledgeable to help you get a clear idea of the market. Plus, he can give you his business cards so when you go to open houses you can let the open house agent know you are represented and you will not get the hard sales press. A good agent doesn't need to be in the business for decades. In fact, agents with ten years in the business can be just as clueless as agents new to the industry. While newer agents might be better than the grizzled vet. You just have to ask questions and see how much you trust their skills. Ask them how they would present your offer. Do they tell you things like becoming buddies with the LA? Offers that get accepted can go way beyond just sales price.

Gotchya. I figured it might be a family member representing you. But that is still a significant gift she is extending to you. Keep us posted on what the seller side comes back with. My guess is that the LA is not skilled and has little influence on the seller. And seller is a prick. You sister may have to do much of the heavy lifting for the LA. She essentially has to arm the LA with comps and make a case for you. Ultimately, it's the seller's choice but things change every day in what a seller will accept.

Contingent offers tend to not do well in this market. If possible, try to sell first and live with family for a few months. It's a PIA but your offer will have almost no chance at being considered on homes that get multiple offers. Another option is to sell your house before making offers but ask for a lease-back from buyer. This will allow you to get your cash from the sale so that you can make non-contingent offers and still live in the home you just sold for a month or two at an agreed rate. The latter may affect your pool of buyers but in this sellers market many buyers are willing to make concessions, like lease-backs, to have their offer accepted. Just make sure you have an agent who knows how to present your home to buyers and set up lease-backs.

Sounds like the LA is inept. How did you find your agent? In most cases the buyers agents will get 2.5% commission. If she is willing to drop her share to 0.5% (!!!), then I don't think you have a sharp agent representing you. The seller might be a hard-ass. Sometimes you get sellers who think they know it all from pricing to negotiating. Not getting a counter now might be an indication of how reasonable they will be if you ask for repair credits. Let's say an $8K foundation issue gets uncovered during inspections...will the seller cover or at least contribute a few grand towards repairs? Will the seller drop the sales price if the appraisal comes in low? Usually, once the deal is in escrow, the hard-assness dissipates by 50% and sellers become a bit more reasonable. The question you have to ask yourself is at what price will you be pissed if the house sells tomorrow. If this is a house you really want and don't want to go through the home buying process much longer then be the bigger person and see your end goal of owning that home. Your agent should be advising you on comps and what the home might sell for.

Home buying tip #9: Always get a home inspection. You will read this everywhere. It's golden advice. Also pay $200 for a sewer line inspection. And get a chimney guy out there if house has a chimney. If home inspection or seller's disclosures show any electrical, plumbing, roof or foundations concerns, get a specialist or general contractor out there, too. And if you're on a hill, spend the cash for a geologist.

They don't need to know what a DU is. Most agents don't know. That's why it can be powerful. The point is, has their agent asked their lender for one? Likely not. Adding a DU helps...but your agent needs to make sure the LA knows what it is and position it as "better". Most sellers are scared that the loan will never come to fruition. A DU makes the buyer appear stronger. A DU alone usually does not win the offer acceptance. That is why I stated that there are many small ways to improve your chance at winning.

Home buying tip: When you go to see a house, don't ask a million questions about it in front of LA. For example, there is no way for seller or LA to know if a crack in the drywall or stucco is superficial or structural. Questions like this will make you sound like a headache of a buyer. Always be positive and make sure everyone (LA, seller, your agent) knows how much you love the house. This makes an impression that you will likely not back out of the deal. Plus the seller gets a warm fuzzy feeling if the buyer loves their home. Also, see how your agent interacts with the LA. Your agent needs to befriend the LA. Your agent should also STFU about the crack in the drywall. These are questions you ask AFTER you get your offer accepted. The LA might be an idiot and your agent will have to educate him why your offer is better. For ex, does your offer include a pre-approval or a DU? Most agents have no idea what a DU is, nor why it is better. And your agent needs to take additional steps to make sure that the seller knows the difference as well and that this info is clearly communicated to seller. It's too time-consuming to list everything here....There are many small ways to make you look like the best buyer that add up to the LA recommending your offer over others to the seller. And for the seller to prefer your offer over others.

As for home inspection, if something comes up in the report, have a specialist come out. For example, if the general inspector finds some issue with foundation, bring out a foundation specialist to check it out and provide a bid to remedy. Use this to get credit towards repairs. A skilled agent will know how to leverage inspections to get you an advantage in this part of the buying process.