When buying a home, make sure your realtor goes over the preliminary title report with you. There could be unexpected surprises within! A home in the Richmond neighborhood which recently had a sale pending, did not close on time and almost did not close at all. The reason? The sellers had taken back a second mortgage from the prior owner when they bought the home. As they were getting ready to close, the escrow company gave notice to the prior …
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Category: Legal Updates
When we bought our tenant-occupied two unit building back in 1998 before I became a realtor, we never realized what a nightmare trying to move into our own home would be. Even in San Francisco, in a majority of instances, owners have the right to move into their own home! This can be done by way of an Owner Move-In Eviction or OMI. We bought our building planning to move into the lower “garden” unit and live in our new …
Imagine you are buying a property and you discover that $350,000 worth of seismic work is required. That is exactly what happened recently with an agent in my office whose client was buying a 6 unit building. Buyers must be aware that when buying a property, they may be subject to the San Francisco Soft Story ordinance that went into effect last year. If you are buying a condo, you may be buying into a percentage of the cost for …
On Broker’s Tour recently, an agent was walking out of a condo and turned to the listing agent and asked if there was anything unusual in the CC&Rs. The listing agent said that in fact there was something a little unique. “Lawyers are not allowed to live in this building.” While this may seem odd (and I, personally, do not want to be excluded from any buildings!), there was a case in the ’90’s involving a Bakersfield, CA, development company …
Watch Out For Those CC&Rs! When you buy a condominium, you become a member of an HOA (homeowner’s association). This association is governed by CC&Rs (Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions). These are rules and regulations that prescribe how the homeowner’s association operates and how the owners (and their tenants or guests) must act. They are legally enforceable by the HOA.It is important that as a buyer you read all of them. However, there are a few specific things you should look …