Cedar Lake Price Opinion As a professional courtesy, I will occasionally ask other agents to give me a price opinion on an upcoming listing. And they’ll ask me for the same. So, I made a quick trip over to Cedar Lake earlier this week to offer my proverbial two cents on another agent’s upcoming listing. Elasticity...Read More
Millennials vs. Baby Boomers One of the most startling things I heard at yesterday’s Edina Realty annual meeting was the degree to which the Realtor ranks nationally are now dominated by (relative) old fogeys: something like half of all active agents are now over 40 years old (and not a few are over 65!). This, at the same...Read More
Like Attracts Like One of the unexpectedly nice things about surviving in real estate longer than the average Realtor (something like two-thirds last less than 2 years!) is that . . . you tend to like your clients more over time. How’s that, exactly? Unlike say, relationships (where opposites often attract), in real estate like seems to attract...Read More
Trifecta of Turn-off’s We may be small, but we’re slow. –Cal Tech football slogan Want to assure that (practically) no Realtors show your property? Start out with a short sale, requiring the bank(s) holding the mortgage to voluntarily take a haircut — which they’re loathe to do. That means the already long odds of closing any deal these days suddenly got...Read More
CD’s and Market Risk Contracts for Deed can be a great option for home sellers with lots of equity, and Buyers who can’t otherwise qualify for a mortgage at a good rate. Under the usual terms, the Buyer comes up with a down payment, then makes monthly payments to the Seller for a prescribed period — often...Read More
What are the most common big-ticket inspection issues? Roofs, to be sure. Also furnaces, foundations, sub-standard plumbing or electric, and any suspect major appliances. But all of those things are usually already known to the Seller — and therefore properly disclosed (and preferably, addressed before a home even comes on the market). No Symptoms Which leaves items that Sellers...Read More
