The Virtue of a Well-Stocked Pipeline “We will sell no wine before its time.” –Ad campaign for Paul Masson wine. [Editor’s Note: The views expressed here are solely those of Ross Kaplan, and do not represent Edina Realty, Berkshire Hathaway (“Berkshire”), or any other entity referenced. Edina Realty is a subsidiary of Berkshire.] If you’ve...Read More
“Build It and They Will Come” Real Estate Development “Silicon Valley Spec House Seeks $42.8 Million.” —Headline, The Wall Street Journal. For the uninitiated, a “spec” or “speculative” house is a home that a developer first builds, then tries to sell. That’s opposed to a home that’s commissioned by/for an existing client, and built according...Read More
“The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong ” but that’s the way to bet.” —Ecclesiastes (with an assist from Damon Runyon). For the benefit of non-Realtors, here’s a “Top Ten” List of ways that seasoned Realtors know that a home Buyer is serious: 10. They’re represented by a good,...Read More
“So Done” vs. “Are You Done Yet?” For an unassuming four letter word, “done” sure has a lot of different connotations. I count at least eight (below), including two meanings ” one good, one bad ” popular in residential real estate. One. To perfection. Example: “That house is done. It’s not staged like a spec house.” See,...Read More
Three Quibbles A new study purports to put a number on the value of curb appeal: 7%. The study’s authors did that by analyzing Google Street View photos and sales data from 88,980 properties in the greater Denver area. Specifically, they performed these three steps: “The researchers manually scored a set of properties, grading 400 images...Read More
Realtor “Atta-Boy”: “Nice Listing!’ A new listing has a surprising number of parallels with the opening of a Broadway play. There’s the opening night anticipation. There are the hopes (and fears) about whether the audience (prospective Buyers) will like it. And there can be a sense of dread about what the toughest critics will have...Read More
