Letting Buyers Off the Hook What do you do as a Buyer if you really like the first (or second) house you see, only to be told a couple hours after you went through that it’s in multiple offers, and that you have until 8 p.m. that night to make an offer? Scenario #2: you need a bigger house,...Read More
“Powell Doctrine” vs. “Kaplan Doctrine” Military action should be used only as a last resort. However, when it is used, it should be overwhelming and disproportionate to the force used by the enemy. –Powell Doctrine (my paraphrase) Buyers who have serious interest in a home should stay off the listing agent’s radar until such time...Read More
The Blindfold Test, or, “Buyer Due Diligence” Want an old-fashioned way to tell if a given “For Sale” home is a value? Skip the complicated CMA (“Comparative Market Analysis”), detailed spreadsheets, etc. Instead, follow this two-step approach: One. Get up to speed in the area you’re interested in, familiarizing yourself with prevailing prices. Two. When you tour a...Read More
“The Contractor Quotient” There are lots of ways to size up a neighborhood (and divine its direction): check out the local schools, talk to people who actually live there, research demographics and income, etc. But one of my favorite ways is to simply drive it during weekday business hours, and look for contractor trucks (and relatedly,...Read More
The (Mythical?) Serendipitous Buyer There are Realtors who don’t believe in putting “For Sale” signs in front yards because they think that the would-be Buyers such signs attract invariably . . . aren’t Buyers at all. Serious buyers, their thinking goes, proactively look online for homes that meet their criteria — usually in concert with...Read More
