“Why Doesn’t Someone Tell Me What’s Going On??” Moving is exciting — but also stressful! Parents have to deal with packing, movers, Realtors, financial stuff, and a million other details. Kids have to adjust to a new bedroom, home, neighborhood, and possibly school. So, who’s the most stressed member of the household? Often times, it’s...Read More
“The Moving Van Test” One of the friction points in a house sale can be what does — and doesn’t — come with the home. The general rule is that fixtures come with, personal property doesn’t. Which begs the question: what’s a fixture? Definition The standard definition is that a fixture is something that’s permanently...Read More
Pre-Holiday Weekend Slowdown In the stock market, you judge activity by how many shares trade daily. In the housing market, you go by new listings (or at least, I do). Judging by that yardstick . . . it’s either a very slow Wednesday — or the Memorial Day Weekend slowdown just kicked in. How slow? Whereas...Read More
“But the Floor Plan’s Open!” Foundation Size: 84 –new MLS listing (5/25/11) I’m pretty sure there are no homes with 84 square foot foundations out there — at least ones that don’t have wheels on them, or aren’t intended for dolls (if you don’t know square feet, 84′ is about the size of a large Dining Room...Read More
Pre-Closing Clean-Up — or, “Can’t Get No (Mortgage) Satisfaction” It could just be a consequence of handling more estate sales lately, but it does seem that I — and my clients’ closers — have been running into more issues with what I’ll call “financial ghosts.” The typical scenario involves a sale being handled by the (adult) surviving...Read More
“Pride of Owner Builder-ship” Want to know if a home is well-built and in stellar condition? To be absolutely sure, you really need to do a professional inspection. However, the best predictor I know is this: the seller also built the home. Seller-Builder’s The reason that that’s the gold standard — especially for more expensive...Read More
