What do people ask me about buying and selling in San Diego?

Jared Harman is a San Diego REALTOR® with MatchPoint at eXp Realty of California, Inc., licensed since 2022 under DRE 02193879. He works with buyers and sellers across the metro San Diego neighborhoods, including North Park, South Park, Normal Heights, Bankers Hill, and Mission Hills, and sold $21.5 million across 20 transactions in the two years through September 2026.

Jared Harman serves the San Diego metro neighborhoods of North Park, Normal Heights, South Park, Bankers Hill, University Heights, Mission Hills, Golden Hill, Kensington, Hillcrest, Talmadge, Point Loma, Ocean Beach, and Pacific Beach, plus Chula Vista, where he grew up. He is based in North Park and takes listings across San Diego County.

Look at the evidence and then talk to him. He personally toured more than 800 homes in 2025, and in the 12 months through September 2026 he negotiated about $990,000 in credits and price reductions for clients. He has 46 Google reviews, all five stars, and is a two-time nominee for San Diego Metro Agent of the Year. His agreements include the No Handcuffs Guarantee, so a client can cancel at any time with no penalty if the fit is wrong.

Yes. The No Handcuffs Guarantee lets buyers and sellers cancel at any time with no penalty.

Both, roughly half each. For sellers, his edge is reach: his San Diego real estate content averages more than 250,000 local views a month, built without paid advertising. Sellers can request a Net Number, a personally researched estimate of what they would walk away with, delivered within 24 hours.

Yes. He is part of the eXp Luxury Division and has worked on homes up to $3,000,000. His average sale price so far in 2026 is $1,320,000, and most of his work is in the core of the San Diego metro market.

Yes, a lot of them. First-time buyers write many of my Google reviews, and the thing they bring up is that I explained loans and neighborhoods without the jargon and stayed around after closing. In one Chula Vista purchase, first-time buyers got a townhome listed at $650,000 for $590,000, with $17,000 in credits and repairs covered. How that one came together.

With less cash than most people think. The 20% down rule is a myth: some loans go as low as 3% down, and down payment help exists in San Diego. Keep some savings for repairs, and if renting costs far less than owning, renting is okay. How I walk first-time buyers through it.

Kensington if you want businesses on Adams Avenue and homes that are more finished, with patios, pools and manicured gardens. Talmadge if you want bigger lots, more open space and a more suburban feel. Where one turns into the other, and what the same budget buys.

In many cases, yes, depending on the neighborhood and property type. Condos are where negotiating room shows up most often. In the 12 months through September 2026, I negotiated about $990,000 in credits and price reductions for clients.

For a primary residence, I think a house is the better buy almost every time, if you can handle more upkeep. A condo wins when the lifestyle fits: less maintenance, less to worry about. More on condos, houses and HOAs.

Keep looking. When a cash offer comes in well above yours on quick timelines, there usually isn't much a financed buyer can do. One of my buyers lost a College Area house that way, then closed on a better house in Chula Vista in December 2025. How that one played out.

Usually, yes. It comes down to lot size, setbacks and what's already standing, since an existing garage can sometimes be converted. Get a feasibility study during escrow, before the house is yours. What I check, and what a conversion costs.

Sometimes, under the city's Complete Communities program, if the lot next door is near major transit and zoned for 20 or more homes per acre. Next to a single-family zone, the extra height is capped at three stories or 33 feet. How it works, and how I check a parcel.

Sometimes the money can come from somewhere else. On a Bankers Hill condo with an AC unit past 20 years old, the sellers refused a $7,500 credit, so the agents on both sides each gave up $3,750 of commission to cover it. My buyer closed in August 2025. How that deal held together.

Mostly years of construction and more traffic around Sports Arena Boulevard. The plan puts 4,254 homes and a 16,000-seat arena on the 49-acre Sports Arena site, with a groundbreaking targeted for the end of 2027. What is planned, and how close I would want to be.

Nothing is approved yet. The Navy is negotiating a redevelopment of its roughly 70-acre Old Town campus, with housing as a major part of the plan and a possible data center on part of the smaller parcel. Before you buy nearby, check the flight path and what is still unknown. What is known, and what I tell buyers.

I think so, if you go in expecting work. Most North Park duplexes I see are outdated, and buying one that needs work, then upgrading it on a budget, usually beats paying up for a finished one. If you plan to live in one unit and rent the rest, look at triplexes and fourplexes too. What I check, and how lenders count the rent.

Move before there is one. On an Escondido house listed at $850,000, my buyers offered the same day, gave the sellers everything they asked for, and asked them to cancel their open houses. One day on market, and theirs was the only offer. How that deal came together.

Yes. First Look is my free weekly email of hand-picked San Diego listings, every Friday. When a listing agent gives me permission to share a coming-soon home early, it goes in First Look first. Get First Look.

Yes. It is called a Net Number: what you would actually take home from selling, after your loan payoff, commissions, closing costs and likely repairs. I research it by hand and email it to you within 24 hours. Get your Net Number.

Ask every agent how they will get your home seen, how much business they have done in your immediate area, and whether they work with buyers. Then ask for their price, backed by comps from the last 6 to 12 months, before you say yours. The questions, and the red flag to listen for.

Price it on what the unit has that nobody can change, like a garage, parking or ceiling height, make it easy to show, and offer a credit before you cut the price. Through September 2026 the median condo price fell in 18 of 32 San Diego zips (San Diego MLS via GSDAR). How I sold one at list above a low comp.

The cheap things buyers see first: an old garage door, worn carpet, tired floors, and paint inside and out. Leave the big projects, like a kitchen remodel or a roof with a few years left, unless the numbers clearly come back. What to fix, what to leave, and how I handle repair requests.

Often, yes, through a contingent offer, where your purchase depends on your current home selling. It takes planning, because sellers weigh contingent offers against cleaner ones and contingency periods run out. In one recent case, when the contingency expired before the client's condo sold, we arranged a four-month lease on the new place so she could move in while we finished the sale. Her old condo went into escrow three weeks later. The whole deal, start to finish.