Define, “Luxury“ Is everything now a “luxury rental?” Put it this way: driving around the Twin Cities, I haven’t seen many billboards trumpeting “spartan rentals” lately. So, are they? (Luxury, that is?) It’s sort of like Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart’s line about pornography (“I can’t define it . . but I know it when I...Read More
Do two buildings make a trend? Maybe, if they’re high enough profile. That would seem to describe both Edina Realty’s new City Lakes office, about a mile west of Minneapolis’ Uptown neighborhood, and 1800 Lake, a new luxury rental building in Uptown just northeast of Lake Calhoun. Copper cladding not only gives these buildings a...Read More
Better Title: ‘Michael Lewis, Recycled’ It’s hard to find fault with Michael Lewis, one of the best business writers extant (or ever, for that matter). And the prose and insights in his latest effort, Boomerang, certainly don’t disappoint. So, what’s the problem? All but one of the five essays that comprise the book (the one on Iceland, titled “Wall...Read More
Gap Between Last Ask, Sold Price One clue that a just-sold home had major inspection issues is when the sales price represents a big discount from the last asking price. So, for example, a house that was listed at $500k, was “Pending” on MLS for six weeks (give or take), then closed for . . ....Read More