Deciding Which Way to Err, or, “A Picture Showing is Worth 1,000 Words” In medicine, a “false-positive” refers to a test result that is incorrect because the test indicated a condition or finding that does not exist. Unsurprisingly, the opposite of a “false-positive” is a “false-negative” — a test result that is incorrect because the test failed...Read More
Hardwood Floor Favorites (Still): Oak, Maple Once upon a time — like 5 years ago — it seemed like bamboo floors were The Next Big Thing. Bamboo was touted as cheap, long-lasting, aesthetic, and — best of all — environmentally friendly (technically, it’s a grass, not a tree, and grows much faster). Marketplace as Ultimate...Read More
False Negatives and False Positives In a post earlier this month titled, “Who’s Watching the Listing?,” I talked about the utility — and lack thereof — of tracking how many times a particular property has been saved on MLS. Generally speaking, the more people watching a listing, the better; presumably, prospective Buyers like the home but not the price, and...Read More
Housing Market’s “Brussel Sprouts” Edina Realty Regional Manager Terry McDonough gave a terrific talk at City Lakes yesterday about the advantages — and potential pitfalls — of using contracts for deed in today’s housing market. In an environment of zero percent interest rates (“ZIRP”) and lots of stealth home equity (something like 2/3 of those...Read More
Avoiding Cliches What do you tell a client who just sold their home, but pre-signed the closing documents and therefore wasn’t at closing to collect their proceeds check? Unfortunately, it just doesn’t sound right to tell someone that “their check is in the mail.” Instead, I told them that “Edina Title had mailed the check and...Read More
Reassuring Condo Buyers Normally, someone who purchases a condo or townhome has to wait until they’ve signed a Purchase Agreement to find out how financially strong (or not) the building or development is. See, “Ten Day Review Period . . . 2 Weeks Too Late.” Then, they have ten days to review the related materials...Read More
