Tackling the Big Stuff — or Just Cosmetics? Occasionally, I see a listing agent who takes pains to assure Buyers’ agents in the “Agent Remarks” field on MLS (seen only by Realtors) that the home “is not a flip.” What’s going on? The listing agent (representing the Seller) wants Buyers to know that the home hasn’t...Read More
Theory #2: Uniformly Spaced, Softball-Sized Hail(?) I’ve heard of “scoring” (perforating) wallpaper, prior to steaming it off. But, I’ve never heard of scoring a city street, as part of maintenance/road repair. Yet that’s exactly what appears to be happening lately on Sunset Boulevard near Cedar Lake, once you venture around all those “Road Closed” signs...Read More
Is Anyone Home? Anyone?? As I’ve noted from time to time, For Sale By Owners (“FSBO’s”) are prone to multiple mistakes, any one of which can easily negate (or worse) any money such Sellers hope to save on commission. See, “FSBO Mistake #1 (and #2, #3, etc.)”; “FSBO Mistake #4“; “FSBO Mistake #37.” Along with the...Read More
New Home Trends 2013 I don’t know about you, but my association with basement wine cellars is vaguely creepy: dark, dungeon-like rooms in tucked-away corners that may (or may not) be shrouded in cobwebs. So, the see-through wine cellar (right) in this new Linden Hills home certainly caught my attention. Just one caveat: I thought...Read More
Back in (snowy) March, I noted the sign (above) heralding a “new construction opportunity” in my post, “Real Estate Euphemisms — New & Improved.” Sure enough, four-plus months later, a new home is going up on the site, just south of Minneapolis’ Lake Calhoun. Or at least the beginnings of one — for now, the builder...Read More
Ways to Finance a Home Purchase One of the more obscure fields on MLS lists the various kinds of financing the Seller will accept, or may be available to buy the home. So, it’s typical to see “Conventional” (federally guaranteed mortgages under $417k), “FHA,” “DVA” (Department of Veteran Affairs), and “Jumbo” (loans over $417k) —...Read More
