Tong Vue, Remax Realtor

09/22/2026

About 10 years ago, I represented a buyer on a home. The purchase agreement was sold-as-is. Sellers weren't going to make any required repairs on the property. As my buyer and I go through the property, there were several issues. The balcony has rotten away and was unsafe, the plumbing was leaking onto the basement, and there were section 1 dry rot sidings.
My buyer was worried about these issues with the home. I told my client to go ahead and make the request anyway, as some of the issues deal with health and safety. We went ahead and submitted the request. Two days later, the sellers agreed to make the repairs.
On the day of the appraisal, the appraiser raised some questions about the peeling paints along the fence. We sent out a second request for the sellers to make this repair.
This was when the sellers and their agent caught on. They suddenly remember the original agreement was sold-as-is.
The sellers' agent called me and demanded my buyer reimburse the sellers for the repairs they have made so far. As for the fence, the sellers are refusing to make the repairs. The original purchase agreement said, "Sold as-is and sellers were not going to make any repairs."
My response to the sellers' agent was this. The original agreement did say that. However, the sellers agree to the request for repairs. Therefore, this contract overrides the original agreement. As for the fence, if the sellers do not fix it, I will have the buyers take care of it.

This same scenario was brought up, except it was dealing with a builder. Now, this isn't the first time I've seen this happened. I've seen it happened to several buyers who went into the builder's agent and never obtain their own realtor representation.
The builders would offer huge closing cost incentives. These incentives are usually more than the buyer's closing cost. Now, buyers don't understand, in the lending world, lenders will not allow any money to the buyers. Whatever is left of the closing cost, goes back to the builders. But in order to do that, they have the buyers sign an addendum to decreasing the incentives.
Here was an example. A buyer went to the builder's agent. The builder promised to give $50K towards the buyer's closing cost. Towards the end of the closing, the builder's agent reduces that number to $20K, the actual cost of the closing cost. When the buyer didn't see the $50K incentives on the loan estimate, the buyer brought it up with the builder's lender and agent. The agent just told the buyer, the $50K incentives was in the original agreement and will be sorted out at closing. On the day of closing after the buyer have released their deposit, the settlement statement doesn't show the $50K as promised. It shows only $20K. When the buyer brought it up, the builder's agent told the buyer, the buyer had agreed to a decrease in the incentive through an addendum. Buyer suddenly recall signing such a document. But at the time there were just too many document for the buyer to read over. Buyer thought it was just normal disclosures.

Whether you are a buyer or seller, remember this. Any proceeding contract agreed by both parties override the terms of the original contract. Pay attention to what you sign. Better yet get a realtor representation, who has the knowledge and will go over the contract with you.

If you are buying or selling in the Sacramento, Yuba, Sutter, Butte and San Juaquin County, just give me call.

09/20/2026

So the interest rate went up. How many people decided to hold on buying? Because the interest ticked up a few percentage, some people feel it is not the right time to buy. Problem is, the price of home is not getting any better. There's not enough inventory in the Sacramento real estate market to turn the market into a buyer's market. We are still seeing bidding wars out there. Because the demand for housing is still high in Sacramento, we will continue to see rising prices. So don't sit back and wait. Remember, people can always refinance to a lower rate when the rate falls.

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09/19/2026

Last night as I go over the route for home tour, my conscience told me, I need the truck. I looked at the route of the first tour. It looks like it is on flat land. But for some reason, I cant shake off what my conscience keeps telling me yo do. So I told my wife to leave the truck.
Today, I head for the first tour. Sure enough, my conscience was right. The first home was on a hill and on a 1 mile unpaved private road. I had to turn on 4 wheel drive to get to the property. My client definitely will not make it to the property. Good thing I was early. I turn back to pick up the client in the truck.

09/15/2026

Here's an important fact when living off grid.

With fire season in, the electric company are shutting off power in parts of California. This is a measure for fire prevention. Although I disagree with it and believe the electric company and California government should find other ways to prevent forest fire, it is what it is. With the electricity shutting off, this will effect those whose lives depend on electricity to pump their water from wells and refrigeration of food. Even with solar, it doesn't have the capacity to power up the entire home. Take this into consideration when buying a country property in California.

09/15/2026

When looking at country and rural area properties, make sure you have the right vehicle to get to the property and back. Today, I was out looking at one of the country properties. Had I not mapped the properties out and drove my 4-wheel drive truck-not 4-wheel drive hybrid, I would've been stuck on the side of the hill. The slope of the hill side was a steep downhill and covered with muddy and grass. The path was so small, it was hard to make a U-turn. I had to back up my car to the entrance. While I was doing that, the front tire was stuck. No matter how much I put on the gas, the car was not going anywhere. I had to switch to all wheel drive to get my truck out of the mud. So, when viewing country properties, make sure to have the right vehicle.

