Why Buyers Can Walk When the Home Doesn’t Appraise “Buyer agrees to pay in the following manner: 1) Cash of _____ percent (%) of the sale price, or more in Buyer’s sole discretion . . . “ –Excerpt, standard Minnesota Purchase Agreement (emphasis added). [Editor’s Note: The views expressed here are solely those of Ross Kaplan,...Read More
When Doesn’t “Sold” Mean “Sold?” So, when it comes to residential real estate, when does “Sold” not mean “Sold?” When it means “Pending” (as in, when there’s a big, bold “Sold” sign in front of a “For Sale” home). Huh?!? At least in Minnesota, once the Buyer’s Inspection has been removed,** the convention is to...Read More
What Is — and Isn’t — Relevant Pricing a Home Wait a second! Why, in early July, am I discussing homes that sold last December? Because they pop up as “Comp’s” (Comparable Sold Properties) for at least 2 relatively unique homes that I’m trying to price for clients now. No doubt (many) other Twin Cities agents are...Read More
“I Know What You Meant” Department: Contingent Offer Confusion Residential real estate is full of confusing, non-intuitive (if not counter-intuitive) terms. Like, the Realtor that the industry calls “the Selling agent,” once a deal closes, actually represents the Buyer (the agent representing the Seller is known as “the listing agent”). See, “Quick! Who Does the...Read More
Guess Which Direction “Zestimates” Err On? The local MLS just shared this tidbit (via Inman) about Zillow and its notoriously unreliable “Zestimates”: “If you’re an agent, you’ve probably worked with a Buyer or Seller that has found the “Zestimate” on Zillow of the property they’re selling or interested in buying. It can work as a...Read More
What’s in an Adjective? A LOT It may seem like a subtle distinction, but home sellers are a LOT safer billing their “new” Kitchen as simply “newer.” The difference? Buyers purchasing a new Kitchen might reasonably expect to see paid receipts. So might the appraiser representing the Buyer’s lender, once the deal advances from inspection...Read More
