Is it Too Late to Bail Out Enron?? [Note to Readers: I originally published the following post in mid-December. At that time, the cumulative federal bailout bill was about $2 trillion. Including guarantees of dubious bank assets, that number now is closer to $4 trillion — $173 billion of which has been pumped into just...Read More
2009 Home Features: What’s Hot (and not) One of the perks (duties?) of being a 2008 “Super Real Estate Agent” — jointly chosen by Mpls. St. Paul Magazine and Twin Cities Business — is getting mid-year surveys asking for your input on coming trends. The feedback from all the 2008 Super Realtors will appear in...Read More
January Numbers: Down 7.7% According to the National Association of Realtors (“NAR”), pending home sales fell 7.7% in January. A home sale is considered “Pending” once the inspection contingency is removed, but before the Buyer’s financing is finalized and the title is transferred at closing. In a typical deal locally, the interval between a “Pending”...Read More
“Short” Sales: Anything But KARE 11’s Rick Kupchella hosted a nice piece on tonight’s 10 p.m. news about “short sales.” (No video link here because I couldn’t get it to work.) A short sale occurs when the bank(s) agree to reduce the principal that they’re owed so that the owner can take an offer without...Read More
“Yeah, That Will Work” Department I’ve been on a (very) brief family vacation — Duluth water park and puppy scouting — and returned to lots of mail, mostly business-related and bills. Including one from a large bank where I have had a credit card account — and several other accounts — for almost a decade....Read More
Financial Earthquake Likely toAlter Presidential Reputations[Dear Regular Readers: Sorry for the extended detour into macroeconomics, politics, etc. This blog’s regular focus on Twin Cities real estate — in the words of the public service address accompanying TV interruptions — “will resume shortly . . . Please stand by.”] I certainly don’t believe that history will...Read More
