Investors (and non-Cubans) Not Wanted When Cuba legalizes buying and selling homes by end of the year — as the government promised again this week — [observers] expect a cascade of changes: higher prices, mass relocation, property taxes and a flood of money from Cubans in the United States and around the world. –Damien Cave, “Cubans...Read More
Want two, inescapable signs that electronic signatures have arrived? Sign #1: The new, 2011 – 2012 standard Minnesota Purchase Agreement* now includes language stating that electronic signatures shall be acceptable for all residential real estate contracts and addenda (it’s buried in the fine print, just after the Integration Clause). Sign #2: The National Association of Realtors (“NAR”) is an...Read More
Real Estate Measuring Mistakes(?) I’ve previously written about homes I’ve shown as a Buyer’s agent where the square footage was significantly exaggerated. See, “The House That Shrank.” This post is about encountering a mismeasured home as a Listing agent, representing the seller. Background First, a stipulation: it doesn’t happen that often. I’d estimate the 90%...Read More
Ever wonder why — according to Hennepin County tax records — so many properties were built in 1900? No, that wasn’t the peak of a construction boom. The answer: county records don’t go back any further. So, any property built before then is simply coded as “1900.” In practice, it’s possible to guess the structure’s...Read More
“Forget about being on [street name], this lovely family home lives out back!” –excerpt, MLS listing How do you market a home on a busy street? Certainly, one tack is to ignore it. The other? Address it head-on, then defuse it by adding some softening context (example above). Of course, the part about the home “living...Read More
Dumpsters and Road Construction As a Realtor who spends a fair amount of time in and around Edina, I’ve got to say that I’ve never seen as much in-process road construction/repair in that city as I’m seeing right now. Annoying, right? Absolutely, if you’re running late and the street you’re on is backed up. It’s also...Read More
