Day

November 11, 2011

Inspecting Electric Service Panels

If a company is out of business, does that mean that all the products it ever made and sold — and may still be in use — were defective? Hardly. At this very moment, I can think of any number of local basements storing black-and-white TV’s made by RCA, Zenith and other defunct brands that...
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The Limits of Spellcheck

“Contingent” vs. “Continent” As I just discovered, both “contingent offer” and “continent offer” pass spellcheck. All the same, I wouldn’t want to receive — or make — the latter kind.
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Backup Homes and Lake Wobegon

“Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.” –Garrison Keillor When Buyers make a Contingent Offer, what’s the contingency? Selling their current home — what Realtors call “the backup house.” For the record, I’ve never heard a Buyer’s agent characterize the backup home...
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Real Estate’s Ultimate Hot Potato

The Buyer’s Inspection on a Cancelled Deal One of the knottiest issues in real estate for awhile now is, “what does the listing agent do with the Buyer’s inspection on a deal that ultimately falls apart?” The question is problematic because — at least in Minnesota — home sellers and their agents have an independent duty to disclose any defects...
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Shadowing the Buyer and Their Agent

Spying on the Buyer, or “Electronic Chaperones?” Every breath you take Every move you make Every vase you break* Every step you take I’ll be watching you –Sting; lyrics, “Every Breath You Take” Frankly, I’m surprised that it took until late 2011 to hear about it:  a (creeped-out) colleague reporting that the home she just showed...
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