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
How Full — or Empty — is the Foreclosure Pipeline? Today’s New York Times includes a story that — at least at first blush — has ominous implications for Minneapolis and the overall Twin Cities housing market: In Minneapolis, lenders are bringing in at least six foreclosed homes for each they sell. –Eric Dash, “Banks...Read More
I suppose up until yesterday — when the world was supposed to end — this photo had a more foreboding quality. Today . . . it’s just another example of a poorly shot real estate photo (the shadow is cast by a building, not a hovering spacecraft).Read More
