New Lender Refrain: “These Rates Won’t WILL Last!” or, Three Buyer Worries With home prices now rebounding in many markets nationally, prospective Buyers these days usually have two main worries: 1) that prices will rise (further), making a purchase unaffordable — or at least more expensive; and 2) that interest rates will rise . ....Read More
Days on Market: 1 Percentage of Asking Price: 100% Where: 5231 Washburn Ave. South in southwest Minneapolis’ Fulton neighborhood. What: 5 Bedroom/4 Bath new construction with 3,680 finished square feet. When: on the market June 6; sold June 7 (closed August 7). How much: listed and sold for $825,000. Who: listing agent — Charlie Marggraf; selling agent...Read More
What’s the Opposite of a Listing Presentation? A Realtor job interview with a prospective Seller — called a listing presentation — can be an involved and protracted process. Depending on how well the client already knows me and the home sales process, I try to cover: my track record; marketing philosophy and expertise; prowess with...Read More
(And You Should, Too) My job — and every other Realtor’s — would be a lot easier if Zillow simply didn’t exist. Notwithstanding its (inexplicable to me) popularity, information on Zillow is frequently wrong, dated — or both. Oh, and one more thing: Zillow’s margin of error for calculating home values — the “hook” that...Read More
Having the Office to Yourself If you’re a Realtor and want the office to yourself, all you have to do is show up before 6:30 a.m. In fact, lots of mornings, you’d be safe until 8 a.m., which is when the front desk personnel and folks in title show up. The Realtors? If there’s a...Read More
A Housing Deal — if You Can Afford It Quick! Assuming the Buyer has the financial wherewithal, which is a better deal: buying a $300,000 house for $320,000, or getting a $425,000 house for $400,000? Don’t follow? In the Twin Cities housing market right now, homes in move-in condition at a price that first-time Buyers...Read More
