Realtor Broken Record I’m not sure why, but many listing agents (representing Sellers) right now seem to be fielding lots of verbal overtures from Buyers’ agents. Whatever the question, the appropriate response is always the same. See if you detect a pattern in the following exchanges: Buyer’s agent: “Would your client entertain a really low...Read More
Market Misconceptions Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink. –Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” All politics is local. –former U.S. Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill All real estate is local. –Corollary, Ross Kaplan One of the biggest misconceptions about today’s housing market is that there is a surfeit of homes available...Read More
Surefire Signs How does a Realtor tell if a home they’re listing is primed to sell? (see also, “Listings and Pots of Water“; “Buyer Feedback: ‘Win, Place, or Show'”). The starting point is their own knowledge of the home relative to nearby, competing homes — as well as the Comp’s (“Comparable Sold Properties”). To sell...Read More
Category #4: ‘Out of the Money’ My favorite metaphor for how close a listing is to selling is temperature (“Listings and Pots of Water“). So, a new listing starts out at room temperature, heats up as showings (and second showings) accelerate, and reaches a boiling point by the time a strong offer (or two) comes...Read More
Trolling for Offers I don’t know how motivated Sellers are at the moment, but their Realtors sure seem to be! I showed perhaps half a dozen condo’s within a mile of Lake Calhoun over the weekend, which means that today is “feedback day.” If you didn’t know, it’s customary for the listing agent, who represents...Read More
Buyer’s Market Phenomenon: More “Dual Agency” Deals? I don’t have any hard data, but at least anecdotally, it seems like the number of homes being sold by the listing agent — that is, they represent the Buyer as well as the Seller — is on the rise. (One of the quirks of real estate is...Read More
