Earning Goodwill — But Not a Listing In my post, “When Realtor MLS Statistics Are Misleading,” I talked about all the things that take up Realtors’ time these days, but aren’t necessarily captured in their MLS sales statistics — or are easily missed. The list includes pre-list (non-MLS) sales; acting as a Facilitator; handling the...Read More
Comparing Apples and Oranges: Case Study #17 I’ve posted previously about how a slow market — combined with a relatively unique property — can bedevil Realtors and appraisers alike trying to estimate a home’s value. That’s because to be valid, a comparative market analysis must include three sales of similar properties no further back than...Read More
Is Six Months “Temporary”? I tripped across this Minnetonka home in the course of doing a CMA (“Comparative Market Analysis”) for an upcoming listing. Originally listed on June 28 last Summer, it was switched to “TNAS” (“Temporarily Not Available for Showing”) five days later — and has remained there ever since. Maybe that should now...Read More
Real Estate’s “Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle” The observer influences the thing observed. –Heisenberg uncertainty principle It seems self-explanatory, but as a principle, I don’t price other Realtors’ listings. The issue usually comes up when I do a listing presentation — essentially, a job interview for Realtors. In the course of interviewing Realtors, homeowners (and prospective Sellers)...Read More
Realtor Karma & Behind-the-Scenes Cooperation Even though there are a couple thousand attorneys in the Twin Cities, only a fraction of them are direct competitors. That’s because lawyers’ practice areas are increasingly specialized (corporate, personal injury, intellectual property, etc.). In fact, even those practice areas divide into multiple sub-specialities. The same specialization is generally not...Read More
The Real Purpose of Showing Feedback For the uninitiated, every time a Buyer’s Agent takes a client through a property, they subsequently receive an online feedback form debriefing them on how it went. Once upon a time — like two years ago — they all basically asked the same thing(s): ‘tell us whether your client...Read More
