Lake of the Isles Classic Original character? Check. Terrific location? Check. Great curb appeal, condition, updates, and well-priced at $1.295 million (below the tax assessed value)? You betcha. So, what’s the . . . uhh, hold-up? A whopping $26,329 annual property tax bill! If the City of Minneapolis was trying to dissuade upper bracket Buyers from...Read More
The Serial Cancel-and-Relist Property If early May is when perennial flowers bloom (at least in Minnesota), it’s also when the real estate equivalent (re)appears: the oft-listed, oft-cancelled property that comes back on the market each Spring after not selling the previous season(s) — albeit at a better price. By definition, these properties are characterized by one (or more) of...Read More
What’s the Catch? “Earn 5% Cashback Bonus when you shop at Rainbow Foods with Discover.” –Credit card promotion Five percent back sounds awfully good, especially when most credit cards are only offering 1% or 2% these days. So, what’s the catch? How about four of them? Catch #1: the purchases have to be at Rainbow...Read More
Multiple Choice Quiz The marketing verbiage on MLS touts the home’s “brand new, state-of-the-art Kitchen.” Who’s going to take notice? A. Prospective Buyers. B. Prospective Buyers’ agents. C. The appraiser sent out by the lender. D. The title examiner. Answer: all of the above. And why are title examiners scrutinizing MLS marketing verbiage? Because they’re looking...Read More
Overpriced Continuing Education There’s a story about Admiral Hyman Rickover, the famously intimidating Navy Admiral (mentor to Jimmy Carter, among others), and a particularly harsh interviewing technique that he supposedly employed. Namely, Rickover would offer the candidate a chair opposite him that sloped forward uncomfortably, and commence the interview. If the interviewee did not speak up within...Read More
How Long Should Sellers Wait to Reduce Their Price? “If a tree falls in the forest in forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” –Philosophy riddle “If a Seller drops their price when the market’s slow, does anyone notice?” –Corollary, Ross Kaplan Not all “days on the market” are...Read More
