Recent content by buylowsellhigh

After living in San Mateo for "some number of weeks" I'd like to offer the following feedback. Overall happy owner, these new construction have all sorts of new bells and whistles compared to homes constructed even 5 years ago. Its also amazing how much energy efficient these new homes are in...

It basically means that in the 6 months that it takes for them to construct your home, you will NOT be getting anymore equity even though you are still paying rent. They give you the impression that all of your rent dollars can be converted to the equity only for you to find out that this line...

Today I asked my engineer at work to put dimensions into the model 2 floor plan... This one will help to get more accurate pricing esp if you are interested in doing price compare with IP's design center.  I'm planning on knocking a few walls down upstairs including master bath and also the...

IMO, these little asian banks (actually some of them are huge overseas) should offer low rate mortgage, and actively sell them off and make a little profit here and there. I'm working with a loan funding company right now, supposedly they are not that big and just with a few million of capital...

Its not so much of whether they give you a 1099 or not... in fact, you are technically supposed to give a 1099 if you write a check to a non-corporate entity thats over $700 or something in the neighborhood in one calendar year. But with 1099, it doesn't mean you need to report it as hard cash...

This one's because I use the card to run business expenses and if you cut expense by 2% via cash back, you're essentially needing to pay the ~30% income since reducing expense = increasing income. So its why I use my points card more now, because points gained as result of biz expense isn't...

Wow thats crazy.. checked out their site and seems that you have to choose stuff thats in stock over in the LA warehouse. Shipping is a little expensive from out of state warehouses, probable doesnt' make sense unless one was looking for designer pieces.. Hope their sample arrives this week :)

Anyone heard of builddirect.com ? Their granite/marble slab pricing seems unreal although you would need to purchase around 300-400 square feet, a little more than what the little kitchen and bathrooms can handle. In either case I ordered a bunch of porcelain tiles, some of them that simulate...

I helped a cousin rent a short term from TIC for about $5k furnished, 1 month with 3 bedroom. Decent price although it was in an older apartment. Try airbnb or something.

Thousands, almost 10k new homesites means no chance for the rest of irvine to appreciate their home value haha.

Its a good feeling when you walk into the asian bank, greeted by first name and them being able to pull up your account WITHOUT having to show your atm card and driver's license. (and no, i dont have hundreds of thousands in the account). BofA's can be everywhere, and I use it for their ATM and...

Capital one Spark card gives me 2% rebate on everything thats purchased, there are cards that give you 5% for food/dining on a consistent basis, there are cards that do 5% for fuel purchase on a consistent purchase... and of course, the Amex SPG card. If you stack your cards right, you'll always...

Wealthy asian buyers taking LOC's out of their asia based home and by the time they land here, its basically a cash sale. And once the sale goes thru, pull a morgage out. With average real estate price increasing by 100% in China and at least 50% elsewhere in first world Asia, the profit on...

I'll be doing some due diligence to include a few reputable institutions in the mix and let numbers do the talking... Same goes with the interior upgrades, if they try (or think they can) take that much profit, then the buyer walks.

My San Mateo cottage is well under way, closing is within a couple of months. Wells Fargo is quoting some rip off rates for the loan, at maybe .25 higher than other lenders. I'm sure TIC will get some sort of kick back if the buyer closes thru WFO. I been thru the whole "design center" upsell...