Here is what nobody tells you about home inspections: a long report is not a bad sign. It is actually a good one. I have had buyers panic when they get their inspection report back, and it happens all the time. They see a long list of items and their mind goes straight to worst-case scenario.

But when we sit down and go through it together, most of those items are minor. A GFCI outlet that needs to be installed, for example, is about a $40 fix. Termites are another common one. After eight years of representing buyers in California, I can count on one hand the number of homes I have sold that did not have some evidence of termites. It is that common. And yes, an active infestation is something you want to address, but it is also something that can be fully remediated. My goal in those situations is always to get the seller to cover the cost of tenting and any repairs needed.

What the inspection really gives you is clarity. You know exactly what you are buying, you can negotiate repairs on anything significant, and you move into your home without any surprises waiting for you on day one.

Source: American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI)

I hear this constantly: “I do not want an HOA. I will just wait until I can buy a single-family home.” And I understand the instinct. But this thinking causes a lot of buyers to pass on homes they would have genuinely loved, and sometimes it means waiting far longer than necessary.

HOA fees vary enormously. There are townhomes with fees under $100 a month. On the other end, there are luxury condo buildings in Long Beach where the fee runs around $1,000 a month. And before you close the tab, consider what that can include: water, trash, sewer, landscaping, pool, gym, sauna, and in some buildings, a 24/7 concierge who checks in packages, greets guests, and contacts you for approval before letting anyone up. That is not a small perk.

A well-run HOA with healthy reserves also means the building is being maintained, your investment is protected, and you are not going to get hit with a massive surprise repair bill down the road. The key is knowing how to read the HOA documents before you make an offer. Once you know what to look for, it stops feeling like a mystery.

Resource: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

In eight years of doing this, I have made it a point to be upfront about closing costs from the very first conversation. I never want a client sitting at the closing table feeling caught off guard. That should not happen, and with the right preparation, it will not happen to you either.

Closing costs typically run between 2% and 5% of the purchase price. They cover things like lender fees, title insurance, escrow charges, and prepaid costs like your first few months of property taxes and homeowners insurance. Your lender is required to give you a Loan Estimate early in the process that breaks every single line item down, so by the time you get to closing, none of it is new information.

My biggest practical tip here: once you know what you need to set aside, put it in a separate account and do not touch it. I like to call it your “future account.” The problem I have seen is that people see a healthy bank balance and feel like they have room to spend. But that money has a job. A good rule of thumb is to plan for 2.5% of the purchase price, which gives you a solid cushion for most transactions.

A lot of first-time buyers come to me thinking their credit score is just a fixed number they have no power over. That is one of the most freeing things I get to correct.

I had a client who came to me ready to buy. When the lender pulled her credit, everything looked great except for one thing: a $50 credit card payment from years ago that had been marked as missed. That one item was putting her rate about half a point higher than it should have been. On a home purchase, half a point is real money over the life of a loan.

We paused the process while she worked with the credit card company to get it resolved. She had actually made that payment. It just never got properly noted on her account. Once it was corrected, her credit profile was exactly where it needed to be. That story is why I always tell buyers to connect with a lender before they do anything else, just to do a credit pull and see what is happening under the hood. CreditKarma.com is a solid free resource to get a general ballpark before that conversation.

Property taxes are one of those things that sound complicated until someone walks you through how they actually work in California. Then it clicks pretty fast.

The short version: your property taxes are based on what you pay for the home, not on what your neighbor paid years ago. Under Proposition 13, which applies to all California property owners, your base rate is capped at 1% of your purchase price and can only increase by a maximum of 2% per year while you own the home. Any additional local assessments are disclosed upfront, so nothing sneaks up on you.

A quick note for anyone who has heard of Proposition 19: that one is different. Prop 19 is specifically for homeowners 55 and older and allows them to transfer their existing tax base to a new home when they move. Prop 13 is the one that protects every California buyer from day one. My general advice is to budget a little higher than your estimate just to give yourself a cushion. You can also use the calculator at livingcahomecalculator.com to factor property taxes into your full monthly cost picture.