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housing market

Post-Inspection Home Seller (& Listing Agent) Lament: “Why Haven’t I Heard from the Buyer??”

Deafening Silence: When Hours Seem Like Days The inspection was completed, but the Buyer has been uncharacteristically incommunicado. What’s the likeliest explanation? A. The inspection was a disaster, and the Buyer intends to back out. B. The inspection went fine, but the Buyer got cold feet anyways  . . . and intends to back out. C.  The...
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Want Prospective Home Buyers to Buy? Head to the Airport (Really!)

Proof That High Pressure Sales Tactics Don’t Work At least in my experience, the odds of a first showing leading to a consummated transaction are perhaps 1 in 10. The exception to that? If the Buyer’s agent is headed to the airport, or otherwise under acute time pressure. When that’s the case, I’d estimate that the...
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“More Than This, Less Than That”: The Art of Pricing Homes

Want the science art of doing Comp’s (“Comparable Sold Properties”) in a nutshell? It’s placing a given (“subject”) property on a continuum, between the home just below it in price, and the one immediately above. What could be simpler, right? “This and That” Ahhh, but which two homes are those ” and exactly how much...
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Shhh! How the Home Buyer Can (Usually) Get the Extra Freezer in the Basement for Free

Cost to Move > Fair Market Value Once the Buyer and Seller have resolved any inspection issues, it’s common for the two parties to discuss any personal property that the homeowner may want to sell. Like many negotiations, the party who speaks first often loses. So, at least in my experience, a Buyer who (too...
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Quick! Who Does the Selling Agent Represent?

True or false:  what Realtors call “the selling agent” once a deal closes represents the Seller (no, this isn’t another “Grant’s Tomb” question). Answer:  false. The agent who represents the owner/seller is called “the listing agent”; post-closing, the Buyer’s agent is referred to as “the selling agent.” Nomenclature Once you work in real estate sales...
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Fern Hill’s Ugliest Home Gets a Makeover

3901 Sunset Blvd. in St. Louis Park [Editor’s Note:  The views expressed here are solely those of Ross Kaplan, and do not represent Edina Realty, Berkshire Hathaway (“Berkshire”), or any other entity referenced. Edina Realty is a subsidiary of Berkshire.] But for the fact that it’s on my (3 block) commute to work at Edina...
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