7 articles. Every post cites where its figures came from — if we can't source it, we don't publish it.
The 17 days printed on the purchase agreement are a default, not a law, and they don't run out by themselves. What each clock covers, who's holding it, and what a Notice to Buyer to Perform really means on day eighteen.
Jeff Maas · October 7, 2026
Two identical houses on the same Riverside block can carry property tax bills thousands of dollars apart. The 1% base rate under Proposition 13 is the same everywhere in California. What differs is the voter-approved bond debt attached to your tax rate area, the flat district charges that don't scale with value, and an assessed value that only resets when the property changes hands. Here is how the three layers assemble into the number on your bill.
Jeff Maas · October 5, 2026
Your impound account does not pay it. It can show up a year after you close. And on a house the last owner held for thirty years, it is not small.
Jeff Maas · September 16, 2026
Two identical houses, two streets apart, can carry a four-figure annual difference in tax. Here is how to find out which one you are standing in before you write the offer.
Jeff Maas · September 15, 2026
Thirty days looks like waiting. It is not. Here is what each week is for, who is holding the file, and the four places a deal usually dies.
Jeff Maas · September 14, 2026
Separate vendors do not fail because anyone is bad at their job. They fail in the handoffs. Here is what that costs, and when keeping it separate is still the right call.
Jeff Maas · September 10, 2026
The builder's incentive is real money. So is the special tax you will carry for twenty years. Here is how to compare the two without getting talked into either.
Jeff Maas · September 9, 2026
