How to Tell, Early On, if a Home is Likely to Appraise The listing agent (representing the Seller) is meeting the Appraiser — representing the Buyer’s mortgage lender — at the house (note: the listing agent should always meet the Appraiser at the house). What should they have with them, to provide to the Appraiser? A. Hard...Read More
Lots of Extra Tasks — But Also One Less It’s no secret that participating in multiples offers can be challenging: for stressed Buyers, their exhausted agents, and even listing agents (representing the Seller), who may be overwhelmed by the number of offers. Fortunately, there’s at least one standard, time-consuming task that Buyers’ agents in multiple...Read More
“Good,” “Better,” and “Best” One of the key services performed by Realtors for clients is analyzing a home’s fair market value. Buyers’ agents do that analysis — called a CMA, or “Comparative Market Analysis” — to help clients determine how much to offer for a home; listing agents go through the same process to help...Read More
The Goldilocks Approach As I’ve discussed in previous posts, the essence of pricing real estate is what’s called “bracketing.” (See, “Bracketing,” Explained“; and “Why the Neighbor’s House Usually Isn’t a Comp“). Translation: you need to find a home that’s just above the home you’re trying to price (called the “subject property”) and one that’s just...Read More
“MLS Show & Sell Tell”: When a Calendar Isn’t Just a Calendar [Editor’s Note: The views expressed here are solely those of Ross Kaplan, and do not represent Edina Realty, Berkshire Hathaway, or any other entity referenced.] “Tell” /tel/ Noun: (especially in poker) an unconscious action that is thought to betray an attempted deception. –Dictionary...Read More
Guilt by Association? Not Necessarily As a listing agent trying to make sure their client’s home appraises, I know the concern: if the Comp’s you provide to the Appraiser are all less valuable than your client’s home (known as the “subject property”), they’ll drag its price down, too. Not necessarily. Step #1 is to realize that...Read More
