MLS Style Category Definitions 1. (SF) One Story (ONEST) One story single-family house 2. (SF) One 1/2 Stories (ONEHF) One 1/2 story single-family house. Second floor only has adequate ceiling height in a portion of it. 3. (SF) Two Stories (TWOST) Two story single-family house. Has adequate ceiling height throughout upper story. 4. (SF) More...Read More
“No, Really: Bring . . the . . Cake!” Thanks to popular culture, some perfectly innocuous phrases have been ruined. To pick just one example, my 13 year-old son and I were bringing his birthday cake, ice cream, etc. to the party room where we were hosting his friends the other weekend. My hands were...Read More
Parsing a “5-2-1” Timeline in the Buyer’s Inspection Contingency [Editor’s Note: The views expressed here are solely those of Ross Kaplan, and do not represent Edina Realty, Berkshire Hathaway, or any other entity referenced. If you need legal advice, please consult an attorney.] One of the trickiest clauses in the standard Minnesota housing purchase agreement...Read More
Three Factors How much do you discount for a one-car garage? The short answer: ‘it depends.” Specifically, I think that the three most important variables are: One. What is the surrounding housing stock like? In close-in, older Minneapolis neighborhoods, many homes have one car garages (still). Detached, one car garages. When that’s the standard, the discount...Read More
Also Known as “Splash Stick,” “Lid Sip Hole Plug,” & “Green Thing” (Just Don’t Call it a “Swizzle Stick”) Want to know why you can get one of those “dip sticks” (my term) at Starbucks — but not at Caribou, Dunn Bros., or other coffee chain? Starbucks has a patent on it. Or more specifically,...Read More
What Could Go Wrong? Worry #10: “The Bar Mitzvah Blizzard” “Relax, enjoy everything,” my relatives counseled leading up to my son’s (just-concluded) bar mitzvah weekend. “What could possibly go wrong?” I actually had no fewer than 74 discrete worries, but these were my “Top Ten”: 10. Epic blizzard will shut down local airport; Gramie, Zadie, Grandpa...Read More
