Telltale Symptom: Wavy or Uneven Floors How do prospective home Buyers (and their agents) know that a home has pronounced settling without setting foot in the home? (note: foundation settling is usually benign ” up to a point ” and typically results in wavy or uneven floors). A. The settling shows up in the (online)...Read More
“Virtual” vs. “Analog” (In-Person) Showings I certainly understand the temptation — in a worsening Pandemic — to substitute a virtual home tour for the real thing.** But, prospective Buyers should be aware that there are some critical limitations. Here’s my “Top Ten” list of things that are difficult (if not impossible) to detect online: One....Read More
Establishing ” and Testing ” Boundaries If you go to the Business section of any bookstore, you’ll see any number of books on negotiation titled, “Getting to Yes!,” “Win-Win Negotiation,” etc. In my experience, however, the key to effective negotiation lies not in getting to “yes,” but getting to “no.” Or perhaps more accurately: before...Read More
Do Real Estate Photographers Get Overtime Pay?? They Should I’m a huge fan of backlit home photos like the one above. What’s more inviting or dramatic than a character-filled home — perhaps framed by snow — with all its lights blazing at dusk? While it’s purely anecdotal, at least in the Twin Cities, such photos seem...Read More
Child-Friendly Floor Plan Test your knowledge of today’s housing market, and guess which of the following can be a deal breaker for many family buyers with young children: A. Not enough Bedrooms on one level. B. Dated Kitchen and/or Bathrooms. C. Busy street. D. No view of the backyard from the Kitchen. Answer: all of the above. Room...Read More
Total Cost = 94(!) Hurricane Katrina’s The coronavirus crisis has cost the United States at least $16 trillion in terms of lost lives, lost quality of life, and lost economic activity. –Amitabh Chandra, Harvard health economist; quoted in The New York Times (11/14/2020). Just how big a wallop is the pandemic? It may be years...Read More