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09/14/2026

When buying a new home in a new subdivision, make sure you understand the program you are being offered. The real estate part is usually pretty easy. The financing part is where the builders get the buyers. Unless your realtor has a financial background, it would be hard to understand the cost and savings of the program.
A client went with the builder's 1-year low introductory rate last year. They were charged 10 points for the program. 8 points were covered by the builders. Buyers paid 2 points. At the time, their agent told them they would be saving at least over 100K. Now the rate has gone up, and they can't afford their home. On top of that, they would have to do a short sale because there is not enough equity in the home for a regular sale.
This is why I always stress for my clients to understand the loan program. On the surface, the sales pitch sounds great. But the future is very unpredictable. One piece of advice I always give my clients is, "If you can't afford the full rate, then don't bother with a discounted adjustable rate." Stick with a fixed rate.

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09/11/2026

An investor was led to believe the home he bought would return a huge profit. Without doing any comparables, the investor trusted the opinions of the listing agent. The investor bought the property in cash and took out a huge private loan to rehab the property.
After a month, the property was flipped and placed on the market. The investor discovered the market value of the home wasn't enough to turn a profit. Instead, he had a huge net loss. The resale equity was not enough to cover the private loan he borrowed to repair the property. He is wondering whether he should sue the listing agent for presenting him with false numbers. The presentation was done verbally. Nothing was written on paper or in an electronic paper trail. Do you think he has a chance to sue the listing agent?

08/22/2026

A buyer thought he made a good purchase of a little cabinet on 50 acres through a cash transaction with the owner. The transaction was through a simple quit claim deed transfer of title to the buyer. A few years later, when the buyer tries to sell the property, he discovers there was a clout on title. There were mechanical liens and multiple people on title. In order to sell the property, he would need to clear out the mechanical liens and file petition through the court system to remove the people on title. Short story, he couldn't remove the names of the people, and it was too costly to remove the mechanical liens. He ended up keeping the property and renting it out.
This is why it is important for people to use a realtor and go through the proper channel of retaining title through escrow and title companies. Deals may look appeasing but could be more than a headache in the end.

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08/22/2026

One of the many questions people often ask me is, "Are there any death on the property?" Majority of the time, people ask this question is because they are afraid the home might be haunted. Believe it or not, when there's a death on the property, a lot of people tends to walk away from the deal. Sometime, just by knowing someone died on the property, often qualifies as a haunted home.
People often forget, sometime a home gets haunted not by a death on the property, but an occupant of the home brought in a lost spirit. My grandpa had always told me, if I feel a spirit had followed me home, I should stop by the store and shop for a few minutes before coming home. If I don't do that, the spirit would follow me home and my home would become haunted.
I didn't believe that until I bought my third home and invited my brother to come and stay with me. He was young and always hang out late with his friends. One night while was watching television, he came rushing down the stairs, face all white, and asking me if I saw a black man came down the stairs. I told him, there's no one beside us.
My brother said he saw a black man standing by his bedroom door while he was on his computer. When he looked, the black man saw him and took off running down the stairs.
From that day on, my home was no longer the warm vibrant home I had first bought it. The home became very cold. Since I was working at home and alone, I kept hearing strange noises and felt the shadows watching me. I kept this sixth sense to myself and hope it would go away.
One night, my wife and I was watching television. We heard a loud bang coming from the other side of the living room. Both of us got up on our feet wondering what made that noise. My wife stood close to the exit door as I climbed to the second floor, pass the dining room and kitchen to the next living room. I turned on all the lights to see what was going on, but there was nothing there. It was a few days later when I finally discovered what made that noise. The light in the laundry room somehow fell and exploded on the floor.
Over the next few months, there were more strange noises. The hairs on my skin started to crawl and stand up. Each time I walk pass the stairs going to the bedrooms, I kept feeling I was being watched. When I watched television in the living room, I kept feeling someone watching me from the stairwells. When I turned to look, there was no one there.
For a few months, I kept finding the front door prop wide open. At first, I thought it was my brother leaving the door open when I left for work. Each time I confront him, he keeps telling me he had locked the door before leaving. I'm sure he closed and locked the front door before going to work. No one can be that incompetent. Right?
One night when my brother and wife were both off work and asleep, I came down to the front door and made sure the door was bolted and locked. The next morning when I woke up, the front door was wide open. I thought maybe it was the locking mechanism that failed.
I close the front door and test it. I yank on the door as hard as I can, but the door doesn't budge. It stayed closed. I thought, maybe my brother got up when I went to bed. When I asked my brother, he said he slept in his bed all night. I couldn't explain why the front door kept on opening when everyone is asleep.
When the housing bubble hit and the haunting got worse, I was more than happy to let the home go to foreclosure. It is not that I couldn't pay for it. It was because there was definitely something dark inside the home. A once warm and vibrant home, suddenly went cold and dark despite all the natural lights coming in. I didn't want to find out, nor did I want my wife and kids to notice the haunting.

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08/21/2026

I get so many phone calls about homeowners insurance dropping them in California. California politicians blame on the wildfire. The quiet part these politicians dont want to say out loud is their policy that put a strangle hold on insurance company. Now insurance provider is are bailing California. Those that are still here willing to provide for owners will charge more for coverage.
There is the Cal Fair Plan. The insurance pretty cheap. However pay very close attention to how much this government run homeowner's insurance cover. Make sure the coverage is at least more than 100% of the estimated market value.