And Then There Were 8 (Required City “Point-of-Sale” Inspections) “After seeing all the various inconsistencies and loopholes over the years, I’ve come to the conclusion that the costs of municipal homes inspections don’t justify their benefits.” –Ross Kaplan, “Are Municipal Inspections a Waste of Time?”; City Lakes Real Estate Blog (1/16/2010) One city doesn’t make...Read More
Or . . . Maybe They Already Did(??)* How unusual is it for the Buyer to skip a home inspection? After a decade selling homes, I was just involved with my first deal — as a listing agent representing the Seller — where the Buyer waived the Inspection Addendum. For a home that was not in multiple offers. Extenuating...Read More
City Inspections vs. Buyer Home Inspections “Needs extensive rehab or possible teardown. Not a bank-owned home. Very fast response to offers. Minimal T-I-H required repairs.” –MLS listing How can something be a possible tear-down, and yet have “minimal Truth-in-Housing (TIH) required repairs?” Isn’t that an oxymoron? Nope. As I tell my Buyer clients, the scope...Read More
Realtor “Lifelines” and Shortcuts When most people think of home inspections, they think of the Buyer’s home inspection. But at least in the Twin Cities, 14 municipalities have their own, Seller-required inspection. Navigating that labyrinth — at least for Edina Realty agents — is ordinarily a two-step process: 1) log on to Edina Realty’s “ProKit” software,...Read More
When Ignorance Isn’t Bliss On the list of awkward first questions that Buyers’ Agents ask Listing Agents — “Are those abandoned oil tanks buried in the front yard?” — has to rank pretty high. And responding, “the Seller doesn’t have any idea, they were there when they bought the house” doesn’t exactly help matters. Even...Read More
“Golden Valley Commons South?” How does a landlord (and would-be home seller) comply with city-ordered repairs? One way, of course, is to actually do the repairs. However, if that’s not feasible or economic — and sometimes it isn’t — Plan B is to vacate the property, and sell it “as is.” Multiply by six, and that’s what is...Read More
