The Real Purpose of Sunday Open Houses Test your knowledge of Realtor open houses — the ones on Sunday, not Tuesday (also called “Broker Open’s”) — and answer the following multiple choice question. The real purpose of Sunday open houses is to: A. Let the neighbors through, so they can recruit their family and friends....Read More
That Time of Year I don’t profess to know where the housing market is headed in the short run (Psst! Neither does anyone else). However, if you sold a house through me last year, and just left me a message, I’ve got a pretty good guess what it’s about. That would be the HUD-1, or closing...Read More
Permission to Lowball . . . Denied As a listing agent (representing Sellers), I sure seem to be parrying a lot more of what I’ll call “verbal probing” these days. The gist of all the questions being lobbed by Buyers’ agents: “would the Seller consider an offer significantly below the current asking price?” Thrust — and...Read More
What Should the Runners-Up Agents Say to the Listing Agent? Assuming that the listing agent (representing the Seller) conducted multiple offers openly, fairly, was communicative throughout, etc. — vs. selling the home to their own Buyer* at midnight for $20k less than the highest offer — what is appropriate for the runners-up agents to say...Read More
The “A” is for “Advertising” (see, “Unpaid Invoice”) Once upon a time — like in 17th century Massachusetts — adulterers had to wear a scarlet letter. Fast forward to today. Now, a vendor who buys advertising from Angie’s List and doesn’t pay for it has their Angie’s List profile slapped with this very high profile alert: NOTICE: Non-payment of...Read More
How do appraisers account for a bowling alley in the basement? Or some other unusual feature, like a helicopter landing pad, 10,000 gallon aquarium, basement basketball court, or dozens of other unusual — and therefore hard to estimate — home features? They don’t. Huh?? Self-Cancelling Features If it’s possible, the preferred strategy in such situations...Read More
