Side Effect of Strong Rental Market, Miniscule Interest Rates For the vast majority of Sellers, threatening to rent if they can’t get their price is a bluff (see, “The Rental Bluff“). The exception to that? The owner of an older, dated home, with substantial equity, who doesn’t need the money for another home and isn’t about...Read More
How Much Is a Strong Realtor Really Worth? So, which offer did the Seller of this new-to-market St. Louis Park rambler choose to work with the other week? (Yes, multiple offers can and still do occur in today’s housing market, albeit only for homes in good locations, that are well-priced, and in move-in condition). Was it the highest offer?...Read More
Realtor R&R Once upon a time — like 25 years ago when I was an auditor and a CPA — one of the requirements for good, internal corporate control at a small entity was that the bookkeeper was required to take at least 2 weeks of annual vacation. The motivation wasn’t the health and well-being...Read More
Edina Realty Takes on the Third Party Aggregators, Cont. If you’re joining the action “already in progress,” as it were, here’s what you missed: Edina Realty announced 10 days ago that it was pulling its listings from third-party aggregators such as Trulia. Then all Hell broke loose. See, “Edina Realty Steals a Page From Southwest Airlines, the...Read More
You Call That Easing Up? The “good” news? (good if you’re not selling your home, that is). According to Hennepin County, the value of my home dropped just over 7% the last year. The bad news? That 7% drop in assessed value translates into a measly .7% decrease in my already-hefty Minneapolis property taxes. See, “Minneapolis Property Tax Disconnect.” Yup,...Read More
Thanksgiving Lost and Found, or “Minnesota Wisconsin Nice” “Minnesota Nice” has a lot of detractors — especially amongst non-Minnesotans. However, the locals’ practice of behaving nicely and exuding warmth (however superficially) does have its redeeming qualities. Like when you’re traveling to the Twin Cities for Thanksgiving with a bunch of small kids and lose your iPad...Read More
