Remove caulk depending on condition could take 1/2 hour.

Depending on the value at the time of death and your basis you may need to file a gift tax return.I would speak with a CA attorney to determine the best type of deed to file and a tax professional to gather more information.

Comparing real estate to the stock market really depends on your needs.

If the client is in CA the community property state laws may help here (not entirely sure) depending on when the property was acquired but it would be a great question for an attorney as Jason mentioned.If they were married and went through a divorce it would be worth looking into how the divorce paperwork stated how that property would be handled.

LENDBASE has the following feesConventional:1% origination fee$500 doc fee (est)Title Work TBDAppraisal $2000-$3000Environmental $0-$2000 (depending on search) Which all seem pretty normal, but FIRST they require you pay them up front $4,000.00 to start brokering loans, it’s their "non-refundable engagement fee.”Has anyone ever heard of this ever?

Selling your stocks also has tax implications and margin is only 50% as you mentioned, that too depending on your stock profile.

In this scenario it is very tricky depending on the end buyers finances if you are looking to sell it to an "end buyer" and not an investor. 2.

It all depends.

@Abdul HafeezRates and LTV depend on many factors. 

Depending on the county some provide public records of owners' name and numbers to the public thats are attached to the property so people can reach them