The Best Kind of Marketing? The Free Kind Saturdays in early August are not an especially busy time for Realtor open houses. The exception? Anything for sale in the vicinity of Minneapolis’ Uptown neighborhood, host this weekend to the annual Art Fair. I counted at least six open houses in just the 2-3 block stretch...Read More
S&P Breaks Ranks So, after the U.S. stock market was safely closed yesterday at the end of a tumultuous week, Standard & Poor’s did the deed: it cut its rating of long-term U.S. debt from Triple-A to Double-A. Its competitors, Moody’s and Fitch, are likely to follow in short order, much like gas stations or...Read More
Safe Harbor Scramble Drops Rates Mortgage lenders are anticipating as much as a full point increase in interest rates over the next month. What’s less clear: whether the transition will be smooth (weekly, incremental bumps of say, .25%) or a more abrupt re-pricing. I’ve certainly heard this from lenders before ” like, quarterly for the...Read More
Truer Words Were Never Spoken Written “Poor policy and incompetent leaders are creating massive systemic risks, and modern markets can concentrate and change their focus instantly ” for all the right reasons, for no apparent reason, or for some combination of the two.” (my emphasis) –Paul Singer, founder of the $17 billion hedge fund Elliott...Read More
“What, Somebody’s Going to Steal the Copper Again?” [Editor’s Note: before I lose all my Readers, I promise to switch to sunnier posts . . . next week.] Normally, when I need to re-schedule a confirmed showing, I make a point of calling the listing agent’s office to let them know. For one thing, it’s just...Read More
Sales Hyperbole “Never ask a barber if you need a haircut.” Is now “A GREAT TIME TO BUY A HOME?” Is it in fact, “THE BUYING OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME?” Search me. But I’ll say this: Realtors who are screaming those things (or statements like it) the loudest: a) don’t have a clue; and b)...Read More
