“What’s Sauce for the Goose is Sauce for the Gander” I suppose the opposite of that is, “what isn’t sauce for the goose isn’t sauce for the gander.” Huh?!? One of the insights into pricing a “For Sale” home well is recognizing that some properties ARE more difficult to value, due to their uniqueness, location,...Read More
Ruing the “Buyer That Got Away” Sometimes, the biggest hurdle to selling a home isn’t the market, or the home’s condition, or bad marketing. It’s the would-be Seller’s mindset. Herewith are the four biggest obstacles that can trip up Sellers: One. What the owner paid (historical cost). Unfortunately for Sellers, Buyers don’t care about what...Read More
CMA (“Comparative Market Analysis”) Math I just showed an Edina home to clients who expressed serious interest, and want to know when they can double back to see it again. Their inevitable next question for me: “what do you think it’s worth?” While every house is by definition unique, the key to estimating a home’s...Read More
From 16,000 Houses Down to . . . a Dozen or So “Before you’re addicted to heroin, you have lots of worries; after you’re addicted . . . you just have one.” –George Carlin on the “virtue” of being a heroin addict. “I’m not in favor of abolishing the government. I just want to shrink it...Read More
The Value of Contrary Information About all I remember from my one college statistics course is something called “the coefficient of correlation.” Ranging from “+1” to “-1,” it indicates how predictive/associated one variable is with another. Which leads to some counterintuitive insights. Such as (as the Statistics professor noted), if you’re picking investment advisors, the ideal is someone whose stock picks are always right...Read More
Seller Psychology vs. Market Reality Quick! Which of the following are relevant for determining a home’s current value? A. What the owner/seller paid for it. B. What their neighbor sold their home for a year ago. C. What the other neighbor currently is listing their home for. D. How much money the owner spent on improvements. Answer: none of...Read More
